The Nights Were Young Page 6

  But the barista shrugged and said, “Thanks,” and then she continued cleaning the espresso machine.

  Marie and Kate started laughing with one another.

  After coffee, Marie went back home. She watched some TV, she did some homework, she finished another college application, and then she forced herself to jog around Crossfalls Estates. It was so quiet in that place, tame and still.

  It was nearly midnight, and she couldn’t sleep. She flipped through television channels and sighed, when the screen on her phone suddenly lit up. Her heart jumped and she sat up quick.

  Is it him?

  There was a new message from an unknown number.

  5469873523: Hey it’s travis what’s up?

  She leaned up against her headboard and held her cellphone tightly.

  MARIE: Nothing. I’m just watching TV. Are you ok?

  While she waited for his reply she saved his number under a name she thought was appropriate. “TROUBLE”.

  TROUBLE: ya i’m good. that guy punched like a girl

  She laughed.

  MARIE: haha. Well sorry if I got you in trouble.

  TROUBLE: don’t worry about it. you were worth the fight

  She rolled her eyes. He’s so cheesy.

  MARIE: Thank you. So why were you there anyway?

  TROUBLE: my Marie senses were tingling

  She laughed and tugged at her hair. He’s so dumb. She bit her lip, staring intently at the screen.

  MARIE: Sure they were. Did you have detention or something?

  TROUBLE: you think I’m always in trouble? Haha don’t worry about it I was just glad I was there to protect you

  They texted for two hours before they said good night to one another. Their conversation wasn’t anything deep, just tiny nothings back and forth. Travis had mentioned how pretty he thought she was once; she ignored it and changed the topic.

  **********

  They barely communicated while Marie was at school. The night before, they had the fight to talk about. Marie had nothing to start a conversation with now, but she wanted to.

  Kate was sitting next to her at lunch. She was busy texting Joey, who was her boyfriend now.

  “So how’d it go?” Marie asked.

  “How’d what go?” Kate said.

  “Last night. Did Joey come over?”

  “No. My mom had the night off so nothing happened, story of my life.” Kate took another bite of her sandwich.

  Marie looked at the salad in front of her. It tasted awful, and there was half of it left in the bowl. She pushed it away from her.

  Kate’s phone jingled and she quickly reached into her pocket. She laughed, looking at the screen. “Joey, you are such a dork.”

  Marie caught Brandon looking at her from his lunch table. He looked down instantly, embarrassed. She checked her phone - nothing. She did not want to be the first to text him, but…

  MARIE: You’re so lucky you don’t have to come to school. It’s so boring here!

  He did not send a message back during lunch, or even during the next two hours. It was at the end of the day when Marie was walking out of school that her phone finally vibrated.

  TROUBLE: haha

  “Seriously?” Marie said.

  That was all he wanted to say to her? Now she ended up seeming like the dork she had dreaded being.

  **********

  Later that night she was back in Crossfalls Estates. She jogged around the neighborhood; she would’ve done anything to get out of the house. It was silent here; no noise in the neighborhood, no noise in her parents’ house. It was maddening sometimes, and at least on her runs she felt she could leave and escape to somewhere else, or at least look at the setting sun.

  She thought about life while she ran - her life. Her mother wanted for her what her mother had for herself. But how could her mother be happy? Her mother and father hardly talked to each other. They were hardly ever in the same room, and her mother was so quiet all the time unless she spoke of how Marie should live. This is what her mother wanted for Marie, but it was a life void of any true emotions. Marie wondered if she herself had ever actually felt true emotions. She knew she loved her parents, but she began to see that she did not know them. They didn’t know her.

  Always by the time she got back from jogging, she abandoned the thoughts and resorted back to the quiet evening routine her mother and father expected. She checked her cellphone for new messages, but there was nothing.

  He’s just a jerk anyway, she thought. There would be more boys she could meet in college that would be better than him.

  She cringed. “God, I’m thinking like Mom.”

  She showered and lay in bed. It was late, and her parents were asleep. Just as she closed her eyes, her phone started ringing. She turned over and snatched it off her nightstand. The screen read: TROUBLE.

  “Uh – hello?” she answered.

  “What’s up gorgeous?” He was talking low and slow, like he had just woken up.

  She laughed a little. “Travis. Wh-what are you doing?”

  “I’m calling you, duh! Hey… what are you… what you doing this weekend?”

  “Are you – are you drunk?” she asked.

  He laughed a kind of dumb laugh as if he was stumbling around something. “Yeah, baby, I’m uh… a little tipsy I guess.”

  “What did you call me?” she asked, unable to understand if she was angry or delighted. It was more anger, though. Her eyes glared downward and she gripped the phone tighter.

  “Uh – I donno,” he slurred. “What you doing on this weekend?”

  “Seriously, Travis? You’re asking me out while you’re drunk?”

  He giggled again. “So… that doesn’t answer my question.”

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “No, Marie… the real question is where are you?” He chuckled at his own stupidity.

  “You’re an ass.” She hung up the phone. “Ugh!”

  She put it back on the nightstand and turned away from it. All this time she’d wanted him to talk to her, and he finally did it – she was his go-to girl when he was drunk. Or at least that’s how she felt. For the rest of the night, until she fell asleep, the thought of him bothered her.

  **********

  The next day, it only took until ten o’clock for them to start talking again. He sent a message first.

  TROUBLE: hey I’m really sorry about last night I shouldn’t have called you like that

  She wanted to make him wait, so she did not text back until lunch.

  MARIE: It’s ok I guess. Just don’t make me your go-to drunk dial girl.

  “So I heard you rejected my brother,” Kate said from across the lunch table.

  “Yeah, I feel bad about it,” Marie said, looking up from her phone.

  “Don’t stress. He’ll get over it. He’s already talking to some other little freshman. Anyway, you can do a lot better than him.”

  Marie looked back down at her phone.

  “Who are you talking to?” Kate asked.

  “Travis,” Marie said.

  “Oh really? You two getting close or something?”

  “No. He called me last night when he was drunk.”

  “Aw that’s cute,” Kate said.

  “It’s rude. He made a complete jerk out of himself.” Marie cringed again. Damn it, she thought. I’m already turning into Mom.

  “Marie, don’t be mad. If a guy calls you when he’s drunk, that means he’s into you. Haven’t you ever heard that drunken words are sober thoughts? It means he thinks about you.”

  Marie had not thought of it like that. It made her view what happened differently, so much to the point that her anger towards him disappeared. Her thought about her, just like she thought about him. Still though, it seemed like nonsense.

  “That sounds like bad advice,” Marie said. “He could have also called just been thinking that I was an easy girl he could get with.”

  “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t think of you l
ike that,” Kate said.

  “How do you know?” Marie asked eagerly. She leaned forward onto the table.

  Kate noticed her eagerness. She smiled at Marie and answered, “Because Travis doesn’t do that.”

  Marie shook her head. “You even said he was a dog. You said he’s been with, and I quote, ‘so many girls that you couldn’t count all of them’.”

  “Yeah,” Kate said, looking down. She traced her finger along the table. “I know, but he doesn’t chase girls. They chase him, and the only ones that chase him are tramps, and that’s all he’s used to. Like that girl at the cliffs who freaked out on you.”

  Marie’s phone vibrated.

  TROUBLE: I won’t I promise I want to make it up to you I was serious about asking you out this weekend you still grounded?

  Marie sighed and looked up for a moment.

  “What’d he say?” Kate asked.

  “He’s asking me out for this weekend.”

  “Go for it! We can start double dating.” Kate started rambling about how wonderful a double date would be with her and Joey while Marie tuned her out.

  Marie looked at her cellphone and bit her lip. She was nervous. There was something about sending a message answering yes or no. It was ridiculous to take it so seriously, but it felt like it would change everything no matter her decision. She hesitated, and then…

  MARIE: I’m free on Saturday

  VIII

  Marie examined herself in her bedroom mirror – not too impressed. She wore a tank top and some jeans - had straightened her hair and put some make up on, though not enough to alarm her mother. She wanted to look good for Travis, but only to make him realize that she was not just some other tramp, as Kate had put it. At least, that was what she told herself.

  It was eight o’clock when the doorbell rang.

  Wow, she thought, he’s actually on time.

  “I got it! I got it!” Marie called out as she ran down the stairs, hurriedly putting on her jacket.

  Her mother nearly answered the door, but Marie wasn’t about to let that happen.

  She jumped in front of her mother, gave herself a second to fix her hair and catch her breath, and then opened the door.

  There he stood, as her date, completely different from the way he appeared at school. He was wearing a nice white T-shirt and a belt that held up his jeans. Even his sneakers appeared like he had washed them. He smelled of cologne, cheap but nice, and he was chewing mint gum like always. Before she could think out loud, her mother interrupted.

  “Hi, you must be Travis,” her mother said.

  Her mother hovered behind her; Marie stood in her shadow.

  They shook hands. Her mother had on her polite smile that meant in her mind she was sizing Travis up; Marie knew it well.

  Travis smiled back at her nicely, but he stopped when he realized that hers was only superficial.

  “You must be Marie’s mom,” he said.

  “That’s right.” Her mother took her hand away from him and folded her arms. “Marie says that you’re an honor student. You must be very proud.”

  Travis was dumbfounded.

  Shit, Marie thought. She gulped, looking back and forth at Travis and her mother.

  Travis was expressionless for a moment, but he quickly flashed a smile again, and he ran his fingers through his combed hair while he spoke. “Uh, yeah,” he answered. “I’m really proud. I worked hard for it.”

  “What happened to your face, Travis?” her mother asked.

  The bruises and marks from his fight with David were still apparent.

  Marie started shaking. Damn it, she thought. She hates him already.

  “I uh,” Travis stuttered. “I tripped. Yeah, I was just walking… on a road, and then I fell forward… really hard. Busted my face up and everything.”

  They all stood awkwardly in silence.

  “Mmhmm,” her mother said. “Do you have any plans after school?”

  “I don’t know,” he said quickly. “Tomorrow I was thinking about hanging out by the lake. Maybe soon I can take Marie on another date if…” he stopped, realizing her mother had meant “after graduation” plans. “Oh, you mean… after high school, right.”

  His mother stared at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “No not yet,” he said quickly, and then leaned into the doorway and took Marie’s hand. “Come on, Marie,” he said. “We’re gonna be late.”

  He had disregarded the stare her mother had given him. He was fearless against it, and Marie felt elated witnessing her mother stand back in the subtle expression of shock that she couldn’t hide.

  She smiled and kissed her stunned mother on the cheek. “Bye mom!”

  “Uh… be back by eleven, Marie!” her mother said.

  But Marie was already swept up in the forming whirlwind called Travis. He had washed his beat-up, red truck, and as he opened the door for her he asked, “What do you think of my baby? She’s pretty tonight huh.”

  Marie smirked at him. She got inside.

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m talking about the truck.”

  “Yeah, you would be,” she said.

  He smiled, happy with himself, as he shut her door and ran around. He jumped into the driver’s seat. He grinned at Marie. “You look alright.”

  **********

  They barely spoke on the ride to their date. Travis took her to the Crossfalls Drive-In Theater. She assumed it was one of the last drive-in theaters left in the United States. It was built on an empty lot not far from the town square. At the front of the lot was the giant screen, towering over the audience in their spaced out parking spots. Halfway between the screen and the other end of the lot was a metal shack that made for the snack stand. All around the premises was a tall wall made of metal panels.

  The movie was Full Moon Fangs, and the date had taken an awkward turn. Marie sat right next to the window leaving the middle seat open, and Travis sat against the opposite window looking forward. He nibbled on popcorn while Marie sipped her soda.

  “You know,” he said, “you can – scoot closer to me if you get scared.”

  “Alright. I’ll remember that.” She kept her gaze forward at the movie screen that she wasn’t paying attention to. It was nerve racking. Her palms were clammy. Her breaths were shallow. She wanted to move closer to him, to be next to him, but she was frozen still in her seat.

  The date wasn’t what she thought it would be. He was not making moves or talking about how pretty she was. For part of the night he had stayed still, frozen like a little boy before a stranger. She was beginning to think he may have been a nervous wreck, like she was, that would not take any risk at all, until--

  He slowly inched himself closer to her; then, while keeping his gaze straight forward, he lifted his arm and put it around her on the seat.

  Marie was turning red. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m kinda getting scared,” he said.

  He smiled a little, but then noticed she was not, and so he stopped.

  With him being this close, Marie noticed something around his neck, a silver chain, and it was a great something to change the conversation.

  Marie cleared her throat. “What is that? I’ve never noticed it before.”

  Travis looked down. “My chain?”

  “Yes.”

  He moved his arm from around her and pulled out the chain. There was a nothing attached to it - just a silver chain.

  “My mom gave me this a few years back.” He took it off and put it Marie’s hand. “I want you to hold on to it for a while.”

  “What. Why?”

  “That way I’m pretty much guaranteed a second date.”

  Marie blushed, and her eyes caught his. He was much gentler than she expected, and for a moment she regretted all the negative thoughts she had of him before tonight. He leaned in closer and closed his eyes.

  Oh God, this is it, she thought. She’d never kissed anyone before, and in a split second her nerves were spiraling out
of control. She closed her eyes quickly and her lips trembled. She wanted this, but it terrified her.

  She leaned forward to meet him.

  It was a single kiss to start – deliberate, soft, and slow. And though she did not know it, she felt it; something had changed in her, permanently. They paused, and then Marie put the necklace into her jacket and, without thinking, pulled Travis closer to her. In that moment she didn’t care if he was right for her or wrong for her, or if he was a jerk; she wanted him.

  “You’re a really good kisser,” he whispered.

  “You too.”

  This time she pressed her lips against his and tugged at his shirt.

  His hands moved too quickly, though. He slid up her stomach and placed his palm on her right breast.

  The attraction was gone.

  She threw him off. “What are you doing?”

  “What? What’s the problem?” He breathed fast as he looked around the truck, like he thought they were being attacked.

  “I don’t remember telling you to go that far.” She wrapped her jacket around herself.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked.

  “You groped me,” she said. She tightened her jacket and folded her arms.

  “Well you seemed like you were liking it,” he said.

  “Well, I didn’t ask you to grope me.”

  “I didn’t grope you.”

  “Then what would you call it?”

  Travis sat back in his seat and looked forward. “I don’t know. I guess I was just going with the moment, you know?”

  “Whatever,” she said. “I didn’t want you to touch me there. That’s too – private.”

  “Sorry. Jesus, all the other girls weren’t this uptight,” he muttered.