The Nights Were Young (8 page)

**********

              Later that night she was back in Crossfalls Estates. She jogged around the neighborhood; she would’ve done anything to get out of the house. It was silent here; no noise in the neighborhood, no noise in her parents’ house. It was maddening sometimes, and at least on her runs she felt she could leave and escape to somewhere else, or at least look at the setting sun.

              She thought about life while she ran - her life. Her mother wanted for her what her mother had for herself. But how could her mother be happy? Her mother and father hardly talked to each other. They were hardly ever in the same room, and her mother was so quiet all the time unless she spoke of how Marie should live. This is what her mother wanted for Marie, but it was a life void of any true emotions. Marie wondered if she herself had ever actually felt true emotions. She knew she loved her parents, but she began to see that she did not
know
them. They didn’t know her.

              Always by the time she got back from jogging, she abandoned the thoughts and resorted back to the quiet evening routine her mother and father expected. She checked her cellphone for new messages, but there was nothing.

He’s just a jerk anyway
, she thought.
There would be more boys she could meet in college that would be better than him
.

She cringed. “God, I’m thinking like Mom.”

She showered and lay in bed. It was late, and her parents were asleep. Just as she closed her eyes, her phone started ringing. She turned over and snatched it off her nightstand. The screen read: TROUBLE.

              “Uh – hello?” she answered.

              “What’s up gorgeous?” He was talking low and slow, like he had just woken up.

              She laughed a little. “Travis. Wh-what are you doing?”

              “I’m calling you, duh! Hey… what are you… what you doing this weekend?”

              “Are you – are you drunk?” she asked.

              He laughed a kind of dumb laugh as if he was stumbling around something. “Yeah, baby, I’m uh… a little tipsy I guess.”

              “What did you call me?” she asked, unable to understand if she was angry or delighted. It was more anger, though. Her eyes glared downward and she gripped the phone tighter.

              “Uh – I donno,” he slurred. “What you doing on this weekend?”

              “Seriously, Travis? You’re asking me out while you’re drunk?”

              He giggled again. “So… that doesn’t answer my question.”

              “Where are you?” she asked.

              “No, Marie… the real question is where are
you
?” He chuckled at his own stupidity.

              “You’re an ass.” She hung up the phone. “Ugh!”

She put it back on the nightstand and turned away from it. All this time she’d wanted him to talk to her, and he finally did it – she was his go-to girl when he was drunk. Or at least that’s how she felt. For the rest of the night, until she fell asleep, the thought of him bothered her.

********** 

              The next day, it only took until ten o’clock for them to start talking again. He sent a message first.

TROUBLE: hey I’m really sorry about last night I shouldn’t have called you like that

She wanted to make him wait, so she did not text back until lunch.

MARIE: It’s ok I guess. Just don’t make me your go-to drunk dial girl.

“So I heard you rejected my brother,” Kate said from across the lunch table.

              “Yeah, I feel bad about it,” Marie said, looking up from her phone.

              “Don’t stress. He’ll get over it. He’s already talking to some other little freshman. Anyway, you can do a lot better than him.”

              Marie looked back down at her phone.

“Who are you talking to?” Kate asked.

              “Travis,” Marie said.

              “Oh really? You two getting close or something?”

              “No. He called me last night when he was drunk.”

              “Aw that’s cute,” Kate said.

              “It’s rude. He made a complete jerk out of himself.” Marie cringed again.
Damn it
, she thought.
I’m already turning into Mom.

              “Marie, don’t be mad. If a guy calls you when he’s drunk, that means he’s into you. Haven’t you ever heard that drunken words are sober thoughts? It means he thinks about you.”

              Marie had not thought of it like that. It made her view what happened differently, so much to the point that her anger towards him disappeared. Her thought about her, just like she thought about him. Still though, it seemed like nonsense.

“That sounds like bad advice,” Marie said. “He could have also called just been thinking that I was an easy girl he could get with.”

              “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t think of you like that,” Kate said.

              “How do you know?” Marie asked eagerly. She leaned forward onto the table.

              Kate noticed her eagerness. She smiled at Marie and answered, “Because Travis doesn’t do that.”

              Marie shook her head. “You even said he was a dog. You said he’s been with, and I quote, ‘so many girls that you couldn’t count all of them’.”

              “Yeah,” Kate said, looking down. She traced her finger along the table. “I know, but he doesn’t chase girls. They chase him, and the only ones that chase him are tramps, and that’s all he’s used to. Like that girl at the cliffs who freaked out on you.”

              Marie’s phone vibrated.

TROUBLE: I won’t I promise I want to make it up to you I was serious about asking you out this weekend you still grounded?

Marie sighed and looked up for a moment.

              “What’d he say?” Kate asked.

              “He’s asking me out for this weekend.”

              “Go for it! We can start double dating.” Kate started rambling about how wonderful a double date would be with her and Joey while Marie tuned her out.

              Marie looked at her cellphone and bit her lip. She was nervous. There was something about sending a message answering yes or no. It was ridiculous to take it so seriously, but it felt like it would change everything no matter her decision. She hesitated, and then…

MARIE: I’m free on Saturday

VIII

Marie examined herself in her bedroom mirror – not too impressed
. She wore a tank top and some jeans - had straightened her hair and put some make up on, though not enough to alarm her mother. She wanted to look good for Travis, but only to make him realize that she was not just some other tramp, as Kate had put it. At least, that was what she told herself.

              It was eight o’clock when the doorbell rang.

Wow
, she thought,
he’s actually on time
.

              “I got it! I got it!” Marie called out as she ran down the stairs, hurriedly putting on her jacket.

              Her mother nearly answered the door, but Marie wasn’t about to let that happen.

She jumped in front of her mother, gave herself a second to fix her hair and catch her breath, and then opened the door.

              There he stood, as her date, completely different from the way he appeared at school. He was wearing a nice white T-shirt and a belt that held up his jeans. Even his sneakers appeared like he had washed them. He smelled of cologne, cheap but nice, and he was chewing mint gum like always. Before she could think out loud, her mother interrupted.

              “Hi, you must be Travis,” her mother said.

Her mother hovered behind her; Marie stood in her shadow.

              They shook hands. Her mother had on her polite smile that meant in her mind she was sizing Travis up; Marie knew it well.

              Travis smiled back at her nicely, but he stopped when he realized that hers was only superficial.

              “You must be Marie’s mom,” he said.

              “That’s right.” Her mother took her hand away from him and folded her arms. “Marie says that you’re an honor student. You must be very proud.”

              Travis was dumbfounded.

             
Shit
, Marie thought. She gulped, looking back and forth at Travis and her mother.

              Travis was expressionless for a moment, but he quickly flashed a smile again, and he ran his fingers through his combed hair while he spoke. “Uh, yeah,” he answered. “I’m really proud. I worked hard for it.”

              “What happened to your face, Travis?” her mother asked.

              The bruises and marks from his fight with David were still apparent.

              Marie started shaking.
Damn it
, she thought.
She hates him already
.

              “I uh,” Travis stuttered. “I tripped. Yeah, I was just walking… on a road, and then I fell forward… really hard. Busted my face up and everything.”

              They all stood awkwardly in silence.

              “Mmhmm,” her mother said. “Do you have any plans after school?” 

              “I don’t know,” he said quickly. “Tomorrow I was thinking about hanging out by the lake. Maybe soon I can take Marie on another date if…” he stopped, realizing her mother had meant “after graduation” plans. “Oh, you mean… after high school, right.”

              His mother stared at him with an eyebrow raised.

“No not yet,” he said quickly, and then leaned into the doorway and took Marie’s hand. “Come on, Marie,” he said. “We’re gonna be late.”

He had disregarded the stare her mother had given him. He was fearless against it, and Marie felt elated witnessing her mother stand back in the subtle expression of shock that she couldn’t hide.

She smiled and kissed her stunned mother on the cheek. “Bye mom!”

              “Uh… be back by eleven, Marie!” her mother said.

              But Marie was already swept up in the forming whirlwind called Travis. He had washed his beat-up, red truck, and as he opened the door for her he asked, “What do you think of my baby? She’s pretty tonight huh.”

              Marie smirked at him. She got inside.

              “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m talking about the truck.”

              “Yeah, you would be,” she said.

              He smiled, happy with himself, as he shut her door and ran around. He jumped into the driver’s seat. He grinned at Marie. “You look alright.”

              **********

              They barely spoke on the ride to their date. Travis took her to the Crossfalls Drive-In Theater. She assumed it was one of the last drive-in theaters left in the United States. It was built on an empty lot not far from the town square. At the front of the lot was the giant screen, towering over the audience in their spaced out parking spots. Halfway between the screen and the other end of the lot was a metal shack that made for the snack stand. All around the premises was a tall wall made of metal panels.

The movie was
Full Moon Fangs
, and the date had taken an awkward turn. Marie sat right next to the window leaving the middle seat open, and Travis sat against the opposite window looking forward. He nibbled on popcorn while Marie sipped her soda.

              “You know,” he said, “you can – scoot closer to me if you get scared.”

              “Alright. I’ll remember that.” She kept her gaze forward at the movie screen that she wasn’t paying attention to. It was nerve racking. Her palms were clammy. Her breaths were shallow. She wanted to move closer to him, to be next to him, but she was frozen still in her seat.

The date wasn’t what she thought it would be. He was not making moves or talking about how pretty she was. For part of the night he had stayed still, frozen like a little boy before a stranger. She was beginning to think he may have been a nervous wreck, like she was, that would not take any risk at all, until--

              He slowly inched himself closer to her; then, while keeping his gaze straight forward, he lifted his arm and put it around her on the seat.

Marie was turning red. “What are you doing?”

              “I’m kinda getting scared,” he said.

He smiled a little, but then noticed she was not, and so he stopped.

              With him being this close, Marie noticed something around his neck, a silver chain, and it was a great something to change the conversation.

Marie cleared her throat. “What is that? I’ve never noticed it before.”

              Travis looked down. “My chain?”

              “Yes.”

              He moved his arm from around her and pulled out the chain. There was a nothing attached to it - just a silver chain.

“My mom gave me this a few years back.” He took it off and put it Marie’s hand. “I want you to hold on to it for a while.”

              “What. Why?”

              “That way I’m pretty much guaranteed a second date.”

              Marie blushed, and her eyes caught his. He was much gentler than she expected, and for a moment she regretted all the negative thoughts she had of him before tonight. He leaned in closer and closed his eyes.

             
Oh God, this is it
, she thought. She’d never kissed anyone before, and in a split second her nerves were spiraling out of control. She closed her eyes quickly and her lips trembled. She wanted this, but it terrified her.

She leaned forward to meet him.

              It was a single kiss to start – deliberate, soft, and slow. And though she did not know it, she felt it; something had changed in her, permanently. They paused, and then Marie put the necklace into her jacket and, without thinking, pulled Travis closer to her. In that moment she didn’t care if he was right for her or wrong for her, or if he was a jerk; she wanted him.

              “You’re a really good kisser,” he whispered.

              “You too.” 

              This time she pressed her lips against his and tugged at his shirt.

              His hands moved too quickly, though. He slid up her stomach and placed his palm on her right breast.

              The attraction was gone.

She threw him off. “What are you doing?”

              “What? What’s the problem?” He breathed fast as he looked around the truck, like he thought they were being attacked.

              “I don’t remember telling you to go that far.” She wrapped her jacket around herself.

              “What are you talking about?” he asked.

              “You groped me,” she said. She tightened her jacket and folded her arms.

              “Well you seemed like you were liking it,” he said.

              “Well, I didn’t ask you to grope me.”

              “I didn’t grope you.”

              “Then what would you call it?”

              Travis sat back in his seat and looked forward. “I don’t know. I guess I was just going with the moment, you know?”

              “Whatever,” she said. “I didn’t want you to touch me there. That’s too – private.”

              “Sorry. Jesus, all the other girls weren’t this uptight,” he muttered.

              Marie sat up straight. Her eyes were wide and her fists clenched. “Are you kidding me? All the other girls?”

              Travis groaned. “No, Marie. I didn’t mean--”

              “You really
are
an ass!”

She couldn’t stand it anymore. She got out of the truck and marched to the exit of the drive-in.

              Travis jumped out and yelled after her, “Marie, come on!” People were staring from their cars. “Oh piss off,” he said to them.

              He got back in the truck and drove out of the lot. He pulled the truck up beside her on the street. She saw him struggle to roll down the manual passenger window. “Marie, where are you going? You live, what, twenty miles from here?”

              “Kate lives five minutes off this street, so I think I’ll ride with her.” Marie was walking fast and refused to look his way. The street led to a dark neighborhood.

              “Just get in the truck,” he said.

              “Like all the other girls, Travis?”

              “I didn’t mean it like that. Let me just give you a ride.” He stared back and forth between her and the road in front of him.

              “Go find some other girl that’ll give you what you want.”

              “Marie you’ve been to this neighborhood before, right? You really want to just walk around in it by yourself?”

              She stopped. As much as she hated it, he was right. Kate had told her about break-ins and drug trafficking that happened in that neighborhood. She sighed and got into Travis’s truck. “You better take me straight to Kate’s,” she demanded.

              They were silent all the way to Kate’s house.

              Marie got out without saying a word.

              Travis followed her. “Will you please at least talk to me?”

              She knocked on Kate’s front door.

              “Marie, please. I’m sorry. Just talk to me, please. I didn’t mean what I said.” Travis stood a few feet back from her, and she wouldn’t turn around to face him.

              He had made her feel like what she had been dreading she might be to him.

             
I don’t have to talk to him
, she thought.
He doesn’t deserve it.

              Kate opened the door and Marie walked straight in.

              “Marie. What are you doing here?” Kate asked.

              “Make him go away,” Marie said.

              Kate took one look at Travis as if he was a bad dog.

“Jerk,” Kate said.

“Oh come on,” Travis said. He raised his arms in frustration. “You don’t even know what –”

But Kate slammed the door on him.

              **********

              It was Monday. Marie had not spoken to Travis the rest of the weekend. She was at her lunch table with Kate when he sheepishly approached her, hands in his pockets; he was even chewing his gum softer than normal.

              “Hey,” he said. “Can I talk to you?”

              “No Travis,” Kate answered.

              “Kate, come on,” he said. “Marie?”

              “Are you gonna try and rape her again?” Kate asked.

              Travis rolled his eyes. He looked at Marie.

             
Just ignore him
, Marie thought.

              But he wouldn’t look away from her. “Please,” he said to her softly.

              Marie sighed and stood up to walk with him.

              “Be nice, Travis. Remember her ‘no-no squares’,” Kate said.

              “What the hell are ‘no-no squares?” Travis asked.