i need your love
Broken was a word often used to describe people similar to Cara. Shattered was a word often used to describe objects such as broken glass. And empty was a word used to describe her shattered and broken heart.
Some days she felt like a piece of scrap metal left abandoned and untouched at the junkyard, and other days she felt like another piece in a different color.
And while it was seemingly an impossible problem, it could, and would, likely be solved by a guy. Because those seemed to be magical in situations like these, especially the sort that Cara attracted with a shattered and broken heart.
when everything's wrong / you make it right
Cara quite liked Tuesday afternoons, and as she crept up the stairs to her small apartment on the fourth floor in the middle of Brooklyn, this thought bubbled uncontrollably. She lived across the street from Gravesend Park, and on Tuesday afternoons, the basketball players would be down there, rain or shine, and she'd walk to the pizza place on the other side of the park, and "get a slice" as the sweaty guys put it.
They were nice, and around her age, and all around decent human beings, but that particular Tuesday afternoon, a new player, one apparently related to Sean, showed up and put the rest of them to shame.
I think his name was Sam, and I think he had brown hair that glowed golden in the sun. And I can't quite remember if he was particularly good at the sport, but he tried an awful lot, and avoided fouling everyone.
After the boys were done with their game they all came over to Cara, who was sitting on a bench, watching, with a slice of 'the Godfather', and they had a conversation about the fundamentals of basketball. And Sam was eerily quiet, and Cara noticed. So once they all had left, and Sam was grabbing his stuff, she said hello, he said hey, and then sort of, just walked away. And it wasn't that he was rude, it was more that he was shy around beautiful girls, and sucked at conversations with such.
i feel so high / i come alive
So now Cara looked forward to Tuesday afternoons, and overlooked the dreariness that usually overtook her while she waitressed at the diner on 52nd street. And now, when she got home to her small apartment on the fourth floor, rather than collapsing on her bed and laying there for an hour or two, Cara started to put words on paper like she had when she was younger.
The words sort of just fell out of her mind, and if they didn't go on paper, then they overwhelmed her for hours upon hours, so she decided that maybe paper was the right place for these lost letters.
All this release consumed great chunks of her time, but it helped Tuesday afternoon come faster, and she found herself liking the journey along the way too.
i need to be free with you tonight
"Hey, Cara," Andrew, one of the sweaty guys said after their game on Tuesday afternoon. "We're all heading over to get something to eat and hang out. You wanna come?"
The keyword was all, and Cara's response was yes. So the sweaty basketball players, a pretty, recovering girl named Cara, and a silent mystery named Sam, went to get something to eat and "hang out".
The group walked to a different pizza place, one Cara had never been to, which was nestled on a block across from a movie theater, and next to an arcade. And by the end of the night, this was Cara's favorite block in New York.
Cliffhanger, this wondrous pizza place was so called, just happened to have marvelous pizza and fresh baked white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, so Cara got two. And she was in such a glorious mood, that she paid for the group's pizza, and didn't even notice afterwards just how expensive it was to feed a group of hungry, sweaty basketball playing men. The interior design itself was a piece of art, and they all remained for two hours or so, laughing and talking, before moving on to the sidewalk, and taking movies into deep consideration.
"Okay, but Perks starts in 10 minutes, and," Cara grinned, "It's the only decent movie playing."
Andrew and James booed her, "Or, there's Resident Evil, which is a spectacular option, and one I think everyone here will enjoy, plus, it starts in 20."
"The only way I would agree to seeing Resident Evil, is if James could get the cashier's number, which we all know he can't, because, let's face it, the kid doesn't have game." Cara said.
"Oh you're on, blondie." He smirked.
So yes, James came back with a piece of paper, that Cara later called that night which really did not have a skinny redhead on the other line, and 9 tickets for Resident Evil. He paid though, so in the end, Cara did win.
The rest of the boys charged down the hall, leaving Sam and Cara to walk together to theater no. 2.
"We could ditch and go see Perks if you wanted," he said, breaking the silence, and surprising Cara. He really did have a nice voice, it was suave but hushed and it sounded sort of like chocolate melting, and Cara had to fight herself not to swoon.
"Nah, it's okay. I'll probably see it Thursday with a friend from work." She smiled, and Sam nodded, "But thank you, for offering."
"It's my pleasure, Cara." He smiled too, and it dawned on her, just how attractive he was. And once again, she was resisting the urge to swoon, because even though Cara got a decent amount of male attention, there was none that really compared to this.
They found the guys in the middle of the theater, clawing each other over seats, and dangerously close to being kicked out. But once the lights dimmed they all seemed to settle. And Cara's heart bubbled while sitting next to Sam, because she couldn't help but feel like she belonged, even if it was only to this group of disorderly boys who fought for seats.
i need your love
The arcade was something special, and the less geeky of the group dropped out, leaving Sam, Andrew, Cameron, Bryce, and Cara.
There were new games, but the majority were vintage and beginning to rust; it was spectacular nonetheless, and Cara couldn't help but fall slightly in love with the Futurama pinball machine, because Cara wasn't a regular girl, she was something even better.
Cameron headed for the claw machine, searching for a stuffed placeholder for love, and maybe one to give to a more permanent and in the future love. Bryce sought out the antique lunar lander console, and Andrew began search for pac-man, leaving Sam and Cara to play pinball and drink cherry icees.
So the two had a lot in common, but Cara had work in the morning. And though she was angsty and fighting the end of the night off, by the bottom of her plastic cup, it was there, just as obvious as the lack of artifically flavored slush.
Luckily for her though, Sam was available to walk her home, because first of all, he was a gentleman, and second of all, no girl should ever walk the streets of Brooklyn alone at night.
And he liked her.
She played pinball, and got on better with his friends than he did, and had green eyes that were simultaneously striking and not, and her laugh could probably bring any guy down on one knee.
And he liked her.
i need your love
That's why he walked her up the four stories to her small apartment in the middle of Brooklyn, and that's why as she was opening up her door, and turning around to thank him, he kissed her.
And she liked him too, that was why she touched her lips, stunned and in awe. That was why she stumbled into her apartment, locked the door, and tried to place the lost letters in a place where they belonged.
On paper, and not in her mind.
