Plastic Rings and Ripped Jeans
there's no guarantee that this will be easy.
She huffed at him, crossing her arms across her chest and standing away from him. Her blonde hair hung down her back in a braid, her bangs sticking to her forehead and her cheeks flushed. Her diamond eyes were rimmed with red, swollen from tears. The sound of sniveling and her heart breaking once again were the only sounds to be heard as she turned her face in the opposite direction, refusing to look at him.
A twinge of remorse and despair coursed through his veins, he'd said the wrong thing once again. They had been fighting a lot lately, pushing at each other until they almost pushed the other off the edge. Her parents never had approved of him, and it only became more evident as they got older. They were high school sweethearts and had actually been together since they were in second grade when he gave her a plastic heart shaped ring on Valentine's Day.
Because he wanted to be a musician and not something conventional like a doctor or lawyer, Priscilla's parents thought him to be the scum of the Earth. They didn't think he'd be capable of supporting her, and it was starting to rub off on Priscilla. She was putting more and more doubts into him as the minutes passed, even.
He sighed, turning to leave her where she'd perched on the park bench. When she turned to see him walking away, something inside of her snapped. "So you're just going to fucking walk away, Noah? Just like you always do? Walking away is always the solution to your problems, well it isn't going to fucking work anymore, we're falling apart and all you can do is walk away?" she snapped, grabbing onto the bench until her knuckles turned white.
"Fucking hell, Priscilla, you don't even know what I'm doing. I'm going to be back in a few minutes, I don't expect your stubborn ass to be here when I get back, though, so do whatever you want. I'm tired of fighting with you," he spat over his shoulder, turning away from her again. He was hoping by saying he didn't expect her to be there when he got back that she'd stay, sort of like a reverse psychology trick, he knew she'd fall for it. She always did.
What he did next must have been insanity setting in, because he went down to the book store down the street where they had those quarter machines with rings in them. Standing in front of one of the machines, he looked up to the sky and said a quick prayer and sighed before putting a quarter into the machine and twisting. The turning of the gears in the machine and his heartbeat were all that was audible, all else seemed to stand still.
He opened the metal flap to receive the plastic ring and it shot out into his hand in a little plastic container. Opening it, he gasped in surprise. It was a silver plastic ring with a pink heart shaped jewel - it was just like the one he'd given to her nearly sixteen years ago. His eyes widened in realization that this had been the same machine he'd gotten the first ring from all those years ago. A flashback of a little boy with a mop of brown hair on his head, a fist full of quarters, and a stomach full of nerves and butterflies came back to him. Not much had changed since then.
Shoving the quarters back down in his pocket and holding the ring, he rehearsed what he wanted to say over and over again during the short walk back to the park. As he rounded the corner and the bench came back into view, he was pleased to see Priscilla sitting there with a smug look on her face.
When she saw him, she said "Welcome back, shithead. Bet you didn't expect me to still be here, I bet you were wishing I would have gone back home so you wouldn't have to face me, I bet -"
"Goddammit Priscilla, would you shut up for one minute?" Noah said playfully while walking over to where she sat, instantly getting down on one knee. A shaky sigh and a nervous laugh tittered from his trembling lips as he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.
"Noah what the -" she started again, but he reached up and put his hand over her mouth.
"Priscilla, let me talk!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking. "I know I'm not your mother's favorite and your daddy can't even look me in the eyes, and I don't blame them at all, tattoos and ink stain my arms and all of my jeans are ripped in all the wrong places, my hair is long and I have different aspirations than what they'd like. But I love you and I will be able to support you. I know you want to have a good life, and I swear that I'll be able to do it someday with my voice.
I know that you eye that house on the hill with the view of the city, and I'll work my hands to the bone if I have to to get it for you. It's for sale, you know, and I almost have enough in my savings to put a down payment on it. And most of all, I want you to be my wife. I want to give you my last name, but most importantly I want to support, love, and give all that I can to you. You've had my heart since we were in the forth grade and I love you just as much and more as I did then and that'll never change."
He pulled the plastic ring out of his pocket and slipped it on her finger, his other hand still over her mouth. "I know this plastic ring is cheap, I got it from the same machine at the store down the street from where I got the first one all those years ago, but I'll be able to replace it with a solid gold one with the biggest of diamonds like you dream someday soon, but I hope you'll still wear it until then. It's not going to be easy, but I'll love you endlessly. Forever. So please say yes."
By the time he finished, he was out of breath and searching her bright eyes for some sort of emotion and he didn't find one. She was silent and it made him nervous. "Priscilla?" he questioned, trying to probe her for an answer. His heart beat wildly in his chest.
She slapped at his hand, motioning that she couldn't talk if his hand were still over her mouth. He let out an embarrassed laugh, realizing he'd been keeping her from answering. Instead of answering, she simply flung herself down into his arms and kissed under his ear. His body was electrified by her touch and then he heard her answer in the form of a breathy whisper in his ear.
"Yes, Noah. Yes. I love you as you are, and I'm sorry for everything we've been fighting for lately. I want to be with you forever, I've loved you for sixteen years and I'll love you for sixteen thousand more."
A twinge of remorse and despair coursed through his veins, he'd said the wrong thing once again. They had been fighting a lot lately, pushing at each other until they almost pushed the other off the edge. Her parents never had approved of him, and it only became more evident as they got older. They were high school sweethearts and had actually been together since they were in second grade when he gave her a plastic heart shaped ring on Valentine's Day.
Because he wanted to be a musician and not something conventional like a doctor or lawyer, Priscilla's parents thought him to be the scum of the Earth. They didn't think he'd be capable of supporting her, and it was starting to rub off on Priscilla. She was putting more and more doubts into him as the minutes passed, even.
He sighed, turning to leave her where she'd perched on the park bench. When she turned to see him walking away, something inside of her snapped. "So you're just going to fucking walk away, Noah? Just like you always do? Walking away is always the solution to your problems, well it isn't going to fucking work anymore, we're falling apart and all you can do is walk away?" she snapped, grabbing onto the bench until her knuckles turned white.
"Fucking hell, Priscilla, you don't even know what I'm doing. I'm going to be back in a few minutes, I don't expect your stubborn ass to be here when I get back, though, so do whatever you want. I'm tired of fighting with you," he spat over his shoulder, turning away from her again. He was hoping by saying he didn't expect her to be there when he got back that she'd stay, sort of like a reverse psychology trick, he knew she'd fall for it. She always did.
What he did next must have been insanity setting in, because he went down to the book store down the street where they had those quarter machines with rings in them. Standing in front of one of the machines, he looked up to the sky and said a quick prayer and sighed before putting a quarter into the machine and twisting. The turning of the gears in the machine and his heartbeat were all that was audible, all else seemed to stand still.
He opened the metal flap to receive the plastic ring and it shot out into his hand in a little plastic container. Opening it, he gasped in surprise. It was a silver plastic ring with a pink heart shaped jewel - it was just like the one he'd given to her nearly sixteen years ago. His eyes widened in realization that this had been the same machine he'd gotten the first ring from all those years ago. A flashback of a little boy with a mop of brown hair on his head, a fist full of quarters, and a stomach full of nerves and butterflies came back to him. Not much had changed since then.
Shoving the quarters back down in his pocket and holding the ring, he rehearsed what he wanted to say over and over again during the short walk back to the park. As he rounded the corner and the bench came back into view, he was pleased to see Priscilla sitting there with a smug look on her face.
When she saw him, she said "Welcome back, shithead. Bet you didn't expect me to still be here, I bet you were wishing I would have gone back home so you wouldn't have to face me, I bet -"
"Goddammit Priscilla, would you shut up for one minute?" Noah said playfully while walking over to where she sat, instantly getting down on one knee. A shaky sigh and a nervous laugh tittered from his trembling lips as he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.
"Noah what the -" she started again, but he reached up and put his hand over her mouth.
"Priscilla, let me talk!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking. "I know I'm not your mother's favorite and your daddy can't even look me in the eyes, and I don't blame them at all, tattoos and ink stain my arms and all of my jeans are ripped in all the wrong places, my hair is long and I have different aspirations than what they'd like. But I love you and I will be able to support you. I know you want to have a good life, and I swear that I'll be able to do it someday with my voice.
I know that you eye that house on the hill with the view of the city, and I'll work my hands to the bone if I have to to get it for you. It's for sale, you know, and I almost have enough in my savings to put a down payment on it. And most of all, I want you to be my wife. I want to give you my last name, but most importantly I want to support, love, and give all that I can to you. You've had my heart since we were in the forth grade and I love you just as much and more as I did then and that'll never change."
He pulled the plastic ring out of his pocket and slipped it on her finger, his other hand still over her mouth. "I know this plastic ring is cheap, I got it from the same machine at the store down the street from where I got the first one all those years ago, but I'll be able to replace it with a solid gold one with the biggest of diamonds like you dream someday soon, but I hope you'll still wear it until then. It's not going to be easy, but I'll love you endlessly. Forever. So please say yes."
By the time he finished, he was out of breath and searching her bright eyes for some sort of emotion and he didn't find one. She was silent and it made him nervous. "Priscilla?" he questioned, trying to probe her for an answer. His heart beat wildly in his chest.
She slapped at his hand, motioning that she couldn't talk if his hand were still over her mouth. He let out an embarrassed laugh, realizing he'd been keeping her from answering. Instead of answering, she simply flung herself down into his arms and kissed under his ear. His body was electrified by her touch and then he heard her answer in the form of a breathy whisper in his ear.
"Yes, Noah. Yes. I love you as you are, and I'm sorry for everything we've been fighting for lately. I want to be with you forever, I've loved you for sixteen years and I'll love you for sixteen thousand more."