*Jeff carried over two chocolate sundaes and placed them on the table. As we began to eat them, we started talking*
"So, what do you want to do, Kim?" Jeff asked, looking up. "I mean, in life....y'know, careers and stuff?"
I thought for a moment. I hadn't really taken much notice of career advisors and at the moment I was happy with my shop assistant job.
"Ummmmm........I haven't really thought about it. I want to travel first, see the world. England isn't really the place for me. The more I see, the more I know I don't belong here." I told him.
I was surprised at how open and honest I was being, more so than I had ever been with anyone in my entire life. I wasn't afraid of Jeff anymore. I felt I could tell him anything and I didn't know why, but I wanted him to know about me, I wanted to give him an insight into my soul.
"I like to sing, and write........mostly poetry. I tried to write songs but......I just can't"
Jeff took a scoop from his ice cream and grasped my hand.
"Of course you can, you just need the right inspiration. Do your family know about your poetry?" he said.
"No," I told him. "Nobody knows, they are private......."
"A shame. I was looking forward to seeing some, being a poet myself," he said, his hand still on mine.
I pulled my hand from underneath his and looked at the floor.
"My family don't know much about me really. I don't think they're really interested........but I don't mind. I guess life is like that sometimes," I said.
Jeff smiled at me and I looked into his deep green eyes and got lost in their mysterious glow. But then I realised that he was looking right back into my eyes and turned away.
We sat there, on those benches in the afternoon sun for hours. We talked about anything and everything. I told him things I had never told anyone and he did the same. I felt like I had finally found my soul mate and as we sat sun bathing on the soft grass I forgot that he was a WWF star, or my sister's boyfriend. And for the first time since he had arrived, I was happy.
I didn't want to leave that moment. I could have stayed there forever and never grown tired of hearing his stories, and telling him mine. But all too soon Jeff glanced at his watch and a look of horror spread across his face.
"Jesus!! Its 5pm, we've been sat here for 3 hours!!" he exclaimed, diving to his feet. "We gotta go, Beth'll be back soon and she's gonna freak!!"
I slowly climbed to my feet and reality once again slapped me in the face. When we got back to the house Beth would be waiting for us. She would be in Jeff's arms and I would be alone. I walked to the car, trying my hardest to mask my misery.
"I had fun today, Jeff. Thanks," I said, forcing a smile.
"I know, so did I," he sighed. "I haven't talked so much in a long time, or listened."
I was confused by his dissappointed tone of voice. Was it possible that he didn't want to go back either? Could it be that he had felt the same contentment and happiness that I had this afternoon?
We drove back to the house without saying a word to one another, but this time our silence was comfortable. Jeff switched on the radio but I don't know what songs played, I was too deeply submerged in my thoughts to listen to anything.
~Today was so great. We talked like we'd known each other for years, I wasn't even nervous. I wonder why.........maybe I've got over my crush.........yeah, that's it!! But he seemed disappointed too......maybe he enjoyed today as much as me.........what would Beth say if she knew about today? We haven't done anything wrong, so why do I feel so different? I feel like I really know him.......but tonight he's gonna ask Beth to..........what can I do......should I even do anything at all?~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*We arrived back at the house to find it still empty. Jeff sat down in front of the TV and I went to my room to read a book. The whole family returned and I told them all about my arm and by 6pm we were sat at the dinner table. Jeff would soon ask Beth to marry him and I was running out of time*
I sat at the dinner table with my family and Jeff, who was seated next to Beth and across from me. I was trying to master the art of eating with only one arm and it wasn't easy. To make matters worse, my concentration was on Jeff. Every time he moved I felt my chest tighten with the thought of this being the moment that he would take the tiny box from his pocket and hand it to Beth, who - as usual - was at the centre of the conversation.
"I saw the most gorgeous skirt in New Look........" she rambled about her shopping trip. "It was sky blue with little flowers along the edges. I almost bought it but then........."
She continued speaking but I didn't continue listening. Instead I made a swirly pattern in my mashed potatoes with my fork and then smoothed it out again repeatedly. I was interrupted from my artistic activity by a sharp whisper, just about audible beneath Beth's voice.
"Kim.....Kim....." it said. I looked up to see that the voice belonged to Jeff. "Could you pass the salt please?" he asked. I hadn't exactly expected much but I was disappointed that Jeff hadn't actually wanted to have a conversation with me. I grabbed the salt with my healthy hand and grinned.
"Catch!" I said playfully as I tossed it into the air. Unfortunately, I wasn't too good with my left hand and the salt shaker landed upside down in the heap of mashed potatoe piled on Beth's plate.
My parents and Beth immediately turned their heads, first to Beth's plate and then to me. I bit my lip and looked at them apologetically.
"Ooooops... sorry, Beth," I said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
The air in the room seemed to get colder until the silence was broken by a giggle from Jeff's direction. I looked at him, as did everyone else. His laughter was infectious, well, at least to me it was. We both glanced at the angry expression on my sister's face, then at each other and became hysterical with laughter, our eyes almost brimming with tears.
When we finally calmed down, Beth gave me an icy stare, which was filled with so much resentment that I shrunk backwards into my chair to escape it. By this time, my parents were seated in the lounge, having finished their meals. She removed the shaker from her plate and stared at it with distaste. She then dropped it onto the table cloth and looked at me.
"Well, I shouldn't really expect anything else from a kid like you," she sneered, looking at Jeff to see his reaction. But all she saw was him twiddling his thumbs with boredom, not really listening to her at all. "Don't you agree, Jeff?" Beth said tapping his arm.
Jeff looked up. "Huh? What you sayin'?" he asked.
"I was just telling Kim that I couldn't expect anything better from a kid like her........" Beth repeated, trying to hide her frustration.
Jeff made circles on the table cloth with the tips of his fingers and replied to Beth without even looking at her.
"Well, it was just an accident. Besides, it was pretty funny and er......she's nearly 19, not really a kid," he said.
I could feel myself smiling inside, although I didn't dare let Beth see my delight at Jeff shooting her down. She quickly stood up from her seat and pushed it to one side.
"Fine then, stick up for HER why don't you?" she screamed angrily.
"Don't you think you're over-reacting a little? I was just saying......." Jeff began.
"No I don't think I'm over-reacting!! I'm going to bed!! I'll see you in the morning and we can discuss this without my stupid little sister in the way," Beth said. She slammed the dining room door behind her and I heard her stomp up the stairs in a rage, leaving Jeff and I alone at the table
"So, what do you want to do, Kim?" Jeff asked, looking up. "I mean, in life....y'know, careers and stuff?"
I thought for a moment. I hadn't really taken much notice of career advisors and at the moment I was happy with my shop assistant job.
"Ummmmm........I haven't really thought about it. I want to travel first, see the world. England isn't really the place for me. The more I see, the more I know I don't belong here." I told him.
I was surprised at how open and honest I was being, more so than I had ever been with anyone in my entire life. I wasn't afraid of Jeff anymore. I felt I could tell him anything and I didn't know why, but I wanted him to know about me, I wanted to give him an insight into my soul.
"I like to sing, and write........mostly poetry. I tried to write songs but......I just can't"
Jeff took a scoop from his ice cream and grasped my hand.
"Of course you can, you just need the right inspiration. Do your family know about your poetry?" he said.
"No," I told him. "Nobody knows, they are private......."
"A shame. I was looking forward to seeing some, being a poet myself," he said, his hand still on mine.
I pulled my hand from underneath his and looked at the floor.
"My family don't know much about me really. I don't think they're really interested........but I don't mind. I guess life is like that sometimes," I said.
Jeff smiled at me and I looked into his deep green eyes and got lost in their mysterious glow. But then I realised that he was looking right back into my eyes and turned away.
We sat there, on those benches in the afternoon sun for hours. We talked about anything and everything. I told him things I had never told anyone and he did the same. I felt like I had finally found my soul mate and as we sat sun bathing on the soft grass I forgot that he was a WWF star, or my sister's boyfriend. And for the first time since he had arrived, I was happy.
I didn't want to leave that moment. I could have stayed there forever and never grown tired of hearing his stories, and telling him mine. But all too soon Jeff glanced at his watch and a look of horror spread across his face.
"Jesus!! Its 5pm, we've been sat here for 3 hours!!" he exclaimed, diving to his feet. "We gotta go, Beth'll be back soon and she's gonna freak!!"
I slowly climbed to my feet and reality once again slapped me in the face. When we got back to the house Beth would be waiting for us. She would be in Jeff's arms and I would be alone. I walked to the car, trying my hardest to mask my misery.
"I had fun today, Jeff. Thanks," I said, forcing a smile.
"I know, so did I," he sighed. "I haven't talked so much in a long time, or listened."
I was confused by his dissappointed tone of voice. Was it possible that he didn't want to go back either? Could it be that he had felt the same contentment and happiness that I had this afternoon?
We drove back to the house without saying a word to one another, but this time our silence was comfortable. Jeff switched on the radio but I don't know what songs played, I was too deeply submerged in my thoughts to listen to anything.
~Today was so great. We talked like we'd known each other for years, I wasn't even nervous. I wonder why.........maybe I've got over my crush.........yeah, that's it!! But he seemed disappointed too......maybe he enjoyed today as much as me.........what would Beth say if she knew about today? We haven't done anything wrong, so why do I feel so different? I feel like I really know him.......but tonight he's gonna ask Beth to..........what can I do......should I even do anything at all?~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*We arrived back at the house to find it still empty. Jeff sat down in front of the TV and I went to my room to read a book. The whole family returned and I told them all about my arm and by 6pm we were sat at the dinner table. Jeff would soon ask Beth to marry him and I was running out of time*
I sat at the dinner table with my family and Jeff, who was seated next to Beth and across from me. I was trying to master the art of eating with only one arm and it wasn't easy. To make matters worse, my concentration was on Jeff. Every time he moved I felt my chest tighten with the thought of this being the moment that he would take the tiny box from his pocket and hand it to Beth, who - as usual - was at the centre of the conversation.
"I saw the most gorgeous skirt in New Look........" she rambled about her shopping trip. "It was sky blue with little flowers along the edges. I almost bought it but then........."
She continued speaking but I didn't continue listening. Instead I made a swirly pattern in my mashed potatoes with my fork and then smoothed it out again repeatedly. I was interrupted from my artistic activity by a sharp whisper, just about audible beneath Beth's voice.
"Kim.....Kim....." it said. I looked up to see that the voice belonged to Jeff. "Could you pass the salt please?" he asked. I hadn't exactly expected much but I was disappointed that Jeff hadn't actually wanted to have a conversation with me. I grabbed the salt with my healthy hand and grinned.
"Catch!" I said playfully as I tossed it into the air. Unfortunately, I wasn't too good with my left hand and the salt shaker landed upside down in the heap of mashed potatoe piled on Beth's plate.
My parents and Beth immediately turned their heads, first to Beth's plate and then to me. I bit my lip and looked at them apologetically.
"Ooooops... sorry, Beth," I said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
The air in the room seemed to get colder until the silence was broken by a giggle from Jeff's direction. I looked at him, as did everyone else. His laughter was infectious, well, at least to me it was. We both glanced at the angry expression on my sister's face, then at each other and became hysterical with laughter, our eyes almost brimming with tears.
When we finally calmed down, Beth gave me an icy stare, which was filled with so much resentment that I shrunk backwards into my chair to escape it. By this time, my parents were seated in the lounge, having finished their meals. She removed the shaker from her plate and stared at it with distaste. She then dropped it onto the table cloth and looked at me.
"Well, I shouldn't really expect anything else from a kid like you," she sneered, looking at Jeff to see his reaction. But all she saw was him twiddling his thumbs with boredom, not really listening to her at all. "Don't you agree, Jeff?" Beth said tapping his arm.
Jeff looked up. "Huh? What you sayin'?" he asked.
"I was just telling Kim that I couldn't expect anything better from a kid like her........" Beth repeated, trying to hide her frustration.
Jeff made circles on the table cloth with the tips of his fingers and replied to Beth without even looking at her.
"Well, it was just an accident. Besides, it was pretty funny and er......she's nearly 19, not really a kid," he said.
I could feel myself smiling inside, although I didn't dare let Beth see my delight at Jeff shooting her down. She quickly stood up from her seat and pushed it to one side.
"Fine then, stick up for HER why don't you?" she screamed angrily.
"Don't you think you're over-reacting a little? I was just saying......." Jeff began.
"No I don't think I'm over-reacting!! I'm going to bed!! I'll see you in the morning and we can discuss this without my stupid little sister in the way," Beth said. She slammed the dining room door behind her and I heard her stomp up the stairs in a rage, leaving Jeff and I alone at the table