Marry Me

Chapter 10

     I spent the entire day in the car with Alondra. We cruised around her town while she pointed out every place that held a memory for her.

     Her schools, old hangout spots, even the place where everyone used to hang out when they ditched school. I watched her as she talked, and admired the sight.

     Her eyes sparkled when she saw another place to tell me about. Her laughter filled her little jeep and sunk deep into my core. I hardly thought of anything else... until I saw a girl in the distance with long, shining red hair. My heart twinged, but I pushed it away. Instead I focused on the curve of Alondra's lips as she smiled.

     The sun was starting to set as we pulled into the parking lot of a small playground. She left the engine running while we listened to the radio. We had settled into a comfortable silence until she said

     "Want to see my favorite place in the world?" She asked me quietly. I turned to her and said "Of course." With a soft smile, she shut off her jeep and slid out of the drivers seat. I met her around the front of the car, and we set off down the path that led us past the swing set.

     "I used to come to this place all the time. If I was lonely, or sad, or just wanted to be by myself to read. No one ever knew about it, so you are a pretty lucky guy."

     I looked at her from the corner of my eye, but said nothing. I wanted to reach out and hold her hand. My brain kept sending messages to reach for her, but my heart held me back. I still had doubts. I didn't want to start somthing when I still went to bed thinking of Chelsea...

     The sky was streaked with pinks, blues, and orange hues as the sun sunk deeper into the horizon. I shoved my confused hands into my pockets and said "I never really had a place like that. I always had someone around. Either my brother, Chelsea, or my mom."

     "Ahh, Mama's boy, huh?" She laughed. I grinned and said "Proud of it, thank you." Alondra laughed and pointed ahead of us. The path had led us to a neighborhood. I looked around for a tree house or somthing a young girl would have held sacred. At the very end of the path, Alondra stopped.

     We were between two houses, and staring at a large two story home across the street. It had a stone facade, and a large porch. A bay window jutted out to the right of the front door, which was flanked with long, thin windows. There were no lights on in the house, and no car in the driveway.

     I turned to Alondra and said "Umm... I'm confused. Did you used to live there?" Alondra scoffed, and sank to the ground. Sitting criss cross on the last square of the path, she said "Not even close. My parents weren't well off. We lived in a really shitty apartment downtown. My brother and I slept in the one bedroom, while my parents slept on the pull out couch. "

     I sat down next to her and waited for her to explain. We sat in silence for long moment until she quietly said "This entire neighborhood only went up within the last four years. It used to be a big empty field that ended right where that house is. In that spot, used to sit a huge oak tree. It had a million branches, and once I was tall enough, I would climb up with a backpack full of snacks, books, and my iPod and I would just sit there for hours.

     I basically lived there after my parents died. I came here middle of my senior year and there were construction machines everywhere. I stood here and watched them hack my tree to the ground and rip it away."

     I reached over and took her hand. My heart broke for her. I realised I never asked her about her parents, and I felt like a bad friend. Her eyes never left that spot.

     "I'm sorry they killed your tree. Did you ever find a new spot?" I asked her. Alondra slowly shook her head and murmured "Nope. Best I could do is come over here and sit in this spot and creepily stare at this house."