Crunch time.
8.50pm: More Then a 'Thing'
Tommy returned from the basement. Carrying an assortment of candles, a lighter and his flashlight back to the living room, he'd managed to calm himself down.
For now.
I'm being silly he rationalised, thinking of Lil. It was just some random, freak … thing! It's not even worth analysing …
So, from that moment on, Tommy vowed not to think of what he just felt for Lil as anything more then a 'thing', and that when he saw her again it would be back to normal. He would be normal. She would be normal. The rest of the night would be normal.
Little did Tommy know, this 'normality' was going to end in a matter of minutes.
Coming back to the living room, he was startled to find Lil no longer on the couch. Where had she gone? She shouldn't be walking around on her own yet! She –
"T, over here!"
Tommy flashed the light towards Lil's voice. She was standing ahead of him, near the stairs.
"Lil!" said Tommy, with a somewhat chastising tone. He marched towards her. "How come you got up? You shouldn't – "
"Footstool, T!"
"Footstool? AGH!"
In spite of Lil's warning, Tommy failed to notice the footstool in time. He walked straight into it and toppled forward, hitting his head on the side of the coffee table on the way down. The candles, the lighter and the flashlight all flew out of his arms.
"TOMMY!" Lil cried, running to him. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"
Sitting up, Tommy felt as if his head weighed twice its actual size. He put his hand where it hurt – his forehead – flinched, took it away and saw blood.
"Hang on," said Lil. A second later, Tommy felt a cold towel being gently pressed to the wound. Lil had taken it from the frozen peas. "You've cut yourself, but it doesn't look too bad," she diagnosed, dabbing his head. The flashlight was in her other hand. "I think you'll live. How are you feeling?"
"Still living," Tommy replied, blinking hard.
"You positive? Don't want me to give you the finger test?"
He couldn't help but smirk. "No, but thanks anyway."
After helping him onto the couch, Lil collected everything Tommy had dropped, while Tommy just sat there, towel on wound, watching her as she placed candles around the living room and lit them up. Tiny, orange flames soon flickered all around; the room was aglow in a soft, dreamy haze.
"Have you got any antiseptic?" she asked him, lighting the final candle. It took a moment for Tommy to answer.
"Ah … yeah. The top cupboard in the kitchen. Above the sink."
With that, Lil disappeared behind him. When he was sure she was out of the room, Tommy slid a hand down his face and sighed. He couldn't deny it …
It was happening again. And better yet – it was worse.
"Here." She was back already, sitting next to him and handing him a glass of water. He took it. "Found the antiseptic lotion. Take the towel away, I'll put some on."
Tommy hardly felt the sting. As Lil rubbed lotion onto his head, he felt himself falling back into a trance. He tried hard not to notice certain things. He tried not to notice how much he liked her taking care of him right now; or, thinking back, how much he actually liked carrying her in from the lawn after the accident. He also tried not to notice how he was suddenly taking in every detail of her appearance, as if he were seeing her for the first time. She'd changed into her night clothes while he'd been in the basement – pink pajama bottoms and a purple singlet top. As he tried not to notice the tiny bow on the centre of her neckline, his stomach performed a series of somersaults …
"Can you believe we both injured our heads tonight?" she said, very amused. "Your bruise is even on the opposite side to mine. I suppose that makes us sqaure."
"Yeah," said Tommy distantly. He couldn't think what else to say. Great … now I can't communicate!
"I saw all the emergency numbers your mom left on the kitchen bench," she went on. "I'm surprised she didn't leave the number for US Military."
"How come?" Tommy was able to make himself ask, taking a sip of water.
"There could be a war tonight, T!" she said sarcastically. "Or aliens could land in your backyard."
"Dil lives here. We're use to aliens by now," said Tommy, smiling. She laughed. He felt warm all over …
"Least you didn't lose your sense of humour with that fall," she commented, finishing her work on his head with a glow-in-the-dark band-aid. "All done! How do you feel?"
There were many ways Tommy could respond to that question. Remaining cautious, he opted for a simple "good" followed by an obliged "thank you." He must've looked slightly delirious because she asked him if he was okay again.
"I guess I'm still in shock," was his lame reply. Yeah, he was in shock all right. One thought stood out blazingly in his mind: has she always been this beautiful?
"We should clean up this Chinese food before it collects mould and attracts Phil," she said, already standing up.
Even when she says 'mould' she's still beautiful …
More then just a 'thing' indeed.
9.27pm: One Hour
Standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, Tommy stared at his reflection while his brain went into overdrive.
He'd just finished clearing the abandoned Chinese food with Lil, before setting up their sleeping bags and pillows on the living room floor. Unable to be in her presence any longer without feeling like a complete idiot, he grabbed a candle and excused himself to go get ready for bed.
And so here he was. Alone. In the candlelit bathroom. Dressed in a blue T-shirt and grey sweat pants. He still felt like a complete idiot …
"What now, Pickles?" he asked his vacant reflection, which offered him no solace. He bent over the sink, turned on the tap and splashed cold water on his face.
Still an idiot.
How could this happen? It had only been what, an hour? And Lil had gone from being one of Tommy's oldest and best friends, the girl who used to play in his sandbox and eat worms, to being … more?
"Sometimes friends … end up feeling differently about each other," she'd said earlier. "You realise you want more."
Chuckie and Angelica and Phil and Kimi had already made their moves. Was this the move he was supposed to take?
One hour he kept telling himself firmly. You can't get a crush on someone in one hour! These things take time … days, months to accumulate! Oh, who am I kidding! She's got me. I'm gone …
Defeated, Tommy now wondered how he'd get through the rest of the night. The last thing he wanted was to scare Lil or make things awkward. He automatically assumed she wasn't feeling the same way about him. Staring at his reflection again, he gulped. There was only one thing he could do. He'd have to go on, putting on the front of 'best friend Tommy', and keep anything else that challenged this facade well hidden.
In that case, he was doomed from the outset.
9.38pm: Heat Rising
Oh crap!
These were the first words that came to Tommy's mind when he re-entered the living room and saw ... a tent?
"What do you think?" Lil asked him proudly. "It's one of those fold-out tents. Me and Kimi have sleep-overs in it all the time, they're really cool! Makes you feel like you're camping."
"Er, yeah!" said Tommy heartily, going into 'best friend Tommy' mode. "That is cool."
Oh CRAP!
"I put our sleeping bags and pillows inside. Come and see ... "
Gesturing for Tommy to follow, Lil disappeared inside the tent. Once Tommy remembered how to work his legs, he bent down and crawled in after her.
Crap crap CRAP!
It was very, very cosy inside. Like their own private, green bubble. Tommy couldn't help but notice how close their sleeping bags had to be to fit in there. They may as well be sleeping in the same bed! The candle flames from outside beamed in through the fabric like stars. Hands down, it was the most romantic situation he'd ever crawled into. Lil was stretching out her sleeping bag, her curly brown hair now tied back in pigtails. If it were possible, she seemed to be growing more beautiful by the second. 'Best friend Tommy' was having a silent heart attack.
"Well, come in! Don't just sit there," she ordered mockingly. "I've got Monopoly. The TV's out, so I figured we could play a board game for a while. Unless you had other ideas." She raised an eyebrow suggestively.
Perfect he thought. She's teasing me again. I'm not going to make it out of here alive!
"Monopoly sounds good," said Tommy, sliding over to his sleeping bag.
They played Monopoly for over half-an-hour. For Tommy, the game turned out to be a good distraction. Still, he'd love to sneak a look at her when she was concentrating. It was so cute! She'd roll the dice, glare at the board and start talking tactics to herself. She kept apologising for taking so long, but Tommy would happily tell her to take her time. It was all over when Tommy lost nearly all his money.
"I killed you, Pickles!" she declared, helping him pack the board.
"Yes," Tommy admitted. "Tragically, you did." Honestly, she was still killing him!
"So ... what do you want to do now? I'm not tired yet."
"Me neither."
"Isn't Dil supposed to be home by now?"
Tommy checked his watch. 10.40pm. "His date must be going well. Who would have thought?"
"Lucky Dil."
"Yeah ... "
They spent the next fifteen minutes talking about Tommy's up and coming film project - another excellent distraction. Out of all his friends, Tommy found Lil to be the easiest person to talk to about his film work. Over the years, she'd become more and more interested in acting, and he'd often cast her in lead roles. Angelica would bump in for a lead role here and there, but she wasn't interested in the craft of acting like Lil was. She just wanted attention.
"Maybe we should do a thriller ... or a horror! I've wanted to do another horror movie for ages."
Tommy talked while lying on his back. Lil lay on her side to his left, her head resting on her hands and listening intently. Tommy avoided looking at her as much as he could. If he caught her eye for too long, and realised how close she was to him, he'd blush and forget how to speak English.
"I like listening to you talk about movies," she said all of sudden. Tommy, surprised by this comment, looked at her without thinking.
"You do?"
Lil nodded and smiled shyly. "I like listening to you talk about anything."
She blushed after saying that. Tommy couldn't believe it. Is she flirting with me?
The realisation caused his stomach to perform one of its biggest somersaults of the night. Tommy didn't have much experience with girls, but that had to be flirting! Was it possible Lil felt something for him too? His mind boldly opened to the possibilities. Well, dad did say to keep it in the living room. There was no mention of a tent, but ... EW! Don't think about dad at a time like this!
Lil stared at Tommy expectantly, waiting for him to react. When he didn't do anything, she averted her eyes, embarrassed. He knew it. She is flirting with me! Tommy had to act fast.
"What perfume are you wearing?"
She looked up again, eyes brightening with recognition.
"So you did sniff me earlier!"
Tommy held back at first, then relented. "Yes, I did. My sense of smell's been extra sensitive since I took a whiff of Dil's cologne. I think it enlarged my nasal passage." Lil giggled.
"I thought I must've smelt really bad or something ... "
"No," said Tommy, shaking his head. "You smell … great."
That got her blushing again, not to mention Tommy. It was turning into a blush-a-thon. The heat inside the tent was rising ...
"It's not perfume, it's lip cream," she said finally, keeping her eyes locked on his. He did the same. Their voices seemed to get softer and softer as they went on.
"It's strong lip cream."
"I know."
"What flavour is it?"
"Pina Colada."
"Does it taste as good as it smells?"
Tommy laughed internally at himself. That had to be the corniest line in the history of corniest anything! Nevertheless, it worked. Lil answered him in a delicate whisper.
"You'll just have to find out."
Woohoo! Finally, I punched out chapter three. Very happy, and still having lot's of fun playing with Tommy and Lil. They flow nicely in a romance. If they don't get together for real, it'd be a waste. Hope you guys are still having fun as well. As always, thanks for the feedback. That's partially why I'm here :)