Awakening
Chapter Six
"Stretch"
Sunday
For reasons unknown to Tino, there didn't seem to be anyone else at the mall. Not a soul. Unfortunately, all the stores seemed to be closed. Sitting at a table in the food court, Tino wondered where everyone had gotten to. For that matter, what was he doing here? Slowly, Tino got to his feet, looking out at the openness of the food court. His eyes scanned the room, and he felt a wave of relief wash over him as a familiar figure appeared before them.
"Lor! Hey, Lor! What gives? Where is everyone?"
Lor looked at Tino, a smirk appearing on her face as she stepped towards them. "Well, well, well. This is a surprise." She spoke.
"It is?"
"Never thought I'd find you here."
"At the mall? I'm no stranger to the mall, Lor." But Tino wasn't in the mall anymore. He was standing on a floor made of shiny wood, painted lines running across it. Lor bounced a basketball about, absently shooting at one of the hoops. A quiet swish sound quickly followed, then the ball bounced to the floor, where Lor quickly took possession once again. Tino looked down and felt uneasy when he saw that he was now wearing a jersey. "Lor, what's going on?!"
Lor dribbled towards Tino, stopping short of him and catching the ball in her hands. "I'm not Lor, Tino."
"What?"
"Maybe it's easier to say, I am her, but I'm much more than that."
"Okay, I'm officially confused."
"It's best to think of me as everything else you're giving up."
"What am I giving up?"
"Don't play games with me, Tino. I know what you two did. You're breaking a lot of rules, playing around with that girl like you haven't a care in the world. It's dangerous!" she emphasized, slamming the basketball to the ground. It bounced past Tino and continued moving towards a set of bleachers.
"What games?! I haven't done anything. I found something I like in her, we spend time together. What's the big deal? You act as though I've shut you out of my life in lieu of her, Lor!"
"Oh please! Just look at yourself. Trying to justify something you know to be a mistake."
"What mistake?"
"Don't try to deny it! The very guilt you felt when you kissed her betrays you!"
Tino's expression darkened. "What do you know about it!" Tino yelled, wincing at his own emotion. He took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. "You're right. You aren't Lor. Who are you?!"
"Who I am isn't important. You think about what will happen. If you stay with Tish, she will slowly become a bigger and bigger priority. She will take precedence over your friends."
Tino sighed. "Being a little melodramatic, aren't we? Besides, you would think my friends would appreciate that. That's what makes them friends! And wouldn't it be easier if the person I care about is one of those friends, rather than some outsider they can't relate to?! No, you're no friend of mine, whatever you are. And you have no right to look like Lor!"
"Don't I?" The girl asked, reaching out to Tino, setting her hands on his shoulders. "You seem so sure of yourself. But what if it had all been just random chance, a matter of being in the right place at the right time? There are so many possibilities in life, Tino." Lor sighed, stepping closer, stretching her arms up to wrap them around Tino's neck. "So tell me, was this how she held you? How you wanted it to be? When she kissed you, did you think of me?" Lor brushed her lips against Tino's, trying to draw him in. "Did you ever wonder," Lor whispered, "about the other side of the coin?"
"Lor. . ." Tino trailed off, half-pulling his friend into a kiss. As he did so, Tino's eyes went wide. He raised the palms of his hands and pushed Lor away from him. "No!" He panted, out of breath. "Stop it! Just stop it! It isn't like that at all! I don't know, okay? I don't know why what happened between Tish and I happened. It just…seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I like being with her, and she likes being with me! There's nothing complicated about it!
"Then what makes her any better than me?"
"It's not a question of being better. It's a question of what is." Tino felt a completely strange wave of comfort wash over him. "None of this is real."
A flash of red seemed to pass through Lor's eyes. "Very good, Tino."
"Who are you?"
"Me? Everyone knows me, Tino, but some much more intimately than others. I live in the bellies of the weak and the weary. In those who aren't strong enough to resist. Inside the ones who revel in despair."
"Beat it!" Tino yelled.
"Tino! Tino! Wake up!" A voice called.
"Beat it!" Tino yelled, his arms thrashing.
"What?"
Tino opened his eyes and saw a girl standing over him, looking as though she were searching for something to say. "Tish?"
"Your mom said it would be okay for me to come in and wake you up. But if you really don't want me here, I'll leave."
"No, no. It's fine. I'm sorry. I was having this creepy dream." Tino yawned, rubbing some of the sleep from his eyes.
"What happened? Do you want to tell me about it?"
"I think I'm okay. I just dreamt that. . .someone was trying to sell me something."
"Well, I'm glad you're all right."
"Yeah, it takes more than a salesman to scare Tino Tonitini!" Tino stood up and gathered together an outfit for the day.
"This from a boy who sleeps with a Captain Dreadnought comic under his pillow!" Tish laughed, making Tino's bed.
"Hey! It works! No nightmares can get by Captain Dreadnought! Ugh, I'm going to go clean up. I'll see you in 15 minutes, okay?"
"Don't take too long, your mom and I are working on a surprise for you downstairs!"
"I won't!"
Tino finished brushing his teeth, then readied his shower. Putting up a towel, he stripped down and stepped into the refreshing hot water. "Oh, hey. Tino here." He said as he grabbed a washcloth. "Don't mind me, you just wait out there and we'll get caught up. That was some really weird dream, huh? I haven't had a dream that freaky since that time I ate a whole bowl of fish eyes! Now I know what you're thinking. You're afraid the ol' T-Man is going to lose it, juggling school, thrill-packed weekends, and a now a personal relationship with Tish. Don't worry, I can handle it. Sure, there will be a few rocks in the road, but that's what life is all about, right? Besides, don't forget I've got the mystical, magical advice of Mom to back me up. Yeah, I think things are looking up. Now, if we can just figure out how to spend this Sunday, I might be able to put this weekend down in my record books as one of the best ever. You don't happen to have any ideas, do you?"
Downstairs, Mrs. Tonitini finished setting the table while Tish carefully brought a large bowl in from the kitchen and set it in the middle of the table. "Do you really think he's going to like this?" Tish asked, feeling a bit unsure.
"If he knows what's good for him." The older woman smiled. "But probably not. Doesn't matter, he's eating it anyway."
"It isn't fish eyes, is it?" asked Tino, coming down the stairs wearing his blue shirt.
"No." Tish called. "It's a recipe I sometimes make for myself, with a few of your mom's own modifications."
Tino decided to stare fear in the eye and see what he would be faced with. "So what is it?"
"Honeydew, cantaloupe, and grapefruit." I cut up some pieces of each and put them in a bowl.
Tino breathed a sigh of relief. "That sounds good." He walked over to the table to inspect it, but something else caught his eye. "What's the brown stuff?"
"Protein." His mother answered curtly.
"Made from what?"
"Various things."
"Like?"
"You know, starving people in Ethiopia would be happy to have that, Tino."
"Yeah. They'd also be happy to have an Egg McMuffin."
"Just eat it, Tino."
"Okay, okay. It's obvious you two went to a lot of trouble. Thanks."
"You're welcome." Tish beamed.
"Um, I'm not the only one eating, am I?"
"We'll be right in." Mrs. Tonitini responded. "Just getting a carafe of orange juice."
A few moments later, the three of them were settled around the dining room table, calmly enjoying breakfast. The mysterious grain-like substance the fruit was sitting in still baffled Tino, but he had decided it was probably better not knowing what he was eating. His imagination could conjure up enough as it was!
"This is nice." Tish sighed. "We should do this more often."
"Oh, I think it can be arranged." Tino's mother smiled. "It's nice having you. And also refreshing to find someone who likes to eat healthy, at least some of the time. Tino fusses so much over what I put in front of him."
"If you had to live here on a daily basis, Tish, you would too." Tino injected before Tish could comment. "So....what's with the breakfast thing? I mean, it's nice, I'm not complaining. It's just. . .I know you, Mom. Your too.....Mom-like. You've got an angle, I know it!"
Mrs. Tonitini gasped light-heartedly. "Why Tino, I'm shocked. Shocked! Oh, all right. If you must know, there's something I wanted to talk to you both about. I realize you're getting older now, so I guess it's time I explained it to you."
"What's that?" Tish mused, quietly spooning occasional mouthfuls of fruit and...stuff into her mouth.
"The key to having a successful relationship with someone else. And try to bear in mind I'm not just talking about you two. This is on every level friends, significant others, spouse...you'll get it."
I don't mean to sound fresh, Mom, but you and dad split up."
"Yes, and I'll explain why that happened if you give me a chance. The key to keeping a relationship intact is to keep it in its ideal. Let's take you two as an example. I know you're young and not overly involved, and that's good. You're in your ideal, at least, for this point in your lives. There's a balance you have to keep. Take care of each other, respect each other, that sort of thing. I'm starting to sound like some marriage seminar here." Mrs. Tonitini sighed, then continued. "Simply put, when you can both sit back and just honestly say you're happy spending time together, you're in your ideal."
"I think I can say that about all my friends." Tish smiled. "Not just Tino."
"Good. Just remember that life will throw all sorts of ridiculous curve balls at you. It has no mercy. It's when you lose sight of your ideal that things fall apart."
Tino nodded solemnly. "Is that what happened to you and Dad?"
"In the case of your father and I, Tino, our ideal turned into an ordeal."
"What happened then?"
"We both looked for a new deal."
"Clever." Tish chimed in.
"Thank you."
"Still, I'm surprised you're able to talk about it so non-chalantly."
"Tino tells me that you're the scholar. I'm sure you're aware of the philosophy 'time heals all wounds...if you let it, and choose not to dwell on opening them up again.' Life is an adventure, after all."
"You know, I think that's a very worthy philosophy." Tish heartily agreed.
"Behold, Tish, The Tao of Mom." Tino bowed his head toward his mother in awe.
"It's nothing special. Anyway, you two had better finish up if you're going to be on time to meet Lor and Carver."
"She also makes an excellent PDA." Quipped Tino.
Ten minutes later, Tino and Tish slowly walked down the sidewalk, heading towards Carver's house. As was so frequent in Bahia Bay, the warm sun provided a friendly atmosphere. Tino almost felt as though he could spend the rest of the day lounging in a tree. Almost.
"Hey Tino?" Tish asked, walking slowly beside him. "What do you think? About what your Mom said."
"About ideals?"
"Yeah. Are we in our ideal?"
"If you're asking if I'm happy spending time with you, Tish, the answer is yes. It was sweet of you to wake me up this morning."
"You look funny when you sleep." She laughed.
"How?"
"Well, it seemed like you had a pretty rough night. You were half in and out of your covers, and everything was twisted and wrinkled."
"Actually, I slept pretty well. What about you?"
"Oh I slept great! Before I went to bed last night, I was reading this book about New York politics in the mid 1800's! It was really exciting! That's the trouble with history, most teachers confuse their opinions with the facts. If you want to track down the really interesting stuff, you have to look for yourself."
Tino smiled. Tish was like a black hole of knowledge, and always thirsty for more. He admired her that, even envied it at times, but it could also intimidate him. "I'm sorry I'm not easier to talk to sometimes. You're a lot more cultured and knowledgeable than I am, Tish."
"So what?" She asked, which stopped Tino in his tracks.
"So what?! It's a sacrifice for you, isn't it?"
"Why would you think that? Carver and Lor aren't into it either, I don't care. It's my hobby."
"But I should be able to be more supportive if we're going to date."
Tish laughed. "Tino, you're really silly sometimes, do you know that? Listen, why do you think I would want to date someone exactly like myself? I've got a mirror already, thank you, I don't need another one of those. Listen. Would you ever try to stop me from learning?"
Tino blinked. "Huh? No! Why would I want to do that?!"
"Exactly! So there's no problem!" Tish smiled. "Just try to remember that I like being with you Tino. I'm not looking for things to change." She sighed.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were happy."
"Don't worry. If I ever am, I'll tell you, okay? I like to think that.....you know, you and me..."
"Us?"
Tish blushed at the thought of that. Were they officially an "us?" "Yeah. Us. It's not that complicated. So I think if we just take it slow, we'll be just fine."
Tino felt relieved. "Thanks Tish."
"Don't mention it." She smiled again, slipping a hand over his. "So tell me, what do you think we should do today?"
"Well, we did come down on Carver pretty hard about his paper. Maybe we should let him pick. If he finished, that is!"
"Only one way to find out."
"Hey, what time is it?"
"9:40. We've still got twenty minutes."
"Want to take the long way to Carver's?" proposed Tino.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Another chapter finished. This one is probably the most unique of them all so far. Tino's dream sequence took a decidedly more dramatic turn than I envisioned in the pre-production of this installment, but this is what ended up coming out. Do try to remember that that wasn't the real Lor, but I think we all know she doesn't talk like that at all!
I wanted to center this chapter a bit more on Tino and Tish since I do list it as a romance over at Fanfiction.net, but I'm going to get back to having fun as Sunday truly opens up. I like to think that this came out pretty cute and sweet without getting downright sappy. I also tried to keep it within the context of they're still being twelve. Here's hoping I succeeded. If anyone asked me to sum up the context of Tino and Tish's relationship with one phrase, I'd say "Chug-A-Freezes and polite conversation." That's the effect I've been going for so far.
Thanks to Kaon and Blaster Bob for their consistent reviews, they are very much appreciated. Stick it out till the end with me, guys, I'll do my hardest to make each chapter worth it.
Lord Malachite
5/19/03
11:08 PM, EST
E-mail: ranger_writer@yahoo.com
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