Never Say Never - Chapters 1&2

NOTE TO THE READER: The fonts mean: Gwen's perspective and Topher's perspective





 PREFACE





          Oh Joy… once again, we’re moving. Ever since my dad made it big by taking on the case of a Hollywood legend, 


he has become a celebrity must-have attorney. We’ve been moving from city to city to make it easier for him to travel between home and 


work. This time, he landed the job of an actor who resides in NYC. This meant that we would be living a long 5 to 6 years in New York,


New York. Five years may not seem very lengthy, but trust me; it is when you move every other year to a “foreign land”. In the soon to be


15 years of my life, I have lived in 3 different continents and 7 different countries.





          Packing my bags, I wasn’t anxious or sad to be saying goodbye to any friends. The few buddies that I did actually make in the 


past year are acquaintances who barely even know me. I have learned to not get attached; it gets too painful.





          We loaded the taxi with our belongings, and sped away towards the airport.








Chapter 1 





We finally arrived at our destination. First, we had to go through the gate and security checkpoints. Keys, belts, and watches 


plopped into a basket while we crossed the threshold of the metal detectors. The house, more like a mansion, was absolutely breathtaking. 


The stone walls had a beautiful classic look to it, while the gargantuan panels of glass that made the walls of the second and third floor made 


it look very modern. There was a balcony going all the way around the building, made of a very dark wood; probably ebony. 





          The front door opened, to the face of the world-renowned actor, Mr. Yanni Mitropoulos. Even though I had met many other 


actors up close before, I was embarrassingly star struck. The only way I could tell the ever-familiar man in front of me was real, was because 


I could feel his dry palm against mine as we shook hands. It was true; I was standing in the presence of the star of countless blockbusters and 


winner of numerous awards. 





          The charming man gave 11 year-old Jon and I a smile, while he gave little 6 year-old Mike a mischievous wink. He told us that we 


would meet his son later, because at the moment, he was coming home from school. At 3:00 pm on a Tuesday, I wasn’t surprised.





          “I’m so glad that you had a safe trip” he said with a grin.





“Thank you so much for your hospitality” my father answered. “These are my three kids, Mike, 5 years old, Jonathan, who’s 10 and my 


dearest Gwendolyn, who is turning 15 in a couple of days.”





“My, my, what a coincidence. My boy Peter is 15 as well. I presume they will be in the same class?”





“I enrolled Gwendolyn not too long ago.” My dad said with a smile.





          I could sense that the two men were soon going to talk business, so I suggested that my brothers and I unpacked.





“No, no!” Mr. Mitropoulos laughed, “Elisa will bring your things upstairs for you. Would you boys like to check out the game room 


instead?” he asked, turning to my wide-eyed brothers.





“Yeah!” they cried in excitement, sharing a high-five.





          The middle-aged nanny took Mike’s hand, and gestured Jon to follow her. They disappeared within seconds. After a long minute 


of silence, my father proposed, “Addie, why don’t you go shopping? I’m quite sure that the mall here will please you” he briefly stretched 


over towards me to hand me five $100 bills.





          I could tell he wanted me gone. He had never given me that much money in one shot. I had done my homework during the plane 


ride; studying the map of Manhattan the entire way. I knew exactly where I wanted to go. I took the money and shoved it in the hidden 


pocket of my sweater. With a curt farewell, I swiftly walked out the door.





          I made my way to Manhattan Mall, ranting in my mind. I hated my father. I resented him for moving on so easily after Mom 


dying, going on as if nothing had ever happened, him thinking that he could buy away me and my brothers’ grief. I abhorred the man so 


much, I could scream. Tears brimmed my eyes as I snaked through the busy crowds.








~--------------------------------------------------------~








          I saw her for the first time at the food court in the mall. She ate three Big Macs, a large onion rings and a 


supersized Coke. I have never seen a girl eat so much in my entire life. She actually chowed down ALL of that food in about 20 minutes, in 


one sitting. Gross, but deserved a lot of respect. I almost couldn’t believe it because she was flawless.





          On her slender body she wore a she wore a shirt that really complemented her – you know… her wavy brown hair flowed 


around her graceful neck and – 





          “Hey! Lover boy! What’s with you, man?” I heard Nick’s voice call from my right side. I turned to him and asked “What?” in a 


dazed, confused and slightly defensive voice.





          “Stop staring at that girl, Topher, she’s starting to look creeped out.”





          I gave her one last glance to notice that her beautiful green eyes were bloodshot, and she gave sniffled into a napkin. She looked 


so miserable, with the essence of a damsel in distress.





          “Yeah dude, if you’re going to check out a chick, you have to do it sneakily. Don’t look at one face on.” Kurt added with a grin. 





I looked around the table to see the amused eyes of my buddies, and the members of the band we formed in middle school. We had 


been friends forever, ever since the prime age of 6. Kurt had been in 1st grade, Slick in 3rd, and Pete, Nick and I in Grade 2. We had met on 


the playground, fighting for a dodge ball. Kurt had grabbed it first, but Slick soon snatched it away from him. My fellow second graders and 


I saw what was happening, so we decided to intercede. 





We all ended up in “time out” together, to “think about we’d done wrong”. Yeah right. There was more arguing, and the principal ended up 


having to call our parents. In the waiting room, our daddies and mommies became friends and made our epic play date. The next day, we 


became inseparable.





“Hey guys!” Pete said with a groan. “Guess who’s finally coming today?”





“No way!” The entire table exclaimed. Were the famed Giorgio Dariella & family actually coming today? Apparently so. 





“Watch out man,” Kurt cautioned him, “I heard that the Dariella kids are absolute monsters!”





“Where the hell did you get that information, bro?”





“It said so in People magazine!”





“Oh come on, Kurt.” Pete said, rolling his eyes. “You know you can never ever trust the tabloids. Remember what they said about my dad in 


the August issue?”





Everyone sat in silence. It had said that Mr. Mitropoulos had beat up a “lifelong enemy” in a bar. That’s what brought Mr. Dariella & co.


here in the first place. Pete’s dad couldn’t afford to get arrested; he was the main role of a movie in filming.





Everyone started to excuse themselves. Pete had to be back at home, Slick had his piano lessons and I was expected to be home to take care 


of my baby sister. We agreed to see each other in a couple of hours for band practice.





We waved goodbye as we went our separate ways.








Chapter 2





By the time I got home it was almost 5 o’clock. With my arms full of shopping bags, I struggled with the doorbell to the gate. 


It opened, and once again, I saw metal detector. I prepared myself for the tedious act. To my surprise, one of the security guards gave me an 


envelope addressed to myself.           Inside was an I.D. card with a Smart chip programmed inside. There was also a silver house key. The guard 


took my card, and pressed it on a scanner. A light flashed green, and as I passed through the metal detector, it didn’t go off. I sighed in relief 


and gave the man a quick thank you. I clutched the key in my hand and inserted it into the lock. It turned and I heard the lock click. 





I entered the house, and out of nowhere, Elisa suddenly appeared and took my bags. 





“Follow me.” she said in a timid voice, and follow her I did. We walked towards a door that had no handles, but had a panel of two 


buttons next to it. She pressed the upper one, and the door opened. An elevator? You have got to be kidding me! How lazy can someone 


get? Whatever, I guess running up and down flights of stairs must be tiring for the poor housekeeper in this 4 story building.








We hustled inside and Elisa pushed number 3. We were there in a jiffy. I tagged along behind Elisa as she gave me a quick tour of the 3rd 


floor. “Bathroom, Jon’s room, Mike’s room, Peter’s room.” she whispered, gesturing to the right and left as we passed by several doors. She 


stopped abruptly. “This is Miss Gwendolyn’s room.” she murmured. 





“Oh, you can just call me Gwen.”





She turned to me and gave me a small smile as she opened the door.





It was gorgeous. There was a beautiful four-poster bed in the center, embellished with purple and blue bed sheets. A matching desk with my  


MacBook resting on it a and side table completed the room. On the table was a gift-wrapped box with a giant red bow. 





“Mr. Dariella put that there while you were out.”








I stepped over to the table and carefully lifted the mystery gift. Peeling off the wrapper slowly, I gasped when I saw it. A ModBook Pro. Oh. 


My. God. I was used to my dad trying to buy me off, but this – this was mind-blowing. I stared at it with my jaw on the floor until Elisa's 


cough snapped me out of LaLaland. 





I set the tablet down and looked to my right. There was a door similar to the one that we entered from the first floor.





“Another elevator?” I asked the small woman bedside me. 





“No” she said shaking her head, and pushed a button. “Closet.”





          The door opened to a walk-in wardrobe. All of my belongings were unpacked. Unbelievable. Sure, I was used to a big house and nice 


things because of my dad’s job, but this was excessively awesome. Could the day get any better?





          “I give you time alone now.” Elisa spoke softly and exited the room.





          I sat down on the bed, still reflecting on the closet and the graphics tablet. After a few minutes of hearing nothing but my 


breathing, I jumped when a knock interrupted my reverie. I got on my feet and walked to the door. Turning the handle, I opened it to a 


stranger.





          He was really good-looking. He ran his fingers through perfectly tousled brown hair that almost covered his wide blue eyes. He was about 5”8, an average build. 





          “Um… hi?” I said.





“Hello! I’m Peter, man of the house #2.” he said with a smile shaking my hand.





“Uh, it’s nice to meet you” I replied.





“I know it might be a bit sudden, but would you like to meet my friends?”





“Wh-what?” I asked, in sudden confusion.





“C’mon!” he exclaimed, grabbing my hand, steering me to the elevator. He pushed a button with a big, black B on it, and I felt us going 


down.





          After a couple seconds of awkward silence and sneaky side-glances, the doors opened again to reveal your typical garage band.





~---------------------------------------------------------~





          I couldn’t believe it. It was her, the mystery girl at the mall! She looked flustered, but just as beautiful 


as before. I was sitting on the floor, with my legs wrapped around my snare drum while I tightened it. Nick was tuning his guitar; Kurt 


plugging his bass in the amp, and Slick turning on his keyboard.





          We all stopped in our tracks, staring at her.





          “Guys, this is Gwendolyn Dariella.” Peter said with a grin, giving me a meaningful look.





“Uh, please, call me Gwen.” she said with a nervous smile, looking at us.





          So. Her name is Gwen.





        Slick jumped up, and walked across the room. He took her hand and kissed it. “My name is Slick, I’m glad to meet you.” What was he 


doing?





          Poor Gwen looked taken aback in shock. “Er… you’re name isn’t actually Slick, is it?” she asked with a hint of scorn. The room 


burst with laughter, as Slick’s face turned a beet red. Slick was made fun of by a few 5th graders while he was in Gr.3 for his name. Ever 


since then, he’s “shortened” it to something more bearable.





          He glared at us with piercing eyes, warning us that if we revealed his real name, we would be in for a major ass-kicking. Nick saved the day by saying,“My name’s Nick.”





“Kurt here.” ,our youngest member waved.





“I’m Christopher, but call me Topher” I added, brandishing my drum sticks.





“And I, of course, am Peter” Pete said, giving a great theatrical bow, winking at her.





She giggled back, “Nice to meet you guys” Gwen replied, smiling at all of us.





          I sighed in my mind. Great. Peter was already starting to hit on her. How was I supposed to compete? And if she wasn’t 


interested in Pete, she would surely be eyeing Nick. 





          “Would you care for a little music?” Pete inquired.





“Sure thing!” she replied, taking a seat in a nearby beanbag.





“Any requests?”





“Well…” she answered, “How about some Queen?”





          Was it fate that she picked one of my favourite bands?





“Queen it is, milady.” Peter replied.





He sang the first note and the rest of us quickly followed with the harmonies. "Somebody to Love" was one of our better cover songs. We 


were lucky she picked it instead of something harder like Bohemian Rhapsody. I had to admit that the drums on this song were pretty dull, and it 


showcased the other guys’ talents better. I usually wouldn’t have minded but today, I had someone I wanted to impress.





When the song came to an end, Gwen jumped off of her seat and gave us an enthusiastic round of applause. Smiling really big, she said, 


“Wow guys, that was so good! No – better than good – fantastic!”





Blushing, “Aww, it was nothing.” I replied.





She looked at me with her emerald eyes for what seemed was like an eternity, but was probably only a few seconds.





“Have I seen you before?” she inquired with a suspicious tone.





Speechless, I thought about the situation in the mall. Half-heartedly stifled snickers came from the guys.





“Uh… uhm, I don’t think so.” I sputtered.





An awkward silence ensued.





Thankfully, Gwen changed the subject.





“So, what’s the name of your band, anyway?”





“We’re Peter and the Lost Boys.” Kurt answered.