Damaged Goods

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Annabelle

I purposefully took extra long at the store. I went down every single aisle and looked at everything on each shelf. I wasn’t even really looking at anything I just wanted to stay there as long as I could before I went home to watch movies with Ryan. Now I’m sitting in my driveway trying to convince myself to go inside. I was so anxious I bought way more snacks than I should have. It wasn’t a date but it was the closest I have ever been to one in over three years. I took two deep breaths and pushed away the thought of mine and Mario’s first date. This wouldn’t be like that. This wouldn’t be like that. I kept repeating that to myself getting out of the car. I grabbed the way too many snacks and walked to the front door. I stopped there and took two more deep breaths. I’m just going to be watching movies with my roommate. So what if he’s gorgeously sexy and wants to get to know me. I can do this. I went inside and seen Ryan sitting on the couch with his headphones on sketching in his sketchpad. He does that a lot and I always wonder what he’s sketching in there. I walked to the table and set everything down. Putting the popcorn into the microwave I almost dropped the bag when I heard him start singing “Keep your head up” By Andy Grammer really loud and off key. I started laughing so hard that I didn’t notice him come up behind me. Turning around I sucked in a sharp breath. He was so close to my face and giving me a grin that made me so hot I was sure I could pop the popcorn just holding it in my hand.

“Something funny Annabelle?” He asked giving me a sly look.

I took in a shaken breath then smiled and said. “Nothing at all Ryan. Your singing is lovely.” I moved from in front of him to show him the snacks I had gotten. I needed to get away from him. His smile had some sort of super power over me. Not to mention he smelled like some sort of delicious cologne or maybe body wash.

“You know Annabelle it’s not nice to lie, but it’s okay I think my ego needed the boost.”  His sarcasm got on my nerves at first but it was growing on me.

“Well then I’m glad I could help. Come take these snacks to the living room and I’ll get the popcorn.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He saluted me then went to the living room and sat on the couch. I grabbed the popcorn poured in into two separate bowls and sat down on the opposite side of the couch.

“What? Is my singing so horrible that you can’t sit any closer?” He said making an expression like he was absolutely appalled. I scooted closer and put the bowls of popcorn in the middle. There was no way I was going to sit right next to him.

“So what did you pick?” I asked pouring a bag of M&M’s into my popcorn. It was the only way I would eat it.

He gave me a funny look then said. “I have four of my favorites in DVD form and if you don’t like those we can pick something from the Roku.”

I looked down at the familiar movie titles and smiled they were some of mine and my mom’s favorites. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club, E.T., and Back to the Future. Our all time favorite was When Harry met Sally. We always laughed so hard at the part where Sally fakes an orgasm in the restaurant to prove her point. I missed her so much. I pushed her to the back of my mind so I could make it through the night. “I like all of these. You pick one.”

“We can watch them all if you have time.” He said giving me a hopeful smile.

I thought about the idea of watching not only one movie with Ryan, but four of them. I didn’t have anything to do the rest of the day and I was having fun so far. “Okay let’s watch them all.”

“You put one on and I’ll go get us something to drink. Do you like Ice tea? I made some while you were gone.”

I nodded and he went to the kitchen. I popped the DVD in and went back to the couch. His sketch book caught my eye on the coffee table and suddenly it was saying. Open me. Open me. I turned to make sure he wasn’t coming and took it off the table. I’d just look at it real quick before he came back. I opened it and didn’t regret it the first sketch was a flower it wasn’t in color but it was just as beautiful, almost like it told a story. I turned the page and it was a drawing of a line of ducklings following their mom to the water. The next page took my breath away. It was a picture of a little girl hugging a man with a tear coming down her face. She looked so lifelike I wanted to wipe the tear away.

“That little girl was seeing her father after a year of him being gone in Iraq.” His voice startled me and I knew my cheeks turned red. He came and sat down next to me on the couch and took his book.

“I’m so sorry Ryan I don’t know what came over me.” I was so embarrassed I felt like such a jerk.

“It’s okay Annabelle don’t worry about it. How ‘bout I show you some more after the movies?” Oh gosh this guy was already putting cracks in my wall without even trying.

“I would like that if you really don’t mind.” I said with my head down looking up at him through my lashes.

He smiled and pressed play. Ryan was unlike any guy I ever came across and he definitely wasn’t like Mario. He seemed like a genuine person, someone that laid all his cards on the table for you to see. He was waking something deep in my heart that was new to me and I didn’t want to push it away I wanted to explore it. I looked over at Ryan and smiled. Getting to know Ryan was starting to sound like the best idea he ever had.

Ryan

It was 7 O’ clock on a Saturday and I was inside staring at a beautiful girl sleeping on a couch. We ordered pizza during the second movie and Annabelle fell asleep after the third. I should be bored out of my mind now that she’s asleep but I’m not. I sat there and thought about the things I learned. They weren’t a lot but they were something for now. She wouldn’t eat popcorn without M&M’s and she liked her pizza with pineapples on top but she didn’t eat them. She actually paid attention to the movies and watched them with emotion. I liked that. Every time I ever watched a movie with Chelsea she was so emotionless. She never cried during movies. Not even watching The Notebook did she so much as frown. I hated that about her. We could be watching movies that were guaranteed to make you laugh and I was lucky if she even smiled a little. Annabelle laughed during the funny parts, got teary eyed during sad parts and smiled through the triumphant parts. She was turning out to be so different from the candy snatching uptight girl I thought she was when I met her. I noticed her shiver a little so I got up to get a blanket. When I came back she had gotten more comfortable on the couch. I covered her with the blanket and she smiled pleased by the warmth. I automatically reached up for the pencil behind my ear then stopped. Sketching her while she slept was wrong, but she looked so peaceful while she slept. Like if it was the happiest place on earth for her. If I was going to draw the beauty that was Annabelle she needed her own sketchpad just for her. Maybe she would let me sketch her dance poses one day. As I went to get a brand new sketch pad from my closet I heard her say the words; “I love you mom.” It brought so many questions to my mind but those questions would have to wait. I wanted to catch the peacefulness on her face.

I sat on a chair across from her and started sketching. She was on her stomach facing me with her arms crossed underneath her head. Her long dark brown hair was half up and half down so the hair was out of her face and the rest laid on her shoulders and back. Her eyes were closed softly as if they had fluttered closed and she had the tiniest hint of a smile. I sat there sketching Annabelle and everything but her melted away. All I could see was her.

Two hours later and I had almost perfectly captured her heart shaped face. Her perfect eyebrows, thick and curved. Her perfect, not too short but not too long eyelashes. Her perfectly pinched nose. Her perfect lips that were just the right amount of full. She was just perfect. I knew that even if I drew her more than once I’d never be able to do her beauty justice on paper. The only logical reason for this perfect girl being alone is because she wants to be. I would change that. A breath taking beautiful woman like her wasn’t meant to be alone. I needed to get closer to her. Maybe I would ask her about her mom. All I knew right now was that she loved her so much she said it in her sleep. Then one day when we were close enough I would tell her about my cancer. When I looked up to make sure I got her cheekbones just right I was staring at a wide eyed Annabelle.