My Empty Vessel
Disclaimer: Don't own, people. I think that woman named Lisi Harrison owns them. Some part of the idea was used from the movie Bandslam, a not so terrible movie. And I don't own anything else that's obvious is not mine.
-10:12 AM-
I squirmed in my seat, desperate to get out. Why, oh why, did my parents sign me up for these classes? I already have a brother! I do not need to experience an older one. Especially with my current partner.
Landon Crane, a.k.a. the boy I am never supposed to speak to according to Massie Block. They had a quite messy break up (he dumped her and she tried to ruin his social status at A.D.D. for God sakes) and now she's banned any one of the PC, and whoever wants to stay in Massie's good graces, from ever speaking to him. You can see why these Big Brothers, Big Sisters meetings are only known by my parents and Todd (lucky bastard already has an older sister).
Stupid parents and their one-track 'Oh-my-god-Claire's-going-to-be-a-hoodlum' mentality.
"And now, I give you the Westchester branch manager of Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Mr. Jacob Andrews for a special announcement," the overly peppy, middle-aged woman named Mrs. Donavan said. I tuned in, hoping the special announcement was something like last week's: "Go home and chill."
Jacob, as he has asked us to call him, stepped forward onto the podium. He adjusted the mike briefly before looking at us with an Albus Dumbledore-ish twinkle in his eyes. "Hello, my dear friends, I think I'll cut right to the chase with this new piece of information. It's too exciting to sully with my mindless droning."
I almost expected him to jump up and down like a little kid.
"We shall be having a sort of field day. It's another method to get to know your partner. Today, you are going to go to your partner's favorite places. You will be required to write a small piece about that place and your reaction to the place. So now, I release you. Find your partner and go!" He smiled briefly at us before walking over toMrs. Donavan. I am convinced they are flirting; I just hope her body-builder husband doesn't find out.
I whined unhappily, resisting the urge to stamp my foot. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to find Landon's mass of curly black hair. My heart clenched fleetingly as I remembered the last time I had to search for dark wavy hair. Next thing I knew, I found Cam and Alicia sucking faces as if only their shared saliva would save them from eminent death. It reminded me all too well of Lake Placid.
Damn Cam and his ability to turn me into a cynical harpy.
A pair of (very soft) hands covered my eyes. "Guess who?" someone whispered in my ear.
I pried his hands off me. "Oh, I think it's Barney!" I said with sarcastic excitement. I turned around facing piercingly light blue eyes, another harsh reminder of Cam. "Shucks, it's only you."
"You know, Claire, I'm starting to think you don't like me very much," Landon said, his face as sarcastic as mine.
"Really, what would give you that idea?" I cocked my head, sitting back down and he did the same, facing me.
"Dunno. Maybe it's that unrelenting sarcasm you give me every time I see you?"
"Couldn't be," I said, slouching low in my seat. Screw manners and decorum. "Now, let's get to business. Where's your favorite place?"
"So formal, Claire. Where's the love?" he asked, mirroring my position with a slight smirk on his tan face while crossing his arms behind his head. I wanted to slap it off. He does not get to be sarcastic; that's my job!
"On vacation." I looked at him seriously. "Just tell me what your favorite place is. We can go and come back in under half an hour."
Landon smiled, and for some reason, it looked oddly mischievous. "I don't think viewing my favorite place will take half an hour. It's a pretty big place."
My eyebrows furrowed. What the hell could his place be that took more than half an hour? I told him so, and he just smiled again, his dimples showing happily. Landon grabbed my hand and pulled me up, dragging me out of the building. I only had time for a quick wave to my parents before he closed the door behind us and we were on our way to his favorite place.
-12:42 PM-
The screams of pleasure and terror from the people on rides were ringing in my ear. The lights and sounds of the rollercoaster sent a wave of excitement through me that was difficult to contain. The smells of cotton candy and cooking meat pervaded the air, making my mouth water. I kept up my façade of "Don't care" and turned to Landon's excited face.
"Your favorite place is Six Flags?"
"Yup." I half expected him to smile dreamily at the huge Canyon Blaster.
"So," I said brusquely, getting back to the task. "I think we'll just ride a few rides and then we get out of here and back to Westchester. We'll do our reports separately."
"Oh no," he disagreed, shaking his head. "We are going to stay here for as long as I want and enjoy this. You need some more happy, Claire. You don't seem it."
My eyes turned hard. What would he know? I bet he has never been broken up with (let alone cheated on) by someone you thought was 'The One'. He never had to experience the utterly crappy feeling I went through for ten fucking months before I turned numb. He's never had to go through anything like that, so he shouldn't say a word! I wanted to say all of this to him, let someone know how broken I was, but I knew that if I did, he would know too much about me.
So all I did was turn around and face the park, seeing all of my friends (and Cam) wandering around and laughing at everything. It was a good day back then, well, compared to lately. It kind of sucks when you see all your friends and their boyfriends (plus Cam and that backstabbing bitch Alicia) happy, it makes it a lot more difficult to live when you're single and lonely.
Landon, sensing a shift in the conversation, quickly interjected. "And, besides, I have the car keys." He swung the keys mockingly from his finger, making a small smile crack on my face. "Well, let's go inside, milady." He raised his arm in a mock gesture of being courteous.
"Cut the crap, Landon. It's not the 1800's." With that, I flipped my hair (a silent salute to Massie's bitchiness) and walked into the park. I heard him chuckle briefly and follow. I smiled involuntarily to myself.
This cannot end well.
-5:15 PM-
I hadn't looked at the clock once since I'd stepped foot inside Six Flags.
This really surprises me. I can't remember a time these last few months where I actually wanted to be where I was. I needed to be alone; it seemed to make everything so much easier. My friends didn't seem to care and told me bluntly, "Get over him, Claire!" but I could not (and would not) listen to them. My father did always tell me I was as stubborn as a mule.
Nevertheless, today, it was as if I wanted to stay (well, going twice on the Steamin' Demon would make anyone want to stay). I'm suddenly very curious. Do I want to stay for the park, or present company? I mean, I can't say I hate Landon; I never have. It was just Massie's stupid rules keeping me from fully knowing him. Every time I tried to stop myself from having fun with him, a voice says, "Massie is hundreds of miles away in Westchester. She'll never know."
I feel badass going against Massie Block.
Landon walked back to my perch on a bench chewing happily on his elephant ear. His floppy black hair was even more messy than usual and a child-like satisfaction filled his face. It was plain to see how happy this place made him.
"Hey Landon?" I asked as he sat next to me, his arm grazing my shoulders as he leaned back. I ignored any possible tingles. "Why do you love this place so much? I mean, it's awesome I'll admit, but why do you like it so much?"
He gasped mockingly. "Claire Lyons, the self-proclaimed cynical harpy of Westchester, thinks something is 'awesome'? The apocalypse must be coming soon."
I glared at him. "Don't try that avoidance technique on me. I'm a master at it."
"Sarcasm would be your forte, wouldn't it, Claire?" Landon asked before sighing. His shoulders slumped and I was almost afraid to hear his answer. "I love this place so much because this was the last place my dad took me before he left. I was around eight or nine when he packed his stuff and moved away to Nowhere, Wisconsin. This was like my consolation prize for the whole separation." He closed his eyes briefly before continuing. "Every time I come here, it's like I can remember better times and escape. I feel the adrenaline rush all around me and it makes me feel free."
Landon turned to me. "Have you ever desperately needed to escape and find it in just forgetting what's going on?"
My eyes were wide as I looked at him. Sure, he went through something much worse with his dad, but his feelings are so similar to mine. "Yeah," I almost whispered. "I have. I just haven't found an empty vessel to use to escape."
"Well, Claire," he said, smiling thinly. "If you ever need an empty vessel, I'm here for you."
I smiled up at him too. "I'll remember that."
-6:27-
"It's almost closing time," Landon commented airily. We were both munching on some cotton candy, watching the people rush towards the exit before they were kicked out of the park at exactly 6:30.
"We have three minutes; what ride do you think we can go on?" I asked, twirling a piece of the blue sugar in my hand.
He thought about this for a moment. "I think the Giant Wheel has no one there." Landon had a rosy tint on his cheeks and my eyebrows furrowed. Is there something perverted about a Ferris Wheel?
Oh. Right, it's the classic make-out ride. Now, I could feel a blush rising on my face. We both looked away from each other, but walked toward the wheel nonetheless. Our hands periodically brushed against each other and I resisted the urge to snatch it away. My head kept screaming at me, "Massie isn't here! So forget about her and Cam and take a chance!" I normally ignore these types of thoughts.
As expected given the time, no one was on the ride or in line. The conductor was still there, but had a bored and get-me-out-of-this-shitty-job look. We walked through and settled into the scoop-like seats. Landon and I were on opposite ends of the seat of our own accord, but when the ride finally began, I slid all the way around unexpectedly and fell onto his lap.
"Sorry," I squeaked, hiding my blushing face with my overgrown hair.
"Its okay, Claire," he said, a smirk blooming. "If you wanted to get near my crotch, you could have just asked." I slapped his arm at the comment, but thanked God that the tension lessened.
We began talking about everything and nothing at all, ranging from school projects to what kind of vegetable names creeped us out the most. I even told him how this is officially my favorite place now.
"I say all those 'R' vegetables have the creepy names. I mean rutabaga? How the hell could that possibly be normal?" Landon said, waving his arms to prove his point (a quirk he seems to have).
I laughed, shaking my head. "Well currently, the weirdest one I've heard is the gourd. Just sound it out: Gourd." He did and laughed as hard as I was. We were absolutely ridiculous, but I loved every minute of it. The ride came to a stop all too soon and the remaining guards practically forced us out of the park.
Jeez, you would think they want us to come back at some point.
Landon's voice brought me out of my musings of the park day. "Milady, may I accompany you to the car this time? Or shall you throw off my gentlemanly offers again?" He smiled suavely, and I couldn't help but smile back. I can't remember a time I felt this… bubbly.
"You may, good sir," I responded with a quick curtsey. Landon grabbed my arm and led me to the car as if we were in some kind of fairytale. Even though I think fairytales are extremely overrated and unrealistic, I wouldn't mind living through this one.
Or Gone With the Wind, but you know, that's just a classic.
-8:30 PM-
Landon drove me all the way home where my parents were undoubtedly waiting furiously for me. I hadn't exactly called them (or picked up the phone when they called me) the whole day. The fun was a little distracting.
As we reached my own driveway (we finally stopped mooching off the Block's and got our own house), he decided that I am not capable of walking to my house without injuring myself. I was indignant about that, but allowed him anyway. It was making me think he didn't want the day to end.
I turned toward him as we reached my front door, me on the step above and him below, making us the same height. "You know, Landon, I had a good time today."
"I'm glad, Claire," he grinned lopsidedly once again. "As I said, you do need more happiness. I'm just glad I got to play even a tiny part in that."
I leaned toward him, overcome with some boldness. My lips brushed his ear and I could feel him shivering. "It was more than just a tiny part." I kissed his cheek swiftly and began to move back. However, I never fully was able to. His hands reached out and grabbed my waist, bringing me back in. His lips were dangerously close to mine.
"You don't think you're getting away that easily, do you?" he teased softly.
"Actually," I started, a smirk coming onto my face, "I do. I am 95% sure my parents are watching us in this position from the window near the door. And they're just thinking, 'We may have to get a background check on this boy'." Like lightning, Landon sprang away from me, putting his hands behind his back and whistling innocently.
My smirk still in place, I looked at the window rapidly before leaning up and giving him a quick peck. "You'll get more once we've gone on an actual date," I told him, turning to open my door.
"They'll be one of those?" Landon called out just as I was halfway in the door and able to hear my parents' furtive whispers.
"Definitely. I'll be seeing you, empty vessel." I shot him a disarming smile while he grinned wildly, before closing the door and leaning against it. I slid slowly down it, feeling lightheaded.
I wasn't totally healed; I was sure of that. I was positive that it would take quite some time before the accumulating damage Cam created went away for good. I wasn't sure if Landon and I would work out or that Massie wouldn't try and socially destroy us before we even tried. I wasn't sure of many positive things. But I think that's the point of this whole excursion. I don't have to find my 'true love' in high school like everyone thought Cam and I were. Look where that led me! I think the way to go about life is to take what comes at you and work with it.
Landon Crane came into my life unexpectedly. I fought it for a while, but today, I realized just letting it flow naturally works best. It made the day just one word:
Amazing.
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And that's it! I think it's the first Landon/Claire in the site, but I haven't checked that well, so bear with me on my slowness : )
I shall be updating the last installment of When the World Comes Down on Me once I've written it. School and AP World History is hectic, and my normal life isn't any easier. So, make me smile and review this crazy piece?