People Change

”But if I win, I get to take your girl to a ball, because every pretty girl deserves to go to a ball,” Carl slurred, becoming a little teary-eyed by the end of his sentence.

Sydney sat watching Yes Man, quite possibly one of the funniest movies ever. She never got tired of watching it, and it made her laugh every time. Normally, she would watch it with Lanie, but she was feeling especially bored so she decided to just watch it on her own. Lanie had to work that Tuesday, so Janice, an eighteen-year-old saving up to go to a culinary college herself, worked with Lanie instead of Sydney. Janice only worked part-time, normally in the afternoons and when one of the two girls were off.

A knock on the door forced Sydney to pause the DVD. Grumbling under her breath at the disturbance, she shoved herself to her feet and strode over to the door. Sydney wrenched it open to come face-to-face with none other than Brian Haner. She scowled and instantly tried to slam the door shut, but Brian shot out a hand and stopped the door.

“Sydney, I just want to talk to you,” Brian called through the door as Sydney tried in vain to shut it all the way. “I’m not leaving until you let me in.”

Sydney clamped her eyes shut. She really hadn’t wanted to hear those words. Sydney was the complete polar opposite of stubborn. She rather just agree with someone rather than conflicting with them. She believed Brian when he said he wouldn’t leave. He’d probably stand outside the flat into the wee hours of the morning waiting for Sydney to let him in.

“This better be good,” Sydney grumbled, the scowl welding to her face as she slowly opened the door to let Brian into her apartment. Brian just smiled and stepped onto the carpet of the living room. Sydney slammed the front door shut before leading the way towards the kitchen, which sat in a corner of the living room as a small space without walls or a door separating it from the living room. Sydney’s socks muffled her footsteps as she stepped onto the linoleum tile that covered the kitchen floor, while Brian’s shoes made gentle tapping noises as he transferred from the carpet to the linoleum.

“Sit,” Sydney ordered as she opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of scotch. Brian obeyed, scoping out the view of her fabulous ivory legs which her little shorts obscured very little of. Johnny had been right. If Sydney looked this way in high school, no doubt Brian would’ve tried to date her. Of course, he probably would’ve had to stand in line, because no doubt there would’ve been an entire queue of hopefuls waiting to date her.

“I’d give you a glass of this, too, but I wouldn’t want you to drive drunk and die...” Sydney froze in screwing the top off of the bottle and glanced over her shoulder at Brian. “On second thought, maybe I should give you plenty to drink and then shoo you out to your car....”

“No, that’s fine,” Brian answered, focusing his gaze on the back of Sydney’s head. Her wavy hair flowed halfway down her back, shimmering like silk even though Brian could tell she’d just let it dry instead of messing with it.

“Good, because I might need the whole thing to listen to what you’ve got to say,” Sydney snapped, turning around and sitting across from Brian at the kitchen table with the glass of scotch in her hand. She glared into his chocolate brown eyes as she took a sip from her glass. “Talk.”

“Right,” Brian said hastily. He’d been studying Sydney’s eyes. They looked remarkably like Jimmy’s, except hers were a little bluer than Jimmy’s; they had a little bit more color to them. But at the moment, her eyes looked icy, whereas Jimmy’s eyes were usually warm and dancing with laughter. “Sydney, I meant what I said in the bakery yesterday. I really am very sorry about how I treated you in high school. You didn’t deserve that sort of treatment from me. I didn’t even know you, and I was a total ass to you. But I’m sorry.”

“Huh,” Sydney grunted, taking another drink from her glass. She blinked down at the brown liquid. “Maybe I’ll need two of these.” Then, Sydney sighed and put the glass down. “Brian, I’m not going to forgive you if you just say ‘I’m sorry’ and look at me with puppy dog eyes. It’s obvious that you meant everything you said in high school.”

“Yes, I meant every harsh comment I made to you,” Brian agreed. “I meant every jab at your hair, your weight, your clothes...I meant it all.”

“Then, we have nothing further to discuss,” Sydney answered, taking another drink of her scotch.

“But I’m sorry now, though,” Brian insisted. Sydney stared at Brian, her eyes skimming over his face. She calculated the sincerity in his eyes and the tone of his voice. His sincerity was off the charts, Sydney decided, especially since she’d assumed Brian was incapable of sincerity.

“I’m still not forgiving you,” Sydney informed Brian, downing the rest of her drink and standing up to put it in the sink. She turned back to him, leaning back against the sink. “But...I will take your words into account. I presume that you can escort yourself out.”

“Yeah,” Brian replied, rising to his feet. He glanced one last time at the girl who’d transformed from the caterpillar to the butterfly before turning and heading out the door.