Balcony Confessions Are So Overrated

“Rising up. Back on the street. Did my time took my chances. What’s the difference? Now I’m back on my feet. Just a man and his will to survive.” Ainsley sang as he drove. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor was pumping through the speakers in the back seat.

“Come on, Doll! Sing along!” He shouted over the music.

I laughed and shook my head. “No!”

“Sing along or I’ll pull over and make you walk the rest of the way to your work.” He said, his face dead serious.

I immediately started singing along to the chorus.

“It’s the eye of the tiger. It’s the thrill of the fight. Rising up to the challenge of our rivals. And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night. And he’s watching us all with the eyyyyyyyyye of the tiger.” We both stopped singing and I started giggling. Soon Ainsley joined in and it turned into a full-blown laughing-fest. We were swerving all over the road because Ainsley could barely see due to the tears of mirth that were blurring his vision. After a couple minutes we wound down and Ainsley started driving normally again.

“Admit it, Doll. That was fun,” he prodded. I couldn’t hold back the smile that was fighting for a position on my face.

“Fine. That was probably the most fun I’ve had singing in a while. Although if my old singing instructor had heard us… let’s just say we wouldn’t have been laughing,” I admitted before turning my face to watch the buildings moving past us. If I didn’t keep an eye on where we were going we would definitely drive past the restaurant.

After maybe two more minutes of driving I spotted the small diner and pointed it out to Ainsley. “That’s it.”

He cranked the steering wheel and pulled into the parking lot of my work.

“Thank you,” I mumbled as I pulled my stuff out of the car.

“Any time,” he said as I was walking away. “Oh and by the way,” I turned back to look at him. “I wouldn’t have made you walk.” Then he drove away. I smiled to myself before entering the building.

My best friend and co-worker, Malkia Bayard, or Kia for short immediately greeted me as I walked in the door. I stepped behind the counter and began lacing up my roller skates.

“Who was the fox who dropped you off?” she inquired still looking out the window.

“Who? Oh! You mean Ainsley. He’s my new neighbor. I missed the bus so he offered to give me a ride,” I explained as I finished tying my roller blades onto my feet.

“Well, maybe you could introduce us sometime. He was hot…” she said, more to herself than to me.

“Maybe.” For some reason, I really didn’t want to introduce them. But this was soon forgotten as one of our regulars, Maggie, walked in.

“How’s it hanging, Maggie? No Cory today?” I asked as I poured her a cup of coffee. I set down the pot and leaned forward, placing my elbows on the counter and resting my chin in my hand.

“No, actually, we broke up,” she replied staring into her coffee and biting back a smile for a reason I did not know.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. You two always seemed so happy.”

“We were. But we broke up because I realized I was in love with someone else.” She looked up from her mug, eyes gleaming with happiness.

“Well, I hope it works out for you two.” I skated away to a table that had two couples sitting and laughing. I prepared to put on the fake Brooklyn accent I was supposed to use with every customer, although the regulars didn’t care if I dropped it.

“Hello, and welcome to Sandy’s Diner. My name is Evonna and I’ll be your server today. Can I get you anything to drink?” I recited the standard spiel while placing menus in front of each person.

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I had a date with my boyfriend, Joel, a couple days later. Normally, Joel was all I could think about, but for some reason Ainsley, the strange boy from next door, floated around my head for the two days that followed our first encounter. Naturally, I felt guilty for this so I decided to look my best for Joel.

I dug through the clothes I had unpacked into the drawers. I finally found a thin silver dress in the corner of one of the drawers. It was crumpled into a small ball, but luckily it was a type of fabric that didn’t hold wrinkles.

I changed into it quickly and surveyed myself in the full-length mirror. It fell just short of my knees and hugged my curves; the neckline plunged just low enough to show off what little cleavage I had. I ran into the disgusting bathroom and stood in front of the mirror there. I had already unpacked my make-up there earlier and pulled out the case. I extracted some black eyeliner, mascara, silver eye shadow and light pink lip-gloss.

I applied it quickly and went to search through my collection of shoes for some footwear to match my current outfit. I found some strappy silver heels and pulled them on quickly. I ran back into my bathroom, the heels making loud clomping noises as I jogged around the apartment. I grabbed a hair clip from the counter near the once-white-now-brown sink. I twisted my chestnut hair and stuck it where it was with the clip. I went back to the full-length mirror. I scrutinized the finished product… something was missing.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice came from the balcony.

“Jewelry.” I spun and my eyes fell on Ainsley. I’ve known this guy for less than two days and he already infuriated me, I was confused by what he said though. He must’ve noticed how confused I looked too because he explained, “Jewelry, that’s the only thing your outfit’s missing. You need a necklace and some nice earrings.”

As much as I hated to admit it, Ainsley was right. I mumbled an incomprehensible “Thanks” and scurried into the bathroom to go through the jewelry box I had placed there temporarily. I opened it and immediately found what I was looking for, a delicate gold chain with a small pendant in the shape of an “E”, it had a diamond stud at the bottom of the curve of the letter. I pulled out some earrings as well; they were dangling gold hearts. I quickly put them on. I then attempted to do the clasp for the necklace up on my own; I couldn’t seem to do it. With a groan or a sigh or something in between I dragged my feet back into the living room to see a smirking Ainsley.

“Need something, Doll?” he drawled.

“Unfortunately, yes. Could you help me with this necklace? And don’t call me ‘Doll’.” I held out the necklace to him. I turned and waited to feel his fingers on my neck. “Try anything and die a very slow painful death.” He just chuckled.

His hands were cold, but not in a bad way, when they met my skin. I felt little prickles run down my spine as I shivered.

“Something wrong, Doll?” he asked, curious, once he finished doing up the necklace. His hands rested on my shoulders, causing me to fight back another shiver. What was wrong with me?

“Yeah, your apparent need to call me ‘Doll’.” I shrugged off his hands and walked to the dresser. “That and I’m cold.” I dug through the drawers until I found a black cardigan. I pulled it on over the dress and did up a few buttons.

I went and stood in front of the mirror again, studying my outfit. My thoughts were interrupted though, by the voice that seemed to be pestering me quite a bit lately.

“All dressed up and nowhere to go? Or were you just trying to ‘woo me’ with your dazzling looks?” I rolled my eyes.

“Actually, I have a date. Now if you don’t mind, I have to go. So if you would do me a favor by leaving my apartment, I’d like to go.” I walked out the front door. Ainsley followed me.

“So this date, is he your boyfriend? What’s his name? How old is he? How old are you?” He shot questions at me.

“Yes, Joel McIntosh, 21, 19. That about answer all your questions?”

“Huh, my dad’s name is Joel… oh and yeah, it does answer all my questions.” I began walking away, but again he called out, “And I’m 20 in case you were wondering.”

“I wasn’t,” I called back not even turning my head.