Rhythm of Love

Nora’s Point of View

Ever since I was a little girl, I’d been obsessed with Walt Disney’s creations. All of the cartoons, every princess movie, all of it, I made it a given that I had to see it all. If it had to do with Disney, then I was going to see it, especially if it had anything to do with Peter Pan. For some reason, even as a young girl I’d had an impossible crush on the boy who never grew up and now, over ten years later, I’m finally standing face to face with him. It was like a dream, though of course this dream was a bit clouded by the heads of parents and the sounds of much younger kids running toward him. If I wasn’t in such a good mood, I would have probably plowed right through them all and stolen Peter for myself. But I could wait, or at least that’s what I told myself.

After receiving his autograph and getting a picture of us together (me hugging him, might I add!), I happily skipped off toward the direction of where I thought everyone was. Thought, being the key word. After a minute of searching, I began to realize that I’d completely run off ahead of them to get to the characters and that they could all be anywhere by now. Gulping, I stood around nervously and peered in all different directions to try to spot anyone familiar but the only familiar face were that of the cartoon characters. Finally, I admitted to myself, “This is bad. This is really, really bad.”

In the end, I continued to aimlessly saunter around the area I was in searching for a familiar face. Once in awhile, I’d find a person with Damien’s hair type or Alex’s shirt and I’d make a break toward them until I saw their faces. And, I don’t mine their faces looked different than theirs – which they were but still – but it was more because the awkward look I received upon embracing them. Finally, my eyes set on a young teenager and while I was skeptical at first I realized that it was Cyn. When I approached her, she sent me a huge grin and waved. However, I was much less than glad to see her – alone.

“What the heck are you doing alone?” I questioned, pointing an accusing finger at her. She mimicked my movement.

“I,” she even copied my tone of voice. Smart-ass, “could ask you to same thing.” Smart-ass has a point. I stood before her with my lips pursed until I beckoned her to follow me. She listened, and the two of us set out to find familiar faces.

It took until we were at the other side of the Magic Kingdom for Cyn to realize she had her cell phone on her. I mentally groaned, until I realized I had mine too. She quickly called Beech and after awhile they hung up and she turned to me, “They’re talking to Peter Pan. I guess they asked if he’d seen you and he actually remembered who you were!” While she continued blabbing, I swoon at the thought of the boy who never grew up. When she asked if I was ready to head ‘there’, I just nodded in her direction and followed blindly behind her.



After the fiasco at the parks, our group decided it was time to head back to our hotel. It took us twenty minutes after reconnecting to find each other and at that point, we were all covered in sweat from the change in temperature. At that point, we were all looking forward to going swimming in the pools for sure, not to mention behind our hotel was a lake (which you can’t swim in) and a ‘beach’ area where one can go tanning. Nicolette and I shared the grand idea of tanning until we were both a caramel brown, even though I wasn’t sure if a dark tan and my light blond hair would go well. However, that wasn’t the top thing in my mind at the moment as on the bus, my eyes flickered to an eerily quiet Eli. He looks so down… I murmured to myself. Maybe I… No! I have to tell him! It’s only right; I can’t keep this from him forever! It’s now or never!

Of course, easier said then done. By the time we reached the hotel, I was covered in sweat and not only because of the heat. I think Nicolette noticed this, but she didn’t say anything about it until she and I were alone in her, Cyn, Beech, and mine hotel room. She questioned, “Okay, spill. What’s up with you? You looked like you saw a ghost on the bus or something!”

“I have to tell him…” I murmured, stripping out of my sweat-covered clothing while fishing through my bag for a bikini. Nicolette sent me an odd stare as she stood in front of the A/C, wearing her own pink polka-dot one.

“Tell who, what?”

“Tell Eli…what happened?” Nicolette continued giving me an odd look.

“‘What happened?’ What do you mean ‘what happened’?! Are you keeping something from me, you little bi-” she paused and her eyes widened and she quickly added, “Oh. That thing.” I nodded my head, getting into my bathing suit and slipping on a pair of short. Nicolette bit her lip and asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I nodded, having made up my mind even though I was scared to death. “I have to. I can’t know, deep down, that there was something huge I was lying to him about. I have to tell him.” Nicolette continued to bite her lip, but I wasn’t going to let her talk me out of it; not when I had worked so hard to convince myself it was right. With a small wave, I sprinted out of the room and toward the elevator.

When I found Eli, he was leaving against the fence that separated the makeshift beach from the sidewalk. Gulping, I sauntered over to him and stood next to him but I couldn’t look him in the eye. The two of us were quiet for a moment until I cleared my throat and decided it was about time I got this over with. I turned my head to look at him, to see that he still wasn’t acknowledging my presence, and blurted out, “I need to talk to you.” When he didn’t answer, I took that as his was of telling me to continue.

“This isn’t easy for me to say,” I mumbled, trying to think of the right words. The whole speech I had planned out since being on the plane flew out the window. “And I just want you to know that I loved you a lot. But…but I have to tell you this and it’s really hard and I don’t exactly know the best words or how to say it because I’ve never ever been in this situation before. And I know maybe you’re confused right now because I haven’t really said anything about what I have to tell you and –”

“Just spit it out!” he yelled at me, aggravation in his eyes.

“– I had sex with you brother when we were going out!” I blurted out, my cheeks turning bright red. Eli froze in front of me, clearly not expecting this. Silence hung between us for what feels like forever until Eli pushed himself off the railing and turned around to walk away.

My heart still beating a mile a minute felt myself yell, regrettably, “Eli, I’m sorry! Please talk to me!” At this, he paused and spun around on his heel to face me. His mere facial expression made me wince.

“What do you want from me?!” he shouted, his anger seeping out with every word. “That I forgive? You want me to forgive and forget so we can still be friends or shit like that?! You fucking fucked my brother you little whore! I never want to talk to you again, bitch!” With that, he stormed away with his fists clenched like he was prepared to punch someone through a wall.

And while I knew I wasn’t justified to after what I put him through, I dropped to my knees and cried.