Timeless
Darien
“I’m sorry about my parents.” Alana sighed in the passengers seat beside me. “They can be slightly unhinged sometimes.”
“They just want you to be happy.” I suppressed the urge to reach over and grab her hand. “There’s no harm in that.”
“Until they drag the unsuspecting new neighbor into it. You really should have told them about your ‘sort-of’ girl, they wouldn’t have roped you into taking their loner of a daughter to the movies.” I looked over at her. She had her hands in her lap, playing with her fingers staring down at them. Something she always did when she felt guilty.
“First of all I asked you.” I pulled into the parking lot and stopped in the first space I saw. “Second of all my ‘sort-of’ girl really wouldn’t mind.” We both got out of the car and began walking towards the box office. “And finally, I really don’t believe you’re a loner.” I gestured to the group of guys who had started, not so subtly, checking her out. “Those guys,” I forced myself to keep my voice light, “have been staring at you since we got out of the car.”
She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “What’s your point? It doesn’t mean I know any of them.”
“I’m just saying by the looks those guys are giving you, you probably get asked out all the time.” We were closer to them now, I stepped closer to her and shot them a look.
“Doesn’t mean I say yes.” She opened the door and we went inside. There was no line and only one person working.
“Alana.” The guy said behind the counter. “The usual?” I looked at her with a raised brow.
“Not tonight Seth,” She gestured to me. “Ask him.” Seth looked from her to me and back to her again.
“Are you on a date?” His voice held a hint of laughter as if he were mocking her.
“Yep.” I said and handed him my card, Alana looked away trying to hide her blush. “Two for whatever movie is starting next.” Truth was I never had the intention of going to the movies tonight. I just wanted to go somewhere with her. He slid the card and tickets back to me.
“Theater 12 on your right. Try not to keep her out too late. She has a certain project she’s supposed to be working on.” Seth pointed to Alana.
“Oh please.” She said. “He’s not going to fail you if I don’t do any work.”
“But it will hurt my grade, and I need to get an A. So could you please get over whatever your problem is with that specific genre and just do it? You’re a girl, aren’t you hardwired to obsess over fairytales?” I was really starting to get confused.
“See you later.” She said and began walking away, once she figured we were out of earshot she turned to me. “We’re supposed to write a fairytale for our creative writing class.” She explained. “But I have a problem with magic and make-believe stories.”
“You don’t believe in magic?” I blurted out. I didn’t mean to.
“I’m going to sound completely nuts right now, but oh well. It’s more like every fairytale ever told had gotten it wrong. Well the person who told it. It’s this feeling I get that they just took the bits and pieces they wanted and made up the rest. Which is ridiculous of course, because they’re fairytales.” She looked at me with an embarrassed look on her face.
“No it doesn‘t. I get it.” And I did, because that’s exactly what had happened.
The movie ended and I was happy. A small part of it was because the movie was horrible. The majority though was because halfway through the movie she placed her head on my shoulder. It took me a minute to realize she had fallen asleep, but I was happy nonetheless. It was something she had always done. And that gesture, no matter how small it was or even that she didn’t realize what she was doing, was something I had missed dearly.
“Sorry I fell asleep.” A small yawn escaped her lips.
“Don’t worry about it, I was fighting to stay awake myself.” The theater wasn’t far from our homes so I didn’t have that much time left with her in the car.
“It was pretty bad wasn’t it?” She laughed lightly.
“That it was.” I agreed. “Do you have plans for tomorrow?” Saturday was a blessing, and though I knew I shouldn’t rush things, I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
“Swimming as usual.” She smiled. Of course she did, she clearly hadn’t come into her powers yet, and what better way for her to be close to something that was a part of her? “And my parents usually grill, you should come over. I’m sure they would love to push you onto me some more.” I laughed at this, “That so did not come out right.”
“It’s alright Alana, I know what you meant.” I pulled into my driveway and turned the car off. We both got out silently and I walked over to her. “I’ll walk you over.” I didn’t want to leave her yet. Even if it was only for the night and she would only be a few hundred feet away.
“So tomorrow?” She sounded hopeful.
“What time should I come over?” We had reached her front door now and stood on the porch. I looked down at her face watching the smile slowly spread across her face.
“Whenever is fine, we’ll be out back all day. Neighbors come by at different times during the day. Some for breakfast, some for lunch, some for dinner.”
“Should I bring anything?”
“Just your bathing suit if you want to swim.” She shrugged.
“Then I shall see you tomorrow.” I said as she opened the door and went inside. I smiled to myself as I slowly walked back to my house. She invited me over, this was progress.
“They just want you to be happy.” I suppressed the urge to reach over and grab her hand. “There’s no harm in that.”
“Until they drag the unsuspecting new neighbor into it. You really should have told them about your ‘sort-of’ girl, they wouldn’t have roped you into taking their loner of a daughter to the movies.” I looked over at her. She had her hands in her lap, playing with her fingers staring down at them. Something she always did when she felt guilty.
“First of all I asked you.” I pulled into the parking lot and stopped in the first space I saw. “Second of all my ‘sort-of’ girl really wouldn’t mind.” We both got out of the car and began walking towards the box office. “And finally, I really don’t believe you’re a loner.” I gestured to the group of guys who had started, not so subtly, checking her out. “Those guys,” I forced myself to keep my voice light, “have been staring at you since we got out of the car.”
She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “What’s your point? It doesn’t mean I know any of them.”
“I’m just saying by the looks those guys are giving you, you probably get asked out all the time.” We were closer to them now, I stepped closer to her and shot them a look.
“Doesn’t mean I say yes.” She opened the door and we went inside. There was no line and only one person working.
“Alana.” The guy said behind the counter. “The usual?” I looked at her with a raised brow.
“Not tonight Seth,” She gestured to me. “Ask him.” Seth looked from her to me and back to her again.
“Are you on a date?” His voice held a hint of laughter as if he were mocking her.
“Yep.” I said and handed him my card, Alana looked away trying to hide her blush. “Two for whatever movie is starting next.” Truth was I never had the intention of going to the movies tonight. I just wanted to go somewhere with her. He slid the card and tickets back to me.
“Theater 12 on your right. Try not to keep her out too late. She has a certain project she’s supposed to be working on.” Seth pointed to Alana.
“Oh please.” She said. “He’s not going to fail you if I don’t do any work.”
“But it will hurt my grade, and I need to get an A. So could you please get over whatever your problem is with that specific genre and just do it? You’re a girl, aren’t you hardwired to obsess over fairytales?” I was really starting to get confused.
“See you later.” She said and began walking away, once she figured we were out of earshot she turned to me. “We’re supposed to write a fairytale for our creative writing class.” She explained. “But I have a problem with magic and make-believe stories.”
“You don’t believe in magic?” I blurted out. I didn’t mean to.
“I’m going to sound completely nuts right now, but oh well. It’s more like every fairytale ever told had gotten it wrong. Well the person who told it. It’s this feeling I get that they just took the bits and pieces they wanted and made up the rest. Which is ridiculous of course, because they’re fairytales.” She looked at me with an embarrassed look on her face.
“No it doesn‘t. I get it.” And I did, because that’s exactly what had happened.
The movie ended and I was happy. A small part of it was because the movie was horrible. The majority though was because halfway through the movie she placed her head on my shoulder. It took me a minute to realize she had fallen asleep, but I was happy nonetheless. It was something she had always done. And that gesture, no matter how small it was or even that she didn’t realize what she was doing, was something I had missed dearly.
“Sorry I fell asleep.” A small yawn escaped her lips.
“Don’t worry about it, I was fighting to stay awake myself.” The theater wasn’t far from our homes so I didn’t have that much time left with her in the car.
“It was pretty bad wasn’t it?” She laughed lightly.
“That it was.” I agreed. “Do you have plans for tomorrow?” Saturday was a blessing, and though I knew I shouldn’t rush things, I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.
“Swimming as usual.” She smiled. Of course she did, she clearly hadn’t come into her powers yet, and what better way for her to be close to something that was a part of her? “And my parents usually grill, you should come over. I’m sure they would love to push you onto me some more.” I laughed at this, “That so did not come out right.”
“It’s alright Alana, I know what you meant.” I pulled into my driveway and turned the car off. We both got out silently and I walked over to her. “I’ll walk you over.” I didn’t want to leave her yet. Even if it was only for the night and she would only be a few hundred feet away.
“So tomorrow?” She sounded hopeful.
“What time should I come over?” We had reached her front door now and stood on the porch. I looked down at her face watching the smile slowly spread across her face.
“Whenever is fine, we’ll be out back all day. Neighbors come by at different times during the day. Some for breakfast, some for lunch, some for dinner.”
“Should I bring anything?”
“Just your bathing suit if you want to swim.” She shrugged.
“Then I shall see you tomorrow.” I said as she opened the door and went inside. I smiled to myself as I slowly walked back to my house. She invited me over, this was progress.