Johnny and Rhea

There was a knocking at the door. The miniature alarm clock next to my bed said 6:30. Too early for me. The knocking persisted rapidly.

"Go away!" I shouted.

"I have a note for you, Rhea." I got out of bed and opened the door.

"What?" Hugh Christaan, a boy in my class, handed me a piece of paper.

"Some dude paid me twenty bucks to give this to you." He left. I closed the door and sat back down on the bed. What could it be? Maybe it's from Ichey! And he's professing his deep love and affection for me! Okay, maybe not love, but possibly a deep affection.... Holding my breath, I opened it. But, before I could read it, someone was knocking on the door again. Angry, I threw the note on the bed. I flung the door open.

"What?!"

When I saw the man I thought I had dreamt of last night, I slammed the door in his face. Oh, God. I slammed the door in his FACE! I immeadiately opened the door.

"I'm so sorry," I stammered. I felt my face go red. He just laughed.

"You wanna go get some coffee with me?" I stared at him blankly. "I mean, if you don't want to go..."

"I'll go!" I answered, perhaps a little too quickly. He chuckled.

"Go ahead and get ready. I'll wait."

I picked up my bag (after closing the door), and dumped all of its contents onto the unmade bed.

What to wear? I thought. What to wear?!

I decided on a black square-cut tunic with long, sweeping sleeves that were slit from the wrists up to the elbows. A pink ribbon was tied just below my chest. All in all, it was a peasant top.
I had a pair of black dress pants that I decided to wear because they made my legs appear longer. Instead of taking the time to tie my converse, I stuffed my feet and laces into them and quickly started to brush my white-blonde hair. I put a black headband in it. I looked into the mirror next to the door and giggled. I resembled a black and white version of Alice in Wonderland. Satisfied, I picked up my black leather purse and opened the door.

He must have been leaning on the door, for he stumbled backwards when I opened it.

"Well, ready to go?" he asked. I nodded. I was afraid to talk; I didn't want to embarrass myself.

We managed to slip past everyone as they were eating breakfast, completely undetected. The bus ride to the small cafe was quiet between the two of us. When we got there, my face began to grow red from nerves. Don't ask me why, it just did. I was going to go inside, but something held me. I looked down to see him holding my hand, restraining me.

"I want to sit outside, if it's okay with you." He gestured toward the small tables on the back porch.

"I have to say," I said as we sat down,"it is a beautiful day."

A girl about three or four years older than me wearing an apron bearing the cafe's logo came up to our table.
"Welcome to Mama's Java," she said brightly. "We have croissants, muffins, and danish pastries, along with coffee. What would you like?"

"I'll get a Rhaspberry Mocha, Grande size. What flavor Danish pastries do you have?" My mother had taken me here often, so I was familiar with the coffee selections, but the breads were a new addition, therefore foreign to me. The waitress bit her lip as she remembered the answer to my question.

"Um, blueberry, strawberry, cream cheese, and raspberry."

"I'll get the cream cheese, thanks."

"And you, sir?"

"Black coffee, Grande size, and a... blueberry muffin.

"I'm sorry, sir. We're temporarily out of blueberry muffins."

"Oh. Banana-Nut?"

"I think we still have some. Is that all?" We both nodded and she left.

"You can tie your shoes now," he muttered, a lopsided grin on his tan face.

"You noticed?"

"Uh, yeah," he said in a Willy Wonka tone. I finished tieing my shoes. I put an elbow on the table and and put my head in my hand.

"So, you really are Johnny Depp?" He leaned in closely.

"Is that who you think I am?" he whispered.

We just stared at each other for some time, unmoving,unblinking, maybe even unbreathing. Then the girl came back with our orders.

She set them down between us, causing me to jump.

"Would you like to pay now so you can just leave when you're done?"

"Yes, please," I said. I pulled out my wallet and started to fish out my money.

"Don't," he said, his hands covering mine. "I got it." I noticed the silver skull ring on his finger and my heart started to thump. I slowly put my wallet back up. He handed her a twenty dollar bill. "Tip." The girl beamed and left.

I took a bite out of my pastry. "Are you?" I said after swallowing.

"Am I what?"

"Are you really Johnny Depp?" He took a long drink from his coffee.

"Yes."

I fell out of my chair.

Johnny leapt from his seat to make sure I wasn't hurt. "Are you okay?" he said, eyes full of concern.

I reseated myself. "I'm fine. I'm fine," I said, dusting myself off. Johnny eyed me for a moment. "You really expected me to say no, didn't you?" I nodded.

"Sometimes I'll have a dream so realistic, when I wake up, I swear it was real." Johnny nodded in understanding.

"I have a friend who died of an overdose a few years ago. Sometimes I'll dream he's still alive. When I wake up I'll try to call him. When the call doesn't go through, I remember he's dead."

"It was River Pheonix, wasn't it?" It came out like a statement, instead of the question that I had intended. He nodded. "It wasn't right the way he went out. I don't know if you do, but you shouldn't blame it on yourself. It wasn't your fault," I said. He gave a great sniff. I realized to my embarrassment that he was crying.

Johnny stood up abruptly. "Are you finished?" We were both done eating but I hadn't finished my drink. I could drink it on the way back.

I nodded.

We picked up the trash and threw it onto the nearest trash can then started walking. "Is there a park nearby?" Johnny asked.

"Um, yeah. There's one about two blocks north from here."

"Let's go to the park." I was surprized. A fourty-three year-old man wanted to go to the park. Hmph.

"It's like a park for kids," I said. "You know, swingsets, sandboxes, monkey bars--"

"Great," he said. "Just what I wanted." He was walking quickly, so I had to lengthen my strides to keep up with him.

When we got to the park, I ran straight for the swings, while Johnny sat on the bench, pulling out a pack of cigartettes and a lighter out of his pocket. I swung slowly and gazed at the park. Half of it looked like a playground; sandbox, merry-go-round, see-saws, stuff like that. Then the grass starts to grow greener. The trees get bigger, the flowers more colorful. A pathway ran through the dense forest. It was really beautiful. The green light that filtered down from the trees gave the whole place a calming effect.

I leaned my head on the swing's chain. Johnny was sitting on the bench, twiddling his thumbs. He suddenly looked up at me. I patted the swing next to me, offering him a seat. He took it, a grin on his face.

"So what's up, Dippety Depp?" Johnny stared at me. Then he burst out laughing.

"Where did you hear that?" he laughed. I grinned but didn't reply, afraid to tell him that I came up with it myself.

"No where," I said.

"Uh-huh," he said, looking at me suspiciouly. I giggled after a few moments and turned my gaze toward the blue sky.