“Illusion never changed into something real. I’m wide awake, and I can see the perfect sky is torn...” I dropped down to my knees dramatically, the soft cushion on the mattress bouncing from the light impact. I rolled over to grab my hairbrush/ microphone off the nightstand before continuing my sing-a-long to Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’. I got up quickly as the chorus continued and jumped to Alex’s bed where she was staring up at me, laughing. “You’re a little late. I’m already torn...”
“Jesus, Liz. How much sugar have you downed today?”
“Not much,” I sighed, collapsing next to her as the CD changed to the next song. “First the good news,” I began to sing. “Oh wait, I did eat, like, half the bag of Oreos around 1:30.”
“I guess they haven’t worn off yet. I’m going downstairs to grab a bite to eat. Have you worked up an appetite, Natalie?”
“Nah, I’m still good. The cookies should last me awhile. I think that I’ll just stay here and paint my toes or something like that.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Bye, doll!” I called to her retreating form as I climbed off the bed and made my way to the bathroom, still singing.
“It’s the only thing I know how to do...” I belted as I picked out a light shade of pink nail polish to fit the girly mood I was in. Earlier I had declared today “Slumber Party Day” for myself, having woken up and realizing that I hadn’t spent a single day of my trip just lounging around, being silly, and doing a whole lot of nothing. Today was a day of relaxation just for me.
I danced over to the window to crack it further, letting the gorgeous breeze float through, brightening up the somewhat dim New York room. After pushing the small old armchair next to the window, I opened the small bottle and wiggled my toes, ready to work.
Now humming the song, I reached down and painted one thin stripe of color on.
Before I could do the next, the telephone rang loudly, interrupting my concentration.
“Go figure,” I mumbled. “A girl tries to pamper herself and automatically gets interrupted. Ello?” I finally answered.
“Elizabeth?”
“Yes?” I said, reaching over to turn the music down in an attempt to place the familiar voice.
“Hey girl, it’s me, Nate.”
“What up, dawg? How’s life going back in Michigan?”
“Good, good. You’re missing out on lots of barbeques and parties while you’re off gallivanting around New York City.”
“I’m sure I am, but it’s more than worth it.”
“Good to hear. Are you, uh, getting over this schmuck back here?”
“Well, I’m definitely working on it,” I smiled, reaching for a small strip of photos Lance and I took at a booth while we were working our way around the fair.
“Yeah, me and Scott kinda got into this big fight over that whole thing, but you know, when you’re friends with someone your whole life, it’s hard to stay mad at them.”
“I guess so.”
“Well, hey, listen, is my girl there? I haven’t had a chance to talk to her since you left, and I’m beginning to really miss her.”
I hesitated for a moment before sighing, “You haven’t talked to her yet?”
“No, I’ve tried calling a few times before, but you’re never there. I was gonna leave a message, but I figured she’d eventually call.”
“Oh, well, we’ve been incredibly busy, and... she’s been...” I stuttered, trying to come up with some excuse to justify Alex’s recent lack of communication.
“Yeah, that’s okay. Is she there now?”
“No, she went downstairs to grab a bite to eat.”
“Alright. Maybe I’ll try back later,” he sighed, disappointment soaking his voice. “Just, uh, tell her to give me a ring, and tell her that I’m thinking of her and to have fun.”
“I’ll make sure to give her that message, Nate.”
“Okay, I gotta go. Scott and I have plans to beat the crap outta Danny’s team. They actually think they’re better at Ultimate than us. Yeah right.”
“Bye, Nate.”
“Bye, Lizabeth. Have fun with Lance.”
“Oh... Nate, wait a minute...” I heard the phone click as our connection ended, and my heart sank deep into my chest. I don’t know what I would have said if he had stayed on the line. Would I have tried to explain... was that even my job?
I jumped when the noisy machine started ringing again. “Nate?”
“Liz?” a soft male voice questioned.
“Justin?”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing much,” I sighed deeply. “Just treating myself to a day of relaxation.”
“How’s that going?”
“It was going great.”
“Who’s Nate? Your masseuse for the afternoon? The room service guy you keep terrorizing? Lance’s replacement for the day? Don’t worry, I won’t tell him.”
“No, no, that’s not the case,” I smiled slightly. “He’s just a friend from home, and our call got, uh, disconnected.”
“Oh, that sucks.”
“No biggie.”
“Not that I don’t love talking to ya, but is Red there?”
“She’s downstairs eating right now, but I’ll tell her you called.”
“Good deal. Tell her to call my cell cause we’re at practice right now. Go figure. Can’t go a week without brushing up the dance moves.”
“Practice makes perfect.”
“Don’t I know it. I would put Lance on the phone, but he’s over with Darren right now, tryin’ to be smooth. Not happening.”
“That’s okay. Just tell him I said hi.”
“Will do. I’ll catch you later, Elizabeth.”
“Bye, Justin.”
“Joey! What the hell are you doing? Oh my God,” he mumbled before shutting his phone off and no doubt running over to his band mate to jump on him or some other weird antic.
I sank down into my chair and grabbed the small bottle of nail polish I had been working with earlier. I half expected the phone to ring again and have some guy I’ve never met calling for Alex. ‘Oh yeah, I ran into her yesterday when she was shopping...’ Two guys baffled me enough, especially knowing that Alex was a one guy kind of woman.
“I’m never answering the phone again,” I sighed, peaking out the window, wondering how much I’d be fined if I threw it out to the street below.
“I brought you up a salad,” a voice said from behind me. “I figured you should probably eat something besides cookies today.”
I turned to glare at her, and she stopped in her tracks. “Whoa, what has gotten into you? You were all chipper and dancing and singing when I left.”
“You got a phone call.”
“Really. Who?” Alex asked, shoving the Styrofoam box into the mini fridge in the corner of the room.
“You got two phone calls actually.”
“From?”
“Justin.”
“Oh really. I thought they were pract...”
“And Nate called too.”
“Oh,” she said, a guilty look darkening her features. She slowly sat down in the chair opposite of mine and began to play with a string on the edge of the armrest, her gaze never meeting mine.
“Alex, you really have to do something about this,” I exclaimed after a few seconds of silence. “I mean, you haven’t talked to Nate in days. Don’t you think he may be a little suspicious as to why?”
“I kno...”
“I just don’t get how you can continue on with your relationship with Justin without your conscience getting to you. At the beginning of the summer, Nate and you were inseparable. Now... now it seems as if you don’t give a damn about him. You pulled a complete 180 in a week.”
“I know, Elizabeth. I know! How could I forget with you constantly reminding me? Damn it.” She got up quickly to begin pacing around our small room. “It has been in the forefront of my mind every second I’ve been with him, and I’ve been praying to God for an easy solution to this. I’ve been begging for the clouds to part and for this deep voice to ring out to me, telling me what to do. I never thought that I would be in a situation like this. I love Nate. I really do, but it just feels too right, too perfect when I’m with Justin.” She stopped moving and looked pleadingly at me. “I can’t let myself lose that feeling,” she sighed.
“Then let Nate know. Don’t leave him waiting for you when you’ve moved on to somebody else. It’s best that you’re up front with him because he’s not going to understand, and the more you complicate this, the less likely you’re going to be able to hold any sort of friendship with him in the future. Don’t deny yourself that; it’s too important.”
“I’ll call him back,” she promised, walking to the phone and climbing onto her bed. She pulled a small piece of paper off the nightstand before quickly dialing the number. A few seconds later she spoke. “Hello, Justin? Liz told me you called...”
The maid eyed me curiously as she slowly passed with her cart. She knocked on the door across the hall before quietly announcing herself. Setting into the room with a small pile of white towels, she looked me over once more, as she had been for the past fifteen minutes.
I turned my attention back to my goal at hand: the impending 614. The three bronze colored numbers stared at me, daring me to act. Yet there I stood, holding the yellow tulip who’s stem was now a good two inches shorter from me nervously tearing at it.
“Just knock on the door,” I whispered to myself. “All you have to do is knock.” I ran my plan through my head again as I sighed. I didn’t know how I was going to pull this off if I couldn’t knock on Elizabeth’s door. Performing in front of thousands, no problem. Knocking on a girl’s door, problem. “Just knock,” I encouraged myself, but my arms wouldn’t listen.
I felt a small hand sneak around my waist and watched in shock as it hit the door softly. My jaw dropped in awe as the old maid chuckled to herself and patted my back lightly. “You just needed a little help,” she chuckled to me in a thick Spanish accent before nodding to the now open door. “Good luck,” she smiled, giving me a little push forward and winking.
I looked to the door where Elizabeth was now standing with an utterly confused expression gracing her face. “Hi.”
“Hey, Lance. What are you doing here? I thought you had to...”
I shook my nerves away and put my game face on. “Surprise.”
“Surprise?”
“Put some shoes on, grab a sweatshirt, and let’s go. I’m kidnapping you.”
“Kidnapping... Should I be...”
“Oh, and this is for you.” I handed her the lone flower and watched as a smile spread across her face.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said, turning into the room and slipping the tulip into the coffee pot where a few flowers from our meeting still remained. She tied a large gray UCF sweatshirt around her waist and slipped tennis shoes over her socked feet. “Where are we going?”
“Don’t ask too many questions when your delicate life is in someone else’s hands,” I laughed, lightly putting my hand on the small of her back to lead her out the door.
“I should leave Alex a note or something.”
“She’ll talk to Justin. She’ll know.”
We quickly made our way downstairs to my waiting car. Seconds later we were off, zooming down the New York streets leading us out of the city. I was praying the directions I memorized wouldn’t fail me.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me where we’re going?” Elizabeth smiled, staring out the window as the landscape became increasingly rural.
“Yes.”
“Am I dressed okay? Like, whatever we’re doing, this will be okay, right?”
“You’re perfect,” I smiled to her, picking up her hand to place it in mine. The rest of the ride flew by quickly in the excitement and anticipation of the possibilities the evening held.
I noticed a look of confusion on Elizabeth’s face when I pulled over to a small dirt road and parked the car.
“Do we have car prob...”
“Ready?” I asked, climbing out and walking around to her door. She nodded her head after looking around curiously at the surrounding woods.
“Where are we?”
“We’re almost there. Come on, follow me.” A short hike on a clearly laid trail led the two of us into a large grassy clearing. In the middle, right according to my plan, was a plaid blanket and a small basket that Joey set up before we left. I looked over to see a large smile gracing Elizabeth’s features. “So, what do you think?”
“Oh my gosh. Lance, you did this?”
“With a little help, yeah. Let sit down.”
A little over a half an hour later the sun was beginning to set deep in the sky, painting the heavens bright pinks and oranges and bathing us in its light. Elizabeth snuggled in deeper to me before picking up another blueberry from the small plastic container that sat on my lap and placing it between her lips.
“You amaze me, Lance. This is entirely too much.”
“Well, I tried my best to make this perfect for you. I mean, if there are any two people out there who deserved some time alone, it would be us, and I can guarantee that there won’t be any interruptions here.” I looked around suspiciously, suddenly wondering if Joey was hiding anywhere in the forest, waiting for the most inopportune time to jump out. I wouldn’t put it past him.
“Good, I’m kinda tired of all these interruptions,” she smiled, sitting up and adjusting slightly to bring her sweatshirt out from under her. She pulled it over her head quickly, bringing the loose hair from her ponytail down around her eyes. After unsuccessfully trying to blow it away, I reached up to offer some assistance.
“Here, let me.” My fingers lightly parted her hair as I swept it behind her ears. I let my hands remain softly on her cheeks, and Elizabeth closed her eyes at my touch. When she opened them, her gaze met mine warmly.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her hand coming up to mine. I held onto it lightly as they lowered to her side, those bright eyes still focused on me.
“Elizabeth?” I said quietly, almost so that she couldn’t hear. “I, I want to tell you something.”
“Yes?” she asked, leaning in closer, so close that I could smell the mix of her shampoo and her sugary sweet breath from the fruit we had been eating. My heart began to pound. A lump formed deep within my throat. Yet I knew what it was I wanted to tell her, and there was no stopping it. I pushed the fog from her closeness out of my mind as I continued to stare into those eyes.
“I, I just wanted to tell you that...” My voice broke off again as I inhaled deeply. We were now only seconds apart. I looked at the girl sitting in front of me, all the feelings she had cause inside me, and I knew that this was right, so right. I closed my eyes lightly as I whispered the words to her. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Our lips came together in the most gentle and caring kiss. It wasn’t driven by lust or our frustrations for waiting so long. It wasn’t a make out session or what Hollywood tried to deem as normal. It was sweet and slow, perfect. It was in this simple kiss that she gave me her response. This kiss was of love.