Sean Connery: A Short Story

On a cold Monday morning, 18-year-old Sean Connery gets ready for school. He puts on a plain white shirt, a pair of jeans, converse, and throws a hoodie over his chestnut-colored hair. Before leaving his room, Sean grabs his school bag and his iPod and heads down the stairs. His dad has already left for one of his many jobs. Sean has nothing but aspiration for his father. His dad works really hard to put him through school all while paying for his mom’s medical bills. Sean heads out the front door, stopping outside to lock it. Sean decides to walk to school since it’s only a couple blocks. As Sean approaches the big brick building, he is filled with a sense of dread and anxiety, but all that quickly fades when he sees his best friends – Brandon, Joseph, Bob, and Andy – waving at him. Sean waves back and walks quickly towards them.

“How was your weekend?” Brandon asks Sean as he appears.

Brandon is

about a head taller than Sean, with ruffled black hair. He has the same ocean blue eyes as Sean. Sean met Brandon on the first day of high school. Brandon had stepped in between Sean and a bully named Alex, who had tormented Sean since he was 8 years old. Brandon is more of the muscular guy in the group.
“It was okay,” Sean says.
“How’s your mom? Is she doing any better?” Joseph asks.
Joseph and Sean share the same taste in comic books series. They met sophomore year of high school, in English class. Joseph and Sean were partnered up for a project where they had to write about their favorite comic book character. Joseph is taller than both Brandon and Bob with emerald green eyes and short dark hair. Joseph has more of a lean figure with some defining muscles.
“The doctors don’t see a change in her condition.” Sean says, “But I have faith she’ll pull through. She’s my mom. She’s a fighter.”
“I’m sorry Sean. But now on to the real matters.” Bob says, “Did you ask her out yet?”
Bob and Sean had perhaps the most depressing encounter out of all the friends. Bob met Sean last year, in the hospital. Bob’s grandma was taken into surgery just as Sean’s mother was taken into surgery. They both ended up in the waiting room and comforted each other. Bob is in-between the heights of Brandon and Joseph. He has hazel colored eyes and thinning brown hair. The her that Bob is referring to is a girl that Sean has been crushing on for the last three years but he was never able to tell her how he felt because he was scared she’d laugh at him or he would do something embarrassing. Also, she is popular, he’s not as popular, and in high school, cliques are all that matter. Nerds and losers like him never get the popular pretty girl like her.
“What am I supposed to say, ‘hi I’m Sean and I have a crush on you’?” Sean says.
“Yes, tell her how you feel.” Brandon and Bob say together.
“Look at Andy, he took the first step and told his now girlfriend how he felt about her and they couldn’t be happier.” Bob says.
“Look, guys, I appreciate the support but the fact is I blew it. She has a boyfriend now. I’m too late.” Sean says.
“You mean that fool Derek?” Bob says, “I bet you he doesn’t even like her and who knows she might have had a crush on you this whole time but she was waiting on you to say something.”
“I can’t break up a relationship for my own benefit.” Sean says.
“You’re so noble Sean. Girls love that in a guy.” Andy says.
Andy and Sean met this year in the summer. Andy is more friends with Brandon but through Brandon, Andy got to know Sean. Andy has short golden blonde hair and blue eyes. He is the same height as Brandon and met his girlfriend, Marzia, last year.
“Now is your chance dude.” Bob says as he motions his eyes towards the direction of a girl grabbing her books from her locker.
Sean tries to protest on not going but his friends push him forward and they take a step backward. Sean looks back at his friends then again at the girl. He takes a couple deep breaths to try and calm his nerves. He takes a step towards the girl. Then he takes another step. ‘Hi Signe, my name is Sean,’ he thinks, he replays his thoughts over again in his mind. Sean reaches out to tap her on the shoulder when another pair of arms swoop in from behind and pulls her into a hug. Sean quickly turns away and brings out his phone to avoid any further embarrassment. To make matters worse, Sean is still within earshot so he hears the entire conversation.
“Hey, baby.” Derek says close to her ear.
Derek pushes her strawberry blonde hair away from her neck and slowly kisses it. Signe turns around and hugs him.
“We should be going to class.” Signe says.
“But I just want to stay right here, with you, in this moment.” Derek says.
Before either of them could get a word in the bell rings. Derek hugs her goodbye and Signe and her friends head in the other direction to class. Sean looks up from his phone and sees his friends heading to class. He doesn’t go to class, though; he goes to the restroom. Sean opens the doors and heads for the sinks. He opens the faucet and lets the water run, then splashes his face. He turns the sink off and dries his face with a paper towel. Sean paces back and forth, thinking to himself, how could you be so stupid. Going there to tell her how you feel. It’s too late Sean! Stupid! You are such a shy nerd. Now look who she’s with, Derek. That could have been you, but you have no one to blame but yourself. Sean hears the restroom door and he immediately stops pacing. He sees a someone turn the corner. Derek and Sean lock eyes.
“What were you doing by my girlfriend’s locker?” Derek asks.
“N-nothing.” Sean says stammering.
“You are such an idiot. No girl will ever like you. She’s better off with me anyway.” Derek says showing off.
Sean tries to leave the restroom, but Derek grabs him and flings him onto the floor.
“We weren’t done.” Derek says.
Sean curls up but Derek picks him up by the collar of his shirt and punches him in the eye.
“Stay away from my girlfriend or that black eye will be the least of your worries.” Derek says.
Derek lets go of Sean and Sean rushes out of the restroom to his class.
After school, Sean didn’t really want to talk to anybody, not even his friends so he left as quickly as possible and took the long way home. He passed the hospital and decided to go inside to visit his mom. The nurses knew who he was by now and they just took him to his mother’s room. Sean entered the bright white room where his mother lay with all sorts tubes hooked up to her.
“Hi, mom.” Sean says as he wipes a tear from his face.
“How’s my boy?” Sean’s mother says slowly.
“I’m fine mom. Dad is working hard to make sure you get the best care—” Sean starts to say.
“Enough about me, I want to hear about you, sweetheart.” Sean’s mom says.
Sean grabs his mother’s hand and squeezes slightly, “School was okay.”
Sean’s mom grabs his chin and lifts his face up. Sean sees the look of horror and hurt on his mother’s face when she sees his black eye. The last thing he wants is his mother to worry about him.
“What happened Sean?” His mother asks.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” Sean says, trying to brush off the question.
“Sean, I’m your mother and I care about you.”
“Derek punched me.” Sean says. “Derek is the boyfriend of Signe.”
“That girl you like. That’s her boyfriend? I thought you were going to tell her how you feel?”
“I chickened out. I let my nerves get the better of me.”
“That doesn’t mean you should give up. If you really like her, let her know how you feel and if she rejects you then at least you know you tried.” Sean’s mom says.
“How did you get so wise mom?”
“It’s because I have the most caring, thoughtful, and wonderful son.”
“I love you, mom.” Sean says.
“Ask her.” Sean’s mom says. “Take her to your prom this weekend.”
Three more days until Prom. The next day at school Sean made himself a promise that he would talk to her no matter how scared he is. Sean sees Signe at her locker, he glances over at her and his eyes drift and he catches her friends glaring at him. Sean didn’t have his friends as back up today because they all, coincidentally, had to go on a family vacation. So it was just him, alone. Sean looks away and stares at his shoes. When he looks back up again, the girls are right in front of him.
“Stay away from her, okay.

She is the most popular girl in school, besides us of course, and she is dating the most popular guy in the school. So she is way out of your league and there is no way she will ever downgrade to filth like you.” The girl with the really long blonde hair and overly preppy attitude says.

“You heard her, now back off weirdo.” The girl with short wavy brown hair says.

They flip their hair behind their left shoulder and walk towards Signe. Sean puts his head down and heads to class.

The after school bell rings and Sean heads to his locker and packs his books inside his backpack. He closes his locker and ends out the building. “Screw it.” Sean says to himself. He turns around and walks up to Signe. Derek is standing right next to her with his arms around her, but that doesn’t stop him. Her friends are glaring angry at him but he still doesn’t run away.

“I just wanted to say you look pretty today.” Sean says and turns bright pink.

Signe smiles, but before she could get a words in Sean turns around and runs to the hospital.

“Did you do it?” His mom

asks.
“No, but I told her she looked pretty.”
“And, what did she say back?” Sean’s mom says.
“I-I-I don’t know. I kind of right out before she could talk.” Sean says.
“Well at least you talked to her.”
Two days before Prom. Sean hears his locker slam and he looks up. Derek is standing in front of him, his nose practically spewing fire.
“What the hell was that yesterday?” Derek asks.
“I won’t apologize for what I did.” Sean says.
Derek slams him up against the locker. “You are really pushing it.”
“I bet if Signe saw this side of you, you guys would be over.”
“Shut up you dumb nerd.” Derek says and knees Sean in the stomach.
Sean gasps for air and curls over. Derek lets go of him and walks away. Sean straightens up slowly and tosses his backpack over his shoulder. Just as he was about to leave a hand taps him on the shoulder, he turns.
“Hi, Sean right?” Signe says.
Sean nods.
“I wanted to thank you for the compliment yesterday.”
This is it, the moment Sean has been waiting for, “Do you, um…would you, um…do you want to go to the um…would you like to go the prom with me?” Sean says stammering and immediately looks at the floor.
“I um, have a boyfriend. But I would love to go with you as friends.” She replies.
Sean looks up, and stares into her perfect almond colored eyes. She gives him a hug and he can smell her sweet berry conditioner on her radiant strawberry blonde hair. She walks off and Sean stands there in disbelief of what had just happened.
Thursday and Friday went by too quickly. Sean couldn’t believe it was prom night and that he actually gets to hang out with the girl of his dreams. Sean wears his father’s old tux and leaves his house. When he enters the school, it looks different. The prom decorations were really well done and he was so happy he got to go. Sean follows the loud thumping music into the gymnasium were a bunch of sweaty students are dancing and making poor life choices. He scans the crowd for Signe and sees her with Derek. Crap, he thinks. Sean didn’t really feel like getting his butt kicked again by Derek especially on the most romantic night of his life. Signe breaks away from Derek and walks towards him.