by Jamie Knight
“Okay, good. See you soon,” she said cheerfully.
I pressed the “end call” button on my cell phone and tossed it into the backpack that I was carrying before walking out of my bedroom.
“Heading out?” asked Bradley.
I hadn't noticed him sitting in the living room. He was looking at the classifieds in the newspaper.
“Yeah, for a bit,” I said, brushing my wild hair out of my face. “I'm going to hang out with my friends Grace. You're welcome to join us, if you'd like.”
I knew that Grace was going to want all the details about what had happened with Bradley. She would probably die of shock, though, if I brought him with me. But hey, that way, she could ask him all the questions that she wanted.
I paused, thinking more about that. She would do more than just ask questions. She would give him the third degree and ask uncomfortable, embarrassing questions. I knew I wasn't ready for that.
I still wasn't sure what was going to happen between Bradley and me, if anything. So, of course, I didn't want her ruining things by making it weird and making him feel more uncomfortable.
I immediately wished that I hadn't opened my big mouth and invited him, but it was too late. The words had already left my lips.
“No, that's okay,” he said, to my relief, while shaking his head. “I appreciate the invitation, but I'm sure that you and your friend wouldn't want some old man hanging around.”
He made a face that made him look like an old man with no teeth, causing me to laugh hard.
“You're not old,” I said pointedly. “You're seasoned, experienced. And experience is very sexy.”
I raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, hoping that he would catch my drift. If he did, he didn't let on at all. He had done a remarkable job at refraining from doing anything with me, but I knew deep down that he wanted to. It was only a matter of time.
“It's okay. I know I'm old,” he said. “But, I have some things that I need to take care of anyway. I need to find a job, so I'm spending the day working on my resume and finding possible positions that will work for me. You enjoy yourself, though.”
I felt torn. Part of me felt relieved that he had turned down my invitation to hang out with Grace, but another part of me wanted to spend the day with him. It’d been a couple of days since we grilled by the pool, and we had only had casual, jokey interactions since then.
Actually, I hadn’t seen much of him. I had started to suspect that he was avoiding me, but he seemed honestly busy. Dad had said Bradley was jump-starting his life again. I definitely could relate to that feeling, and I knew my dad could, too, after everything we’d been through with Mom dying.
I knew what it was like to feel overwhelmed and unsure, not knowing where to put your focus because everything seemed like just so… much. I was sure it was similar for Bradley, since he had been injured and lost his career and his whole life had changed, just like that.
I thought about cancelling my plans with Grace just so that I could hang out around the house. But, I decided against it, thinking that it might be a good idea to talk to Grace to figure out a strategy for moving things forward with Bradley.
Grace had always been great at giving me advice on what to do when it came to guys. I remember when I had a huge crush on Tommy Roberts during Freshman year. Tommy was head of the debate team at our high school and was class president. Everyone loved him.
It was extraordinary because most of the people who were on the debate team were bullied and called names for being academic nerds. But everyone had a lot of respect for Tommy. It might have had something to do with his charismatic smile and dazzling personality.
I remembered it all—there had been a dance coming up and it was the girls' turn to ask the guys out. I had never even been to a dance, let alone asked a guy out. Like many high school freshmen, I didn't know what to do.
Feeling helpless, I had asked Grace what she thought that I should do. She devised a plan that was foolproof. Back then, I wasn't sure if she knew what she was talking about, or if her suggestions would work, but I figured it was worth a shot.
“Here's what you do,” she said. “Go up to him and compliment him. On anything. It doesn't matter what it is. Then, when he responds, tell him that you remember when he won the last debate and how sexy he was. From there, he'll be putty in your hands. Find a way to nonchalantly ask him if he has plans for the dance. If he says no, ask him if he wants to go with you. I promise you it will work.”
I had all kinds of doubts, but I still did exactly as she had instructed. Much to my surprise, he said yes. And it was a magical night. We had so much fun, dancing the night away. Tommy had been such a gentleman.
I had been a virgin and still am. And I couldn’t say that my connection with Tommy was enough to make me want to lose that—I hadn’t ever wanted to lose it until just recently when I met Bradley. I feel like he’d know exactly what to do with it, whereas all the guys my age wouldn’t.
But still, Tommy was nice and it was a great date. After the dance, we talked a few more times and then ended up just being cordial to each other. From that point on, I didn't question Grace's advice on much of anything.
I pulled into the mall parking lot and spotted Grace right away. She stood at the front doors, waving excitedly. I couldn't help but laugh at how eager she seemed to see me. I know that the main reason was because she was wanted to know how things had been going with Bradley.
I hadn't gone into detail about much of anything on purpose. I wanted to save all of the juicy details for when we had time to be together. It probably was for the best that Bradley hadn't joined us because Grace would have probably exploded, wondering what had happened between us.
I parked and got out of the car. Before I had a chance to even get to the sidewalk, Grace was all over me.
“So, tell me what happened!”
“Geez, can we greet each other first,” I said, toying with her. She ignored me, though.
“I need to know everything,” she said in a high-pitched squeal.
“Alright, alright,” I said, trying to quiet her down. “Let's go inside and grab some smoothies. We can sit and talk then.”
A few people were looking on at us curiously, obviously wondering what was going on. I locked my arm into Grace's and we walked inside, arm-in-arm.
“So, what have you been up to?” I asked, hoping to change the subject for a minute.
“Nothing new,” she said. “Just the same old stuff: parents breathing down my neck about what I'm going to do with my life. Me having panic attacks trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. And my best friend having some secret love affair that she won't tell me about.”
“You're being really dramatic,” I said, laughing. “I swear to you, there is no love affair going on here.”
“So, you still aren't going to tell me anything yet?” she whined. She had the saddest look in her eyes like a puppy begging for a treat.
“You really just aren't going to let this go, are you?” I sighed.
I had never seen her so eager. She was usually more patient. I think that the extra pressure that her parents had been putting on her was starting to wear Grace down. It was then that I really looked at her and saw how worn she looked.
Her hair looked uncombed. She had bags under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days. I felt bad. I realized that this trip to the mall was probably more than just the average trip to the mall, like the many that we had taken in the past when we were carefree.
This was probably her window of peace, her chance to get out of the house and have a minor distraction. So, I decided not to make her wait to hear about what had been going on.
“Okay, well, we kissed,” I said, waiting for her reaction.
“What?” she asked, shocked. She paused for a moment and stared at the ground, trying to process things.
“Yeah, but it's not how you think,” I said.
“What do you mean, ‘it's not how I think’? There's really not a whole lo
t of explanation. It’s a kiss. That's pretty straightforward.”
“Yes and no,” I said, trying to explain. “He's a mechanic by trade. That's what he did in the military. He told me that he could help me fix my car and I told him that he could. Well, we went to the auto parts store to pick up a couple of things that he said that we would need to fix the car and the guy behind the counter was being disgusting. He was some super cheesy guy who kept flirting with me. I was trying to brush him off, but then he made a comment basically saying that Bradley was my dad. And I was so embarrassed. So, I decided to make the counter guy feel embarrassed by kissing Bradley. I wasn't even thinking it all the way through when I did it. I just went in for the kiss.”
“Oh my God! That's crazy! What did he say?” she said, leaning in for my answer. I could tell that any stress she may have had from her parents was now a distant memory.
“He actually didn't say anything at all,” I said, frowning. “At first, it was like he was frozen when I kissed him. But, after a little while, he started to kiss me back. And I don't think that he was trying to make the counter guy feel embarrassed or anything. I think that he genuinely enjoyed the kiss. But, then, that was it. We left the store and neither one of us mentioned it again. We fixed the car and had dinner. I suggested a swim after dinner, but I ended up swimming alone.”
Grace frowned. It wasn't the love story that she was hoping for. It was actually pretty anti-climatic.
“At least, you did something,” said Grace, shrugging.
“Thanks,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “I just wish that something more would have happened, you know? I'm not even sure what I was hoping for. Or that I should even be hoping for anything. I mean, he is my dad's friend. If anything were to happen between us, I'm not too sure ol’ James would be happy about it.”
“Yeah, if it were me and any of my dad's friends, he would be through the roof. I would probably be disowned and forced to move in with you.”
“And what a tragedy that would be,” I joked. One of my favorite things about Grace was her sense of humor. No matter what was going on, she and I could find ways to laugh about just about anything.
“No, but seriously, I get that you don't want to upset your dad or mess up the relationship that he has with his friend, but when do you get to have your life? When do you get to just be a girl and do things that make you happy?”
She had a wild look in her eye, one that told me that, while she was talking about what was going on with me and Bradley, she wished that she could say the same thing for herself.
The words that she had for me she felt were also true for her. I nodded, knowing that her words had some truth to them. And, honestly, despite the possible outcome of things, I still wanted Bradley. He was incredibly sexy and I loved being around him. I knew that I had a small window of time to try to make things happen, since my dad would be coming home soon.
“So, what do I do?” I asked her. Grace thought for a moment, twirling a piece of her dark brown hair around her finger.
“Why don't you just tell him what you want?” she asked.
“There's no way that that will work,” I said, shaking my head. “He's too much of a gentlemen for that. Even if he wants me like I want him, his conscience will kick in and make him feel terrible. I can tell he has a strong moral code and would put being loyal to his friend and doing the right thing even over his own desires. It's one of the things that makes me really like him. There aren't too many guys these days who even care about things like that. But, it's something that he lives by. I can tell.”
“I don't know any guys who would pass up the chance to be with a hot chick, especially if she was basically serving herself on a platter,” said Grace, scratching her head. “But, if you say so.”
I could only hope that Grace ended up being right. Because I really, really wanted Bradley to take me for my very first time.
Chapter 16
Natalia
By that time, we had made it to the food court. We walked up to the smoothie bar and ordered our drinks.
Grace got her normal green smoothie while I got a simple strawberry-banana one. We found a table and sat down.
“You remember that time we snuck into the movies and saw that foreign film?” said Grace, leaning in like she was telling me a secret.
I remembered that night vividly. Grace had invited me over for a sleep over and after playing board games with her parents all night and raiding the house for snacks, we decided that we were bored and wanted to find something to do.
“There is nothing to do in here,” said Grace. She was lying on the floor in her bedroom with her legs up on the wall.
“I know,” I said. “Maybe we should go out somewhere.”
I was half-joking when I made the suggestion. We were fifteen years old and neither one of us drove, so there really weren't a whole lot of places where we could go.
“Let's go to the movies,” said Grace. I laughed, assuming that she was joking. The movies were about two miles away and it was well after midnight. There probably wouldn't be any movies playing that late, anyway.
But, we decided to go anyway. At the very least, I thought, it will give us a chance to get out and get some fresh air instead of being cooped up in the boring house. Grace put on all black like she was a ninja. She packed a bag of snacks, a rope, a knife, and tape.
“What's the tape for?” I asked her.
“You never know,” she shrugged.
We climbed out of her bedroom window out onto the roof of the garage. There was a decorative ladder with vines on the side of her house that we climbed down. I went first and then Grace.
Right as Grace got ready to jump down, the ladder broke. We both looked up in shock, listening to see if we heard any footsteps. I remember holding my breath, thinking that her parents would come barreling around the corner, scolding us for trying to sneak out of the house. When no footsteps came, we made a run for it. We ran for about three blocks, stopping as soon as the house was out of sight.
We stood catching our breath, gasping for air.
“Is anyone following us?” asked Grace, craning her neck to look behind us. It was dark despite the scattered light from the lights lining the street.
“No,” I said, between breathes. “I don't see anyone.”
We kept walking. We talked and laughed the whole way. Before I knew it, we had made it to the theater. To my surprise, there was a movie showing.
It was a sexy foreign movie. I don't even remember the title of it.
We walked up to the ticket window. The guy standing at the window was a thin man with thin, blonde hair and thick glasses. He took them off, cleaned them, and put them back on, looking at the two of us very confused.
“Sir, I'm so sorry,” said Grace, sounding panicked. “My friend and I are a million miles away from home and lost and I don't have a phone and I'm on my period and... I just need to use the bathroom for a few minutes. Can I please do that?”
The guy opened and closed his mouth a few times, blinking so many times that I thought that his eyeballs were going to roll out his head. After about a minute, he came from behind the booth and opened the door for us.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “We're going to be in and out.”
We went into the bathroom and waited until he wasn't watching anymore. As soon as we had the chance, we made a run for the theater where the movie was being played. There were only a few people there. Some people were even sleeping. We crawled across the floor so that no one would see us.
“Let's go over to the exit,” Grace whispered to me.
I nodded, but I doubted that she saw me in the dark. We crawled like ninjas over to the door on the opposite side of the theater. Grace pushed it open and propped it open with her shoe. We crawled back out the door toward the lobby and the bathroom. We headed for the front door where the ticket booth was.
“Thank you so much,” said Grace again. “You have no idea how much that helped.”
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“No problem,” said the guy, grinning. “Do you need to use a phone to call your parents?”
Grace looked confused for a minute and then remembered the story that she had told him.
“Oh, no that's okay,” she said. “I found my cell. I called them and they're going to come and get us soon.”
“Okay, well, if you want to wait inside, you can wait here in the lobby,” he said.
“No, that's okay,” she said, walking out the door. “We're going to go to the restaurant around the corner. I'm not sure how my parents would feel knowing that we were here considering the type of movie that's played this time of night.”
The guy's cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment.
“Uh...well... you ladies have a good night,” he said, turning to busy himself with something on the counter.
Grace and I walked out, trying to keep our composure. After the door closed, we burst out laughing. We laughed so hard that tears came out of our eyes.
“I can't believe that actually worked,” I told Grace, wiping the tears away.
“Well, it did,” she said, proudly. “Guys never know how to react when you mention anything about periods. Now, let's go around back to the door and watch our movie.”
We went back to the door that she had propped open, retrieved her shoe, and sneaked inside. We were slinking low so no one would notice us and found seats near the back.
The movie was very interesting. It was a story about a French man and a waitress. The man was such a gentleman that no matter how hard the waitress tried to get his attention, nothing ever worked.
Every time he came in, she made sure to make her interest known. But he was always very polite and professional. She figured that it was probably because he didn't want to seem forward at her place of work. So, she invited him over for coffee to her apartment that was nearby.
While at the apartment, she tried all types of things to try to seduce him and it seemed like nothing was working. So, she spilled coffee all over herself on purpose. It was funny how she hopped around jumping. It caught the guy off guard. She told him that she had to take a shower and asked if he would wait to make sure that she would be okay.