The Ugly Truth

Everything was exactly how I remembered it. Not that I had been gone long anyways, but still. My house was still had the same brown shutters, the same tire swing in front and the same white fence with the paint chipping. The famous town diner was exactly how I remembered it.My old high school looked exactly the same too, beside some freshly painted grafittis some bored teens had painted onto one of its wall. My favorite café, My Cup of Tea, was the same too. In times when a building can be replaced by a new one in a matter of days, it was a wonder nothing had changed too much.

Except maybe me. What would people think of me now? Would they even recognize me in the first place?

I drove up to my house in my beat up Mustang. It drove my parents crazy to see me driving such a car, but I loved the vintagey feel it had to it. And I’m the kind of person that gets attached to objects, like my car. So, despite my parents’ will to convince me to buy a newer car, I wasn’t going to trade it in for any car, even the newest one on the market.

After ringing the bell a few times, I gave up. Sure, I might have had a spare key somewhere in my luggage but what was the fun of being in my house if my family wasn’t home? And plus, I didn’t really feel like going through everything for a key, which could be just about anywhere.

So I did what most people in my town do when they have nowhere else to go. The diner. It’s sort of like a second home to most people, because it’s run by Mrs. Steele and her husband, who are the two of the most humble, welcoming and lovely on the planet.

I parked my car next to a shiny new Audi, making sure to drive as carefully as possible. If I scratched its perfectly polished surface even a little, the owner would probably throw a fit. And since I’m from a small town where your business is everyone’s, I couldn’t just drive away like you could do in the city because it would be just my luck that someone saw me do it and would tell the owner.

I turned off the engine and breathed out. I hadn’t done anything stupid. For most people this is fairly easy, but not for me. I’m on the clumsy side and always tend to trip, fall or break things. So this was quite an accomplishment.

I pushed my door open and as I did, I heard a horrible sounding noise. I jumped from my seat and gently closed my door, but to no avail. The damage was already done. There, on the expensive, glossy car was a huge scratch made by none other than my car door.

I breathed out and looked around. Had anyone seen it? Maybe I could just drive away. But, no that would be wrong. I should pay for the damage. But how was I supposed to know who the driver was?
If the driver was around his car when I returned to mine, then I’d tell him how it had been an accident and offer to pay for it. And if not, then I would just pretend it never happened,
wrong as it may be.

As I entered the diner I couldn’t help but feel ashamed. I had wrecked the car of someone in there. It could be that family in the corner’s or the huge scary guy’s or the cute blonde guy’s.

I couldn’t help but look at him again. He was extremely attractive, with blonde hair and light blue eyes that incarnated most women’s prince charming. Yet there was something vaguely familiar about him. I had probably gone to school with him, but I couldn’t quite place my finger on who he was.

But when he looked over as I walked to the bar, I knew exactly who he was. Ethan Kimball. The guy I had had a crush on for ages. In high school he had been the typical blonde jock that had as many girls as he could ask for after him. And sadly, I was one of them, although he never as much as glanced my way. He was wearing a college football jacket, so he was still into the game. It was probably what had gotten him a scholarship, considering his grades were pitiful. Although, come to think of it, his parents would be able to afford it anyways.

I asked the waitress for some coffee and sat down at a stool beside the bar. I looked around for Mr. or Mrs. Steele but they were nowhere to be seen.

A few moments later, I felt someone walking strangely close behind me and then sitting to my right. It was awkward because there were plenty of empty seats and that person had chosen to sit right beside me.

I casually glanced over to find Ethan sitting there. He saw me looking at him and smiled.
I gave him a small one back and tried to focus on anything else but him. It was stupid but he still gave me butterflies. And he had smiled at me. At me.

My coffee arrived soon and I began pouring the little paper sacks of sugar in it. I always needed about five because they contained such little amount in each.

After I had a good amount of sugar in the cup, I lifted it to my mouth. They had the best coffee here. I had missed it. None else could really compare to this one. Maybe it was because I had drank it for so many times while growing up. Or maybe it brought back nice memories. Either way, I loved it.

Suddenly, Ethan nudged me and I dropped the coffee all over my shirt and skirt. I jumped out of the stool and gave a little yell. The coffee had burnt.

“I’m so sorry,” Ethan said, handing me some napkins to try to help.

“It’s alright,” I lied, passing some napkins over my clothes. They were still hot and bothered tremendously.

“Let me order you another one,” he said, seeing my aggravated face.

Before I could refuse, he had done it.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. I’m Ethan, by the way,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Lindsay.”

His grip was strong but friendly, which only made me like him more.

“I haven’t seen you around here before.”

He obviously didn’t know who I really was. He had probably never noticed me. Now was my chance to meet him and I wasn’t going to screw it up and tell him he really did know me and that I was that nerdy girl from school.

“I’ve been around. I guess you just haven’t seen me.”

And that was completely true.

“What a pity I haven’t, then,” he smiled.

Was he flirting with me?

“I see you go to USC,” I said, eyeing his sweater.

“Yeah. Where do you go?”

“Harvard.”

He let out an impressed whistle.

“Are you here for the summer?” he asked, just as her new cup of coffee arrived.

“Exactly.”

“We should do something together sometime.”

“Sure.”

It was weird. He seemed more interested in me than me in him. And he had practically asked me out. But for some reason, it wasn’t as great as I always thought it would be. He reminded me of a part of my life I’d rather forget.

After drinking my coffee, I excused myself from Ethan. Sure, he was cute and charming but also a quite dull conversation partner. He didn’t know how to talk about anything beside football, pickup lines and his buddies.

“I better be leaving too,” he had replied, accompanying her to the door.

“My car’s this way,” I said, pointing to the right side of the parking lot.

“Oh, mine too.”

We walked together as he told yet another story of how he had scored a great point in a match against their rival team.

I nodded and smiled every now and then and pretended I gave a damn if they had won or not.

We arrived at my car, yet he didn’t leave. Great, he was probably one of those creepy stalkers from crime shows that abduct women and keep them in their basement.

“This is my car,” I announced, hoping he’d leave.

He looked it over, clearly not impressed but produced a fake smile.

“Hey, you parked right beside me,” he said, rounding my car and approaching the Audi.

Great. He was the owner of the now scratched Audi.

“Ethan, I kind of have to tell you something-”

“Holy crap! Look at this big scratch,” exclaimed, staring at it horrified.

“Well, you see, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

He turned to me and I noticed he was a little red in the face.

“I kind of did that with my door but I promise I’ll pay for the repair. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay. I spilled coffee on you, so we’re even,” he replied, although his red face didn’t change and he said it in quite an angry tone.

“Bye,” he said, before entering his car and speeding off.
Well, that had gone well.