Rush Of The Past

It was getting colder and colder in the Chicago area – this was the time of the year that the Midwest started to freeze and I wanted to lay in bed and hibernate until Spring came around and the snow completely melted. That wasn’t going to be able to happen any time in my life, though, so I had to deal with it and push through the winter, knowing that it was going to be pure torture.

“Hey, give me a sip of that,” Julia, my roommate (and best friend), bombarded me when I walked into our apartment. I had gotten a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks and I knew I should have chugged it on my walk home because she would steal it.

“I should have just bought you one, Jules.” I rolled my eyes and took off my boots, followed by my loose beanie, and my coat. My blonde hair fell down my shoulders and back, leaving it tangled and naturally wavy.

“You need to color your roots, girly,” Julia said as she pointed to my dark brown roots that was followed by bleach blonde hair. It didn’t bother me, but it sure bothered her enough to point it out like she did with everything. I just rolled my eyes and made a face, exiting the kitchen into the living room, sitting down on the couch and pulling my knees to my chest. “So, that cutie is going to be here soon, huh?” She sat down next to me and pulled the maroon blanket over her lap and turned on the television. We were just in time to watch today’s episode of General Hospital so we could both freak out over the nothingness that is a soap opera.

The beginning of the episode was too intense to find myself answering her question, so I waited until commercial. “I mean, I guess he will be.” I shrugged and stretched my arms above my head and yawning.

“I think a guy in your life will do you some good.” She winked and me and picked up the latte, taking another sip and then passing it to me. I hated it when she said things like that since I’ve been single for a few years. I can’t help it that I don’t need a guy in my life like she does – one guy breaks up with her and she thinks she’ll be alone forever because she’s so “old”, so right afterwards she’s on the hunt to find yet another man, even if it’s a week after the breakup. I can’t even count how many guys’ there have been in her life since middle school, let alone elementary school.

“If you say so, doll,” I giggled with sigh and returned to watching the soap opera. Near the end of the show, with about five minutes left, I got a call on my cell phone.

“No! Don’t get up right now, Elly!” I groaned and she continued as she tried to block me from standing up. “What if Lulu is about to get shot, huh? How bad would you feel for missing that?!” I rolled my eyes at her mainly because, yes, I would feel bad. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but the Fall Sweeps were getting intense during the Black and White ball. We were on the couch every day at this time, waiting for the big bang to happen.

The call went to voicemail, but they called back right away. “I’m sorry,” I said, “I have to get that. It might be work.” She looked irritated and threw up her hand and waved me off.
I didn’t have time to check the caller id, only enough time to pick up the phone and answer it before going to voicemail again. “Hello?” I answered, a little out of breath from jumping over everything on the floor and running into the kitchen.

“El,” a voice on the other line said with a smiley tone.

“Al, hi.” I blushed a little bit at the sound of him saying that horrid nickname.

“How do you feel about me being there in the next day or two?” I wasn’t actually expecting him to come to the city, but it made me happy that he was at least holding out on his “promise”.

“I think that might be a really good idea,” I assured him, knowing that I had the next four days off of work.

“Oh, my God!” Julia shouted in the background and I ran over to see what she was panicking over.

“What was that?” Alex laughed.

“That would be my roommate making a big deal out of nothing,” I said as I chucked a small throw-pillow at her head.

“Big deal out of what?”

“General Hospital." I laughed, knowing that I sounded like an idiot. I covered the receiver to talk to Jules.

"What happened?" I asked her in a screaming whisper thinking that I missed something huge.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see your reaction if something would have happened." She laughed and threw the pillow back at me. She got off the couch and walked towards me. "Tell your little man lover that he can come over any time he wants to." She smiled and pranced into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

"Sorry about that," I told Alex, hoping he was still on the other end.

"It's no big deal, El. I think I'm gonna book the next flight out." He was thinking out loud, but it didn't bother me.

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm sick of talking on the phone like we have been," he chuckled. "Believe it or not, my parents are still paying for my phone bill because I need to get my own plan. So, I'm kind of wasting their money when I talk to you every single night for five hours straight."

"Are you trying to make me feel bad, Gaskarth?"

"Now why would I do that?" He asked me in a teasing tone.

"Whatever, loser. I'll see you when I see you, so call me whenever you plan on landing, okay?" I bit my lip, trying to hold back my excitement, but I could tell that it was shining through a little too much.

"I'll be there by the end of the night, or early in the morning." I heard him smile through his words, knowing that he actually wanted to be here made me even more excited. "Bye, El. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Al." I smiled and pressed the end button, but the second I made sure the phone was off, I shrieked. Julia bursted out of her room and saw me jumping up and down and doing a small celebration dance. I spotted her with her arms crossed against her chest with a smile on her face.

"I take it he's going to be here sooner than later?" She laughed and I nodded my head. She looked down and bit her lip then ran over to me, grabbed my hands, and started jumping with me. I don't know why she was so excited about this, but I was damn glad that she was. "We have to get you looking your hottest, Elly." She winked at me, but I denied her words immediately.

"I think I look fine," I told her my opinion and she agreed a little bit.

"Your face and hair do, but you're still in your Little Miss Waitress clothes," she reminded me. I bolted into my bedroom digging out a pair of leggings, heeled boots, and an overly baggy sweater. "Calm down, he's not going to be here for a while yet." She laughed at me from my doorway. I took a deep breath and told her I was going to nap until dinner.

+++

"Allow me to break out the cheap wine that daddy bought us?" Julia asked after dinner was long over, but I had to turn it down knowing I had to go pick up Alex. He had texted me two hours earlier telling me that he was about to board his flight. I started to get butterflies in my stomach as I knotted my fingers together, trying to not be nervous. "Stop, you're giving me the heebie-jeebies," Jules smiled.

"Sorry," I sighed and picked up our cat, Bat, who was the brother of Spider. Julia and I often argued about who was better: Spiderman or Batman, thus resulting in us getting two brother cats named after the two superheroes. "What if he hates it here?" I asked Julia as Bat started kneading on my lap.

"He'll love it, so shut up." I smiled weakly, noticing I had received a new text. It was Alex and he was about ready to be picked up. I shooed the cat off of my lap and went into the bathroom, making sure I looked okay after my shower and fresh make-up. I tried taking deep breaths and then took my keys and hugged Julia. "Stop being nervous," she kissed my cheek and opened up the door for me.

+++

I silently awaited for Alex to come out of the airport and find me waiting by my car outside. I leaned against the passenger door, messing around with my iPod which had been blasting "First Time" by Lifehouse which was by-far the only good song that was on the radio this year. Finally, I spotted him and his one medium-sized brown, leather bag. He smiled wide and started jogging towards me, opening his arms up wide. I placed my arms around his neck the second he came close to me as he picked me up off my feet and held me tightly. At once, everything fell into place and my nerves floated a world away from us. People stopped and stared at us just to smile our way, but they seemed like a blur.

The world that I see inside you, waiting to come to life
Waking me up to dreaming reality in your eyes.

"Well, hello there," I smiled once he put me down. He leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"You smell good," he complimented me. "And, yes, hello." He smiled and I bit my lip looking at him. He threw his bag into the backseat and I went to the drivers side, ready to take off and get him back to the apartment.

"You don't look like a Jetta girl," he said once I started to pull out of the parking lot.

I shook my head. "It was a graduation present from my parents," I spoke slowly. It was the full truth, but he knew the problems I had with my family.

"Well," he chuckled, "that makes a world of sense now." He picked up the CD case at his feet and started laughing at the more embarrassing albums that were in there such as Britney Spears and Nelly, but I just hit his arm gently and kept driving. Finally, he picked one that he liked and put it in and skipped to the third track right away.

"Boys Like Girls fan?" I asked him with a smile as he took my hand away from my lap and held it.

"They're cool guys. We've actually toured with them," he told me. I wanted to hear the story, but not while the song was on. "I guess I could ask you the same question, though." I glanced over at him quickly and saw his big, brown eyes looking right at me. He smiled slightly and then shook his head and started smiling even more. "You're pretty cute, Eleanor."

From that moment, it was pure silent as "Hero/Heroine" finished and went into "On Top of the World", then "Thunder" as we finally pulled into the parking lot of my apartment.