A/N: First, a Serious Question: Is Thomasin Logan a perfect Mary Sue? This is really bothering me. A small note: The small bit of Spanish that Thomasin speaks (Thomasin is a name originating from Spain) was generated from www.freetranslation.com and I have no idea if that is correct. If anyone is interested, I typed in the phrase "uck you" to be translated, but my friend who takes Spanish says that that really translates into "uck it." That's good enough for me. Just some happy, good-natured fun. Also, I used to write a lot of romance novel stuff and I decided to let it all break loose with the sappiness in this chapter. Sorry, had to do it.
As Adam approached Thomasin in the Eden Hall parking lot, a strange feeling pervaded his consciousness. Adam was nervous, anxious—the same mix of feelings that he remembered from their first real date. The sheer irony of the idea struck Adam and he could not help but to laugh out loud. Of course, this was going to be Adam and Thomasin's last date. He looked up and smiled at Thomasin before any depressing thoughts could enter his head.
Thomasin sat perched on the hood of her car, studying the nails of her left hand and speaking into her cell phone. As Adam neared she hung up her phone and stood up to greet him.
Adam put an arm around Thomasin's shoulder and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Hey, Tam—you're looking..." Adam stopped and fully looked her over "...spirited."
With creatively applied face paint, pompoms stuck in her hair and wearing her personalized "BANKS" Eden Hall replica jersey, Adam had to admit that Thomasin looked kind of like...a dork. It made him laugh, evoking a light and pleasant emotion.
Thomasin looked down at herself and joined in his laughter, playfully elbowing him in the ribs. "Oh, jeez, I look ridiculous. I was just about to take off the face paint when Pilar called." Thomasin teasingly imitated Pilar's ever-sarcastic tone. "I'm being ditched for a white, pretty boy preppy? I'm sorry, girl, but you are not going to be able to show your face in Spanish Harlem after this."
Adam grinned. "And what did you say to her?"
Thomasin gave him a sly look. "Jódalo."
Adam was no Spanish whiz, but he knew enough to get Thomasin's message and he laughed. "Well, thanks...I think." Adam noticed Thomasin's wayward towel on the hood of her car and picked it up. "Let me help you with this." Thomasin tried to swat his hand away from her face in slight embarrassment. The two of them stood there in silence as Adam gently swabbed off the red paint, and the moment felt painfully intimate.
When Thomasin finally spoke, her voice came out in slightly hoarse tones. "Did you get everything?"
"No, wait; there is one last spot...Right here." Adam kissed the corner of Thomasin's mouth.
Adam was never so demonstrative with his emotions, but he figured that this was as good a time as any.
Thomasin haphazardly pulled the pompoms out of her hair and removed her jersey to reveal a regular white t-shirt. Her face, although with slight traces of red paint smeared here and there, glowed with pleasant contentment. "So... Where are we headed, Banks?"
Adam tried to put a lot of thought into this beforehand, but somehow no place seemed exactly right. He remembered his thoughts of just minutes ago—the ironic connection between their first and last dates. Adam thought, the hell with it, and decided to make the connection full circle. "How about the drive-in?"
Thomasin raised an eyebrow. The drive-in was an abandoned outdoor cinema where slightly tipsy (or let's face it, totally wasted) couples made out or did who-knows-what on Friday nights. When Adam and Thomasin ended up there on their first date, they spent the whole night just talking—about themselves, school, life in general. Oddly, they had never been back since. But at that moment, it was exactly the perfect place.
They sat in Thomasin's car at the drive-in, in silence, each of them not knowing quite what to say.
Adam took the occasion to ask Thomasin a question that had nagged on his mind for years. To Adam, Thomasin's answer could just be what he needed to leave his life behind with some semblance of satisfaction. "Tamsin, how is it that you always seem content with life? I've never understood it."
Thomasin reflected and spoke softly. "Do you remember the time when I came down with you that weekend to have dinner with your parents? Afterward, I was helping your mother clean up in the kitchen and she turned to me and said, 'Sweetheart, you are terribly mistaken if you think that you are the right girl for my son.' I didn't know what to say to her because I thought that she could be right. But then I realized that you make me happy, and that's all that matters. I think our discontent stems from a desire to satisfy everyone, meet people's expectations. Isn't that how you feel about your father? After that day with your mother, I knew that I would never satisfy her. I would never be pretty enough, charming enough, polished enough. We spend all this time, effort and emotion trying—but it'll never happen. Why spend all our lives trying to obtain something we'll never have? I just thought, I'm happy and I love everything I have. That's enough."
Adam sat there in thought to Thomasin's answer and spoke the first words that entered his mind. "Tam...I'm going to miss you."
Thomasin glanced at him sideways. "Well, UCLA isn't THAT far from the University of Minnesota. It's only about 1, 949.06 miles. Not that I know that for a fact, of course."
Adam tried to smile at her sweet naiveté. He resisted the temptation to ask exactly how far UCLA was from the afterlife, but Adam figured that one might be a little difficult, even for someone as smart as Thomasin.
"Adam, you don't have to think that far ahead. We can wait a couple of months before we confront that problem." Thomasin grabbed his hand.
Adam knew differently, and his expression visibly worried Thomasin. Her smile faded and Adam detached his hand from hers. They sat in the dark car, staring at each other like hurt children. Adam did not know who reached first but suddenly he held Thomasin in his arms and Adam stroked her hair. She could sense the air of inevitability and tears ran slowly down her face.
Adam stared down at Thomasin's tear-stained face and was shocked to realize...that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this girl. Unfortunately, that life would end in a matter of hours. Adam did not know how or exactly how long he had left. He did not want to move his arm to check his watch because Adam recognized that there would never be enough time. Time passed by so quickly that no one ever realized it before it disappeared. People never truly knew how much of it was wasted until the very end.
The two of them sat there, with Thomasin in Adam's arms, for what seemed like an eternity. Adam watched her doze off, and felt himself losing the battle against tiredness as well. He thought about his life in quick flashes. Adam loved his parents, despite it all. Coach Orion and his devotion to life, hockey, and Becky taught Adam the lessons necessary to become a man. The Ducks and their unwaveringly loyalty and friendship would stay with Adam forever. As Adam fell asleep, he knew that he was going out the right way. The girl he loved was in his arms and Adam was content, knowing at that moment, he wanted everything he had.
(This may or may not be the end. I'll think about it, because, let's face it: How creepy would it be for Thomasin to wake up in the arms of a dead guy? Would that not scar her for life? So watch out for the next couple of days for an update.)
As Adam approached Thomasin in the Eden Hall parking lot, a strange feeling pervaded his consciousness. Adam was nervous, anxious—the same mix of feelings that he remembered from their first real date. The sheer irony of the idea struck Adam and he could not help but to laugh out loud. Of course, this was going to be Adam and Thomasin's last date. He looked up and smiled at Thomasin before any depressing thoughts could enter his head.
Thomasin sat perched on the hood of her car, studying the nails of her left hand and speaking into her cell phone. As Adam neared she hung up her phone and stood up to greet him.
Adam put an arm around Thomasin's shoulder and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Hey, Tam—you're looking..." Adam stopped and fully looked her over "...spirited."
With creatively applied face paint, pompoms stuck in her hair and wearing her personalized "BANKS" Eden Hall replica jersey, Adam had to admit that Thomasin looked kind of like...a dork. It made him laugh, evoking a light and pleasant emotion.
Thomasin looked down at herself and joined in his laughter, playfully elbowing him in the ribs. "Oh, jeez, I look ridiculous. I was just about to take off the face paint when Pilar called." Thomasin teasingly imitated Pilar's ever-sarcastic tone. "I'm being ditched for a white, pretty boy preppy? I'm sorry, girl, but you are not going to be able to show your face in Spanish Harlem after this."
Adam grinned. "And what did you say to her?"
Thomasin gave him a sly look. "Jódalo."
Adam was no Spanish whiz, but he knew enough to get Thomasin's message and he laughed. "Well, thanks...I think." Adam noticed Thomasin's wayward towel on the hood of her car and picked it up. "Let me help you with this." Thomasin tried to swat his hand away from her face in slight embarrassment. The two of them stood there in silence as Adam gently swabbed off the red paint, and the moment felt painfully intimate.
When Thomasin finally spoke, her voice came out in slightly hoarse tones. "Did you get everything?"
"No, wait; there is one last spot...Right here." Adam kissed the corner of Thomasin's mouth.
Adam was never so demonstrative with his emotions, but he figured that this was as good a time as any.
Thomasin haphazardly pulled the pompoms out of her hair and removed her jersey to reveal a regular white t-shirt. Her face, although with slight traces of red paint smeared here and there, glowed with pleasant contentment. "So... Where are we headed, Banks?"
Adam tried to put a lot of thought into this beforehand, but somehow no place seemed exactly right. He remembered his thoughts of just minutes ago—the ironic connection between their first and last dates. Adam thought, the hell with it, and decided to make the connection full circle. "How about the drive-in?"
Thomasin raised an eyebrow. The drive-in was an abandoned outdoor cinema where slightly tipsy (or let's face it, totally wasted) couples made out or did who-knows-what on Friday nights. When Adam and Thomasin ended up there on their first date, they spent the whole night just talking—about themselves, school, life in general. Oddly, they had never been back since. But at that moment, it was exactly the perfect place.
They sat in Thomasin's car at the drive-in, in silence, each of them not knowing quite what to say.
Adam took the occasion to ask Thomasin a question that had nagged on his mind for years. To Adam, Thomasin's answer could just be what he needed to leave his life behind with some semblance of satisfaction. "Tamsin, how is it that you always seem content with life? I've never understood it."
Thomasin reflected and spoke softly. "Do you remember the time when I came down with you that weekend to have dinner with your parents? Afterward, I was helping your mother clean up in the kitchen and she turned to me and said, 'Sweetheart, you are terribly mistaken if you think that you are the right girl for my son.' I didn't know what to say to her because I thought that she could be right. But then I realized that you make me happy, and that's all that matters. I think our discontent stems from a desire to satisfy everyone, meet people's expectations. Isn't that how you feel about your father? After that day with your mother, I knew that I would never satisfy her. I would never be pretty enough, charming enough, polished enough. We spend all this time, effort and emotion trying—but it'll never happen. Why spend all our lives trying to obtain something we'll never have? I just thought, I'm happy and I love everything I have. That's enough."
Adam sat there in thought to Thomasin's answer and spoke the first words that entered his mind. "Tam...I'm going to miss you."
Thomasin glanced at him sideways. "Well, UCLA isn't THAT far from the University of Minnesota. It's only about 1, 949.06 miles. Not that I know that for a fact, of course."
Adam tried to smile at her sweet naiveté. He resisted the temptation to ask exactly how far UCLA was from the afterlife, but Adam figured that one might be a little difficult, even for someone as smart as Thomasin.
"Adam, you don't have to think that far ahead. We can wait a couple of months before we confront that problem." Thomasin grabbed his hand.
Adam knew differently, and his expression visibly worried Thomasin. Her smile faded and Adam detached his hand from hers. They sat in the dark car, staring at each other like hurt children. Adam did not know who reached first but suddenly he held Thomasin in his arms and Adam stroked her hair. She could sense the air of inevitability and tears ran slowly down her face.
Adam stared down at Thomasin's tear-stained face and was shocked to realize...that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this girl. Unfortunately, that life would end in a matter of hours. Adam did not know how or exactly how long he had left. He did not want to move his arm to check his watch because Adam recognized that there would never be enough time. Time passed by so quickly that no one ever realized it before it disappeared. People never truly knew how much of it was wasted until the very end.
The two of them sat there, with Thomasin in Adam's arms, for what seemed like an eternity. Adam watched her doze off, and felt himself losing the battle against tiredness as well. He thought about his life in quick flashes. Adam loved his parents, despite it all. Coach Orion and his devotion to life, hockey, and Becky taught Adam the lessons necessary to become a man. The Ducks and their unwaveringly loyalty and friendship would stay with Adam forever. As Adam fell asleep, he knew that he was going out the right way. The girl he loved was in his arms and Adam was content, knowing at that moment, he wanted everything he had.
(This may or may not be the end. I'll think about it, because, let's face it: How creepy would it be for Thomasin to wake up in the arms of a dead guy? Would that not scar her for life? So watch out for the next couple of days for an update.)