Chapter 7
Years flew past like birds heading south. Houses vanished beneath the wheels of bulldozers. People change like trees shedding leaves after a storm. Memories become distorted, but our love for them stays the same.
The sun had already set. Street lamps illuminated the road. Old cinema sign was buzzing quietly overhead.
I turned my head to the ticket booth, shifting my feet.
I unlocked my phone and saw Justin hadn’t read my texts yet. The movie’s starting soon, we might be late.
“And I was the only one who could catch him.”
A girl’s ringing laugh made me turn my head. Oscar was walking with a blonde sophomore girl. She was from the Journalism Faculty. I remembered her. I saw her trying to talk to him a few times, but he’d always shrug her off.
Her eyes were gleaming. She looked at him with blind adoration. His arm rested on her shoulders as he stared me down.
They came up to the ticket booth and he gave her his credit card.
“Which row should we pick?”
“Don’t care.”
He kept staring at me.
She nodded and picked a row, swiping his card.
When she passed the card back to him, he grabbed her neck and kissed her. He didn’t close his eyes. He kept looking at me, his eyes filled with spite .
I felt awkward and went to the parking lot.
The moment I got there, I saw Justin’s purple pickup truck.
My smile grew wider when our eyes met.
He jumped out of the car and gave me a quick kiss.
“Sorry, I got held off.”
“Did you get the tickets?”
“Damn. I forgot. Let’s hurry, maybe there’s still time to get some.”
We ran back to the ticket booth, but saw the “Closed” sign staring back at us.
“I’m sorry, baby. I forgot all about the tickets.”
“It’s alright. We’ll go another time.”
“I have my laptop in the car. We could watch a movie on it if you want.”
I smirked.
“A drive-in cinema?”
“A mini version.”
Bottles and trash were littering the car. Justin began throwing it all off to the floor.
“Take a seat.”
I plopped on the seat. He opened the laptop and turned to me.
“Horror movie? A thriller? Drama? A comedy?”
“The comedy one.”
“Great choice. I hate horror movies.”
“So do I. Life’s disturbing enough without them.”
He turned the movie on and set the laptop on the dashboard.
The film wasn’t bad, but the dirty jokes got old real fast. They made the movie seem dumb and completely unfunny. Does anyone really laugh at those?
I looked outside and saw our car was the only one in the empty parking lot. It felt like there was no one left in town but us .
Justin didn’t try touching or kissing me while the movie was on. He sat back, eyes fixated on the film like he was going to take a test on it the next day.
“Maybe we could go back to the dorms?”
He closed the laptop and turned to me, smiling.
“Let’s go.”
The car started, radio blaring out. He turned the volume down a notch and we’re off.
I felt certain awkwardness in our relationships.
I didn’t understand what I was supposed to do, what he expected from me, what he wanted.
My whole idea of relationships was built on pop-culture and my friends’ dating stories.
Sometimes I felt like we weren’t gonna make it, because nothing went the way it was supposed to go. But I had no idea how it all worked.
I wanted to skip the stage of uncertainty and move to the point where we’d know everything about one another already, where we could share peaceful silence together.
“Do you want to come to my place?”
“No,” I blurted out.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it in a weird way. And yet... it did come out weird.”
I smiled at him.
“It’s not what you think.”
“I didn’t like the movie.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought you liked it.”
“So? We could have found something for both of us.”
Justin’s palm covered my hand. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Say something next time. I want you to enjoy yourself with me.”
I squeezed his hand back and smiled.
“Maybe we could go out tomorrow?”
“What do you have in mind? ”
“I don’t know.”
I shrugged and checked the time.
“I have to go. I promised Bell I’ll come home early. She wants to help me with an essay.”
“Okay. Sure,” he nodded.
I watched the second hand reach twelve and heard the recess bell.
I got my things, stepped out into the hall and saw Justin. He was standing there with a large bouquet of baby blue hydrangeas. I was beaming.
His eyes met mine. He came closer and handed me the bouquet.
Hydrangeas looked exuberant and delicate, and the green spurs of eucalyptus intertwining with them complemented their beauty. The flowers were elegantly wrapped in white paper, giving the bouquet an even more refined look.
“How did you know they’re my favorite flowers?”
“Bell tipped me off.”
I closed the distance between us and kissed him on the cheek.
“Do you like them?”
“No one’s ever given me a bouquet before. And this one has all the future ones beat already.”
He grinned, his featherlight touch caressing my cheek.
Oscar shoved him in the shoulder, making him bump into the wall. Justin turned around, scowling, ready to follow him.
I took his hand.
“I don’t have a vase. Maybe we could go to the mall today and pick one together?”
“I work today. Maybe you could come over during my break?”
I nodded my head enthusiastically.
“Zoe. Raise the bouquet a bit higher.”
“Why?”
“I want to kiss you. ”
I lifted the bouquet and Justin gingerly pulled me by the waist as our lips met.
He kissed me deeply. I could feel our tongues intertwine, twirling in a dance of passion.
I rested my left hand on his neck.
“Ms. Torn, is that you?”
I sprang back from Justin and put the bouquet down.
“Yes, yes, professor Wales.”
He adjusted his glasses. His gaze lingered on my lips a little too long. I frowned, and his eyes met mine.
“You did pretty well on the essay. Not great, but not bad at all. I’ll be waiting for you in Room 404 tomorrow for the test retaking.”
He adjusted his glasses once again and left.
I turned to Justin and frowned.
“Your lips.”
He began wiping his lips with the back of his hand as I chuckled.
“Yours, too.”
I took my phone out and saw my lipstick smudged all over, going beyond the contours of my lips.
I was holding back the laughter, trying to wipe the lipstick off.
I smacked him with the bouquet playfully and he hugged me.