Fanfiction: Ordinary Day

Hey guys! Gosh, it's been forever since I've updated and I sincerely apologise for that! :(

First of all, I got kinda demotivated with the fact that some of my vids were deleted off of Youtube, and couple that with a couple of lacklustre TVB series that were showing at that time, I just started putting off blogging again and again and then got so caught up in assignments and university work that I just haven't had time to breatheeeee at all. I think I must have typed more than 15,000 words in my four assignments due in the past three weeks. And then there's exams coming in less than a month too. God.

Anyway, here's a little songfic I got inspired to write after listening to this song after so long. It's a one-shot, featuring my favourite couple. Nothing serious, just a little fun for me because I seriously needed a break from academic work. I was going to work on There and Back Again but then I realised I didn't have it on this computer, so out came this one-shot songfic instead. I really hope you guys like it, although it's not my best work. :)

(Excuse the banner, I did it in five mins because I'm getting sleepy! Lol.)

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Ordinary Day; released by Vanessa Carlton

Sunshine. The worst part of the morning.

You know that groggy feeling when you just wake up but you want to fall back right into bed and bury your head into that pillow?

And then, you can’t.

Because you’ve caught a glimpse of the sunshine peeking in through the window blinds. Sunshine is just so, I don’t know… perky, I guess. It’s the thing that makes veggies grow; help them produce chlorophyll or something. I wouldn’t know; Science was never my cup of tea. It’s the thing that enables tall, leggy babes to acquire a bronzed even color of tan, one that I’d never be able to get, with my fair skin and all. I swear, every time I spend more than fifteen minutes in sunshine without a protection layer of SPF 5, a band of freckles seem to miraculously pop up across the bridge of my nose. Do I even need to give you another reason for not liking sunshine?

“Wakey wakey, Sunshine!”

Right. I forgot about that reason.

Groaning, I dragged my tired body out of bed and stuffed my feet into their slippers. Bright yellow slippers with Pokemon heads on them. Gag gift from my best friend. Don’t ask. She’s weird. “Coming, coming,” I grumbled from my bedroom.

“Scrambled or sunny-side up, Sunshine?” she called from the kitchen, laughing. “Sunshine!”

I rolled my eyes and tried to laugh. As sarcastically as I could with a toothbrush in my mouth. She never seemed to get sick of the same old joke everyday. Sunshine. Sunny-side up.

Spitting out the last of the Colgate, I trudged grumpily out to the hall and peered into the adjoining kitchen.

“Another dye job, Via?”

“You like it?” she giggled like a 13-year-old schoolgirl and turned around, giving me the full effect.

“Yeah well, I liked the last 8 dye jobs too. What colour have you not gone?” I sat down on a stool and started ticking choices off my right hand. “Burgundy, purple, dark green with red streaks, turquoise, pink, red, bleached blonde, neon green, and now blue. What next?”

“Gold and silver, y’know, like a Christmas ornament, eh? How bout that?”

“Oh, heaven help me.”

”What’s wrong with you, Sunny? Got up on the wrong side of the bed?”

I rolled my eyes again, for what seemed like the nineteenth time that day. I loved her to bits, but sometimes she was way too chipper in the mornings for my liking. Tavia was, or rather is, my landlady. I know, she acts like my mother, but she means well. Without her, I’d probably have to starve without my daily supply of grease and sugar. Via owns a flower shop downstairs. You could probably notice the stall from about a mile away. It’s brightly colored, usually painted to match Via’s hair, whatever color it was. In fact, I don’t even know what the original color is.

“You have to understand, an old lady like me needs to cover up the fact that her hair is graying quickly,” she joked, laying two eggs on my plate. “Chicken cordon bleu?”

I shook my head obediently. “Why are you going all French on me? It’s just chicken ham.”

“Smells good,” my brother mumbled, yawning. He snatched a sausage off my plate and opened the refrigerator door. “Mornin’ Via. Hi, B.”

“What is it with all these nicknames? B. Sunshine. Urgh.” I shook my head, trying to digest the eggs.

My brother opened the fridge door and grabbed a carton of milk. Opening the carton, he took a swig directly from it.

“Ugh, Fred. Use a glass.”

“Chill out, Bernice.”

“Whatever.”

He took another mouthful of milk. “Oh, Leila called. She wanted you to know that she found your Backstreet Boys CD." He paused. “Yuck, Backstreet? They’re so nineties. Could you be anymore alien, B?”

“At least I listen to something other than The Eminem Show,” I shot back. Little brothers.

“Oh, shut up, B.”

“Calm down, you two. Off to school, Fred,” Via hustled him out the door, ruffling his hair. “I hate it when you do that, Via!” I heard him yelp in protest. “Bye, honey!” she yelled after him. Smothering my giggles, I got up to change.

Same old, same old. Story of my life. Ugh. I frowned at myself in the mirror. Bad hair day. My life is one big old boring routine, repeated over and over and over again. Don’t I get bored? Oh yeah, I definitely do. But there’s nothing much I can do about it.

Going down to the flower shop to help out in the morning. Waitress-ing at Wendy’s Waffles after lunch. Cashier at the departmental store in the evening till nine o’clock at night. For every day except Sundays. Everyday is just an ordinary day. Unfortunately.

Just a day, just an ordinary day
Just trying to get by

“Bernie, ready to go?”

"Coming!” I yelled back.

Putting on my last earring, I followed her down to the florist. Leila would already be there. She usually opens the shop up for early morning business. She definitely handles mornings a lot better than I do. Via hires the both of us. I have no idea why, the florist is rather tiny and would run fine without our help; Leila says it’s just so that Via can make sure that we have some extra cash in our pockets. I’m not surprised, that sounds just like Via. She’s a real mother hen.

Blinking, I shielded my eyes from the sunshine, enemy number 1. “Hey, Lei.”

“Hey, Ber. Got your CD right here.” She handed over the plastic case, patting Nick Carter’s face goodbye.

“What is it with nicknames this morning? First B, Sunshine, Bernie, and now Ber? Brr?” I grumbled incredulously, stashing the CD into my shoulder bag.

“Greetings, my loyal subjects!”

“Hi, Ellie.” I didn’t even have to look to see who it was. Ellie visited daily.

Via smiled. She always had a soft spot for the scruffy and dirty looking little girl. “What can I do for you today, dear?”

I smiled. Via had on her motherly look again.

“White roses. I’m going to give them to the queen. The king’s going to rule a new land today, and the queen, my mother, must have white roses to adorn her head wear,” the weird little girl chirped.

Leila laughed, reaching for the wrappers. “Half a dozen white roses, coming up!”

Via reached down and wiped a smudge off Ellie’s cheek. “It’s on the house, dear. I’m sure we all want the queen to look pretty too.”

“Thank you. I shall tell the king, and he shall reward you,” she went off with the roses in her arm, whistling a happy tune.

“Remind me to sew her a new dress for Christmas,” Via said. She eyed the rags that Ellie was wearing.

“You? Sew?”

“I can try. It’s my New Year’s resolution.”

Laughing, I went to sit down on the bench next to Leila. “How’s Ron?”

“Fine,” she answered absent-mindedly. “He’s starting a band.”

”A band?” I asked sarcastically. “With?”

“I don’t know. Ray, I suppose. Maybe Bosco.” Leila leafed through a mag.

I snorted. “What?”

“Bosco’s supposed to play the keyboards. Ray will be the lead singer, I suppose, and Ron on drums. There’s another guy too, not sure who. One of Ray’s friends, I suppose. They seem pretty keen on it. They’re trying to get gigs and stuff down at the pub.”

“Ron? Drums? Ron plus drums, equals big noise. Remind me to get earplugs.”

She glared pointedly at me. “If all you’re gonna do is sit here and insult my boyfriend, then you really need a life of your own.”

“I do have a life. It’s just that it’s absolutely boring and testosterone-less.”

Leila threw her hands up in the air. “Exactly my point! That fourth band member is really cute. Muscular, tanned, good-looking. Plays a mean guitar, too. Now, I remember correctly, his name is Kieran. Or Kevin. Maybe it’s Keenan. But anyway, it doesn’t matter. All you have to do, is turn up at their first gig, and I’ll get Ron to introduce you guys.” She smiled, obviously proud of herself.

“Please! I’m not that desperate to fall for boyband member. That is so groupie.” I rolled my eyes, as Leila got ready to protest. “And besides, I don’t need your help. I can do just fine.”

I hadn’t been on a date since forever. But I wasn’t about to wait for my best friend to hook me up with her boyfriend’s band mate.

“B, that guy is so fine,” Leila whispered loudly. “Look.”

“Could you be any louder?” I asked, mortified.

“Seriously, look at him. Wow, he’s so tall. Look!” Leila jabbed her finger excitedly in his direction.

Cringing, I turned. Leila just didn’t know when to…

Oh. My. God.

There he stood. In his 6’1” frame, standing there in front of the shop. He wasn’t model handsome, but he wasn’t butt ugly either. But something about him just made me feel attracted to him. He was just a guy you’d see on the streets, perhaps a little better looking than others, but other than that, there was nothing special. And yet, I felt something.

“GO!”

“What?” I turned to look at my best friend, or rather, ex best friend, angrily.

“Go talk to him!” I felt a push. Since when exactly had Leila gained so many muscles? Rubbing my sore butt, I turned around and saw Via grinning there with her. Great, now Via was on my boyfriend-less case too? I must have looked really desperate.

I gave them a reluctant show of walking up to the guy. But, as I neared him, undeniably, my heart began to pound faster.

“Hi.”

No answer.

I peered up at the sky, trying to see what was so interesting. He had been staring up for the last five seconds or so.

“Great weather, huh?”

He turned to look at me. Finally! He had the most incredible looking brown eyes I had ever seen. Deep and soulful. Then, he held out his hand.


Just a boy, just an ordinary boy but
He was looking to the sky and…


“Huh?” I asked, confused. First he totally snubs me, and now he wants me to hold his hand?

“Come on.”

All it took were those two words and I felt all my resolve slowly melting away. Hesitantly, I slipped my hand into his bigger one. He smiled. “Great.”


As he asked if I could come along…
I started to realize that everyday he finds just what he’s looking for
And like a shooting star he shines
And he said…


And then he’s off. Leading me through the busy streets of Vancouver. Weaving in and out of traffic.

“Hey,” I yelled. “Where are you taking me? Hey! Hey!”

He stopped.

“Well?” I asked expectantly. “Where are you taking me?”

“Just follow me.”

Alarm! “What are you? Some kind of psycho?”

“You don’t live life to the fullest, do you?

“Huh?” Before I could utter another word, he pulled on my hand again. After three minutes of brisk walking, he finally slowed down.

The beach. Sounds of ocean waves crashing against the shore, and seagull twittering as they flew in circles in the sky. Strangely enough, the beach was almost empty. Except for us.

I found myself sitting down on a log. He sat next to me

“Hello.”

“Hi,” I muttered wryly.

“I know you.”

Okay, this was getting stranger by the minute. “That’s great for you. But I certainly don’t know you.” I got up to leave.

“Bernie, come on, don’t go.”

Bernie? I don't know how he knew, but I sort of liked the sound of it. This was crazy.

“You look like a person with dreams.”

“So what if I am?”

He smiled, a warm and kind smile. “Care to share?”

“Number one, get out of this hellhole. Number two, get out of this hellhole, and three…”

“…Get out of this hellhole?” he continued for me.

“My thoughts exactly," I smiled wistfully.

“So why aren’t you? You know what you want, you know what you need, you’re certainly not afraid to say it. So why don’t you go get it?”

I pondered over his words. I hadn’t ever thought about it in that way before. Sure, I knew I wanted to get away from Vancouver. I knew there were bigger things that I was destined for in the world. Dancing. But I hadn’t exactly thought about doing it. It just wasn't something to think about.

How come this man could make me think things I never even given a second thought to before?

“Bernie,” he looked straight into my eyes. I shivered. It was as though he could see right into my soul. Suddenly I felt scared. He seemed like he was reading my heart and mind exactly. He could relate to what I going through.

But, I’d only known him for fewer than ten minutes. Yet, I felt I’d known him all my life.

“Do you feel free?” he continued. Then, he took off his shoes and socks, and lay them down beside the log. Again, he extended his hand, that sweet friendly gesture he had done before.

“Who are you?” I whispered to myself. Following his actions, I slipped out of my sneakers and stood up, following him. The smooth sand felt warm under my naked soles.


Take my hand, live while you can
Don’t you see you dreams lie right in the palm of your hand

And as he spoke, he spoke ordinary words
Though they did now fail
For I felt what I had not felt before
And you’d swear those words could heal and…

As I looked up into those eyes, his vision borrows mine
And I know that he’s no stranger
For I feel I’ve held him for all of time, and he said…


To my surprise, he started running. “Catch me if you can!” he yelled, in that lilting Aussie accent of his.

I stared after him in disbelief. What?

“Come on!”


Take my hand, live while you can
Don’t you see you dreams lie right in the palm of your hand

Please come with me, see what I see…


Surprisingly, I laughed out loud. This was crazy, he was crazy and I felt crazy. So what the heck? I took off after him, running as hard as I could. I could hear him laughing as well in the distance.

For a strange reason, I felt as thought I was flying. And most importantly, I felt free. And I loved every minute of it. And then I had a fleeting thought. Maybe, just maybe I could do more than I had been doing all along.


Touch the stars for time will not flee…
Time will not flee, can’t you see…


After what seemed like an eternity, I caught up to him. He stood there, smiling that beautiful smile again.

Skidding to a stop in front of him, I tried to catch my breath, huffing and puffing, and wiping my sweat off my forehead with my sleeve.

“Now you know what I’m talking about?”

I nodded wordlessly.

He held out his hand, palm facing the sky. “Everything is here, laid out on your palm. All you have to do is take it.” He closed his hand, gripping tightly.

“Take it,” I echoed.


Take my hand, live while you can
Don’t you see you dreams lie right in the palm of your hand


“Remember what I said now.”

I nodded again. “How could I forget?” I whispered.

He beamed, a slight lift of the corners of his mouth. “Close your eyes,” he said softly.

I did.

“Open,” he said in an even softer tone, so soft that it almost sounded faraway. “Open now.”

I did.

He was nowhere to be seen.


Just a dream, just an ordinary dream
As I wake in bed…


“Aaah!” I woke up with a start, a bead of sweat rolling down my cheek. “What was that?” I stuttered, catching my breath. “A dream?” I whispered to myself.

Sunshine streamed in through my open window. A dream? Could it be? It had all seemed so real, so vivid, so concrete. I had felt him. And he seemed like he had looked right into me. How could it be just a dream?


And that boy, that ordinary boy
Was it all in my head?
Didn’t he asked if I would come along
It all seemed so real…


Standing up, I groaned. Everything had been so real. The holding hands, the beach, the running.

The beach!

My eyes opened in amazement. I dug my hands into the space between the quilt and the mattress and came up with…a big handful of sand.

“Rise and shine, Sunny!”

“Via, did you do any gardening lately?” I yelled. That would explain the sand. Via was extremely absent-minded and careless, always leaving things everywhere. I had found cheese in the bathroom cabinet and Fred’s soccer ball in the oven once.

No answer from outside. I shuffled out of my room and popped my head outside. “Via, did you by any cha…”


But as I looked to the door
I saw that boy standing there with a deal
And he said…


He was standing in the doorway. He. That guy. It was him.

Suddenly, Leila appeared. “Hey, finally, you’re awake. Ron’s band is here to practice; they needed to borrow Fred’s drums.”

“Oh.” That was all I could mutter. My gaze was still fixed on the tall, statuesque man next to her.

She caught my stare and smiled knowingly. “Bernice, meet Moses. He’s the fifth member of the band,” she laughed, using finger quotes around band.

“Hi,” he extended his hand. That movement seemed so familiar. And that accent so memorable. I could never forget it. That Aussie accent.


Take my hand, live while you can
Don’t you see you dreams lie right in the palm of your hand


“Hi,” I shook his hand. The way he gripped it, touched it, seemed exactly like my dream. Could it be?

He smiled; that very same smile. “Mind if I call you Bernie?”

My heart skipped a beat. “Sure.”

He smiled. I smiled back. An ordinary day? Maybe not after all.


Just a day, just an ordinary day
Just trying to get by
Just a boy, just an ordinary boy
But he was looking to the sky…


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Okay so after proof-reading it for the second time, it feels a little strange in parts. Very different from what I've been writing all along, but I still hope you like it nonetheless *fingers crossed*