Two Directions

The bells right above the door rung as I stepped out from the winter air and into the warm diner. I took my hat off-and I’m sure it messed my hair up-and loosened my scarf a bit. I walked up to the round seats at the counter and sat down. Danna returning from giving a customer their lunch and placed her tray on the cut out window that separated her from the cook before turning to me.

“Hey, Keira. What can I get you?” she asked, not bothering to take out her pen and pad since I usually ordered the same thing every time I came here.

“I’ll have a hamburger with steak fries and a medium soda,” I rattled off.

“You got that, George?” she yelled through the window. George’s hand appeared with a thumb’s up. George was mute, which limited his job options and was partially the reason why he was hired here. You didn’t need to be able to speak to be a good cook, and he was one of the best I’ve ever seen.

“So, how are things going with you?” she asked, keeping a lookout for any customers that might need anything.

“Good, although I’m kinda nervous about the winter season at the Studio,” I admitted.

“And why is that?”

“We’re putting on a production of The Nutcracker, and I’m auditioning for the role of Clara.”

“And I’m sure you’ll get it,” Danna said, placing a comforting hand on top of mine.

“I don’t know about that. There’s two new dancers that joined a few months ago and they’re really good. They moved here from New York, and they have an excellent ballet studio there,” I sighed, propping my elbow up on the counter resting my chin on my hand.

“Keira, listen to me,” Danna said, and I looked up to meet her light blue eyes. “You’re a good dancer, and you’ve been there for twelve years, ever since you were six years old. You’ll get the part you want.”

I just shrugged, not fully believing her. Ballet was no piece of cake, the competition was fierce for the top spots in the productions. You had to claw your way to the top, and when you got there you had to defend your position with everything you had or someone else would come along and steal it. Ballet was by no means a sissy sport for little girls. It was a hard business to get into and even harder to stay in, but I loved it and I could never imagine myself doing anything else. Danna saw the unbelieving look on my face so she decided to try a different approach to cheering me up.

“I know what will cheer you up,” she announced with a bright smile. I lifted my head and raised an eyebrow.

“A little while ago, about ten minutes, a group of about four or five boys came here. They were pretty cute, and they looked only a little younger than you. There was one I think you might like-” Danna started, but I cut her off.

“I remember the last time you tried to set me up with someone who came passing by here. He turned out to be a total jerk and he stole stuff from my mom and dad’s antique shop,” I said with a frown, resting my chin back on my hand.

“I already apologized for that, and the police caught him anyways. Forgive and forget. But these guys look different,” Danna said with a shrug. Suddenly a ring filled the air as George tapped the small bell on the window. Danna turned and grabbed the plate before handing it to me. “Just think about it. They said they were stuck here for a while because their car broke down, so I suggested they check out your parents antique shop. No need to thank me.”

“Excuse me, Miss? Could we get some napkins over here?” A customer called out. Danna nodded, grabbing some from a nearby dispenser.

“Just a minute, sir,” she said before turning to me. “If I were you I’d hurry up and eat that, so you can get back to the store.”

I rolled my eyes as she walked away. She was always trying to set me up with some boy or another. My mom guessed it was because Danna was trying to live vicariously through me since she never got married, having lost her fiancé ten years ago in a car crash not far from here. I took my sweet time eating my burger and fries, just to irritate Danna. She meant well, but her meddling in my love life was annoying to say the least. All I wanted to focus on now was getting the part I wanted in the ballet. Love could come after that, but now was the time to put all I had into practicing for the audition and hope for the best.

After I was done I paid Danna and tightened my scarf and put my hat on before heading out into the howling, winter wind. Snow flurries swirled around me as I made my way down the street. Street lamps decked out with wreath illuminated the almost deserted street, casting light on everything I couldn’t see because of the overcast sky. The few stores on top of the tall hill where I lived shone lights from the front of their store windows. Each one of them had a Christmas tree, or Christmas theme, getting people in the holiday spirit. Christmas was almost a month away, but we got ready for Christmas early in our small strip of stores. We couldn’t even call ourselves a town, since we were situated on the top of a hill that loomed over the highway. On one side was the ever fast-moving highway, and on the other side was a street that led to a ramp that eventually led to the highway. We were the local attractions and stores that people stopped at while leaving or coming from the highway. We weren’t as popular as the stores in the city a little distance away, but we made enough to keep our shops open.

In the distance, through the blur of the snow falling I could make out the antique shop. It was a cozy looking building situated between a grocery store and a hair salon. With a streetlight in front of it and bright lights in the window shining onto the dull, snow filled street, it gave off a warm feeling even in the dead of winter. Outside, right below the windows, were trimmings of pine with plastic red berries placed in the middle and above the shop was a blue and white overhanging with the words, Annie’s Antiques, named after my mom. I noticed the tent overhanging was sagging down a little with all the snow piled on top weighing I down. It would need to be brushed off soon or risk tearing the fabric.

When I finally got to my parents shop I was nearly frozen. It wasn’t a long walk from the diner to their shop, but it always got really cold during the winter season in Nebraska. I opened the door quickly and closed it just as fast, not wanting to let any snow in the shop. I could feel the heater right above the door slowly thaw me out. When I felt my muscles get stiff from the sudden change in temperature I slowly made my way to the stairs to the right that were blocked off to the customers. I walked through the living room to the hallway with my room at the very end. I threw my coat, hat and scarf on my bed before running a brush through my messy hair. I twisted it up into a bun before setting off downstairs. I was about to head towards the back before my mom waved me over to the front desk.

“Keira, while you were gone our newest client brought by a lot of her antiques, and some of the stuff in her collection were old books,” she said with a smile, and I could feel the day getting better.

Ballet was my first love, but I could never give up reading books either. Ever since I began to read I would wander through the shop, picking up a couple books and bringing them to my room to read them before putting them back in their places. There were few books in the store that I hadn’t already read, or planned to read. I was always on the lookout for an interesting new read since we didn’t live near a library. The books that came by here were usually older books, which was fine by me. I loved to read old books, especially one’s set in the 1700’s or 1800’s.

“Thanks, mom! Where did you put them?” I asked excitedly.

“Downstairs. I put the books against the wall on a bookshelf we had just laying around.” No sooner had the words left her mouth was I rushing downstairs to see the new books. The lights were dim downstairs, even more so considering most of the light in here usually came from the windows, but since the sky was overcast there was an eerie glow coming from the ancient light bulbs that had been there for who knows how long. It was enough to see around the room, but a better lighting system would probably bring more customers down here. I would have to mention it to mom.

I looked around and saw the dusty bookshelf mom had mentioned sitting against the wall right next to the corner. I walked over to it and stooped down to look at the books on the bottom shelf. I recognized a lot of the classics, some of which I had already read: Wuthering Heights, Of Mice And Men, and The Wizard Of Oz. The one’s that grabbed my attention were a whole case of the full works of Jane Austen. I’d always heard great things about her books, and had been dying to read them for a while now. I picked up Pride and Prejudice and flipped to the first chapter, eager to start it. I turned around and leaned against the bookcase, sending a cloud of dust into the air. Living in an antique store most of my life, I was already used to it.

I was on the third chapter when I folded down the page corner and closed the book. Reading down here with the poor lighting was hurting my eyes. I decided I would take it to my room upstairs and read it instead.

As I was standing up I noticed a mannequin nearby the bookcase with a wedding dress on it, complete with a veil at the top. That must be new too.

I walked over to the gown that seemed to be surrounded by a glowing white halo because of the dim lighting and the shaft of light that came from the window that shone directly on it. I walked over to the dress and ran my fingers over the cream colored see-though lace that covered the neckline and made up the long sleeves. The cream colored lace hem at the bottom came to the ankles, while the back fanned out behind it. The lace at the neck and was pulled together at the base by a golden colored string before fanning up and outward. Along the waistline there were pearls stitched into the fabric. I ran my fingers over the precious stone and smiled to myself. I turned my attention to the veil sitting on the faceless plastic head and took it off the mannequin. It was as white as the snow outside and seemed to flow down like a waterfall. The headpiece had golden colored leaves at the top and the veil went all the way down to the ground before stopping right before it meets the floor. I ran my fingers over the lace before putting it on my head and grabbing both sides of the veil and bringing it around myself.

“Getting married soon?” a voice behind me nearly made me jump out of my skin. I spun around to see a boy around my age, maybe a little younger, smiling at me. I could see from the smirk on his face that he wasn’t serious.

I smiled back. “That depends, are you proposing?” I joked back. He laughed at this and I could see his eyes sparkle, even in the dim lights. Shadows were cast over half of his face; the shaft of light from the window only illuminated half. From the half I could see clearly I saw that he had bluish-gray eyes, the color of the stormy sea right before it rains. The color seemed a contradiction to the way his eyes twinkled like the stars on a cloudless night. From what I could see I made out that he had light blond hair, messed up at the top and sticking out in a few different directions; it was messy like mine. The different was it made him look adorable; mine made me look like the female version of Einstein.

“Did you know the tradition of wearing a veil came from Ancient Rome, although the veils the Roman’s used were usually bright colors, like red or blue. It was thought that a brightly colored veil would protect the bride from demons and evil spirits.” I realized with a smile that he sounded foreign. He had an accent that sounded like a mix of Irish and British. I couldn’t make up my mind which one it was.

“Good thing I don’t believe in ghosts, I want a white veil when I get married.” A brief silence followed where neither of us knew what to say. I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to say; no one I knew ever rattled off random bits of information, even though it was kinda cute.

“So…do you come here often?” he asked with a sly smile. I almost burst out laughing at his attempt to try and flirt with me. That had to be the oldest line in the book, but I decided to answer it anyways.

“You could say that,” I replied with a shrug, “I live here-on the top floor with my parents.”

“You live here? That must be awesome!”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. But what about you? Where are you from? I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Well, our bus broke down,” he replied, “So we pulled into the nearest gas station. We decided to get a bite to eat while we were waiting for the mechanic to get here and a lady at the nearby diner recommended we come here; said we would like some of the stuff we’d find here.” I bet she did.

This must be one of the boys from the group she mentioned. Well, I guess she was right for once, he did look kinda cute. For once I was glad Danna told the boys about this place, or more particularly, this boy in front of me.