January 14, 2013
I turned over and looked at the clock, six thirty on a Friday and I was in the house alone. What kind of life was I living, why wasn't I out partying or hanging with my friends, that one was easy. I didn't have any friends, not one single one actually unless you count cat girl, but I don't even count cat girl. I mean sure we sat together on the bus ever since we met but that's all it really is we barely have conversations that don't end with me shoving my headphones into my ears and in school, we have drastically different schedules. Who am I kidding anyway it’s no way she's into me. I mean look at you I said staring into my ceiling mirror. My dreads were twisted this way and that pointing in different directions, like a civil war had erupted on my scalp, acne scars showed here and there and to top all of my facial hair refused to grow in evenly regardless of how I shaved or tried to coax it. Yea I was one big ball of neglected appearance, but I never really was one for vanity never really saw any reason to.
As a matter of fact, I hate those people you know the ones that have to have the newest of everything. The ones who go to fashion week and spend their lives in clothing stores. Yea they're on my list too right next to the guy from the sham wow commercials and the godless heathen that invented spray cheese.
Seven o'clock thirty minutes had the past and I was still sitting there with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
"OK! You win." I said dialing Tabatha's number into my phone,
"Hello."
"Tabatha?"
"Yea it’s me. Who’s this?"
"Noah is that ticket still available."
"Nope, I sold it yesterday, figured you didn't want to go since you never spoke about it again."
"Damn it."
"Just kidding, why do you want to go?"
"Yea I do."
"Meet you in fifteen."
"Cool."
"Then it’s a date."
"NO, it isn't."
"Whatever you say, Noah."
Honestly, I hadn't thought about it being a date. I hadn't really thought about it at all actually. Unless you count that day dream I had where she kidnapped me and planned to sacrifice me to her Kitten God. A date, it wasn't my first but it sure did feel like it when she pulled up in front of my house. I was waiting on the front steps dressed to impress, in my scuffed vans dark blue jeans and collared button up, yup I looked like a regular old wrangler jeans commercial. She honked the horn and I walked over.
"It's unlocked." she shouted as I got closer to the car.
The inside of it smelled like a kitten. I mean seriously who is this girl, Cheetara? She put the car in drive and sped off down the street, that's when I noticed it. I had left my headphones in the house, shit, now I'd have to listen to her the whole drive. Kitten smell aside the ride went pretty smooth we talked about our families and hobbies and stuff. She wants to be one of those people who work with animals, I forget what they're called. Her sister graduated a few years ago but moved back in after her mother died, from a heart attack, and her father was a retired detective. The more she talked the more I wanted to know. It was strange wanting to hear about someone else for a change. I usually just ignored that crap out of people, but she had an aura about her you know. The rest of the ride went on like that she'd talk and I'd listen. Before long the kitten smell vanished altogether and I finally saw her beautiful intelligent weird, perfect. But this wasn't even the weird part of the night. That came later during the concert.
You see we made it on time for the opening act some guy I never heard of before, at first I thought it was a band. He was introduced as the weekend. He came out and started singing. Instantly the whole energy of the place changed. I don't know what it was but the music seemed so raw and I couldn't help but sway. Then it happened she grabbed my hand. Electricity shot up my spine and down to my toes. What was she doing? She slowly wrapped herself in my arms and clasped her hands around mine at her belt buckle and began to sway. So I took her lead and swayed, what was I supposed to do? Here I was with this beautiful girl, beautiful music and I still didn't know what to do.
I guess maybe I sometimes over think things, but there was something about her that forced me to stop thinking and just be there. And there we were intertwined perfectly like a key and lock. For a moment the whole universe seemed to be in perfect alignment, a wave of serenity washed over us. But my moment was short lived. Some drunken meatheads had decided that 2 feet away from us would be a perfect place to hold a Mortal Kombat tournament. One of the guys bumped into us and knocked Tabatha over. "Watch it, dick!" I shouted. He turned and slurred something that sounded like "your whore should watch it" I couldn't really tell over the music and his drunkenness. Regardless of what he said, I had had enough so I punched him square in the jaw with everything I had. That's right shy little Noah finally unleashed his inner animal planet, too bad it wasn't enough.
The guy literally laughed at me. I couldn't believe it. Then he hit me dead on, right in the eye. Everything looks so much cooler in slow motion even falling backwards onto cold dirt has certain epicenes to it. I woke up being half dragged half carried out by some guy I'd never even met, I guess he was security his shirt was black with white letters, couldn't make it out clearly because of the damn birds that kept circling my head. Tabatha was right next to me.
"You OK?" I asked
"I'm fine, are you?"
“Ha, I could have taken him if I wanted to, but I’m trying this whole turn the other cheek thing."
She smiled and so did I. which confused me because I had just gotten my ass handed to me, but it didn't matter she was OK and smiling. I knew her for all of three days and I went from invisible to getting into fights with drunken concert folk. What was with this girl? She made me feel alive and tangible. I guess that's why what happened next was such a low blow. If there is a God, then he's a really sick s.o.b, like a kid with a magnifying glass standing over the ant hill of my life.
We got into her car and she leaned over and kissed me, right on the lips. Sweet first fight and the first kiss in one night, I was moving up in the world. She said something but I couldn't hear her over the constant roar of the douche bags engines next to us. Apparently, douche number 1 thought he'd smoke douche number 2 in a race. Anyway, Tabatha pulled off and hit the highway. We talked some more but everything was so blurry out of my eye and my head hurt so I mainly listened. I could listen to her talk for days if I had to. My eyes were closing when I heard a rumbling noise, the two idiots from the parking lot were charging down the road both trying to take the lead. Then douche number 2, I knew it was him because he kept boasting about his Integra, swerved in front of douche number 1 and he swerved into us.
Remember when I said everything looks cooler in slow motion, I take that back. There was a moment of silence then, what sounded like gunshots, and we were in the air twisting and turning and scraping as the car slid to a stop. Then nothing.
