how did we get here? [ON HOLD]

"best day of my life"

-September 19, 2009 • at the park-

   "Hey, Emily? I'm uh, Louis,"

   And maybe this won't be as bad as I thought.

***

   So, here I am, sitting on a bench in a lovely park in front of this boy. Now what do I say?

   "I uh... yeah, hi. I'm Emily... you knew that though," I stuttered it all out quickly with a slight wheezed out chuckle at the end. That- that was not how I wanted that to go. Shit.

   But, Louis didn't seem to notice how awkward it sounded as he took a seat beside me on the red bench, nodding his head and looking at the empty playground in front of us. "Yep, it would seem I know a lot about you actually."

   "Oh? Like what?"

   Wow, that was actually smooth. Good job Elmo.

   "Hmm..." he turns to look at me, "Well, I know you are also called Elmo. You moved here recently with your older sister from America, Maryland specifically, you also miss your friends there.

   "Uh... you are very emotional when drunk but somehow speak pretty coherently. And, you love apples and strawberries, strawberries more than apples, but you can't eat them because they make your throat itch."

   Well, that's a tad creepy.

   I'm sure at this point whatever look I am giving Louis gives away completely how I feel about this as he just chuckles and looks ahead again. I am quite glad he's giving me time to process, it is well needed.

   Nobody but my sister and people back home knew about that last part, I mean I'm not really the type to just go around talking about that stuff. It's quite embarrassing how emotional hurt and actually am about not being able to eat those fruits...

   "How exactly did that last fact come up when we met?"

   "It's actually how we met,"

   Oh. God. What the hell did I do...

   He turned to look at me again and honestly I was too embarrassed to ask. He also seemed to notice this too as he chuckled lightly again, a really nice sound might I add, and continued on;

   "Don't worry, I can't judge much, you were drunk. It was kinda funny though." And somehow I felt comfortable enough to shoot him a slight glare, to which he laughed yet again, "I found you by a fruit bowl in an empty kitchen at that party. Apple slices and strawberries were in this fruit bowl and there you were, crying.

   "When I asked you what was wrong you proceeded to tell me about your love for these fruits but hate for your body for not letting you have them. You were more sad than pissed though." With that he shrugged and looked over at me again, awaiting a reaction.

   To which he witnessed a face palm, "No... oh goodness, no."

   I felt his hand lightly press to my shoulder and almost flinched away, almost, but I didn't.

   "I'm sorry but yes."

   And there was that bit of sass Marina was talking about. But it was kinda cute, and I appreciated it at the moment because it kept me balanced.

   But now I wonder how that leads to him bringing me home. Maybe just a caring fella?

   "Okay- well pushing the embarrassment to the side for later, I have to ask... how does my love for strawberries and apples lead to my ride home?"