Escaping Death [Watty Awards]

Chapter 8-Unexpected Surprise

Chapter 8-Unexpected Surprise

The last two weeks, Gabriel had gotten along great with my friends.  He fit in perfectly and I was glad that everything was going great.  We’ve been hanging out at lunch ever since the first time I introduced him to my friends.  Thinking about that now seemed like it was ages ago.  As the dance approached, my friends and I started to talk about the dance and the theme this year was Dancing in the Moonlight.  The girls and I thought that it was a really romantic theme, especially for Homecoming.  Gabriel hadn’t changed his mind about going to the dance but I had. 

I didn’t feel like going to the dance anymore.  Tammy was going with Kyle and Molly was going with Triston.  That left me as a fifth wheel.  I was definitely sure that I was not going to go tonight.  My dress hung in the closet, still in its bag.  It was a reminder of how excited I was a couple of weeks ago.  A couple of weeks ago, Gabriel wasn’t here and it changed everything.  The dress didn’t gnaw at me like when I had first seen it.  Now, I felt like it didn’t matter.

“But why won’t you go? Please?”  Tammy pleaded on the other end of the line. 

I soon regretted my decision to call Tams about canceling on them tonight.  We had been on the phone for almost an hour and my protests weren’t getting through to her.  She was determined for me to go and meet them tonight.  For the tenth time I said, “I’m sorry, Tams, but I just can’t.  I’ll be fine here, I promise.  Tell everyone else that I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.” 

She grunted.  “C’mon.  Please, come.  We promise we won’t make out in front of you!”

I laughed.  “That is the least of my problems.  I’ll see you Monday!”  In a rush I hung up the phone before she could interject.

I know it was rude of me to hang up on her but if I hadn’t she would have just kept on pleading with me.  She wouldn’t have given up until I had agreed.  Under other circumstances, I probably would have caved after the first twenty minutes but this time it was different.  I didn’t want to explain to Tammy about my “feelings”.  I still didn’t understand what they meant myself, so how would I even try to begin to explain them to Tams.  The reason I didn’t want to go to the dance was because of Gabriel.  Hell, I wasn’t even entirely sure that he was the reason but I knew that I didn’t want to go if he wasn’t going to be there.

It looked like tonight was just going to be me.  Mom was upstairs and wasn’t feeling well.  The reason I told Tammy that I didn’t want to go was because of my mom.  I didn’t want to leave her alone, which was true.  It seemed wrong of me to go out and have fun with my friends while mom laid in bed, sick.  Dad wasn’t home-as usual- and I couldn’t leave my mom by herself while she had a slight fever.  She had told me that I could have gone to the dance because “she’s a grown women and she can take care of herself” but I had waved the idea away.  I had made my mind up about going to the dance and it was final.

The doorbell rang and I ran across the hall to mom’s bedroom.  I opened the door and told her, “Don’t worry, I’ll go get the door.”  Then I rushed down the stairs to open the door.  When I opened the door, I was hit by the cool night air and then I was surprised to see who was waiting by the dim lights of the porch.

*****

“Hey, I thought you’d be here.”  I said going into Gwen’s house.

“Hh-how did you know?”  I asked.  She was shocked by the fact that I had showed at her house.  She was wearing red and gray striped pajama pants and a plain gray t-shirt. 

“Tammy called.”  I said.  “She told me that you weren’t going to the dance tonight.”  It was simple and I hoped that I didn’t want to explain.

“Okay?”  She said slowly.  “Why are you here?”  She crossed her arms over her chest and stood watching me. 

“I’m not sure.”  I brushed my hand through my hair.  She looked at me with curious eyes.  I honestly didn’t know why I was here or how I could even begin to explain the sudden urge to drive to her house.  It was all because of Gwen.  The first day I met her she was excited about going to the dance and now she wasn’t even going.  It didn’t make sense and when Tammy called, I concluded that something might be wrong so I got in my car and drove here. 

She coughed.  I hadn’t realized that we had been looking at each other for several minutes.  “Well, umm-”

“Do you want to go out?”  I asked.  “Go get a bite to eat or something?” 

There was a slight smile forming on the corner of her mouth.  She thought about it for a second and then said, “Yeah...sure.  Let me go tell my mom.  I’ll be back in a few.”  She left and ran up the stairs.

I closed the door behind me and walked into the living room to wait for her.  I had been easier than I had anticipated.  I was sure that Gwen might want an explanation to why I was here but I think she was caught off guard by me just standing in the doorway of her house.  Everything in her house was the same as it was when I was a kid.  There were pictures on the wall of her and her family.  The Gwen I remembered among them.  I saw pictures of her growing up and changing into the person she is now.  Something came over me and a rush of emotions flooded through me.  It saddened me that I had to miss out on half of her life while I was away.  I wasn’t there for her and I knew that she had been affected by my leaving.  I hadn’t even had the chance to say goodbye to her.  I couldn’t have even if I’d wanted to.  The choice was take from me and I had to respect my parent’s wishes and leave without seeing her again.

I heard footsteps and I turned my attention towards the stairs where she was coming down.  She had changed into jeans and a blue sweater.  Her hair was down instead of the ponytail she had a few minutes ago.  I cleared my mind from the cloud of memories that had surfaced and walked towards her.

“Alright.  Ready.  Let’s go.”  She said taking my arm and leading me out the door.

“So where do you want to go?”  I asked.  Following her down the walkway and toward my car, where I opened the door for her.

She sighed, “Anywhere.”

***********************************************

Well, here it is! I hope you guys enjoyed reading :) I know that I mixed it up this time but the chapters seemed to short for their perspectives so I decided to put them together into one chapter! :) I'd like to thank you guys for reading and supporting me. Remember to comment, vote, or fan if you aren't one yet!! :)

Hope you guys are enjoying your break!!! :D

<3 addy :)