Letting Love In

Chapter 3, Part 1

MY MOTHER IS a short woman with the largest mouth and the biggest personality. She's got short hair, which was at her back for a while before she cut it short. She now has a blonde pixie cut sitting atop her head. The first time my father saw it he almost had a heart attack. It was as if seeing his own daughter with a dozen tattoos and piercings. Honestly, I couldn't care less. I found she looked better than ever, and she thought so as well because she never changed it. Dad grew to like it.

The back of my mom's pixie cut was the first thing I saw when I entered the kitchen. She was staring outside the kitchen window, with her palms flat against the counter. How long was she standing there and looking out? From behind I could tell she was wearing one of her favorite floral dresses, which she got as a gift from her mother for Christmas 2016. When she received the gift, she hated it. She thought her mother could have put more effort in the gift. But after a year, she realized 'Hey, maybe the dresses aren't that bad',  and she began wearing them and loving them and now they're her favorite things to wear.

I swung my bag across to plop onto the kitchen counter. She hates it when I do that, and I know I would eventually have to take it down, but I still do it every afternoon after school. I called to her and she turned around to stare at me. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Is that someone new? The boy you were walking with?"

"Ma, that's Jonny. Jonny Cooper. The short kid with huge clothes?" I let my hand fall down to the height of my  knees as a way of emphasizing how short Jonny really was. She furrowed her eyebrows as if I just spoke to her in gibberish. I sighed and opened my mouth to describe him more, but she beat me to it. "You'll have to bring him by sometime so I could meet him.. You know, just to refresh my memory." I stared at her and tried not to scrunch up my face.

"I don't think that's much of a possibility. He probably hates me."

"Why?" She asks and somehow her eyes went to my school bag on the counter. She flashed me a glare. "Get that off my counter."

"Ma, my school bag is clean." I told her while taking my school bag down off the counter. I threw it back on my shoulder then groaned softly. Part of me was glad that the conversation went that way. I can walk away. Frankly, I don't want to talk about Jonny with my mother.

"Bring over your Jonny friend, okay!" That was supposed to be a question. But she obviously didn't mean it as a question. That was a command. I have to bring Jonny over.

I wonder if she would like him. He's a likeable guy. He's nice and kind and probably loving. I wouldn't know. I haven't seen the guy in some years. But all his good qualities probably won't bypass the fact that he's a homosexual. I can't help but think my mother would hate him for that. Maybe she's not like me -- a homophobic klutz. Maybe she'd love him. I don't know.

I decided to take Rian on a date. I didn't just decide it. I had it in my mind for some time. She loved the idea of going on dates, so here we are. I didn't plan anything fancy. I don't get much money and my parents weren't going to give me the money, so we ended up just going to the movies.

Rian looked perfect tonight. She didn't over dress, she probably under dressed, but she still looked good. She was clad in a simple black jeans, which hugged her body absolutely perfectly, and a simple top. Frankly, its the most simple she's ever dressed and I like seeing her that way. The caked face of makeup and the flashy clothing are all unnecessary.
I walked to her place and we walked to the city from there. It wasn't a long walk, and I enjoyed the silence when we walked.

Her smaller hands were entangled with mine and her thin, gold ring given to her by her father rubbed against my fingers. She and I walked pretty close to each other, it was as though she and I were one. I would have liked to wrap my arm around her shoulders, but her grip on my hand made me remain as we were. Its was though she was afraid to let go.

We arrived at the cinema, which was located in the mall. The other cinema was not as close and we couldn't walk to it. Walking is my only way of getting around. Thankfully, Rian didn't have much of a problem with it. She would complain softly about the pressure on her feet (which makes no sense because its not as though we have to walk a five mile marathon everyday) but other than that she's perfectly fine with my not having a car.

I don't deserve her. She's perfect. The perfect person. The perfect girlfriend. She's forgiving and compassionate, and nothing like those snobby popular girls in those movies. She's humble and modest. She probably won't even care that Jonny's gay now. She would just accept him as he is, because that's just how she is. She's a great person. The world needs more people like Rian and less people like me.

Rian and I took a seat in the fourth row from the last. We were close to the exit, which was located at the back. She took the corner and I sat next to her. We sat for a while in silence before the movie started, watching as people walked past our row completely. They went behind us and in front of us, but no one sat in the row we sat in. I had no problem with that to be honest.

"We should have chosen something more recent." I spoke to her in a whispered tone although the movie hadn't even started. Rian scoffed at me and shook her head. The lights in the theater were still on, but not as brightly. I could still see her perfectly round face and white teeth as she smiled. "No. This is good."

"Sure." I muttered and looked away. I don't even know the title of the movie.  Rian picked it while I went to piss at the side of a wall. She obviously told me off, saying I should have gone before I left my house, which is rubbish, because I didn't need to use the washroom then. She made me wash my hands in the washroom when we were inside.

"You're too-" she stopped when the lights slowly dimmed, until the only light was the giant screen. I slouched in my seat after seeing the name of the movie. Its a cheesy rom-com. I didn't want to sit there and watch a romantic comedy, but she did, so I remained. I reached over and held her hand, for no particular reason. I just felt like I needed her warmth.

The cinema could become extremely cold. There was a single time, when I was dumb enough to come to watch a movie here without a jacket. Honestly, you need about six to actually feel warmth. However, the only warmth I needed right now was Rian. And I had her.

Holding her hand right now brings back memories. Thinking back to them is the only interesting thing to do right about now, so why not? Back in grade school. We managed to always end up in the same classes, I never understood how. It was as though everyone else in the class separated except Rian and I. But anyway, back in grade school. After that one project together, we became friends and did everything together. We were each other's partners for everything. We went on field trips and when we were instructed to Find partners, it would always be Rian and I. One time we went to a museum, a military museum and I found that so extremely boring (I think now it'd be different), so when the teacher announced it at first I completely zoned out. I didn't want to go. The only reason I did go was because of Rian. Anyway, because I wasn't listening to the teacher speak, I didn't know the museum would have been so extremely cold, and I didn't carry anything to keep myself warm and I was freezing my butt off. I manages to go the entire day in that coldness whit out dropping down and dying from hypothermia. We were just coming to an end and we had to it in an even colder room and wait until our teacher came back to tell us otherwise. I told Rian how I felt (like I was dying) and she smiled at me and said, "Let me sit on your hand" and I let her and I my palms actually felt warmer. Our teacher happened to walking right then and see us like that. She embarrassed in front of the entire class and the military people, then called out parents and told them of our behavior. Honestly, I didn't get it. She was just warming me up. Granted, there was another way of doing that, but we were kids; our minds were innocent and we didn't know any better.

Now its different. For one, my hand isn't on her ass. Two; if we did that, no one would call our parents. And three; we're no longer innocent and we do know better.