Lea Coletti

Age: 17
Lea is a your average boy-crazy teen, but she'd slightly more classy and girly then the majority of the others which is why she always gets the guy. If she were an animal, she'd be a snake because she's very suave and smooth like one, and in some cases, slightly sneaky.

Dante Giordano

Age: 17
Dante is a guido by high standards. He is tan, super fit, funny, and a ladies-man. But he's only got one chick on his mind. He really is sweet at heart and a big flirt once you get to know him. And he's also pretty loud.

~Cole Tritchen~

17 years old
Cole's a really kind guy and he loves making music. But the only problem is is that usually, he's not really sure and it's hard for him to make up his mind. At times, he'll assume he has something really figured out, but he doesn't. He's a gentleman and he can be considerate. His dad is a UPS truck guy and his mother is a teacher. He loves animals.

~Bella Halette~

17 years old
Bella comes off as unhappy, a loner, quiet, and very shy but when she's with her friends or with someone who doesn't feel like they're breaking her heart, she's all smiles and laughter. Her mother is a high-class maid and her father works at the town's supply store as a manager. She always over-thinks things, but she has learned to keep her mouth shut. She can be weird and awkward and at times, off. Things effect her easily no matter what they are.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bella Halette looked down at the red plastic cup in her hands. The strong smell of mixed alcohol almost made her cringe. Across from her sat her friend Dianna, who waited patiently for Bella to speak.

"So? What's wrong? You've been quiet all night. You're usually not like this at my parties," Diana said as she took a sip of her drink.

Bella traced the edges of her cup in her hand for a moment before she looked up at Diana. "It's...it's Dante. S-summer's almost over...and things just...they feel wrong," murmured Bella as she looked back down to stare at the golden liquid in her cup. "I don't know what to do..." she then added.

Diana sighed. "I guess that that was the problem," she said as she got up and sat her cup down on the kitchen island that they were seated at, the puffy bar stool squeaking.

Bella looked back up at Diana just as Diana took the cup out of Bella's hands and placed it beside her's. "What..."

"Let's go out and sit around the bon fire. You need some more social time with my friends." Diana grabbed Bella's arm gently, but firm enough to force Bella down from the bar stool.

Bella followed Diana out onto the patio. She looked up at the sky as they passed the large lawn. The full moon was high in the sky and the hot summer night clung to Bella like water droplets. A cool breeze blew, enough to cause Bella to shiver slightly from the contact. Bella looked ahead of her, a large bon fire in view with kids her age sitting around it. Bella and Diana sat down.

Cole looked to his right as two girls sat down beside him. One of them he recognized as his best friend Diana, the host of this party. And then beside Diana was a girl he had never seen before. But in the flicking fire light, he saw the stranger to be beautiful.

He smiled and spoke. "Great party, Diana," Cole said, hoping Diana would introduce him to the stranger. He didn't feel brave enough to introduce himself to her at the moment.

Diana looked over and smiled back. "Thanks! Urm, this is my one friend. Bella. You've heard of her?" Diana asked, her eyes narrowing on Bella, who had now finally turned her head to looked at Cole.

"Diana has talked a lot about you. So I finally get to meet the famous Bella? Pleasure to meet you--I'm Cole," Cole said with a bigger and warmer smile, outstretching his hand to Bella to shake.

Bella gave him a big smile that made Cole smile all the more as she took his hand and shook it. She seemed really shy. She didn't even say anything.

Dante Giordano laughed as his best friend, Dino, acted as his girlfriend Bella. Dino put his hands under his shirt to imitate breasts and began to laugh. "Oh, Danny, you sooo totally get me! I love you Danny!" Dante rolled his eyes and took another swig from the bottle of beer in his hand.

"Hey, Dan. Look who just walked in." Dino said, motioning his head toward Lea Colleti, the most mysterious girl in Denwood. She walked over to the seat at the bar closest to Dino. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" she asked, her voice low and steady like the sound of a saxophone. Dino raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you?" he said, his dimpled smile wide on his face. Lea smiled back and combed her fingers through her curly mane. "It doesn't matter how old you are when you look this good." she laughed and puckered her lips, causing Dino to laugh.

"Lemme buy you a beer." Dino said, waving the bartender over. Lea put her elbow in the table and laid her head in her hand. "Hey, Dante. I didn't see you there." she said, smiling at Dante. Dante raised his brows and looked at his beer, not wanting to look at Lea. "Uh... hey, Colleti." he said like he always did when she talked to him. Lea smiled. Dino laughed. "Lea, why do you always insist on flirting with Danny? You're makin' him all nervous. Especially when Bella told him not to look at you." "She didn't say anything like that and you know it." Dante said angrily at Dino. Lea laughed under her breath. "Then why won't you look at me, Giordano?" she asked. Dante rolled his eyes and looked up at Lea, his hands getting slightly sweaty. He didn't like to talk to girls like Lea, who were continuously seducing guys like him into hitting on them. He was too faithful for that. Sure, he'd probably fantasize about them later, but imagining doing something and actually doing something were two different things.

The bartender brought Lea's drink in a mug. Dino was flirting with her, but Danny just didn't seem to be into her. She'd always thought she was an every guy kinda girl, but the one she liked was not only in a relationship, but apparently not even attracted to her. Lea was only half listening to what Dino was even saying. He seemed to be talking about some prank he'd pulled on some guy named Skotch, but she didn't care. She wanted to talk with Dante. "That's funny Dino. Isn't that funny, Dan?" she asked, tilting her head so she could see Dante's face. "Mmm-hmm. Listen, guys, I'm gonna head home now. I wanna call Bella about hangin' out tomorrow and I lost my cellphone. See ya." he said, leaving the table and walking out of the door. Lea sighed and listened to Dino drone on, unsure of how long she'd be able ot take this.

Bella put her hand to her chest as she breathed in and out deeply. "Oh god. My chest hurts. Could I be having a heart-attack?" she asked as she turned onto her street, Diana walking beside her.

Diana shook her head. "Anxiety, hon." Bella just looked away and down at the pavement underneath her bare feet. She held her black pumps in her hand. "What's got you so worried? It can't be Dante...can it?" asked Diana as Diana urged Bella faster down the street. Bella's house stood a the other end of the street. It was convenient to be in walking distance to Diana's house.

Bella suddenly felt like she could burst into tears at any moment, which was no excuse being that she didn't even take a sip of alcohol tonight for the first time in a long time. Usually she found alcohol as an relief in her life--and escape. But maybe not tonight.

When they stepped up to Bella's house, the front door immediately busted open, Bella's older sister in view. "Do you have any idea what time it is? You're pretty effing lucky that mom and dad aren't home," said Bella's sister, Cari. Cari moved aside so her sister and Diana could enter the house. Cari sighed and slammed the front door shut and put her hands on her hips. "Please tell me you didn't drink tonight."

Bella and Diana rolled their eyes in unison. "No," Bella answered. She was about to explain her night to her sister when her phone went off, Dante's ringtone playing. She gave a sad smile to Diana. "He's calling."

Diana smiled and rolled her eyes once more. "Take it. I'll be in the kitchen raiding your fridge..." Diana said as she walked from the main hallway and into the kitchen where she opened up the fridge and started taking out random items while talking to Cari, who had followed her in there.

Cole sat silently in the front seat of his mother's car. He loved his mother. She was so lenient and easy on him. His father was the same way. That's why he was so close with his parents. "How was the party, Cole?" his mother asked.

Cole looked over at his mother and put on his fake happy face and smile. "It was really great. Diana threw a pretty good party--as usual."

Cole's mother just nodded her head. "Last year of high school. How do you feel about that?" she then asked.

Cole shrugged his shoulders. He honestly didn't know how to answer that being that he never had problems in school. Maybe it was the fact that he was going through his Senior year single that was bothering him. He never once had a girlfriend before. "It's exciting," Cole lied.

So the new Senior Year goal was set. Find a girlfriend.

"Uh... hey, Bella. Listen, we gotta talk. Now, uh, I think we've been kinda, um, on a rough-spot lately, and, um, well, I think we need to spend more time together." Dante said as her walked closer to his house. He held his Droid closer to his ear, feeling like Bella was about to start yelling at him. "So... maybe we can head out to Giorbaldi's soon? You know how I love their pizza." he continued. He could feel his feet under him, walking up the front steps to his house. His parent's cars weren't in front, which meant the house was completely empty. He grabbed his key from his front pocket and unlocked the door slowly.

Lea watched Dino sip his beer and keep on talking. She was highly annoyed. She didn't know any other guys who could talk as much as him. Especially to a girl as hot as she was. She needed to end this. "Uh, Dino, I don't need to be rude or anything, but, I kinda have to get home. My family has, um, people coming over and I really wanna see them." she said, causing Dino's eyebrows to raise slightly. "Well, okay. See you later, unless... you give me your number..." Dino said, smiling slightly at Lea. He was too cute to disappoint. She pulled a tiny notebook from her pocket and grabbed a pen from the bar counter. She jotted her number down and handed it to him. "Call me later. If I don't answer, then try later." she said as she walked out of the bar, hoping Dino would show the number to Dante.

As soon as Dante said, "we need to talk", her heart was pounding painfully strong and her breathing had increased. She squinted her eyes shut. Oh god. This is it. He's finally breaking up with me, she thought as she held on to every word he was saying. But when he finished the sentence, she felt relief wash over her. "Yeah! I agree. I could totally go for some pizza. Hadn't had any for a few weeks and I swear there's such thing as Pizza Withdraw," Bella said as she found herself smiling at how glad she was that he wasn't going to break up with her. He was trying to fix things--which she had to hand it to him.

Cole sat down at his computer, staring at the screen as it lit up and loaded. He looked over at where his Clarinet sat over in the corner of his bedroom. Really, he should be practicing, but he felt too distracted right now. He logged on to his facebook account and just browsed through everyone's posts. He was glad he was returning to school. He'd be able to see more of his friends and he'd be able to to be so bored all the time. He just needed this year to be good. Maybe even magical, if that could be possible.

"That's good. I'll pick you up tomorrow around five, 'kay babe?" Dante said, not waiting for an answer and closing his phone. He felt good that he was spending much-needed time with his girlfriend. They hadn't really talked in days. Before he could get in the house good, Dante's phone rang again. It was Dino. "Guess what, man? I just got Colleti's phone number! And I'm pretty sure it's not fake!" he said. Dante laughed. Dino was always pretty girl-crazy. There was never a time in a conversation with him that he wouldn't mention at least 2 pretty girls. Dante headed into his house and closed the door. It slammed, activating a headache that throbbed his head and made him pull his phone far away from his ear. It was gonna be a long night.

Bella looked at Diana and puffed a sigh."He wants to hang out," she said as she began packing the food back in the fridge. Pizza was definitely better than any leftovers right now.

Diana blinked. "Wait, now?" she asked.

Bella shrugged her shoulders and began pushing Diana to her front door. "No, but you gotta go. I have planning to do. I still have to shave my legs and wash my hair before I spend all tomorrow morning styling it. I'll text you when I wake up, 'kay?" asked Bella as she shoved Diana out the front door in her kidding-friendly way of hers.

Diana sighed and waved her hand at Bella and began walking back to her house where she had a few people yet to shoo out and a big mess to clean up.

Bella hurried up the stairs to her room where she busted through her door and slid open her closet where she looked through her outfits. Dante likes me in blue, so it has to be blue, she thought to herself as she quickly eyed a cute blue halter dress, grabbing a white quarter-length sweater to go on top of it. She laid her clothes out and readied simple black flip flops as she hurried into her own private bathroom and got her long shower. She was just so excited to be spending time with her boyfriend tomorrow. She loved Dante so much--she didn't know what she'd do without him.

Dante woke up the next morning feeling slightly annoyed, thinking about how he'd have to get up early every day once school started. He climbed out of his bed and looked around his room. Sunlight poured through the window. It was cold, as it always was in the attic, and he felt goosebumps begin to raise on his arm. He walked to the bathroom that his father had had installed just for him. It was fairly small, but big enough for him.

After Dante took his shower and brushed his teeth and hair, he looked at his phone. It was already 1 pm! He walked downstairs, already knowing his mom was already gone at work and his dad was in his office. Dante got some food out of the fridge when he felt his phone vibrate in his hand. He looked at the number. It was one he'd never seen before.

"Hu-hullo?" he asked, still putting cereal in his mouth. "Hey, Giordano! It's me, Coletti!" Lea said on the other line. Dante coughed, sending wet Cheerios flying across the glass table. "Uh, hi, Coletti. I didn't know you had my number..." he said, regaining his breath. "Dino gave it to me." Lea explained, excitement in her voice. Dante looked at the clock on the micro-wave. It was only 1:15. "Uh, Coletti, I gotta call ya back. I need to, uh, call Dino about somethin'. Bye." he said, hanging up the phone and quickly dialing Dino's number.

When Bella woke up the next morning, she woke up with the sun peeping through her mini blinds, covering her eyes enough to get her awake. Her air conditioner was turned off, which meant her mother was in here not too long ago, turning off the conditioner in hopes that the uncomfortable heat would wake up Bella by noon, which has worked perfectly. Bella groaned and got to her feet. Her clock red 10:35 am. She pulled her tangled hair up in a pony tale and hurried down stairs to get a thing of pop tarts and a can of Monster energy drink. Healthy breakfast all right, but it was how she was. That was the things she ate, still able to keep the small and wavy figure she had. She checked her phone. No text from Dante yet. She sighed. She knew it was stupid, but she hated waking up without a text from Dante. It made her feel as if he had forgotten about her.

By noon, she had gotten her shower and slightly curled her hair. She slipped into her blue dress and spent the remaining hour at her vanity applying a small amount of makeup. Neutral colors, but someone able to enhance her beauty. She applied her favorite perfume, Sweet Pea from Bath and Body Works, and spent her remaining time to wait checking her facebook and twitter.

Lea sat at the kitchen table, wondering how Dante could object her like that. She was hot, she was funny, she was interesting. How could he not want her. She could here her brother, Vinny, watching Spongebob in the living room. He'd always been so immature. She was 17 and didn't watch the show, and constantly wondered how a 22 year old could enjoy it soooo much. She heard him laugh at something that was happening on the tv. She pulled herself out of the chair and walked slowly into the quiet den, her favorite place in the house. No one used it except her, even though it was supposed to be her dad's. But he'd said he didn't like being in the small space.
She sat in her favorite chair, the one in the corner next to the door across from the window and she contemplated all the reasons that Dante wouldn't like her.

1) He had a girlfriend.
2) Maybe he only liked straight-haired girls?
3) He could possibly be a closet-gay.
4) He could... well... be intimidated by her?

She couldn't really come up with anything else. She could only sit and look out the window at the sunny sky over her backyard.

Dante dialed Dino right after he hung up with Lea. Dino picked up on the third ring. "Hullo?" he said, as if he didn't have caller ID on his phone. Dante took a deep breath and began. "Why did you give Lea Coletti my phone number? You know I don't like talkin' to her. She makes me nervous, bro. I thought you had my back." he said angrily. "She said you two were workin' on some kinda project. Some kinda thing in Science class and she lost ya phone num-bah, so I just slipped it to huh." Dino said, using his innocent-Newyorker accent. That just angered Dante more. "Dino, you're the worst kid ever." he said. When Dino copied Dante's Newyorker accent, it usually made him laugh. He hung up the phone after saying bye to Dino and looked at the clock again. It was 2 o'clock! How did time go by so fast? He decided to call Bella while his phone was still in his hand. He pushed her number into the phone and tapped his fingers on the table.

Bella's eyes landed on the numbers on the bottom right-hand corner of her computer screen. It was already two o'clock and she was getting anxious. She felt so nervous, like she couldn't stay settled down. So to help calm down her nerves, she closed her computer and walked around her room, putting away dirty and clean clothes, re-organizing her shoe collection, putting her books, which had been piled on her nightstand, away on her book shelf. Just then, her phone went off. She hadn't expected it, but she had lunged for her phone, tripping on her way there, but she managed to grab it. Still on the floor, her feet in an awkward position, she opened her phone and breathed deeply. "Hey, sweetie!" she greeted after reading the caller ID.

"Uh, hey Bell." Dante began. He was very nervous to be talking to Bella right before he was about to see her, although, he'd always been like that. He scratched his hand and continued. "You wanna hear somethin' funny? Dino gave Lea Colleti my phone number, and she actually called me! Isn't that crazy! I mean, why did he do that? Why did she do that?!" Dante said, regretting the sentences almost as soon as the words were coming out of his mouth. He coughed, knowing her shouldn't have said that.
Dante didn't know why he was so bad at keeping things to himself, but he just was. Once, when Dino and him were kids and had a sleep over. Dino had wet the bed. Dante promised he wouldn't tell anyone, but he couldn't help it. He had loose lips. He sat quietly and decided to try to change the subject, but nothing to talk about came to mind, except...
"Hey, did you know that Dino wet the bed?" he said quietly, hoping Bella would forget about what he'd just said.

Bella stared down at the floor as she listened. Why would he tell her that? Dante could be seriously so weird at times, but that was one of many reasons why she loved him dearly. "Um...yeah, that's weird," she said, playing along, but then she shook her head and facepalmed herself. His finishing question caused her to snort a sudden laughter. "Oh wow, Dante. Like I needed to know that," she said, giggling. She loved his awkward sense of humor. She never, ever got tired of it, not matter what. Another one of many reasons why she loved him. Simple as that. "we still doing pizza?" she asked, hope visible in her voice. She sure as hell hoped so.

"Yeah. Y'know, I ate breakfast and all, but I'm kinda hungry. You wanna go now instead of later? Then it can be, like, brunch. Brunch with Bella!" Dante said, saying the last part mainly to himself. He laughed at the idea of brunch with Bella. It sounded like the name of a movie. He felt his pant's pocket vibrate. It was his pager.

He and Dino were dorky enough to keep pagers so that they could keep in touch in places that cell phones didn't work. And so that they were the only two people that could talk on them since no one else really used them. They were their version of walkie talkies. Dino was saying that he was making progress with Colleti. Dante rolled his eyes, then coughed, realizing that he was still on the phone. He laughed, knowing it sounded awkward since Bella had no clue at what was so funny, but he'd always been one to laugh at his mistakes.

(Cole's gonna come back in later...:))

Bella giggled in the phone at him. He was so cute and silly. "Sounds great! When do you wanna pick me up? I'm already ready now, because I didn't plan on changing later and I didn't know if I was gonna go out before pizza and all...and yeah," she said, chuckling at how awkward and weird she sounded. She still couldn't fully relax with him just yet, which wasn't bad being that they've only been together for two months already. "I love you," she then added, having a feeling she needed to say that.

Diante's eyes widened. The words played again in his head. "I love you." she'd said. They hadn't really said it yet, and he was never one to be fond of putting his feelings out there. He could feel the silence of the room as if it'd been transformed into a blanket and strewn across his shoulders. He tried to force the words out, but his head was pounding and he couldn't force his mouth to make sounds.

"I- Lo- oo." Were the only sounds that Diante could force from his mouth. He was now hysterically laughing and coughing like he always did when he was too nervous. His hands were clammy.
"I'll drop by now if you want..." he said, glancing at the calender on the fridge. School was to start in less than a month. He couldn't wait to do better this year. With Bella at his side, he knew he could do better than last year. Diante felt his shoulders shake with a few more chuckles.

When Dante didn't return it, her smile instantly vanished and her heart felt hurt. Maybe it was just her pride that was hurt. Disappointment flooded through her and somehow it scared her. She forced a laugh to not make herself seem silent. She made sure her voice didn't show her feelings. "Yeah! That'd be great!" she exclaimed a little too over enthusiastically. She was hoping he would have said that he loved her too. There was a reason why he didn't return it. Maybe there was something wrong with the relationship. Bella didn't like where this was going. But nonetheless, she knew she'd have to fake a smile until everything was alright again.

Dante asid goodbye and hung up the phone. He grabbed a bag of Doritos and began his walk. He felt his beeper beep again. He ignored it and continued walking. It buzzed again, irritating him. He was almost at Bella's house. He looked down at his pocket as he pulled his pager out. It was Dino. Just got a date with Colleti! Boo-yah!! It said. Danten rolled his eyes and laughed as he reached Bella's house. He stopped on her porch as he replied. Good for you. his message read. He put his pager back in his pocket and looked up at Bella's house. It usually seemed very cheery, with it's pretty perfectly white trim and fresh red roses, but today it seemed like it was haunted. He walked up to it slowly and rang the doorbell.

Bella jumped when she heard the doorbell. She quickly got to her feet and ran to the front door and opened it. She saw Dante and smiled. Instantly she flung her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek, then retrieted. "Hey! I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up," she joked, putting on a fake smile. She grabbed his hand and gently pulled him inside. "Just let me get my purse and we can go," she then said as she let go and hurried into the living room where her purse sat by the couch. She grabbed it and soon returned.

Dante smiled as Bella kissed his cheek, feeling instantly relieved from the stress that seemed to follow him around like a puppy. He watched as Bella walked into the house, sneaking a small peak at her bottom, but quickly removed his eyes when she returned. Trying to be a gentleman, he grabbed her hand gracefully and squeezed it in a loving way. "Okay. Y'know, this is like, the perfect day to go out. It's all pink outside." Dante said, referencing to the cherry-blossom pink clouds that seemed to surround the neighborhood. He guided Bella to the cross walk. "It's so romantic." He said jokingly, deepening his voice to sound like Billy Dee Williams. He chuckled at his own joke and guided Bella across the sidewalk, still holding her hand gently.

Bella tilted her head back and laughed hard. "It definitely is beautiful out. I love times like this. When the sky is the most beautiful thing possible," Bella said as she smiled, looking down at the connected hands. She let Dante lead her away from her house as she realized just how hungry she really was. She couldn't wait for pizza. And most of all, she couldn't wait to just spend time with Dante. She loved to be with him in public, not that she was conceited like that, but she loved to show the world her boyfriend.

Dante watched as the sky went from pretty pink to a deathly grayish-blue. They were almost to Giorbaldi's, and he could taste the gardinaire on the thick crusted pizza, taste the bulbous pieces of chicken and pineapple that he always ordered on his pizza. He began to hum his favorite song "The Za Song". He didn't remember the words he and Dino had created for the song, but only the melody.
Giorbaldi's was in sight. He squeezed Bella's hand once more before feeling his pocket vibrate. 'Ohh, not now.' He thought, already having a feeling it was someone he didn't wanna talk to. He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the caller ID. It was Lea again! He stopped walking, his legs forgetting to move. He clicked the "ignore" button and continued to walk, grabbing Bella's hand again. His pocket began vibrating again. He ignored it, hoping it would stop and that Bella wouldn't notice.

When Dante let go of her hand and stopped, she felt her heart top as alarm ruhed through her. She took a moment before she stopped and looked back at Dante. She watched him press a button on his phone and then put it back in his pocket. She tilted her head slightly, wondering who was bothering him now. When she hear a faint vibrating sound start up again from his phone as he grabbed her head again, she hesitated. Should she ask. When the vibrating stopped, she relaxed. But then she stiffened slightly as it began again. "Who are you ignoring?" he asked innocently.

Dante glanced as Bella as she asked him the question. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He looked at Bella again, knowing he shouldn't lie but feeling a strong urge to do that. "Oh, it's... it's no one. Just Dino trying to tell me about the girl he bagged last night. He got Lea Colleti's phone number, y'know." Dante said, walking slightly ahead of Bella so she couldn't see his face. He was a terrible liar, always sweating and contorting his mouth. That was the reason he never took part in the gambeling his friends did after school. He could never keep a straight face. He slowed his pace slightly, realizing that Giorbaldi's was only about a yard away. He had a feeling that if they could make it into the door, this would all roll over.

Dante quickened his pace and began to hold Bella's hand tighter. He sped until they made it to the door, ready to make up for his suspicious actions with gentlemen-ly ones.