Chapter 2: Good Old Days

Natalie dreamed about Jeff. The first time she saw him standing next to the juke box in the diner. She gave a shy smile and he flashed a brilliant, bold smile. Her heart felt like a melting candle as he would look away, only to meet her eyes a split second later and he would flash that smile again. Jeff covered his mouth, almost nervously as he chatted among his friends. She wondered if they were in a gang, all of them wearing black leather jackets over casual clothes.

Natalie looked away from him a moment to lean in closer to her friend sitting across from her. Melody Sanchez, or Melly as everyone called her. She had dark tan skin and eyelashes longer than any other girl she had met. "Hey who's that cutie over at the box?" Natalie spoke softly as if someone could be listening in.

Melly turned around for a second and quickly looked back at Natalie. "No idea, Natty" she smiled playfully at her. She tried to push a curl neatly back into her bun as she spoke. "Maybe you should go talk to him, he seems interested."

"No way, dad would kill me." Natalie said with wide eyes.

"Geez, you don't have to make it serious. Just go have fun." She said. "While you're at it ask if one of his friends is available too. It's been a while since I've had some fun of my own."

"Melly, you were with Matthew just last week." Natalie rolled her eyes and leaned back into her seat.

"So what? Matthew is nice, but he doesn't know how to handle himself around a woman, if you know what I mean." She took a sip from her pop sitting on the table.

Natalie gave an exaggerated gasp. "How could you, Mel?" She leaned back in. "Was he a virgin like everyone expected?"

Melly nodded her head slowly and then busted out in laughter. "Poor kid tried his best, though!" She sighed, thinking back on the experience. "So when are you gonna pop your cherry?"

"Oh, get out of here." Natalie pushed her hair behind her ear, nervously. "I don't even know who- or even where- I would be able to do that." She placed her chin in her palms.

"Well, now this is just what I would do. I would go over to mister handsome at the jukebox, ask him to dance and then meet him in his car."

"He probably doesn't even have a car."

"Heartbreaker like that has to have a car."

Natalie looked back at the handsome brown-haired boy. He was looking away now, focused on the conversation he was having with his friends. She felt her gut twisting and a blush creeping across her entire face. "I mean he is cute…" She thought for a moment. I am a senior… It's not like I'm going to live forever… She gulped and then gave a quick nod to Melly, who gave her a reassuring nod back. Natalie had been wanting to give herself up for a while now, but wanted to make it special. A year before she came extremely close to doing so with her then boyfriend. They were in his room, kissing, trying to get things started when there was tapping at the window. His friends were telling him about a cool party a couple blocks down. After an argumentative discussion about her boyfriend leaving to go to the party they decided maybe they should break it off. I still can't believe he chose a stupid party over sex… To be fair, however, he probably had sex at the party that night.

Natalie quickly approached the boy, who was way taller than her, and opened her mouth to speak. No words came out. "I… Need to use the jukebox…" She panicked. He didn't say anything as he stepped aside. All his friends stayed quiet, waiting for her to leave, she guessed.

She reached for her purse and realized she forgot it at the table with Melly, who was watching her with a confused expression. "Need some money?" The blue eyed boy leaned closer to her. She blushed, nervous from how close he was standing.

He slid the money into the machine, his eyes on her the majority of the time. "Thanks…" She said in a hushed tone, though this wasn't on purpose.

She flipped through the songs and decided to put it on The Wanderer before slowly turning to walk away. "Miss." She heard a voice behind her. She looked over her shoulder, hoping she might look like one of those pin up models that looked over their shoulder sensually as opposed to a scared animal using their own body for protection. "You seem to have forgotten something…"

She turned on her heel, moving her hair behind her ear. "What's that…?"

"Well, you've forgotten to tell me your name." Smooth, did he use that on all the women he met? "You also forgot to ask me about that dance…" Shit. Natalie felt her face burning red, she was about to run off in embarrassment. Had he heard the whole conversation? About how she planned to do the deed with him?

"Well, that's because…" Natalie spoke before even thinking of the words she would be saying. "A gentleman should always ask the lady." She felt herself stepping closer to him, a knot in her throat form being so nervous. She was acting completely out of character, but it worked.

"Those are some old ideals," he said as he stepped closer to her, pushing himself off the jukebox casually, "but lucky for you, I am an old fashioned romantic."

He reached his hand out to her, she peeked quickly at his friends who were all grinning. "Did they help you think of this?" She said as she reached out to grab his hand, her heart pounding in his chest.

He shrugged lightly and flashed another smile at her. She could see a blush of his own creeping his cheeks. "Maybe, but I can't say that I didn't add my own flair to it."

"At least you're honest." He walked her to the middle of the dance area, slowly dancing to the fast paced song.

"You have terrible taste in romantic music." The boy said sarcastically.

"Well, maybe I'm not trying to be romantic. Maybe I'm trying to make this quick and painless." She said, trying to figure out if he heard the other half of the conversation. He had to have, if he heard Melly suggest that she dance with him.

"Oh, that stuff…" He sighed. "Can't say I know much of it. Might be a disappointment like poor little Matthew." He flashed her another smile.

She sighed, feeling her false confidence beginning to melt away as it was replaced with embarrassment. "Well, you're telling me about your… experiences, but you still haven't given me a name."

"J. Anthony Lamb." He said, sounding a little disappointed at the sound of it. "Feel free to call me Tony, short for Anthony." He must not like his first name.

"What don't like your first name?" She said sarcastically to him. "What is it…? Jeffrey?" She guessed. "James?" Natalie shrugged her shoulders at him playfully.

The song was coming to an end. "Tony works for me, suits my character." He smiled again, a small chuckle. "Fits my 'greaser' demeanor."

"If that's what your friends tell you." Natalie gave him a small smile. He ended the dance with a final spin. "Well, my name is Natalie Graham."

"No middle name?" He looked questioningly. They began to walk back to the table where Melly sat, now talking with a boy who must have randomly approached her.

"No, parents never gave me one." She said, reaching for her purse. "Ready to head out, Melly?" Melly looked up quickly and grabbed her own purse. The boy began to walk away.

"Heading out already? It's barely eight o' clock." Tony stepped slightly closer.

"Well, you said yourself that you might be a disappointment, so… I would rather not waste time." She began to walk away with Melly who looked at her with an expression that screamed what are you doing?

"W-Well wait. Isn't there anything I can do to make you stay?" Tony followed directly behind them.

"Well…" She kept walking until they were outside of the diner. "Tell me your first name…" She said. "And maybe I'll stay."

Tony sighed an exasperated sigh. "Jeffrey," he mumbled. "You got it right on the first try…" He rubbed the back of his neck.

'"You're lying." She squinted her eyes at him, trying to read his expression.

"Honest, Natalie." He looked at the dirt ground before looking back up at her, making direct eye contact. "My dad calls me Jeff for short…"

"Jeff…" Natalie tried saying it, looking as though she were trying to decide if she liked it. Jeff kicked at the dirt a little. "What do you think, Mel?"

"I think that it is getting late, and some of us have other things we would rather be doing…" Melly stepped away from them and began walking down the sidewalk to head to her house.

"We can walk you home, Miss." Jeff said, looking concerned.

"She lives right across the street." Natalie said just as Melly looked both ways before crossing over.

"How convenient." Jeff smiled slightly. "So what 'other things' are we going to be doing?"

Suddenly Natalie felt herself jerked from the dream, warmth painfully creeping across her body. Her lungs felt like they were on fire as she breathed. She looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. "H…He…?" She tried to speak, her voice too hoarse. She slammed her fists against the glass. She tried to look around but could barely see anything through all the frost on the pod's glass. Why aren't they letting us out? Has it been the six years already? She looked down at her own body, her hands were practically blue. She could hear some shuffling in the pods around her. Then screaming from another room. Natalie slammed her fists on the glass again, but stopped when she heard gunshots. What the hell? What is going on?