She Existed

Chapter 4: Remember

"But as much as she forgot the wrong done to her, she never forgot what others did for her. She was sweet in the fact that she always found creative ways to return favours. Her surprising sense of appreciation was what gained so much of my respect."

10 YEARS AGO:

"How'd the date go bro?" Jim annoyingly asked, with both hands behind his head in a relaxed pose.

"Firstly, not your bro. Secondly, I told you, she's not my type. Chrissy is clumsy, strange and an airhead. Besides, you know it's all about the face for me." I replied, taking my seat next to Jim.

"So, you know her name now." Jim chuckled as he rocked his chair back and forth. "You sure describe a girl you don't fancy very well, don't you Ty?"

Sighing, I rummaged my bag for my pencil case.

"Anyways, that volleyball game was amazing! You should have seen it, man, they were sweating so much and long story short, it was the closest thing to heaven. You might find your dream model chick in 2C, man." Jim described while both his eyes twinkled.

Upon hearing the last line, I turned towards Jim and said

"I just might take up your offer next time then."

"All of them," Jim said as he signalled towards his chest. "HUGE!"

The next couple of hours flew by quickly.

"See ya tomorrow, the team awaits." Jim yelled as he dashed off to his track and field practice.

Leaving the school, the warm faltering sunlight hit my skin. Looking at my watch, it read 4:30.

Home time, I guess.

As I began my walk home, I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder.

As I had a terrible fight or flight response, I instinctively grabbed the thin wrist over my neck and turned around quickly.

"Wow, dramatic much?" Chrissy giggled.

I looked at her blankly.

"What do you want?" I asked intriguingly.

"Want to go to the station together?" She asked, tilting her head to her left shoulder slightly.

Oh ho Tyler, you're going to be walking to the station with a girl!

Wait a minute. Shut up me, I'm not into her. Relax!

"Sure, I don't mind." I replied calmly.

"Great! But first, do you mind letting go of me?" She asked while pointing to her wrist.

"Oh shit. Sorry." I frantically exclaimed as I let go of her skinny, pale wrist.

After a couple of minutes, Chrissy stopped walking. She gestured towards the convenience store to the right. Pulling my sleeve, she said

"Hey, do you mind if I head in for a second?"

I shook my head and she walked in.

After a minute of waiting, she waltzed out, smiling gleefully. In her hand clutched a white plastic bag.

"Look at this!" She squealed excitedly as she pulled out a wrapped-up popsicle.

"It's just a popsicle, what's so special?" I nonchalantly said.

Chrissy pouted and pointed hard at the wrapper.

"What does it say?" She said impatiently.

Squinting my eyes, I read out loud,

"Limited edition grape-flavour"

Her face lit up.

"Today's my lucky day, there were only two left! The storekeeper said they weren't expecting any more arrivals of it!" She exclaimed while basking in her childlike wonder and joy.

"That nice." I said.

Women are strange.

"For you." She said as she took out another popsicle from the bag.

Reaching to take it, I asked

"Why are you giving me this?"

"This is for helping me when I crashed my bike. My grandma taught me when I was a little girl to always return the favour of those who helped me. I thought this would be a literal sweet way of paying you back." She said as she raised her eyebrows twice in quick succession to emphasise that pun.

Rolling my eyes at that terrible joke, I unwrapped the popsicle and thanked her.

She placed her popsicle in the plastic bag, and we continued walking.

"Aren't you going to eat that?" I asked between licks and bites.

"It's limited edition so I'll save it for later." She explained cheerfully.

Does this girl not know popsicles melt?

I sighed. Looking at her I teased,

"A girl shouldn't eat too many sweets, you'll get fat."

"I can do whatever I want, man." She sneered as she punched my arm softly.

As we approached the station, I licked the last of my popsicle. Chrissy looked at me, horrified. She asked

"How did you eat that so fast, you monster?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said

"Talent."

She stuck out her hand and said

"Give it to me."

I looked at her, confused yet again.

I sure seem to get confused a lot with this girl.

"Give me the stick." She said, as a serious expression took over her face.

"Um... sure?" I said, passing my wooden popsicle stick to her.

"I'll keep this in my scrapbook. I always keep some sort of memorabilia of people who have helped me in the past!" Chrissy said earnestly as she placed it in her skirt's pocket.

What a strange, strange girl.

"You sure must hoard a lot of junk, don't you?" I said in a judgemental voice.

"That's my business." She said, turning away playfully.

Suddenly, the two of us heard a loud and high-pitched ear-piercing scream.

"AHHHHHH!"

Great. What now?