The drive to the mechanics is a pleasant one. I have the windows rolled down, the wind rushes through my hair, the radio blaring, and I do not have a care in the world. When the red brick building with the faded white painted sign comes into view, I turn the radio off and coast up to the garage of the mechanic's shop. I park in front of the garage, and when I get out, I notice that mostly all of the lights are off. I shut the car door behind me and walk around the perimeter of the building to find an alternative entrance.
A dense maroon metallic door is propped open by a rock, and I jog over to investigate if this is, in fact, another way in. My shoes scrape against the gravel, and dust stains the edges. I curl my fingers around the frame of the door and struggle ever so slightly to pull it open. It appears that no one is in there, but I am for sure this is, in fact, the mechanics room. I slip in and gawk at how astonishingly elaborate it is. Neon signs line the walls, the old shop's logo painted in white above a bed that's positioned in the center of the room, another workbench flush against the wall with numerous tools, journals, and random items nicely organized into piles. Curiosity gets the best of me. I meandered aimlessly around the mechanics room, searching for any small details that could tell me more about her. I come across a small stuffed animal at the corner of her nightstand. It's a dog, adorable, and resting off to the side is a book of short mystery stories on her bedside table. I am just about to reach for the book when out of the corner of my eye, I spot her workbench with a journal with exposed pages. I make my way over and notice that it's open to a specific page with a title that says, "Arm for Bete's Version 4.3." I cover my mouth out of amazement.
"Who's there!" a familiar voice makes me come to a halt, and I swiftly turn on my heels and hold my arms up.
"Sorry! It's just me!" A blinding flash of white hits my retinas and I am discombobulated from the over stimulus and cover my face with my hands and stumble backward against the mechanic's table.
"Oh, shit," I hear her say, and the next thing I know I am being guided to what appears to be a bed. I sit down on the squishy mattress, and after a second, my eyes adjust to the more dimly lit environment.
"My bad, sorry." she grimaces and awkwardly tries to move pieces of hair away from my face.
"It's chill. Sorry I intruded and then pretty much snooped around" I blush and give a cringing smile.
"So, why are you here?" She takes a seat beside me, and I can tell she's still wearing her work jumpsuit.
"Oh, uh..." I am reflective about telling her what happened, but I feel as if I don't, I might explode. So I give her a rundown of what happened, how the two of us interacted, how I said my whole spiel, and how they told theirs. How I almost punched them, got a chuckle and high five out of that one, and then how I stormed off and went for a drive.
"Wow, sounds like you've had quite the night," she exclaims and pats me on the back of my shoulder.
"Yea, you could say that again," I scoff and give a smirk.
"So, what was that you were designing?" I point to her journal that remains open on the table. She leaps off the bed and grabs it and then comes back and sits down next to me.
"I'm trying to design you a new arm" she flips through the pages of her journal.
"So here I have designed an entirely new malware system, this will make it seem as if your hand does pump warmblood" she takes a pen off the side table begins to make small sketches, and I watch in awe. I get lost instantly in her use of mechanical engineering vocabulary, but my attention remains on her. I find it so endearing when her eyes glimmer when she talks about all the coding she will be doing, how she wants to try all these new technological techniques she has developed, and how she will manufacture the parts herself in the shop.
Without a second thought, I lean in and press my lips against hers. My actions are impulsive and irrational, but they feel so right.
YOU ARE READING
The Mechanics of Us
Teen FictionHuman DNA is composed of stars. Stars that have been broken down into nanoparticles that have dispersed themselves throughout the universe; they harness the energy of the cosmos and transitively embedded their limitless potentials in every fiber of...
