Lonely Christmas - Chapter 6 - The Surprise
Let's see how many times I can hit my head on the wall before it starts hurting, shall we?
One!
Two!
Three!
Ouch...okay. Three's enough, three's enough.
Though the pain to my head doesn't equal half of the pain weighing in my heart. I sigh, back in my lair again, watching more snow fall outside my window. Each flake flutters quickly past the panes of glass, and for a moment I find myself entranced in their unique little dance as they combine into one below my windowsill. I slam my head into the structure of my apartment one last time, my forehead leaning on the window as I look at the scene below. Again, children playing. What are they so happy about all the time?! It really chaps my a...
...Andrew?
I catch a quick glimpse of his eyes underneath the huge hat he's wearing. I highly doubt he can see, but if it's keeping him warm, all the more power to the idiot. And underneath that stupid striped scarf he's wearing I can't make out his expression...after all, I really didn't stick around the arcade yesterday to find out what happened. Half of me knows that Andrew and Serena, if they aren't together already, would be sometime in the near future. However, there's still that other half that's hanging on for dear life, and I am not about to let that go.
I watch him intently, looking for any signs that could tell me what happened. There's no hop to his step, but he's not walking incredibly slowly, either. He's not swaying back and forth, which, knowing Andrew, meant he wasn't humming happily. I can see no dimples or any sign of smiling over that blasted scarf, nor can I tell anything by his eyes.
'He would be happier if he had asked Serena out,' I think. So wait...he didn't ask her out? Or he did, and something happened? My heart skips a beat as my eyes widen. Serena...where could she be now?! Maybe she's upset? In need of comfort? Andrew hurt my Meatball Head?!
I grab my coat and dash out the door.
~*~*~
I evaluate the situation as I violently swung open the door to my apartment complex. Something was wrong with Andrew. He was headed in the direction of both his house and the arcade, so he could be headed to either. He came from the direction of Serena's house. Serena is not with him.
I walk very quickly past the large crowds of people hopping from store to store. I keep my eye out for either of the two, glancing in store windows and around the sidewalks. I could really use a homing device for the two of them.
I pass Andrew's house, but there's no sign of life inside. The lights are off, the driveway not shoveled, and there are no footprints leading to his front door. I turn around and begin walking back, heading toward the arcade. I still don't know what happened. If I find Serena and begin to comfort her now, she may not know what I'm talking about and think I'm a lunatic...so I'll find out the details from Andrew first, comfort little Meatball Head later.
On my way to the arcade, I pass a small gift shop with a few stuffed animals and tiny collectables pleading to be bought in the front window. I would have passed it right by if it wasn't for the little rabbit, similar- looking to the ornament I got, sitting there and staring up at me. It had the same goofy smile mine did, and wore a very similar Christmas hat, but was clutching a small stuffed crescent moon in its paws.
Serena has to have it.
~*~*~
Walking out with the bunny in a red gift bag, my adrenaline rushes through my veins. I'm getting really anxious now, dieing to find out what happened between my two friends. I break into a sprint, pushing my way through oblivious shoppers, though keeping a protective arm around my present. As Crown Arcade is seen in the near distance, I stop my running. No need to show Andrew I'm antsy, right?
Playing it smooth, and I mean that by stumbling into the doorway, I enter Crown Arcade. Lo and behold, Andrew is waiting behind the counter, waving like an eager puppy at me as I make my way to my usual stool. I set the bag down by my feet...there's no reason to show him what I got for Serena.
We greet each other, and for a moment or two there's an awkward silence between us that I've never experienced before. We both knew what was on each other's minds, but neither wanted to be the one to ask.
He clears his throat, turning away for a brief second before setting down an iced tea in front of me. Hmph...I want hot chocolate, but that's the least of my concerns. I become the one to break the ice.
"So what happened? Did you ask her?"
"Yeah, I asked her," he replies composedly. There is no grin, no light chuckle, no smooth raise of his eyebrows. He doesn't flinch.
"...and?" I ask, a bit too quickly than I would have liked.
His eyes shoot up to meet my own. "And," he continues, his eyes falling back onto the counter. It's then the grin spreads across his face, and my heart takes another nosedive onto a bed of spikes...I know the answer before he can utter the words. "Serena and I are officially a couple!"
"That's great!" I exclaim, my heart groaning.
Andrew smiles, his chest rising and falling quickly. A sigh of relief? "Yeah, I'm really happy about it," he says. Yeah, right. I'd be rising around on freaking cloud nine, and this kid waited a whole day before he even smiled about it, for Christ's sake. "We went to the movies just a little while ago, I took the whole morning off work, and I dropped her off at her house afterward."
"And how'd that go?"
"It went great. Really great!" he bragged. I wanted to punch him.
"I'm glad you two had fun," I said through grit teeth I formed into a fake smile.
"Yeah! You wanna come out with us later and celebrate?" he inquired. I looked up at him, eyebrow raised. He really was naiive to my feelings, wasn't he?
"Eh, it's okay, I..."
"Come on Darien, this'll be fun, I promise."
"Yeah, but I..."
"Come on, Darien! What do you have to lose?"
I blink, pondering this for a moment. I look down at my iced tea, then up at him, and for some reason my heart told me to accept.
"What time?"
Let's see how many times I can hit my head on the wall before it starts hurting, shall we?
One!
Two!
Three!
Ouch...okay. Three's enough, three's enough.
Though the pain to my head doesn't equal half of the pain weighing in my heart. I sigh, back in my lair again, watching more snow fall outside my window. Each flake flutters quickly past the panes of glass, and for a moment I find myself entranced in their unique little dance as they combine into one below my windowsill. I slam my head into the structure of my apartment one last time, my forehead leaning on the window as I look at the scene below. Again, children playing. What are they so happy about all the time?! It really chaps my a...
...Andrew?
I catch a quick glimpse of his eyes underneath the huge hat he's wearing. I highly doubt he can see, but if it's keeping him warm, all the more power to the idiot. And underneath that stupid striped scarf he's wearing I can't make out his expression...after all, I really didn't stick around the arcade yesterday to find out what happened. Half of me knows that Andrew and Serena, if they aren't together already, would be sometime in the near future. However, there's still that other half that's hanging on for dear life, and I am not about to let that go.
I watch him intently, looking for any signs that could tell me what happened. There's no hop to his step, but he's not walking incredibly slowly, either. He's not swaying back and forth, which, knowing Andrew, meant he wasn't humming happily. I can see no dimples or any sign of smiling over that blasted scarf, nor can I tell anything by his eyes.
'He would be happier if he had asked Serena out,' I think. So wait...he didn't ask her out? Or he did, and something happened? My heart skips a beat as my eyes widen. Serena...where could she be now?! Maybe she's upset? In need of comfort? Andrew hurt my Meatball Head?!
I grab my coat and dash out the door.
~*~*~
I evaluate the situation as I violently swung open the door to my apartment complex. Something was wrong with Andrew. He was headed in the direction of both his house and the arcade, so he could be headed to either. He came from the direction of Serena's house. Serena is not with him.
I walk very quickly past the large crowds of people hopping from store to store. I keep my eye out for either of the two, glancing in store windows and around the sidewalks. I could really use a homing device for the two of them.
I pass Andrew's house, but there's no sign of life inside. The lights are off, the driveway not shoveled, and there are no footprints leading to his front door. I turn around and begin walking back, heading toward the arcade. I still don't know what happened. If I find Serena and begin to comfort her now, she may not know what I'm talking about and think I'm a lunatic...so I'll find out the details from Andrew first, comfort little Meatball Head later.
On my way to the arcade, I pass a small gift shop with a few stuffed animals and tiny collectables pleading to be bought in the front window. I would have passed it right by if it wasn't for the little rabbit, similar- looking to the ornament I got, sitting there and staring up at me. It had the same goofy smile mine did, and wore a very similar Christmas hat, but was clutching a small stuffed crescent moon in its paws.
Serena has to have it.
~*~*~
Walking out with the bunny in a red gift bag, my adrenaline rushes through my veins. I'm getting really anxious now, dieing to find out what happened between my two friends. I break into a sprint, pushing my way through oblivious shoppers, though keeping a protective arm around my present. As Crown Arcade is seen in the near distance, I stop my running. No need to show Andrew I'm antsy, right?
Playing it smooth, and I mean that by stumbling into the doorway, I enter Crown Arcade. Lo and behold, Andrew is waiting behind the counter, waving like an eager puppy at me as I make my way to my usual stool. I set the bag down by my feet...there's no reason to show him what I got for Serena.
We greet each other, and for a moment or two there's an awkward silence between us that I've never experienced before. We both knew what was on each other's minds, but neither wanted to be the one to ask.
He clears his throat, turning away for a brief second before setting down an iced tea in front of me. Hmph...I want hot chocolate, but that's the least of my concerns. I become the one to break the ice.
"So what happened? Did you ask her?"
"Yeah, I asked her," he replies composedly. There is no grin, no light chuckle, no smooth raise of his eyebrows. He doesn't flinch.
"...and?" I ask, a bit too quickly than I would have liked.
His eyes shoot up to meet my own. "And," he continues, his eyes falling back onto the counter. It's then the grin spreads across his face, and my heart takes another nosedive onto a bed of spikes...I know the answer before he can utter the words. "Serena and I are officially a couple!"
"That's great!" I exclaim, my heart groaning.
Andrew smiles, his chest rising and falling quickly. A sigh of relief? "Yeah, I'm really happy about it," he says. Yeah, right. I'd be rising around on freaking cloud nine, and this kid waited a whole day before he even smiled about it, for Christ's sake. "We went to the movies just a little while ago, I took the whole morning off work, and I dropped her off at her house afterward."
"And how'd that go?"
"It went great. Really great!" he bragged. I wanted to punch him.
"I'm glad you two had fun," I said through grit teeth I formed into a fake smile.
"Yeah! You wanna come out with us later and celebrate?" he inquired. I looked up at him, eyebrow raised. He really was naiive to my feelings, wasn't he?
"Eh, it's okay, I..."
"Come on Darien, this'll be fun, I promise."
"Yeah, but I..."
"Come on, Darien! What do you have to lose?"
I blink, pondering this for a moment. I look down at my iced tea, then up at him, and for some reason my heart told me to accept.
"What time?"