Tell Me a Fairytale

We were laughing as we walked out the gate to the bumper cars. Even Vanessa was laughing—not that I expected it to last, but, nevertheless, I was grateful, and although he hadn't known her very long, Spencer was to glad to see her happy too.

"You're not a bad driver, Vanessa," he said. "You had me scared for a minute there."

"I'm the one you should have worrying about!" I said.

"Well, I just figured you had no aim." He laughed as I rolled my eyes. "Oh, there's Ryan," Spencer said. Waving, he shouted Ryan's name at a crowd of people.

Neither Vanessa nor I knew which of those people was Ryan until one of them looked over and smiled. His smile was wide and friendly, very much like a child's, as long as you ignored the thick beard below it. His dark hair—which was shorter on the sides than on top, indicating that his mohawk had grown out—glistened with sweat as he shook his head and laughed. His tight-fitting black shirt showed off his tanned, muscular arms as he was walking toward us.

As Ryan approached, Vanessa, who was already standing very close to me, grabbed my hand and held it firmly. New people, especially men, made her nervous, and it always seemed to take a while for her to grow accustomed to them. "It's okay," I whispered into her ear, and she took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

When he was close enough for us all to hear him, Ryan said, "Two pretty girls? How the hell do you manage stuff like this all the time? Do they feel sorry for you?"

"If pity was the key to getting girls, you'd be scoring left and right, Ryan," Spencer said. "No, I've actually got a great technique: first, I wash my hair, and then I shave."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. And then, uh... what was it? Oh, right, you don't eat. Pretty hair, smooth skin, and delicate figure. Hmm... sounds suspiciously girlish. Are you sure they're not lesbians?" Ryan looked at Vanessa and me and winked. "Just kidding. I'm Ryan. What are your names?"

I told Ryan my name, and I had then intended to introduce Vanessa, who was still hanging on to my hand, but she took that upon herself.

"I'm Vanessa," she said, taking her hand out of mine and placing it in Ryan's. "And, uh, actually... we are lesbians."

Ryan froze his handshake with Vanessa and looked at her until he was certain she was serious. Then he looked at Spencer, but Spencer was looking at me, skeptically, like he wasn't sure he believed her, or maybe just didn't want to.

I froze too; I couldn't speak. I couldn't say Vanessa wasn't my girlfriend because she was, but I couldn't say she was because I didn't want Spencer to think she was.

Ryan released Vanessa's arm and said, "So then you two are..."

"Yeah," Vanessa said, wrapping her arm around my waist and kissing my cheek. I tried to smile, but I couldn't bring myself to move my mouth.

"Oh... Cool!" Ryan exclaimed, more enthusiastically than he had intended to, and Vanessa's jaw dropped.

"You ass!" she laughed and stepped closer, her fist raised to hit him.

"Whoa, hold on," he said, backing up. When Vanessa didn't hold on, Ryan turned and ran, yelling, "I didn't mean it that way!"

Spencer and I watched as Vanessa caught up to Ryan and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, then as Ryan turned around and chased Vanessa until they were out of sight.