Shells

Chapter 5

Shane pulled up to my house and I got in his car. It was black and sleek, does that say something? We drove through the city towards the movie theatre we were going to and I noticed that it was starting to rain. Drops were landing on the windshield and we racing along the windows. The way there was silent, Shane was focused on driving but would occasionally look over at me and smile. It started to sink in that I didn’t know anything about this guy, where he was from, where he went to school, even what his last name was. Maybe in the excitement of a guy actually liking me, my judgment became clouded. I gazed at him, his nose was perfect and his lips looked as soft as silk, normally the whole piercing thing would freak me out, but on him it looked almost classy. He was wearing a black shirt with a band I didn’t know on it, and dark jeans.

“So I was thinking that instead of going to a movie at a theatre, we could go to a drive-in.” He looked over at me with a hopeful expression on his face.

“I guess that would be fun. You know one that is still open around here?” I replied, a nervous feeling in my throat.

“Yeah,” He confirmed, “Not many people know about it but it shows awesome old horror films. Tonight it is “Psycho”, have you seen it?”

“My friend showed it to me, it’s a good movie.” Samantha showed it to me when we were six, I had nightmares for weeks and didn’t shower for a month.

“Totally, it re-defined the genera.” He continued talking about how amazing Alfred Hitchcock is and I started thinking about Samantha. Was she jealous of me? Will this make her treat me better? Why would I think that?

We pulled into a drive-way and up to a booth. He paid for both of our tickets and snacks and we found a spot near the front. There were about ten cars in the entire place and a playground right in front of the screen. It looked eerie in the dark, the swings moved slightly and the seesaw was an old-fashioned one without any springs. We walked to the slide and sat at the top.

“So what should I know about you?” He asked, his eyes flew across me.

“Um, my parents are divorced-“

“Not that, the juicy stuff,” He explained, with a smirk on his face, “The type of stuff you don’t tell anyone.”

“Then why would I tell you?” I asked, chuckling.

“I don’t know, I will tell you something if you tell me something.” He hopped up onto the railing, it was a far drop but he looked totally comfortable.

“Fine,” I thought of what to tell him, the throwing up thing? No. “My friend Samantha controls my life.”

He stopped moving for a second and looked at me, as if he was seeing me for the first time. “That sucks.”

“Yep.” I was surprised I said that, thinking about it, I realized that it was true.

“My turn… My dad left my family when I was twelve and my mom overdosed on heroin two years ago, so I’ve been living with my aunt for the past month.” His voice was monotone, as if what he said was repeated so many times; that the words lost meaning.

“That’s intense…” I didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah, I guess.” His eyes were distant, “The movie is starting, we should go to the car.”

We walked back in silence. He opened up the trunk and grabbed a blanket.

“What is that for?” I asked.

“To make our seats more comfortable.” He smiled.

Grabbing onto the back of the car, he hoisted himself up onto the roof and spread the blanket. He looked down at me and offered me a hand.

“M’lady.”

I giggled, it was a stupid and childish reaction to something so amazing. Samantha would have never giggled; she would have said something clever. His hand was still waiting for mine so I took it and he helped me up to the roof.

“Are you sure this is safe?” The roof probably couldn’t withstand too much weight, and knowing mine it could probably collapse.

“Definitely, I’ve done this before. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” He looked at me with mischievous eyes.

We sat together on the blanket as the movie started. Shane grabbed the popcorn he bought for us and started to eat it. He offered me some and I grabbed a piece, I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t eat, so I nibbled at it. Through the movie, we moved closer together, until we were touching. He smelled like freshly cut grass and cinnamon. Weird combination, but on him it worked.

His arm draped around my shoulders, “Is this okay?” He looked at me and gave me a hint of a smile.

“Definitely.” I leaned into him and relaxed, everything was okay and at this moment, nothing could touch me.

The movie was awesome and leaning on Shane was amazing. I couldn’t wait and tell Samantha all about it, as long as she was in a good mood. Since mom was still out of town, Shane dropped me off at Samantha’s house. We got to the door and he got a funny look on his face.

“Is it okay if I kiss you goodnight?” He looked at me and I felt invincible.

“It wouldn’t be okay if you didn’t.” I tilted my head up and our lips met. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I felt a fire light in my core. This moment could never end, this moment was my past, present, and future. Sadly, Shane pulled away.

“I will definitely call you,” He said, smiling and walking backwards towards his car. I waved before I walked into the house.

Closing the door behind me, I squealed. Samantha came rushing down the stairs, her hair trying to keep up with her. She was in her pajamas and I noticed how she was rolling down her left sleeve, trying to be inconspicuous.

“How did it go?” Her eyes twitched around the room until settling on me. She seemed nervous, almost in a panic.

“… It was really good,” I replied before looking at her face, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine; I just had a coffee so I’m jittery.” Samantha gave a nervous laugh and I saw the panic start to fade from her eyes. “Plus I was excited for you!”

“Okay then… Well, it was perfect!” I proceeded to tell her everything about Shane and the movie, leaving out the moment of honesty and the kiss. For some reason, I thought that Samantha would be angry that I kissed him, like I disappointed her.

“That sounds like a really great date. Is he going to call you?”

“He said he definitely would.” I grinned; thinking about the kiss and the fire it started.

The next morning, I was still giddy from the date and so I texted Shane. Last night was awesome, we should do it again. Friday? –Alice

Soon after that, I left Samantha's house and went into my dark empty house. Even though all of the stuff that Samantha put me through was bad, I still wanted to be at her house rather then alone here.

Things continued like that for the rest of the year. I was seeing Shane often and we fell deeper into the relationship. During grade eight, things got worse. It was the Friday before the break and my mom was working. Samantha came out of the bathroom with steam trailing behind her. She was wrapped in a towel and had another one in her hair.

“So what do you want to do today?” She seemed back to her normal self.

“I don’t know,” Looking out the window, I saw a blue sky and a couple of birds perched on an old oak tree in Samantha’s yard.

“Maybe we could go for a walk,” She smiled like a murderer, “I know this really fun place.”