24 Hours

Hour Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four

“The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.”  Jonathan Grimwood, The Last Banquet

Hour Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four

        After all the sad stories, Tristan and I just kind of want to relax. He shows me his room, which looks pretty much how you expect a teenage boy’s room to look: clothes strewn across the floor, garbage piling up, twelve thousand gaming systems, and a huge tv. We get through three movies, Forrest Gump (his choice), The Notebook (my choice), and The Purge (his choice), before I get bored and start chucking popcorn at Tristan’s head. When he realizes that he has more popcorn on his head than hair, he glares at me evilly and I know that I have about three seconds to run.

        I jump from the bed and scurry down the hallway. I quickly enter one of the rooms to my right. Glancing around I decide that it is probably a spare bedroom. There’s a king size bed sitting in the middle of the room and the room is sparsely decorated. I hear footsteps echoing down the hallway and I quickly look around for a place to hide. There's a large closet located directly across from the bed. I decide against hiding in the closet because its probably empty and so there will be nothing to hide behind. Then the only option left is under the bed. I kneel down beside the bed and the scoot myself over until I’m completely under it.

        Almost immediately after that I hear the door click open. A voice says, "Izzy, I know that you're im here." I watch as feet pad over to the closet and the person opens the door. As soon as I hear the door click open I quietly so out from under the bed and sprint towards the door. I hear Tristan yell out, "Hey!" Before he hurries after me. He catches up to me in no time and we both fall to the floor. He starts tickling me on my sides and I laugh historically.

        "You know" I manage to get out between fits of giggling,  "the popcorn is a huge improvement to your looks." He just starts tickling me harder in retribution. "Stop," I squeal. "Please stop." He doesn't heed my pleas. Eventually I get tired of begging him to stop and a little while later, he gets tired of tickling me. He rolls off of me and lays on the carpet next to me. We both lay there for a while just catching our breath. I glance out the window, at the end of the hallway, behind us and notice that the sky is completely dark.

        Seeing the dark sky makes me think of my mom. It’s been almost a full day since I last saw or talked to her. I know that she’s probably worried sick. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had called the police. Maybe she didn’t though because she knows that I just need a little time to come to terms. I just need a little time on my own. Maybe she understands.

        I decide that I should probably call her to at least ease her mind. I reach in my pocket to pull out my cell phone and then I remember that I threw it against a wall. I sit up and glance over at Tristan. “Do you have a phone that I could use to call my mom?” I ask.

        “Yeah, sure.” I watch as he pulls a phone out of his back pocket and hands it to me. I grab the phone and give him a grateful smile. I dial my mom’s number and wait as the phone rings. After only two short rings my mom’s voice says, “Hello?”

        “Hi, mom,” I answer quietly, “It’s me.”

        “Is that all you have to say!?” She screams. “You’ve been missing for almost a full day. You’re lucky I didn’t call the police.”

        “Thanks, mom.” I say.

        “I just want you to come home, sweetheart. Just tell me where you are and I’ll come pick you up.”

        I can hear the desperation in her voice but I’m just not ready, “I need more time, mom. I promise I’ll be home soon. I love you.” I quickly hang up the phone before she has time to argue. I hand the phone back to Tristan, “Thank you.”

        Tristan pushes himself up off the floor and then sticks a hand out to help me up. I grab his hand and climb to my feet. “Come on, we have somewhere to be.”

        “We do?” I ask curiously.

        “We do,” he confirms.

        I shrug and follow him downstairs back into the garage. We take the motorcycle again. Even though I’m curious about where we’re going, I don’t get a chance to ask.

        When we pull up outside of a carnival, I laugh. “I haven’t been to a carnival since I was six,” I admit. I grab Tristans arm, in my excitement, and pull him towards the carnival. I’ve never been much for the rides but I love carnival food.

        Tristan forces me onto at least three rides. In return I make him win me a big stuffed bear. It takes him a few tries but eventually he wins one. Right before we leave we decide to take a ride on the ferris wheel. Tristan gets in first and I follow after him. I smile as I watch the world float past.

        “The city is so beautiful at night. I’m going to miss it when I’m gone.” I murmur without thinking.

        “Are you moving or something?” Tristan asks. I glance over, suprised that he heard me.

        “Oh umm yeah something like that.”

        “Oh.” He sounds almost disappointed. “When?” He asks.

        “In two to three weeks,” I answer honestly. We stop at the top of the wheel as they load more people in at the bottom. While we’re stopped, Tristan moves over to my side of the cage.

        Suddenly he pulls me into a hug, “I’m so glad that I met you.”

        I smile and return the hug, “I’m glad I met you, too. I mean what else was I going to spend the last twenty-four hours doing.” I chuckle. “I’m also really glad you weren’t some creepy rapist or something.”

        Tristan laughs too. “Hey,” he calls out mock defensively, “for all I knew you were the rapist.”

        The ride starts moving again. “What time is it?” I ask.

        “It’s almost two,” he answers. “Why?”

        I grin at him, “Because our twenty-four hours are almost over. Are you going to tell me why you dip your pancakes into your hot chocolate?”

        He shrugs, “It’s not big deal, really, both of my parents used to eat them like that and so I started eating them like that, too. It’s actually very good. You should try it some time.”

        “Doesn’t sound completely horrific. Maybe I will.”

        “Are you going to tell me your name and why you told me that story?” he asks me.

        “Not just yet.” I answer as we reach the bottom of the ferris wheel and both climb out. “I think its time to head back to the diner.” 

        A little while later we pull up in the parking lot behind the diner. I hop off the motorcycle and Tristan follows closely after. I take off my helmet and hand it to him. Then I pull him in for one last hug. I’m afraid to let go because when I do this amazing day will be over and I don’t know if I’m ready yet. I don’t know if I’m ready to face my problems, but I guess I have to face them now. I let go and I tell him, “My name is Isolde.” I’ve answered both of his questions in one sentence. I run off as soon as I tell him because staying would hurt too much.