February Love

Chapter Six

"Thank you. Have a nice day." I said handing her the packet.

Curby's can be a really special place. I see all kinds of people walking in over the weekend. Some come alone with a book and sit in a corner booth for hours with a coffee or a milkshake. Some come in with friends and their laughter fills the entire diner with warmth. I see new bonds forming here. I have also seen special bonds breaking in front of me. Those days, I usually have more broken cutlery and spilled drinks to clean. I see families having dinner together or a father bringing her daughter for a junk food lunch, secretly without telling her mother. I often have strangers who sit on the counter and talk to me about their life, their assignments in school or their excitement about their first date. Some tell me how they are worried that their daughter is starting elementary school the next day and some are worried that their son won't get into a good college.

I was looking at the register when I heard a familiar voice.

"Can I get something too?"

"Hello. What can I get you?" I smiled while Hark sat in front of me.

"I would love some coffee. I would also love to wait here till your shift is over."

"We don't appreciate customers filling up our counter for so long."

"You can make an exception, can't you?" We both started laughing.

"What do you do after you finish your shift?"

"Usually, I go home, clean up and watch movies. Some days we hang out at Sam's or Sarah's house. What about you?"

"I stay at home too."

"So you don't drive away on weekends and come home hungover on Monday mornings like most of the boys at school?" I started laughing. And snorting.

He was looking at me with a smile on his face while I tried to control the snorting. It just gets out of control sometimes.

"Do you want to watch a movie tonight?"

"Which genre are we talking about here?" I said leaning towards him.

"I would love to see something lovey-dovey." He chuckled.

"Perfect. I will get my jacket."

We drove to his house. His room was on the first floor. There were football trophies on one wall and pictures of his family on the other. There were pictures of his brother too.

"You can sit down and make yourself at home. I will change my shirt and be right back."

He walked to the bathroom and left a crack in the door. I could see him taking off his shirt. I looked away for a second realizing that I was leaping boundaries here but my gaze was drawn back to him. He was slim but not in the skinny sense. His body was athletic and toned accurately in every spot. In the reflection I could see his spotless chest. His breath was measured as always. I remembered those shoulder, broad and strong but today they looked lighter. Like some weight was being lifted off them every day. He put a t-shirt on and walked into the room. I turned towards the screen.

"What did you choose?"

"I think we should watch 'When we first met'."

For the next two hours, we stuffed our mouths with popcorns and candies and watched Adam DeVine travel time by sitting in a photo booth.

"If I could travel time, I would want to go back to the night we went for dinner." He was looking at me, almost reading my face. I could not help but smile.

"I would like that too. Hey look, your neighbor is looking at us." I waved awkwardly at Nina. "And she got a story to tell."

"That won't be so bad."

"She was our friend too. Sarah's and mine. We used to hangout all the time. One night during our junior year, she told us that we were not the friends she needed. The next day at school, we saw a different Nina. Her hair, her clothes, the way she walked and looked at everyone, everything had changed. We almost didn't recognize her." I sighed "We have not been on good terms ever since."

"She can be a handful. Most days I see her sitting on the bed, alone. I have never seen her have friends over for the night or even during the day. Some days, I feel like she is lonely."

"Anyway, you never told me where you go every day after school."

I looked at him. It would be too soon to let him know the details of the kind of life I lead. "I go home and help Aunt Julie. She has a job so we both take turns looking after the house."

"I like hanging out with you."

"Me too."

He was looking into my eyes. For the first time I noticed that his eyes had a shade of brown in them. A light coffee brown. They were a perfect compliment to his black hair. His hair were always messy. They were short but some of them were reaching his forehead. His lips looked tender. There was something about his face that could not be described. I started to feel a chill down my spine.

"I think I should go. It's late. Julie might be waiting. We should do this again sometime. I will see you at school tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure" He smiled and watched me walk out of his door.

I let out a heavy breath, almost as if I was holding it in since a long time.

"Come on Emma, it was just a movie night." I consoled myself.