I'm Positive
Chapter 2
PG-13
I doesn't own this stuffs!
Mark and Sara walked down the street in stifling, uncomfortable silence. What to say? What to say? Mark was racking his brain for something, anything to say that was even remotely intelligent. Unfortunately, nerves took over.
"So… um… what's your… favorite… color?" He immediately regretted his words and cast a nervous glance in Sara's direction. Thankfully, she burst into laughter.
"Red," she said between laughs. "You?" she gasped.
"Blue," he replied, smiling.
"Interestingly enough, that isn't the weirdest first question I've ever been asked."
"You're kidding."
"Nope. A guy asked me, if I could be any cereal I wanted, which would it be?"
"And what did you reply?"
"Trix. It worked for him, though. That night, I had some of the hottest sex I ever had." Mark laughed. Sara gave him a sly look and asked, "If you could be any cereal in the world, which would you be?" Mark laughed again. He liked this girl.
"Cap'n Crunch. I've been eating it so much for so long, I'm probably made of it anyway." Sara smiled and they continued down the streets, the uncomfortable silence broke. Upon arriving at the place Mark had taken them, the two sat down and stared at each other for a short while. Something flickered behind Sara's eyes and she leaned her elbows on the table, resting her chin on the bridge she created with her hands, staring at Mark intently. He rapidly became uncomfortable.
"What?" he finally shouted. Sara's eyes narrowed.
"Do you think I'm pretty?" Mark was taken aback by such a forward question.
"Wh – What?"
"Do you think I'm pretty?" she insisted. "I mean, you keep staring at me!" Mark blushed furiously and looked down at his hands, embarrassed. Sara laughed. "I mean, its ok if you do." Mark flushed another shade darker.
"Well, I guess… I mean… oh – I don't know!" Sara gave him a disbelieving look. Mark gave a cry of frustration. "Am I that transparent?" Sara traced a design on the table with her forefinger.
"That, and you really were staring at me." She looked up at him. "But that's okay, because I like you," she said, unabashed. Mark smiled at the comment.
"Where are you from anyway?" he asked. Sara snorted.
"Boulder City, Nevada. The best dam town in the world! That's dam as in D-A-M. it's the home of the Hoover Dam."
"You sound really scornful."
"Really? I was trying so hard to hide it," she snapped. Mark winced. "Sorry, it just irritates me to think of the pit I come from." She leaned forward onto her arms resting on the table, beckoning Mark to come closer. "You wanna know what its like in 'clean, green Boulder City'?" she said, adding air quotes with her fingers. Mark didn't reply, but she plowed on anyway.
"Ok. So, there are basically 2 kinds of people in Boulder City. The ones who love it, and will never leave; so much so they have to go to UNLV so they don't go too far, and the people who cannot wait to leave. Take a wild guess which group I fall under." She paused for effect. "I was going to die. I mean, the people there and the place itself were just… just… stifling! They got me on drugs, and then they got me – " she suddenly stopped, looking like she almost said too much. "I'm sorry. It gets me worked up." She began tapping her fingers onto the table rapidly and nervously. Mark studied her face.
"You don't look like a junkie," he decided. She sat back and put her fingers to her mouth.
"I'm not," she replied. "I quit, a long time ago." Sara looked at Mark and frowned. "Well, what's your story?"
"Not much of one. I ditched a place I couldn't stand, like you did, and I moved here, and now I'm watching my best friends die." Sara's eyes widened at her blunt words.
"You don't have, like, a girlfriend, or anything?" Mark smiled and shook his head.
"No. Not since Maureen." Sara giggled, remembering what he told her at the loft.
"We should get back," Mark said. "I never told them I was leaving. They'll probably think we got mugged or something. They're incredibly protective." Sara snorted.
"Oh, and you're not?"
"I never did anything protective!"
"Yeah, but you still look the part." Mark stretched.
"All, right, you win. Lets go."
The way back was the polar opposite from the way there. Mark and Sara laughed and teased and talked. She walked him to her chic little Manhattan apartment. Mark gave a low whistle.
"You live here?"
"Mum and Daddy, like you, are insanely protective. If I was going to rebel and go east, I was doing it their way." She smiled, thinking for a moment.
"Hey, you wouldn't want to – I mean, we had fun today, and I thought – " Sara cut him off with a light kiss on the end of his nose.
"You're really cute when you don't know what to say."