Life After 10

Life After 10 - The Short Story

I can't believe you can't get a damned burger in this place after 10pm! Gabbi typed furiously into her phone. She was in dire need of a cheese burger's sustenance, but she could not hope to be so lucky. The day had been too long, already, and with the grumbling of her stomach, it would only drag out further still.
There has to be a place that will make you a burger, surely, was Dilan's reply. She hoped he was right, but if there was such a thing as luck, any kind of it, she didn't have any claim to it.
Agh, she thought, as another 'P' plater whizzed past her. Did they all have to be such show-offs? It's not like they were anything cool, but she knew they thought otherwise. She pulled out of the rest area and back onto the highway. She sighed deeply; she was now on her way home once again. She didn't want to go home, that was where she felt the most lonely. The fact that she could be surrounded by her family but still feel like she was more isolated than ever. No, she wanted to live closer to the city. She wanted to be in the place that she felt like she mattered. Not for the meaningless parties attempting to fill empty souls, nor for the hope that the day-to-day busyness would distract herself from her own life; but because she wanted to be closer to him. Dilan. He seemed to fill every vacated place in her mind, she didn't feel the emptiness she had inside herself when she was with him. She passed the signs that led the waves of traffic into the city, seeing him in every sign, they all pointed her back to where she longed to be. She saw his smile in the reflection of every passing car window, and could imagine the smell of his cologne as she passed every tree. She had never felt this way before, never allowed herself to be this vulnerable. She had always been strong, too strong. She put up walls before she even looked to what lay on the fringe of the horizon and it definitely had its consequences. She was tired of being so guarded, a part of her longed to break free and let her heart fly away with the whim of a spring breeze and love for the first time. A twinge of heat passed over her cheeks as she thought of when they had first met, and she had believed that he was so far out of her reach. Was there such a thing as a league after all? He had opened his heart to her that night and she had not seen him face-to-face in the time since. She had been there, ready to listen, curious as ever. Her own feelings had surprised her that night.

***
She smelled the scent of light beer on his breath, his cloudy-blue eyes searching her dark ones for something more, a green light perhaps? She thought to herself that if he was even the slightest bit more sober, she would've kissed him. She noticed how his hands were placed on her hips; a wave of heat rushed through her body, settling on her cheeks. When she looked at him now, she didn't see what people had told her to see in him, anymore, but who he was desperately trying to be, who he was becoming. It made her weak at the knees, knowing that he was trying so hard for her. He pulled her closer as Careless Whisper sounded on the radio. No. She would not let herself be corrupted by the delusion that she could possibly change him into something better than he was. What a selfish thought. And yet, maybe he didn't have to change after all, who he was now is who she was beginning to love. It frightened her how she had come to that conclusion in her own mind; that she was falling for him. Perhaps if she continued to see the good in him she could have what she wanted. She wanted him. She felt repulsed by herself, suddenly. Was it wrong to want this? Who was she now?
"Where have you been this whole time?" he whispered in her ear.
"I've just been... here, moderately concealed, like a star, I guess."
He smiled, and it lit up his eyes. How do you breathe again?
"More like a beacon to me," he told her, caressing her cheek.
She could feel herself falling under his spell, she had lost the power of resistance for the first time. She needed him, the question really was where had he been? She needed to pull away before she dived in too deeply.
"I have to head off. I guess I'll see you around?"
He looked disappointed, but she didn't trust herself around him right now.
"Yeah, you will. It is a pity you're leaving so soon, though," he said, maintaining their closeness.
"What makes you say that?" she asked.
"Well, if you'd stayed a bit longer, I would have kissed you."
She laughed at the boldness of his statement, trying not to think too hard about what his lips might feel like on her own. He laughed as well, and it relieved the tension between them, she couldn't be more thankful for the distraction. He was a rascal and she was... well, a good girl; everything her mother had wanted her to be, that is, until she wasn't. She had become quite talented at letting people down, especially her family. The emotional pain of it tugged at her and she shoved it away like she always did.
He grabbed her hand, and she refrained from hitting him. She looked into his eyes, asking the unasked question. He held up a pen, and then traced his number onto her wrist. She slowly smiled.
"If you want, you can text me. I'm usually around after 10pm..."
She looked at the number written on her skin. She knew she was going to sleep less each night, it was slowly unfolding in front of her, how her life was slowly changing.

***

I have to drive home, now, she had texted him before.
I guess I will see you when I'm looking at you, or message you later? She smiled at his message. She didn't know when she had started doing that.
Who knows, maybe you'll even see me in your dreams? She laughed. It couldn't have been any more cringe worthy.
One can only hope for such things... He typed back. Something fluttered inside of her. She had to stop pulling into every single rest stop to message him. She would never make it home at this rate. She wondered if he was smiling at her text messages now, too.
You might get lucky, you never know.
She switched her phone off completely, no more distractions. She had never felt like this before, even though she couldn't understand herself. It was a different experience for her, she usually always knew what she was feeling and what she wanted. She didn't feel as steady as she remembered being, but in other ways she felt like she was more steady than ever. She shook her head in disbelief. Who would have thought some boy could have this sort of effect on someone like her. A boy with a taste for mischief and a smile brighter than the street lights, dimples and all. An affectionate look in his eyes that was as permanent as a tattoo; and she was the lucky girl who had captured him. She never thought she was that pretty, or anything else, for that matter, but she was glad that at least he thought so. She was experiencing something not short of fantasy, the stuff of fairytales; perhaps they were real after all. She knew the next time she saw him she would have no restraints binding her anymore. They were affixed to each other. Before she pulled out of the rest area her phone lit up with the all-too-familiar buzz. She couldn't stop smiling.
Guess it was my lucky day, the day I met you at that all-too-boring party. She re-read it a couple of times, so it would manifest in her head.
Guess it was mine too... the party wasn't so boring after all, She messaged back too quickly, not caring about leaving the five minutes before replying, what a silly rule, anyway.
Well, nothing will ever be boring again, now that I know you. Assuming you stick around?
She was filled with ecstasy reading his words to her. These words were meant for her alone, how did she get so lucky? Luck was never her thing.
I'll be around... you can't get rid of me so easily. With that, she shut off her phone, she heard it buzz, but she didn't need to read it to know his reply. She pulled out of the rest area, and turned right, back to the city that was calling her name.

The End