Wickless

Date

       Dee Dee and Clara sat with one another in one of the seats at the burger joint. Besides for misfit kids and young adults who couldn't afford to leave the small town, they were all that was there. Dee Dee didn't have much of an appetite to eat but Clara did. Watching her eat was like watching a wolf tear into a deer after weeks of not eating. Sports must do that to people. With wide eyes and a slightly open mouth, Dee Dee watched the taller girl eat from the start to the finish. When Clara was done, Dee Dee laughed softly. Clara wiped her mouth and drunk some of her soda. There was a slight blush over her cheeks. She glanced down at her cell phone that sat near the condiments on the table. 

       "I guess it's about time to get you home," she said looking at the time on her phone. Also on Clara's phone was a picture of a woman with dark brown hair and dark wide eyes. The woman looked to be no older than twenty-four or so. 

       "Who is that?" Dee Dee asked, pointing to the picture. 

       Clara looked at the cell phone then turned her screen off. She placed her cell phone in the pocket of her letter-men jacket. "Oh," she started, her blush growing bigger. "It's just some girl, some actress."

       "Oh yeah..." Dee Dee wondered. 

       "Yeah, she does teeny-bopper like movies." Clara explained. 

       Dee Dee nodded her head and proceeded to get up. To be polite, she took some of the trash that was on the table. Clara was sitting by the window of the burger joint, so Dee Dee made way for her. She went over to the trash can by the door and placed the trash in the bin, and placed the tray on top of the bin. She walked back to Clara and leaned on the table; she saw herself in the window and smiled at herself. She turned and looked at Clara who was getting ready. 

       "Well, she's a pretty actress." Dee Dee said.

       With that, Clara blushed furiously as she got up. Dee Dee laughed and walked to the exit, after waving bye to the workers of the place. 

       Outside as they walked together to Clara's truck, Dee Dee looked up at the sky. The stars were out in full force that night and though the clouds were covering the moon, it was a beautiful sight. Dee Dee smiled; it was going to be a good year. She felt it deep within her heart. And whatever happened weeks prior was just a dream. There was no Land of Oz or girl with green skin-that wasn't even scientifically possible without radiation being involved. If radiation was involved then that meant cancer would probably be involved. Dee Dee shuddered. She couldn't believe she thought a dream like that was real. 

       "Hey..." 

       Dee Dee turned to look at Clara who placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Clara's hand on her shoulder and looked at her own hand which was on the truck's door. 

       "Dee Dee," Clara whispered. Dee Dee felt her heart fluttered at a rate the same as a racing horse. She was nervous at what was about to happen, and was unsure if she wanted it to happen or not. Either way, she allowed Clara to continue. "I'm sorry if this offends you. And I won't tell anyone if you say no, but...would you like to go on a date with me?" 

       Dee Dee gulped. "Um, my parents don't know about me. Just my friends...I don't want people talking-such a small town and-"

       "I understand." Clara bowed her head, and kicked a small rock that was in front of her. 

       "But yes!" Dee Dee quickly spat out. She didn't want to risk losing a girl she really liked. Yes, it was true, some people might find out about her sexual orientation and they may even whisper-they will whisper, but it was a new year. They were living in the twenty-first century, not the eighteenth century. 

                                                                                       ***

       She was already planning on what she was going to wear that Friday. Dee Dee's phone was blowing up. David was texting her-saying he had a date too and wondered if they could do a double date. Then there was Laurie and Tonya who was still a bit sad but was slowly coming back to life. She allowed the text to pile up on her phone. At the moment, she was busy. There were so many clothes in her closet and she had to pick out the right amount of colors, and fabric to go along with her skin, her persona. It all had to be perfect...as perfect as it could be for a fourteen year old going with a sixteen year old. 

       Dee Dee stopped moving as fast as she was once she realized the age difference. So many thoughts started to swirl around her head such as what if Clara thought she was too young or she was too child like. What if Clara wanted to see a more adult-like movie while Dee Dee wanted to see a child-like movie? Dee Dee preferred children's movie; they were much more family oriented. 

       She turned to look at the most recent issue of Family on her dresser. She thought back to whether or not there was some advice pertaining to her current situation, but she couldn't think of any article within the issue. Dee Dee smacked her lips and sighed. Just as she was about to get back to picking out her Friday evening clothes, there was a knock on her door. Her dad entered in with a cup of coco. He looked around her room since it was a in a state of an emergency. A tornado apparently had passed through it. He let out a whistled and looked at his daughter. 

       "So...would you like some coco? Grandma's made a good batch." He said. 

       Dee Dee sighed again. "That...would be great, dad." Dee Dee flopped herself on the edge of her bed and laid backwards. 

       "So uh," he walked over to his daughter. She leaned up to look at him. "Tell me about this boy..."

       Dee Dee rolled her eyes. Not only because she didn't want her parents in her dating life, but because she wasn't seeing a boy-but a girl, and didn't know how to break it to them just yet. So she sighed and decided to think up a few non-obvious white lies that didn't really say her date was a boy, but also wouldn't let on her date was a girl. 

       "Well..."She started.