1,000 Lies Told At 40,000 Feet High
Chapter 12
"We're here," Oscar said as we halted in front of a section of the metal fence. The silver metal looked threatening in the harsh light that was thrown from the neighbouring houses and the dim yellow street lights. And as the trees swayed and creaked, I began to think that perhaps a picnic in the park, a park that was known as a drug dealer hangout, wasn't the greatest place for a date.
“Come on,” Oscar said, holding his hand out for me. I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t even realised that Oscar had already jumped the fence. Oh God, how was I supposed to do this in a dress? I awkwardly sat on the fence with by back facing the park then lifted my feet up and spun around so that I was facing the park once again. Taking Oscar’s hand, I jumped off of the fence and landed on the damp ground. Oscar pulled me through the trees for a moment before we reached the top of a hill where a small picnic basket was sitting on a rug. My inner Jane Austen romantic screamed out in delight.
“I was a little worried that a crow would attempt to steal the food but it looks like we got lucky,” Oscar said sitting down. I sat down beside him before slowly falling back on the picnic rug as I looked up at the stars.
“Did you know that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the earth?” I asked as Oscar adjusted his position so that he was lying on his side next to me.
“Mmm,” Oscar murmured as a reply.
“They’re just so beautiful,” I said in wonder.
“Yes you are,” Oscar answered. I turned my head so that I was looking at him and rolled my eyes at the smirk that graced his face. I was secretly delighted; no one –excluding my mum- had ever said that to me.
“And how many other girls have you said that to?” I questioned jokingly.
“A few.” Ouch, there goes my perpetual happiness.
“I’m sorry babe, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m only kidding around. You are gorgeous,” Oscar said reaching out to touch my face so that I was forced to look at him, and he did look remorseful. He leaned forward and began to slowly kiss me, first on the lips and then down the side of my face and to my neck. After a few minutes of making out, I leaned away and slowly opened my eyes.
“Food?” I asked. Oscar leaned away from me and sat back up. He rummaged around in the basket for a bit before locating what it was that he was looking for and sat back beside me. He wordlessly handed me a bottle of soft drink and then continued to dig around in the picnic basket.
“So, for dinner we have a spectacular meal of roast chicken and veggies and for desert there is a lemon tart,” Oscar said, handing me a plate of food.
“Wow, you made this all yourself?” I asked as I began to eat. Oscar scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“God no, I got my mum to make it all for me,” he replied. Oscar and I fell silent as we ate and as I watched the stars. And there would not be much talking for the remainder of the night. It turned out that Oscar was more interested in making out than talking.
***
Amanda and I sat in the park near my house, the very same park that the night before, Oscar and I had had our date. Children were running around the play equipment and the sound of loud whistles was drifting to us from a football game that was taking place 50 metres away.
“God, Amanda, it was just perfect,” I recalled, sighing happily.
“We should double date!” Amanda said loudly, sitting up straighter as she did so. I laughed.
“Calm down Amanda, we’ll see.”
“We could all go and see that band that’s supposed to be playing next week. What type of music does Oscar like?” Amanda asked, barely finishing one thought before moving on to the next.
“Careful there Amanda, you’re beginning to sound like Sarah. As for the band, umm, I’m not sure, we didn’t talk about our music preferences,” I replied lazily, as I laid down on the grass and shielded the sun from my eyes with my hand.
“Ok, well, we could all see a movie and have dinner. What’s his favourite food? Ben likes pizza, but he also likes Thai food,” Amanda said, staring down at me.
“I don’t know what food he likes, we didn’t talk about it.”
“What did you talk about!” Amanda yelled, becoming frustrated and grabbing the attention of a couple passing by. I took a sip of water from my water bottle and shrugged noncommittally.
“We didn’t really talk that much,” I said after a moment of silence. But kissing is a lot more fun than talking anyway, so what did it matter.
“So you know nothing about him,” Amanda stated, and raised a single eyebrow at me.
“I know that he likes me and that’s all that matters, isn’t it.”
***
“Why is it that I’m not at all surprised that you’re here?” I laughed in response and took my seat. It was a Friday night, almost a week since my date with Oscar. Chace was looking stunning as ever. Was I allowed to say that now that I had a boyfriend? His hair was in the messy style that I had come to associate with Chace and iPod headphones were poking out of the pocket of his dark wash jeans.
“Hello to you to Chace,” I replied.
“So how did you swindle the poor flight lady into giving you the seat next to me?” Chace said as he turned towards me.
“Oh, you know me; I’m fantastic at creating stories. If anyone asks, you’re going to Sydney to tell this girl that you’re sorry that you broke up with her and that you want to get back together because she’s the love of your life. But you don’t know that while you were together, she cheated on you and now she’s engaged to the guy. So I’ve rushed to the airport to tell you and to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life, because we’ve know each other since we were six, I’m secretly, madly in love with you” I explained.
“And she believed that?” Chace asked sceptically.
“Well, it sounded better when I told it the first time with all of the extra embellishments and such. What can I say, flight attendants can’t help but fall for my charm and act out my bidding.”
Chace turned back to the front and looked towards the front where a flight attendant was explaining the emergency procedures.
“You’re early,” he said. I glanced out the small window of the plane, what was he talking about? The plane was taxiing on the runway, we were about to take off.
“I’m sorry?” I questioned, not at all understanding.
“It’s only been four weeks since I last saw you, and you normally wait six weeks before putting yourself through the ordeal of seeing your father again,” Chace explained, running his hand through his hair.
“Oh, well, I was supposed to visit my father next week but I remembered that you go up to see your family every second week, so I changed my flight to today.”
“You altered you flight just so that you could see me?” Chace said smiled. I looked down and fiddled with my fingers and didn’t say anything.
“I guess. You’re a pretty cool guy Chace and the flight passes quicker when your here, it’s more fun,” I said embarrassedly. I couldn’t look up to see his expression but Chace remained silent.
“Come on,” Oscar said, holding his hand out for me. I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t even realised that Oscar had already jumped the fence. Oh God, how was I supposed to do this in a dress? I awkwardly sat on the fence with by back facing the park then lifted my feet up and spun around so that I was facing the park once again. Taking Oscar’s hand, I jumped off of the fence and landed on the damp ground. Oscar pulled me through the trees for a moment before we reached the top of a hill where a small picnic basket was sitting on a rug. My inner Jane Austen romantic screamed out in delight.
“I was a little worried that a crow would attempt to steal the food but it looks like we got lucky,” Oscar said sitting down. I sat down beside him before slowly falling back on the picnic rug as I looked up at the stars.
“Did you know that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the earth?” I asked as Oscar adjusted his position so that he was lying on his side next to me.
“Mmm,” Oscar murmured as a reply.
“They’re just so beautiful,” I said in wonder.
“Yes you are,” Oscar answered. I turned my head so that I was looking at him and rolled my eyes at the smirk that graced his face. I was secretly delighted; no one –excluding my mum- had ever said that to me.
“And how many other girls have you said that to?” I questioned jokingly.
“A few.” Ouch, there goes my perpetual happiness.
“I’m sorry babe, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m only kidding around. You are gorgeous,” Oscar said reaching out to touch my face so that I was forced to look at him, and he did look remorseful. He leaned forward and began to slowly kiss me, first on the lips and then down the side of my face and to my neck. After a few minutes of making out, I leaned away and slowly opened my eyes.
“Food?” I asked. Oscar leaned away from me and sat back up. He rummaged around in the basket for a bit before locating what it was that he was looking for and sat back beside me. He wordlessly handed me a bottle of soft drink and then continued to dig around in the picnic basket.
“So, for dinner we have a spectacular meal of roast chicken and veggies and for desert there is a lemon tart,” Oscar said, handing me a plate of food.
“Wow, you made this all yourself?” I asked as I began to eat. Oscar scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“God no, I got my mum to make it all for me,” he replied. Oscar and I fell silent as we ate and as I watched the stars. And there would not be much talking for the remainder of the night. It turned out that Oscar was more interested in making out than talking.
***
Amanda and I sat in the park near my house, the very same park that the night before, Oscar and I had had our date. Children were running around the play equipment and the sound of loud whistles was drifting to us from a football game that was taking place 50 metres away.
“God, Amanda, it was just perfect,” I recalled, sighing happily.
“We should double date!” Amanda said loudly, sitting up straighter as she did so. I laughed.
“Calm down Amanda, we’ll see.”
“We could all go and see that band that’s supposed to be playing next week. What type of music does Oscar like?” Amanda asked, barely finishing one thought before moving on to the next.
“Careful there Amanda, you’re beginning to sound like Sarah. As for the band, umm, I’m not sure, we didn’t talk about our music preferences,” I replied lazily, as I laid down on the grass and shielded the sun from my eyes with my hand.
“Ok, well, we could all see a movie and have dinner. What’s his favourite food? Ben likes pizza, but he also likes Thai food,” Amanda said, staring down at me.
“I don’t know what food he likes, we didn’t talk about it.”
“What did you talk about!” Amanda yelled, becoming frustrated and grabbing the attention of a couple passing by. I took a sip of water from my water bottle and shrugged noncommittally.
“We didn’t really talk that much,” I said after a moment of silence. But kissing is a lot more fun than talking anyway, so what did it matter.
“So you know nothing about him,” Amanda stated, and raised a single eyebrow at me.
“I know that he likes me and that’s all that matters, isn’t it.”
***
“Why is it that I’m not at all surprised that you’re here?” I laughed in response and took my seat. It was a Friday night, almost a week since my date with Oscar. Chace was looking stunning as ever. Was I allowed to say that now that I had a boyfriend? His hair was in the messy style that I had come to associate with Chace and iPod headphones were poking out of the pocket of his dark wash jeans.
“Hello to you to Chace,” I replied.
“So how did you swindle the poor flight lady into giving you the seat next to me?” Chace said as he turned towards me.
“Oh, you know me; I’m fantastic at creating stories. If anyone asks, you’re going to Sydney to tell this girl that you’re sorry that you broke up with her and that you want to get back together because she’s the love of your life. But you don’t know that while you were together, she cheated on you and now she’s engaged to the guy. So I’ve rushed to the airport to tell you and to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life, because we’ve know each other since we were six, I’m secretly, madly in love with you” I explained.
“And she believed that?” Chace asked sceptically.
“Well, it sounded better when I told it the first time with all of the extra embellishments and such. What can I say, flight attendants can’t help but fall for my charm and act out my bidding.”
Chace turned back to the front and looked towards the front where a flight attendant was explaining the emergency procedures.
“You’re early,” he said. I glanced out the small window of the plane, what was he talking about? The plane was taxiing on the runway, we were about to take off.
“I’m sorry?” I questioned, not at all understanding.
“It’s only been four weeks since I last saw you, and you normally wait six weeks before putting yourself through the ordeal of seeing your father again,” Chace explained, running his hand through his hair.
“Oh, well, I was supposed to visit my father next week but I remembered that you go up to see your family every second week, so I changed my flight to today.”
“You altered you flight just so that you could see me?” Chace said smiled. I looked down and fiddled with my fingers and didn’t say anything.
“I guess. You’re a pretty cool guy Chace and the flight passes quicker when your here, it’s more fun,” I said embarrassedly. I couldn’t look up to see his expression but Chace remained silent.