James + Leona

James + Leona / 3rd Date

On James and Leona's third date, they drove to the city for a shopping day.

He bought a shirt and a new pair of sunglasses.

She bought a lovely sundress.

Afterward, they each bought a milkshake and fries to eat in the car. They sang off key to Buddy Holly as they ate and talked, laughing about the difference in the size of their hands.

Eventually, a car full of teenage boys pulled up next to them. At first, they didn't get out and instead talked among themselves. James and Leona didn't pay them any attention until the boys looked straight at them, laughing.

"What's so funny?" Leona yelled out at them, but she went ignored. Instead, two boys in the back of the car pulled the ends of their eyes back while the boys in the front honked the horn obnoxiously.

James stared back at them, not making a sound.

Leona breathed heavily, eyes wide, and then proceeded to jump out of the car and stomp towards them.

Immediately, the driver put his keys in the engine and began to back out of the parking spot, mouth agape, but not before Leona had thrown her milkshake through his open window. "Fuck off!" She screamed at him and tried to reach in and grab him, but two strong arms pulled her backward—James' arms.

"Let me go!" Leona yelled, watching angrily as the boys drove off. She struggled in James' grasp. "Didn't you see what they did? I'll—"

"Stop," James said, hugging her. "It's fine."

"It is not!"

"It happens."

"It shouldn't!" Leona yelled even louder.

James hugged her even tighter.

"They're gone," James told her, and Leona finally stopped struggling. For a moment, they just stood there, Leona in James' arms, tears welling in her eyes.

They drove back homewards that night in silence. When they pulled up to Leona's apartment building, James leaned over to kiss her cheek, but she turned at the last second and kissed him softly on the lips.

"You can't just sit there," she told him when she pulled away. "I refuse just to let you sit there. I care about you too much to let them win. And you have to care enough not to let them win."

James didn't say anything for a moment. He looked forward and closed his mouth tight, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles began to go white.

"James," Leona whispered, touching his shoulder.

He nodded.

And he nodded again.

And then he let his shoulder slump.

She pulled him closer to her.

He buried his head into her neck and cried.

Outside the car, Leona's cousin, who was waiting for Leona's arrival, looked in and saw the scene. Seeing the situation, she backed up and walked back inside, wanting to give them their privacy.

Later, James and Leona lay on the floor of the apartment roof, staring up at the sky.

She said, taking his hand: "I'd give you the moon, you know."

He replied: "And I'd make you a necklace out of the stars, my love."