What Happened After

Chapter 22

Chapter 22.

          “Ruesso, shut the fuck up,” I whispered, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. We were outside my house after the diner, walking up to the front door. He had decided he was okay to drive to my house (he wasn't), after having a few cups of coffee at the diner, and his Bronco was rumbling across the street. My dad’s car was in the driveway, so I knew both my parents were inside the house, most likely asleep. The last thing I needed was for them to wake up to a drunk Ruesso.

          “Ssshhhhhh,” he shushed me, like I was the one who needed shushing.

          “Why are you walking with me anyway?” I asked, “I told you I was okay to walk myself to the door; it’s only a few feet from the driveway…”

          “Because I’m a gentleman, that’s why. And you’re a lady. And ladies don’t walk themselves to their front doors after dates, that’s what they have gentlemen for,” he slurred.

          “Oh, so this was a date then?” I smirked, knowing there was no way he would remember this conversation later on. I figured I should milk him for all he had while I had him here.

          “Oh no, I forgot to ask you on a date.  Rayn Wallis, will you go out on a New Years’ date with me, which just so happened to end a few minutes ago?”

          “Sure, that sounds lovely.”

          “Okay. I had a fun time on our date, then.”

           “You sure you’ll remember it tomorrow?”

          “Yeah, I hope so. I wanna ask you out on another one.”

          “Okay, well, you should get home and get some sleep. Unless you don’t think you can drive, otherwise you can totally sleep on my couch or something—“

          “Oh no no, I’m fine. I am fi-i-ine,” he sang, a bit louder than I found necessary. “I’m actually just gonna walk home, get some fresh air.”

            “Shush!” I whispered. “You want my parents to come out here?”

          “No.”

           “Alright. So um, I guess I’m going inside now? I had good time on our ‘date’ too, Rue.”

          He giggled. “Ha, ‘Rue’ and ‘too’ are rhyming words. You’re a poet and you didn’t even know it.”

          I could help but smile. “Yes, ha-ha, Ruesso. Get home safe, okay? Drink a water bottle, and go home and get some rest. I’ll see you later.”

           He turned around to head back down my driveway, stopping at the very bottom of it to turn back around and look at me. “Rayn?” he asked.

          “Yeah?”

          “I like it when you call me Rue.”

          I smiled, lightly. “I’ll keep doing it then,” I promised. “Night, Rue.”

          He smiled back. “Night, Rainbow. Happy New Year.”

          I turned around and went back into my house, and he walked slowly back to his car. As I walked into the entryway, I turned off the entry light illuminating my house, so I could look back outside at him. He was at the bottom of the driveway, staring towards me. When I shut the light off and closed the front door, he shifted his attention toward the road and gave a wave, as if he was waiting to make sure I was safe.