The Adventures of a Scrawny Musician and a Compulsive Liar

5. Taking Me Out

“Are you sure we’re allowed to be here?” I ask, squinting at the dark looming building before me. “Where exactly is here?”

            “You’ll see,” Natalie mysteriously replies, turning the key in the lock.

            Mystery terrifies me.

            The lock turns, and she opens and holds the door for me, motioning for me to go in first. In response, I gesture for her to go first with a nod of my head since it was still way too cold outside to even consider removing my hands from the nice, toasty pockets of my hobo-jacket. She heads in and I tail behind her, apprehensively darting glances all around me.

            It turned out to be useless, since it was pitch-black inside. Seriously, I couldn’t even see Natalie walking a foot ahead of me. Instinctively, I reached out with my hand and it brushed against her back.

            “Oh, s-sorry,” I stutter, blushing. Once again, the lighting was in my favor as she just laughed quietly in return and didn’t notice my flaming red cheeks.

            “Laurie?” I don’t respond for a moment, shocked that she’s calling me by my nickname.

            “Yeah?”

            “Um, do you mind staying here for a second while I go turn on the lights?”

            Do I mind standing in the middle of an abandoned building with one of my five vital senses impaired and no means of defending myself need the occasion arise? “Uh, no. Go ahead.” Of course I don’t. Because I’m a guy. And she’s a pretty girl willing to spend her Friday night hanging out with me. Me. Twigs-for-arms Laurie.

            So I wait. Again. This time in the dark.

            Stupid hormones.

            About ten minutes later, light floods the place and I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

            “An aquarium?” My voice echoes as I stare at the giant model of the blue whale hanging about sixty feet above me. I stand back for a moment and observe just how big the building is. Gray linoleum staircases rise from shiny, blue-tiled floors which lead to various exhibits on the second floor. Nostalgia floods me as memories of childhood afternoons spent ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the colorful fish and coral while my parents watched on in amusement pass through my mind.

            “Yep,” Natalie jogs up beside me with her face flushed from the exercise. “A family friend works here so he, um, 'lent' me a copy of the keys since I love it so much.” Her eyes look over at the extremely tall fish tank that stretched from floor to ceiling on the wall that we were facing. “I’ve always wanted to dive in there.” Biting her lip, she says quietly, “Sadly, I’m a bit hydrophobic.” All of a sudden, she starts walking in the opposite direction. Confused, I stay where I am while debating whether or not I should follow her. “Well, come on,” she beckons to me when she notices my immobile state.

            Natalie starts taking the steps two at a time, and I mimic her, easily catching up for once.

            Entering a dark room lighted only by illuminated fish tanks, she proudly stands in the center and glances around the room with her hands on her hips. She sighs in bliss, “This is my favorite exhibit. Isn’t it wonderful?” And it was.

            The illuminated tanks held jellyfish of every size, color, transparency, length—you name it, and it was there. Colors ranged from bright orange to clear to electric blue, and the whole room manifested the illusion of the heavy, lethargic feeling of being submerged underwater; sort of like the partly drowsy, cozy state of being stuck inside on a rainy day. It was breathtaking.

            “Come here!” Natalie calls, from a tank in the back. I hurry over to her. She points to one tank filled with saucer-shaped, nearly translucent, electric blue jellyfish floating fluidly around the tank in one graceful motion. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Her voice lowers to a soft whisper which just added to the intensity of the moment.

            And at that exact moment, nothing seemed to matter. We were just two teens bonding in the cozy haven of a jellyfish exhibit on a Friday night. There were no insecurities, no lies, just us. Us.

            “Yes,” I reply. “It is.”

            It’s about one in the morning and I’m slightly panicking about the state curfew. It’s not until I see the stepping stones of my pathway that I relax. I turn towards Natalie and find her looking at me with a slightly amused, slightly curious expression.

            Clearing my throat, I start speaking, “Um. Thanks. For, uh, taking me out…” Seeing her raised eyebrow, I quickly add, “N-no, not like a date or something I mean like, uh, hanging out, you know, as friends…”

            “I understand what you mean, Laurie.” She smiles. “See you later.”

            “See you.” I climb out of her car and watch her drive away with my hands stuffed in my pockets. Dancing, again from the cold, to the front door, I unlock it, step inside, and see a light coming from the kitchen. Curious, I lock the door and slowly and cautiously walk towards the lit room. Stepping in, I roll my eyes at the sight before me.

            Asleep with two mugs of hot chocolate before them are Mom and Beth. Mom’s head’s flat on its side with a little drool coming from the mouth while Beth’s head is face down on the table with snores ripping out of her at the volume of a freight train. Cautiously, I attempt to gently nudge Beth awake, but at the first point of contact, her hand shoots up and smacks me in the face.

            “Shit, Beth!” I cry out, rubbing my cheek. The loud noise wakes Mom up and she rubs her eyes and blinks a few times before she focuses on me. Beth murmurs, “Sorry, reflex,” before falling back into her comatose-like state of slumber; this time without the chainsaw snores.

            “Oh, Laurie, you’re home!” Mom jumps up and tackles me with a bear hug. Confused, I tentatively hug her back. “I would’ve called, but I didn’t want to embarrass you on your first date.” Beth snorts. Great. She can even mock me while asleep. “And I made Beth stay up with me because she bet that you’d be home in no later than fifteen minutes because the girl got the wrong house. But I knew she was looking for you all along. My, and she’s so pretty and sweet too. I wonder why I’ve never—”

            “Mom,” Beth cuts in, having awakened from the dead. “Quit with the chatter. I need my sleep, and Laurie’s already red as a tomato from you discussing his little crush in front of him.” She grumbles more incoherent mumblings about “sleep deprivation” and “nine hours a day, my ass” as she shuffles upstairs to her room. Meanwhile, Mom’s looking at me with wide eyes.

            “You have a girlfriend?” She asks in astonishment.

            “What? No! We’re just friends. Friends, mom. Friends.” I emphasize. In fact, I didn’t know if we were even that. The whole situation was way too odd for my liking.

            “Oh,” she replies in disappointment. “Well, good night, Laurie.”

            “Good night,” I say, heading up to my room too. As I climb into bed that night, I realize that it’s the first time I’ve ever broken the law to stay out until one in the morning and trespass into an abandoned aquarium just to look at fish.

            And I’ve never felt better in my life.