Blue Christmas

Chapter 9- "Your names Ally, right?"

I run my hand under the warm, steaming water. I change out of my clothes and step in, letting my thoughts take over.

~~~

I walk in the house, coming home from my first day as a freshman. I throw my bag on the couch and groan, "what's got you in such a bad mood?" I turn around to see my dad coming from the kitchen. I run over and give him a hug.

"I thought you were working today!"

He returns my hug, "I'm on call." I watch him contort his face into a contemplating look, "you wanna do something that'll make your mom mad?"

"Yes!"

I follow my dad to his car and sit in the passenger's seat. "You want to tell me why you're so upset?"

"I don't fit in anywhere. All of my friends already found their places: Emily is with the theatre crazies, Lillian is with the band geeks, Taliah is with the Spanish speakers, and Sarah is with the jocks. I tried to fit in with their new friends, but I just couldn't." I look down at my feet and frown.

"Well, what did you do in all of your classes?"

"Went over the rules and dress code, it was quite boring."

I see my dad laugh as he parks in the Arby's parking lot, "the usual?"

"Yep," I hop out of the car and awkwardly follow my dad into the fast-food restaurant. I freeze when I see somebody from my gym class, "let's go somewhere else," I say, turning to leave.

"What's up with the sudden change in attitude towards The Usual," my dad asks me. I look from the familiar guy standing at the cash register, back to my dad.

The guy standing at the counter catches my eye and I straighten my stance, "yeah, we should definitely go."

My dad looks at the counter and smirks, "I see." Instead of taking my advice and leaving, my dad walks to the counter and I feel a little piece of myself die inside as I walk to the counter.

"Hello, what can I get you guys today," the guy says, locking eyes with me. My dad orders and I let my eyes drift to his name tag, Ezekiel. "We'll have that right out for you guys." Ezekiel puts two small cups in front of him and slides them over to my dad, who hands me one of the cups. I start to walk off, but I hear someone talking behind me, "your names Ally, right?" I nod my head slowly, "I'm Zeke," I look at his name tag and he covers it with a smile, "ignore that, it's a horrible name."

I smile shyly, "I like it." I see my dad at a table and I chase after him.

When I sit down across from him, he gives me a look, "who was that?"

I smile down at my empty cup, "a guy from school. He's in my gym class..."

"Well-" my dad starts, but doesn't finish. I turn around in my seat and see Zeke walking towards our table, he sets the tray in between my dad and I. He walks off with a smile and I grab my bag of food. I pull out a single napkin and unfold it, revealing a phone number. I smile and stuff the napkin in the back pocket of my shorts, my stomach filling with butterflies. "He seems like a good kid," my dad tells me, and then his phone rings. He pulls it from his back pocket and frowns, "I'm sorry Ally, I need to go, I'll call your mom."

"It's fine, Dad, really," I turn around in my seat and catch Zeke's eyes as he takes another customer's order. He gives me a smile and I turn back around, "I'll call mom when I'm done eating, go save somebody's life."

My dad smiles at me and then walks out of Arby's.

~~~

I step out of the shower and wrap myself in a towel. I walk out of the bathroom and into the living room where I see Zeke sitting on the couch. He looks over at me and quickly looks away, realizing that I wasn't dressed. "Go get dressed, I need to tell you something."