Evanescent

Sixteen

I can't believe I liked Dylan so much during the weeks. I mean he's a good friend but not like that. And plus Annie likes him.

It's Sunday morning so I get ready for church. The sounds of the coffee machine and showers blast through the house. I take a shower that feels amazing then blow dry my hair.

"Nessa? Are you ready!" My mom yells up to my room.

"Almost!" I yell back as I slip on my shoes and grab my bible.

The drive is long as usual but it's okay because I'm reading a really good book. Finally we pull into our church and walk in.

The sermon is about resilience and getting over things. I wish I would have heard this when I was writing all those diary entries. We sing "Lord I Need You," my favorite, then we are dismissed.

Through the crowd of spring dresses and polo shirts, I see him. The face I want to see  so bad, yet never want to see again. We make eye contact for a split second then look away. I start to walk out the door when a hand grabs my arm.

"Vanessa"

"Tanner," I turn to face him.

"I just wanted to say," he looks down then back into my eyes,"I can't hate you or even not like you. Can we please stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Avoiding each other, can we just accept what happened and move on?"

"I'm trying to move on but here you are. You're not letting me."

"Then can we just be friends? That's all I ask."

"Sure, I'd like that," I smile but quickly tuck it back in. "And for the record, Ash and I were not and are not a thing."

"I believe you," he admits, "and I never said any of that stuff he told you I said."

"I believe you too." This is my Tanner. He can't hold a grudge for that long and he knows just what to say to make it all right again. "Tanner, would you like to try again?"

"I'd like that," he smiles.

•••••

We drive back home and "Fast Car" comes on. My older sister who is away at college used to love this song. "Have you heard from Stella lately?" I ask Kellan

"No," he says," she never calls."

We pull into the driveway and I go up to my room. There's a little yellow square of paper on my window.

The Thief and the Innkeeper
-E

I decide to go ahead and look this one up. It's about this third that wants this innkeeper's coat so he told him he would turn into a wolf the third he yawned. After his second yawn (which sounded like a howl), he asked if the innkeeper could leave home some clothes for he might rip his in fury. The third yawn came and the innkeeper left his coat and ran in fear. The thief took the coat and left.