Ms. Unlucky & The List

Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Mud Wrestling, Burly Men, And Dwarves

We spent the next week together and Aiden never once questioned why I had been so distant for that time. I wasn't very forthcoming with the information either. I didn't know anything about Aiden except that he was a dealer in his spare time and I wasn't ready to tell him so much about myself. I had already shared about my parents, unwillingly, but he still knew and he hadn't shared anything with me. We were now at the beach and I was contemplating showing him my list. I wasn't sure whether he would go for it or not.

We had spent time walking into random shops and I smiled at the homemade pottery. I thought it would be fun to learn how to make it. So I added it to my list.

16. Learn how to make pottery.

I sighed. It sounded a little cliché, like mud wrestling or getting a portrait done but I like it, if not all three ideas. They were things I hadn't ever done and would love to try at least once. And to think I was having trouble coming up with a list of things.

"Mud wrestling? Really?" Aiden asked, when I brought it up.

"Don't think I would win," I asked him, staring at the ocean, not bothering to get in even though I had put on my bathing suit to do just that.

"It's not that, Nix. It's just that they only do that kind of stuff in bars. I don't want to take you to a bar," he told me. I sighed. I knew he wouldn't help me.

"What is this for again," he asked me.

"It's just this list of stuff to do before I go off to college," I lied. I pulled out the list and looked it over. He expertly snatched it from me and quickly looked over it. Then he stared at the bottom of the list. I knew which one he was looking at. I knew what would give me away.

"Fall in love," he asked.

"That one is more of a life goal," I told him.

"Why did you write this list out, Nix," he asked me, seriously.

"Why do you deal," I asked him, turning the tables. His face fell as he stared at me, stunned. I didn't want to bring it up but I had to. I couldn't tell him any more about myself unless he was willing to give me something in return.

"I can't tell you that," he told me.

"Then I can't tell you what brought on the list. I want to do everything on that list and I would like your help with most of it," I told him. He didn't way anything for a while and I thought he was going to tell me no.

"Okay, I guess I can do that," he told me. "But about the dealing, I-"

"It's fine, Aiden, we all have our secrets," I reassured him. "Just don't expect me to share if you aren't willing to." He nodded in understanding.

"Come on then," he told me.

"Where are we going," I asked him.

"To make some friends and mud wrestle," he told me with a smile.

~~~~~~~~

We walked into the smoky din of the sports bar. I looked around wide-eyed at the mix of clientele that came to this particular place. It was a large bar and not at all like I had previously seen in movies. It had a bar, of course, where couples, or strangers, flirted shamelessly over drinks as the bartender pretended to mind his own business. Then there was the billiards area, where people were betting against each other, if the money kept at the corners of the tables was any indication of the gambling. Then there was a mechanical bull; I nearly squealed in delight at seeing the sketchy machine but I was eager to take a turn on it. I watched as a burly man was pitched off of the thing and tossed over the protective fencing. I gasped as the man was sprawled out mere feet from me.