Chapter Four:
Revelations
The rain splashed against the windows and stirred Brian from his sleep. He groaned, and glanced at the clock. '2:41pm' the neon blue numbers read. 'This is some nice welcome home weather,' he thought, peeking out the window. Making his way through the house, he spotted Tyk curled up next to the heater. "I'm not the only one glad to be home, huh?" he asked his sleeping dog. Tyk peeked one eye open slowly, stared at Brian as if to say 'Are you nuts? Why are you awake?' and shut his eye again. Brian swallowed a laugh. "I guess laziness runs in the family," he said to himself, and moved into the kitchen. He grabbed the phone off the wall, and opened the fridge. 'Great, I've got no food.' The day was not progressing well. Brian pulled a box of old cereal out of the pantry, and sat at the table. He dialed, and munched on a cheerio.
"Hello?"
"Mom?" Brian asked.
"Sweetie?"
"Yeah, it's me."
He could hear his mom cover the reciever and say something, then she was back on the phone. "When did you get home? I didn't think the tour was finished yet..."
"I got home last night, we finished the Ft. Lauderdale shows..." Brian yawned, and his mother laughed.
"You sound happy," she teased.
He smiled. "I am. Just..." yawn "...tired."
"Take Tyk out for a walk," Jackie suggested. "That'll wake you up to get outside for a little bit."
"Can't, Tyk's asleep." They both laughed.
"Poor little guy, all those screams were hard on him."
"Yeah...it's raining out too, and I don't feel like getting all wet right now." He paused to pop a handful of cheerios in his mouth. "Is Dad home?"
"No, he went to the office. It's Monday, remember?"
"Actually, no," Brian chuckled. "I didn't remember."
His mom gasped playfully. "Brian, forget what day it is? No..."
"It's nice to be home," he said abruptly.
"I'm sure it is... you've been gone for so long, that was probably the longest sleep you've had since March. You should really relax more often," she chided slightly.
Brian heard voices in the background. "Who's there with you?"
"Janet Hookum," Jackie informed Brian. "You remember Janet, don't you? She baby-sat you when Harry didn't want to."
"I 'member," he told her. "I'll call you tommorow so I can talk to Dad too, okay Mom?"
"That's fine, honey. I love you, duck."
"Love you too, Mom."
Brian poked the off button with his finger, and leaned back in the chair. He chewed another cheerio, and reached for a paper. 'Milk, bread, sandwich meat, apples,' Brian scribbled down. He decided that he had to put off Dana for a few more hours. He needed groceries... and fast.
- - -at the same time- - -
"Remember, the research papers are due on Thursday," the professor called to the dispersing class.
"Research papers, due Thursday," Kira imitated in a nasal voice, and Dana giggled quietly. "God, I hate this class..."
"So do I," Dana agreed. "Well, I don't mind it, but he gives so much work! He needs to lighten up, get a life."
"No, what Prof. Jenson needs is a sex life, and fast!" Kira exclaimed, and the two girls burst into a fit of laughter.
"That too..." Dana gasped between giggles.
"So what are you doing now?" Kira wondered.
"Library for me..." Dana wrinkled her nose. "I've gotta finish that paper."
"That reminds me, are you going to the Beta Capa party on Friday?"
"How did me finishing a paper remind you of the Beta party?" Dana asked curiously.
Kira shrugged. "I have no idea..." They laughed again.
"Anyways, I don't know, I might," Dana told her. "It depends..."
"Depends on what?"
"Something..." Dana replied mysteriously.
"Or a certain someone from last Saturday night?" Kira teased.
Dana's jaw dropped. "What?!"
"Brette told me everything, Dana, you've got it so bad..."
"Got what?" Dana was mystified.
"A crush!" Kira grinned triumphantly.
"You are so grade five!" Dana declared. "It's not a crush, it's called being interested!"
"Crushing, jonesing, liking, being interested, same thing," Kira said innocently. "So who is he?"
"Is the whole frickin' world convinced that I like this guy?!"
"Basically..."
"Okay. One: I spoke to him for a total of, like, an hour. Two: I don't have his number. Three: I hardly even know him. Four: I-"
"-Have a major crush," Kira finished deviously, and walked out of the building into the light rain.
Dana chased Kira, and stopped in front of her. "Uh, uh. No. Not happening. I'm twenty. I don't get 'crushes' " Dana said, making little quotation marks with her fingers.
"Sure..." Kira said knowingly, and walked past Dana.
"I don'!" Dana insisted, her knuckles whitening slightly as the clutched her books.
"Then why are you following me, trying to convince me that you don't like this guy?"
"Because you don't believe me?!" Dana refrained from shouting.
"If you really didn't like him you wouldn't work so hard to convince me."
"I-" Dana stopped.
"There, now, doesn't it make sense? You may not think you like him," Kira continued. "But your actions prove otherwise."
Dana knitted her eyebrows. "Since when are you Doctor Love?"
"Since you developed this crush."
"What crush!" Dana persisted, refusing to believe that she'd developed something so, so middle school as a crush.
"Give it up Dan," Kira smiled. "Brette knows, I know, Jayce will know in a matter of minutes..."
Dana was quiet. "Okay. Maybe I have a tensy, wensy, TINY attraction to Brian-"
"His name is Brian?"
Dana ignored Kira's question and continued. "But if he hasn't called yet, he probably isn't interested. So let's drop the subject, okay?"
"Whatever you say," Kira agreed, satisfied with the developments. In pissing Dana off she'd found out his name, that she did in fact like this guy, and that it was a major crush.
- - -later- - -
The phone rang just as Dana returned from the library. She dropped her books on the floor and vaulted over the back of the couch, happy to have finished her research paper at the library.
"Hello?" Dana breathed.
"Is Dana there?"
She relaxed into the couch. "You're talking to her."
"Dana, it's Brian."
Her heart soared.
"Uh, hello?"
She snapped out of her reverie. "Yeah, I'm here. What's up Brian?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted to get together tonight, go out to a movie or something..." he wanted to leave the options open to her.
"Sure!" Dana agreed quickly. "Um, actually, I'd rather just going for something to drink, like coffee of, uh, pop..." She listed off drinks nervously.
"Whatever, it's up to you."
"No, you can't leave it up to me!" Dana protested with a laugh. "I am the most indecisive person!"
"So am I," Brian nodded, then felt stupid. 'She can't see through the phone' he reminded himself.
"We could," Dana scratched the back of her neck. "We could go to this little place, not far from here... well, not far from my house."
"Sure."
They checked the times, and agreed to meet downtown, at a cafe that wasn't far from Dana's apartment. Dana scurried around senslessly, preparing for the coming night. She shoved a twenty in her jeans pocket and folded her windbreaked into a shoulder bag in case it started raining again. Double checking that she had everything, Dana locked the doors and walked towards the little restaurant.
Brian waited at the small table, staring out the window. He was jerked back to reality by the sound of a chair being pulled out.
"Hey," Dana cut into his thoughts.
"Hi."
They sat in silence, Brian contemplating the menu, Dana absorbing the atmosphere. "Do you- are you gonna order?" Dana wondered. She didn't know what to say, and there was something in the air this time around.
"Yeah, uh, I will," he smiled faintly. This wasn't going as he'd expected, it was more tense, and not fluid conversation like the last time.
"So..." she drummed her fingers.
"So..." Brian examined the ceiling.
"Have you ever felt incredibly stupid and you don't know what to say because the first word out of your mouth will make you look like the stupidist person on earth even if you aren't?"
He laughed, relieved. "Yeah, actually right now is one of those moments."
"Ditto."
Silence.
"Do- how abouts we get outta here?" Brian suggested.
"We didn't ever order, though."
Brian shuffled in his seat. "So? Let's be creative, eat whatever, eat leaves, I don't care. Let's just leave, this is really uncomfortable. Too quiet, too everything."
"Eat," she giggled. "Leaves? I can think of slightly better things than leaves, but yeah, we can leave if you want."
"That's, yeah, that's what I want, if you don't mind."
Brian grabbed his jacket and they left the small table, having never ordered. The dark enveloped them as they puttered down the street, listening to the sounds of the city.
"You know-" Brian began when they approached a small park. "You know, I'm not normal."
Dana laughed loudly. "Yeah, I kinda figured that when I met you in a dark hallway and you needed help with going to the washroom."
Dana had a way of lightening a serious situation, and he inadvertantly grinned.
"Do you think I live under a rock?!" she teased.
"Huh?" He was puzzled.
"Don't worry," Dana soothed. "I know who you are."
He nodded slightly.
"Don't worry, I don't care," she stated simply.
Brian opened his mouth to say something, but his voice abandoned him.
"Listen." Dana smiled at his confused expression. "I don't care that millions of people know your name. It doesn't matter to me. Sure, it's pretty cool and all, but I'm not gonna flip out and start screaming your name. I'm enjoing myself, just like you."
They continued walking along the street, and Brian spoke again:
"Why- why didn't you say that you knew, atleast give me some hints?"
"I got the feeling that all you wanted was someone to let you be normal for a while, so I kept quiet."
"But now I look stupid," he grinned.
"No, you don't."
"I feel stupid," he rephrased his point.
"You shouldn't."
"Do you have an answer to everything, cause you would of really come in handy at some points in my past," he wondered jokingly.
Dana laughed, and sighed. "No, I don't have an answer for everything."
Their footsteps echoed in the silence. There was a dog barking in the distance, and Dana felt as though she was in 101 Dalmations. Rain fell through some eves troughs and splattered onto the driveways and parking lots they were passing. The two of them were headed for no place in particular, just walking. The streets were fairly empty, and it was dark, so chances of Brian being recognized were slim to none. Which was a good thing, because the last thing either of them needed at that time was an interruption. After a few seconds of silence Brian caught Dana's eye. "I'm really glad you didn't say anything, about, you know."
She cocked her head to one side, and gave him a reassuring smile. "So am I." Dana nodded confidently. "So am I."
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