Excerpt: Small World

 

Then we were silent. What else could he say? What else could I say? It was just so weird. I felt so out of place. That’s what happens when you live like Rapunzel in Tangled.

“Do you want to take a walk after we eat?” He asked.

“Yeah I guess. I hope it’s not as awkward as this moment.”

“I’m sure we’ll find something more in common. Do you like to write?” He asked.

“No, I like to read.”

“I write short stories.”

“You do?”

“Let me guess you had a certain profile for me and writing doesn’t fit in it.”

“Well sort off.” I smiled. “I couldn’t help it.”

“You’re wrong about me Allyson Curtis.”

“Here is your food.” The waitress interrupted.

It wasn’t until after dinner that we found ourselves walking on the sidewalk. We stopped by the bakery and picked up some cinnamon buns. We sat at the park and had tried to talk some more.

“So when are you moving?”

“A couple of weeks my parents said.”

“Maybe we could be pen pals or something.” He joked. “Unless you get Facebook of course!”

“Lets be pen pals then.”

“Pen pals…” He lay down on the bench and rested his head on my lap. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “You know I had a pen pal once. He committed suicide because his girlfriend past away. The last letter he sent me was really painful to read.”

I don’t know why I felt comfortable enough to caress his soft black hair. He was just someone very talkative and apart from the somewhat awkwardness, he still managed to keep the night going.

“Did he tell you he was going to kill himself?”

“Yeah, they had been together for over 8 years and he simply couldn’t see himself without her. I never thought I would find a pen pal.”

“Maybe I should just get Facebook. I don’t want you to relive the memories.”

“After that I started going out almost every day and got into some heavy drinking. I wanted to enjoy everything about life, so I found myself in places and situations that I’m not proud of. But then I hit another breaking point. I was drunk and driving and I picked up Diana from work one night. We got into this ugly accident and I came out fine but she was in the hospital for a couple of weeks and…I felt so guilty. I promised I would never do anything stupid again.”

“I learned that things are not always what they seem. A couple of weeks ago I was an only child and now I have an identical twin sister. A part of me just wants things to go back to how they used to be.”

“You sure about that?”

“It’s not like I can be around her, you know?”

“But I know you’re glad you know about her. You just simply need to work with all these new feelings instead of ignoring them.”

“There is so much I need to do. I promised my mom we would see a psychiatrist because I’m sad.”

“You’re stronger than you know.”

“Maybe.”

“You’re the only girl that I allowed to play with my hair. But you have magical hands, you know? So soft.”

“Thanks” I smiled. “No one ever complimented my hands.”

“Well they would usually compliment them if you’re good at…nothing.”

“What?”

“It’s a sexual thing.”

“OH!”

I quickly removed my hands from his hair.

He laughed so hard I got up from the bench and walked towards the street to catch a taxi. I was blushing so much I could feel my cheeks burning.