Someone Willing to Stay

Not Yet

     "You're delusional."
      Mel scoffs, "I'm delusional? At least I can tell the difference between waffles and pancakes."
      I glance over at her, "They're the same thing, just different shapes."
      "They're not the same at all!"
      "I don't know about you," I offer, "but I'd prefer bacon over pancakes and waffles any day."
      She's silent for a second, "Fine, you win."
      We've been in the car for twenty minutes. I'm holding my breath, not making any sudden movements, letting Mel control the conversations and the energy around me. One wrong move could scare her off.
     "Where are we going anyway?" She asks, looking at me expectantly.
     "First stop, the mall."
      "Aren't you supposed to be a dude?"
      "Haha," I roll my eyes, "you'll see."
      I think she views the car as a safe place for some reason. When we're at school, she ignores me, except for in seventh period when she's forced to talk to me.
     When we're talking at her place, she watches my every move with careful accuracy.
      In the car, we talk. And she trusts me. And she looks at me with a smile.
      "So what are you thinking about doing for the project?" I ask her.
      Mel's eyes brighten, which surprises me, "It's gonna be great. I'm going to get a bunch of pictures of you from when we were kids, totally embarrass you in front of the whole class, and pass with flying colors." She grins.
I frown, "I'm not sure I approve."
"Yeah, yeah." She waves my comment away.
I chuckle.
We pull into the mall parking lot just as it's opening at eight thirty. There are only a few other cars surrounding us. I pull up as close to the building as possible and park.
"Oh, you were serious about the mall."
I snort and motion for her to get out of the car as I do the same.
It's quiet.
Perfect.
We walk up to the entrance and I pull the door open, holding it for her as she smiles and shakes her head.
"How chivalrous."
"I am a gentleman."
"Whatever. So what are we doing here?" She questions me.
The mall is three stories, with almost forty different stores on every floor.
"Follow me."
Mel follows me to the other side of the mall, taking delicate steps that barely make any noice across the tile floor.
There only a few customers and workers that can be seen this early in the day.
We reach the escalator and I step on.
I look over my shoulder to see Mel still standing at the bottom as the stairs carry me higher.
Surprised, I start running down the stairs, difficult as they pick me upwards.
"Are you coming?"
She bites her bottom lip, "I don't like escalators."
I chuckle once more, "Come on."
When I hold out my hand, she flinches and takes half a step back.
I'm about to comment but she clears her throat and I don't say anything.
"Don't you trust me?" I ask cheekily.
"No." She deadpans.
I laugh, "Just come on."
      She shakily takes my hand, looking down on it like she's surprised.
      "Your hands are always warm." She notes as I lead her onto the escalator.
      "And moisturized." I wink at her.
We take the escalator up to the second floor and I immediately drag her to the first store I wanted to take to her to.
"I am not getting a tattoo." Mel shrieks.
I look at her and smirk, "A henna tattoo."
"No way."
"Come on. You have to." I plead.
The woman looks at us as we enter the store and smiles, handing us a pamphlet.
"Just holler when you guys pick something out."
She goes and makes her way to the back of the shop and starts organizing her ink.
"Just look for one you like, and if you can't find one, you don't have to get one." I tell Mel calmly.
She takes the pamphlet and rolls her eyes, skimming through the pages while I motion for the woman to come over because I already have an idea of what I want.
"Over here." The woman smiles and leads me over to a chair.
I tell her what I want and she grins, "Sure thing, sweetie."
I feel the cool ink hit my skin and I shiver as the tip of the tube traces my hand.
"Is that your girlfriend?" The woman asks, her eyes wrinkling as she smiles and nods her head toward Mel who's staring at the pages of the pamphlet with her tongue sticking out in concentration.
"Not yet. I mean- no, she's not my girlfriend. But we'll be g- friends. We'll be friends soon." I ramble, feeling a blush spread across my cheeks.
She chuckles.
I switch between watching the henna artist draw on the top of my hand and looking at Mel, who's been staring at the same picture for the last five minutes. I think she's found one she likes.
"Alright cutie, all done," the woman says, "get your soon to be friend over here."
I look at my hand a smile. A surfboard with a three little waves behind it and a D in the middle.
"Mel, your turn."
"Fine, but only because you asked nicely." Mel sighs.
I watch as she walks over to the woman and smiles politely, pointing to the picture that she wants.
Mel and the artist start talking. I know it's rude to eavesdrop but all I want is to figure out why Mel is looking away shyly and grinning.
It's about ten minutes later when Mel gets up and thanks the lady, blowing in the inside of her wrist to quickly dry the tattoo she just got.
"What'd you get." Mel asks me.
I shows her my hand and her eyebrows furrow, "What does it mean?"
"We'll talk about that later. What about yours?"
Mel hesitates before she pulls her sleeve out slightly and shows me the inside of her wrist, where there's a blue bird in mid flight with the word free in cursive under it.
"What does it-"
"We'll talk about it later." She grins.
I walk over to the lady and smile, "How much?"
She grins kindly, "The first couple of the day are always free."
"Oh but we're not-"
"Not yet." She winks.
I smile.
Not yet.