Lost

15

Tobias Eaton, July 16th, 2005 3:56
She likes me.
I can tell by the small smile exchange.
I can tell by the way we hold hands so comfortably.
We talk, with small smiles on our faces.
When she hugs me, it's enough.
When she holds my hand and looks into my eyes, it's enough.
Enough to know she cares, too.
But I'm scared.
We'll be separated.
After we reach the city,
And we won't see each other for a
Long
Long
Time.
But I don't want it to be done already.
It's the afternoon and we're in New York City- somewhere in New York.
I think we're crossing over the Brooklyn Bridge.
Many tourists take a picture.
They pose and
the camera goes
Snap.
I walk around with Tris holding my hand.
I pull her through the big crowd.
But the crowd only gets bigger.
And bigger.
When we enter the city is when we are almost separated.
Almost.
We never let go of each other.
We're not even close to Times Square.
When the crowd is almost too big, I pull her into an alleyway.
An empty alleyway, where we sit down, and watch the people be squished together like sardines squirming to get out of a sardine can.
No one comes into the alleyway.
I pull my map from my pocket.
"I'd say we're pretty close to Double Tree. Before we go, we have to think of an excuse"
"An excuse?" She asks.
"You know. You can't tell your parents about me"
"It's really hard to make an excuse and not get in trouble"
"I don't know, we don't have to think of it now, just soon"
"Okay. How about, I fell asleep and then ended up someplace dark and mysterious. And I got out a week later"
"The clerks know you walked out"
"Right. How about, I walked out because you left your daughter at home, and then I got lost and fell asleep on the street and woke up in- what was it called again? Biming-Something"
I smile and say, "Birmingham"
"Right, that. And a boy helped me get back"
"I think you should take the boy part out"
"What if I say he didn't mention his name or his story?"
"I mean....I guess" I say nervously.
I don't really want authorities looking for me.
I hear my stomach rumble.
"Hungry?" I ask.
"A little"
We walk down the alleyway.
And I step on something.
Something-paper.
I take my foot off.
Tickets.
Two of them.
"Wait" I say.
She stops and privets on her heel.
"Yes?"
I pick them up.
Wicked tickets.
For tonight.
My face lights up, a smile spreading across my face.
"What?" She asks, "What is it?"
"Looks like you'll be getting what you came for after all"

Beatrice Prior, July 16th, 5:35 2005
There's no way to contain my excitement. Wicked.
Finally.
I take his hand, and pull him forward.
"Where's the theater?" he asks.
"I know, I tried to get there before"
"Tried"
I playfully slap him.
"It's just a mile"
"A mile"
"Hush now, we've walked many miles by now"
He smiles, and squeezes my hand.
We turn corners, getting weird looks, probably because we're too young to your NY alone.
But it's about 6:30 when we reach it- just on time.
The play starts at 7:00.
I enter and a woman takes our tickets, scanning them.
Valid.
I smile.
We didn't get front row seats, but we got the first row on the balcony, which for me, is even better.
I love balconies. I feel like everything down there is on TV rather than real life; and that soothes me.
Tobias sits at my left, taking my hand again.
"You know you have to go after this"
"Go where?"
"Home. We can't stay a night without being caught. You have to leave tonight. As do I"
Our last night?
"We must savor this last night"
"Of course" he says in a fake British accent.
"Why the accent?"
"You used fancy words"
"Savor?"
We giggle, and the lights dim.
Dim.
Dimmer.
Dimmer.
It's almost completely dark, aside from the stage.
And I'm in a trance, as the characters come to life, songs ringing in your ears, and the plot coming together.

You forget
Everything.

Tobias Eaton, July 16th, 7:56, 2005
We exit the building during intermission, to escape the crowd.
We'll be back, of course, but sitting in seats for an hour isn't the most comfortable.
I make sure I Keep our tickets for when we return.
People file out, and linger by the door because the crowd pushes them out, but we stray a little bit farther.
"How was the play?" I ask, "So far"
"Spectacular"
But I know it's not the play on her mind, it's her parents.
How they'll react.
But I try to distract her.
"I really liked that girl. She seems so strong, and that last song blew me away!"
She smiles and takes my hand, rounding around so that her back is to the wall.
"It truly is spectacular isn't it?" Tris says.
"I know."
Silence.
"I'm going to miss you, you know" she says.
"Me too" I say.
"But we will keep in touch"
"How?"
"I have an e-mail. May be if you have access to a computer, you can e-mail me"
I nod, "May be"
Silence.
"You know, this has been the greatest adventure of my life" she says.
"Ditto"
She reaches up around my neck and pulls me in for a hug, burying her face in my chest.
Her warm body close to mine, her chest heaving.
She's so beautiful, inside out.
Why?
It's hard to resist-
I take my head off my chest, cradling her face with my fingers, and pull her into a short kiss.
It's short.
It lasts not even a second.
She stares up at me, in awe and wonder.
Suddenly, I think I did something wrong. But she smiles and kisses me again.
We're only preteens, so don't be imagining full make-out sessions. But she kisses me longer, and suddenly, I don't ever want her to leave. I want her to stay with me.
Forever.
But we both know that's not going to happen.