Give Me Novacaine

[BILLIE'S POV]

'Tap, tap, tap tap...'

That's the sound of my chucks hitting the sidewalk with every step I took.

This was the nicest weather California has seen in weeks. The only thing keeping me company was the sound of music coming from my Skullcandy earbuds. As I looked around, I noticed there were many families around me and it really brought my mood down... Knowing that everyone had someone that they could be happy with and I was stuck being single, un-engaged, and heartbroken. My fiancee, Adrienne, had left me for another man just two weeks ago and it was something that I had been struggling with.

Pushing the thoughts away I saw a Dippin' Dots ice cream stand and decided to eat my feelings with some cookies n' creme. Digging into my back pocket, I had accidentally dropped some coins. I turned to pick them up, and when I turned around, I ran into someone and heard a bunch of objects fall to the ground. I looked up and saw a girl, who now had her books everywhere and Starbucks spilled on her T-Shirt. I noticed that her shirt was a band tee, Operation Ivy. 'I like that band!' I thought to myself.

"I'm so sorry," I exclaimed as I frantically helped pick up all the belongings that she had been holding.

"Nah, it's alright. It happens all the time," she laughed and crouched on her knees while putting some of the stuff into her purse.

When she had looked up at me, I felt as if the whole world stopped around me. No more bad thoughts of Adrienne or feelings of loneliness. This girl was absolutely beautiful. She had dark brown hair and a slim face with perfectly arched black eyebrows. The black smokey eye she had going on was really bringing out the color of her eyes.

"Well, this is one way to meet someone," she smiled nervously.

"Yeah," I laughed. We held eye contact for a moment before I broke it off. "Shit, I'm sorry. Do you need help with this?"

"Oh, no, I'm okay." She was struggling with her belongings.

"Here..." I grabbed a notebook and handed it to her. She smiled and thanked me before looking down at her shirt. I looked down as well and saw that I had completely spilled her coffee onto her white Operation Ivy shirt.

I pulled out my wallet to hand her a five dollar bill. "Here, take this."

"Oh, no, I can't take that," she said as she threw her purse back onto her shoulder.

"Please, I insist." She sighed and took the money from me, giving me a smile of defeat. "That's the spirit."

"I swear, you really didn't have to do this."

"I ran into you, it's the least I can do."

She thanked me again and turned the other way, assuming she went back down to Starbucks to reorder her drink.

I continued in the other direction and began thinking of new lyrics, jotting them down in my mini notebook.

A couple hours went by and I found myself getting hungry. I found my car where I had parked it on one of the side streets here in Oakwood and headed toward Panera. The sun was shining and the wind felt amazing rushing through the open windows. I had vowed to myself after the break up that I would spend more time getting to know myself more and becoming okay with who I was. I had been focusing on music for so long that I hadn't stopped to think about myself.

A few moments later I parked my car, rolled up the windows, and went into the restaurant. One thing I wanted to do more was to go out to eat by myself. I found that it was a nice way to spend my evenings alone.

When my order was called I took the tray and sat at a booth by myself.

I heard someone typing away on their laptop and looked up to see the girl from earlier. I practically choked on my sandwich. This beautiful woman who I'd bumped into today was in the same spot as me for a second time today.

I quickly ate the rest of my food, threw away my trash, and mustered up the courage to go talk to her.

"This is a nice place to write, don't you think?" I asked as I approached her table.

"It is," she smiled before looking up at me. "Holy shit, it's you." She cleared the table space across from her and told me to sit down. So I did.

"Funny how we meet two times in one day," she laughed as she closed her laptop.

"It sure is," I agreed. "What is your name, by the way?"

"My name is Alyssa but I like to go by Ayla."

From then on out, we clicked. The conversation came so natural to both of us and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be able to talk to such a smart, well mannered, and beautiful woman like herself. I could see the sun start to go down but we didn't care. We laughed, told jokes, shared some stories, and eventually made our way to the deep conversation- relationships.

"I'm sorry," she said and rubbed my hand. "When did she leave you?"

"About a week or two ago..." I mumbled.

"I know what being dumped feels like," she replied. She looked as if there was a trace of hurt in her eyes... As if someone had hurt her really bad in the past. "He left me for another girl."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I took a deep breath, looked down at my hands, and looked back up at her. "That's pretty much what happened with me as well."

She looked at me with sympathy, and in a way... it was sort of cute. She looked around my age, maybe a year or two younger.

"So, I really should get home now," she said and started packing up her things. "I need to get home with enough time to sleep decently before work in the morning."

"Do you need a ride home?" I offered. She stopped, looked at me, and smiled.

"That'd be really nice."

We gathered her belongings and made our way to the car. As we drove to her house, I couldn't help but look at her from the corner of my eye. The street lights glowed on her so beautifully and I could tell she was nervous.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She looked over at me and smiled.

"I'm okay," she replied.

Finally, we reached her place and I pulled into the parking space of the apartment complex in front of her door.

"I had a good time today, Billie," she smiled. "It's been a long time since I actually spent the day with someone. Thank you for taking me home."

"I had a good time today, too," I smiled. "And it's no problem. I didn't want you taking the bus home when it's this dark out. You never want to ride alone."

Alyssa waved and closed the door, making her way up to her apartment. I turned the ignition off and jogged up to her. She must've heard because she turned around and I saw she was trying to hide a smile.

"You know," I started. "I really felt like we clicked today and I can't shake this feeling that I need to ask you out on a date." She smiled. "So, I was wondering..."

"Yes," she replied. I stopped and looked at her, shocked. "I'd love to go on a date with you."

I laughed to myself. "Okay, it's a date." I smiled back at her and gave her my phone number.

Alyssa gave me one last smile before going into her apartment and I got back into my car, feeling totally confident in myself. Thinking back on the night I just had, I couldn't help but wonder if all of the heartbreak was worth it so that I could meet this girl. Adrienne completely broke my heart and torn down everything I was worked so hard to be but maybe, just maybe, things would be different this time.

I pulled into the driveway of the house that I share with Mike, Tre, and our friend, Kate.