Hold My Hand

Phones And More

"Hi, I'm Dana, I'm a friend of Rupert's." Emma reached forward and Dana snagged it.

Good, no problems. She gave a quick shake and looked at me. "Isn't she just a little too cute for you?" Emma's mouth dropped open. I glared at my friend, and she punched me in the arm.

"Honestly, yes, she is." I cleared my throat. Dana crooked an eyebrow at me. "This is Emma, she's my.." But Emma interrupted, "I'm his friend, well, new friend. We met yesterday." Dana looked her over and shot me an 'I'm-so-sure' look. Emma's hand was around my arm, so yes, I could see how that might look confusing.

I didn't know exactly how to explain the situation.

"So what are you in for?" She turned back to the counter. I gasped, "You work here?" I was surprised. I thought she was just a mechanic. "Yeah, The Metal Shop got slow, so I needed a part time job. I didn't want to, but it kind of rocks. I get thirty percent off everything."

She grabbed the brim of her baseball cap and turned it backwards on her head. "So at least there's perks." She was dressed in boy clothes, as always. Her long blond hair was braided and hung over her shoulders. I shook my head and laughed.

Half the stuff in the store was for girls, and she looked like the boy next door. Well, the tomboy next door. "I'm just looking for skins for Emma's phone." Emma held out the bag and I took out her new phone.

"Wicked! I've been wanting that phone for ages! How did you luck out?" She looked at Emma. "Oh, Rue bought it for me." She looked down and blushed. Dana turned to look at me. The 'I don't believe it' look on her face had me holding my laughter back.

"I ruined her phone, so I owed her." She shook her head in agreement, but I could tell it wasn't a good enough reason for her. Dana winked at me. "So what kind of skin do you want?" "I'm not sure, I'll know if I see it. Do you have anything good?" Dana turned and walked over to the case of skins, she flipped the wheel and colors spun around. "There's all these, but I just got a new shipment in today, let me get those too." And she headed back to the far end of the store and through a black and silver spiked door.

"She seems nice." Emma's voice made me jump. "Yeah, she's pretty cool, unless she's tackling you, then she kind of sucks." I rubbed my injured arm again. How much damage was I going to sustain today?

"She does that a lot?" There was a tone in her voice I couldn't quite decipher. "Yeah, she's into football and all that, so it's just random practice for her." "She plays football? Isn't that a little, uh, rough? You know, for a girl?" Emma's tone was not so subtle. I laughed.

"Dana's no ordinary girl. She knows more about cars than I do. She can barbeque better than my dad, and she plays sports hard enough to damage everyone else on the team, without her even getting a scratch. She's like a monster."

"Does she look like a monster?" She was smiling, but I knew what she wanted to know. "She's tall, and blond. Thin but has more muscle than me, but she's not all ripped. That'd just be gross. She's really sweet and girlie when you get to know her, but she's more comfortable just being one of the guys. It's kind of nice."

"Oh." Emma said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"It's just that, back home, all the girls are too girlie, and it's kind of annoying." I tried to explain.

"Uh-huh." She hesitated. "So, you two never dated?" I dropped my arm. "Eww. No, that would just be wrong. Besides, everyone knows she's had a thing for Eric since their sophomore year."

"Eric that works with your dad right?"

She was smiling again. Good. "Yeah, that Eric."

"That Eric what?" Dana jumped over a bean bag and stopped in front of us, a small brown box in her hand. "Gee Dana, that Eric you're in love with."

I braced myself.

She swung out hard, punching me in the shoulder. Damn. That hurt. "Shut your pie hole Ruby."

I could just hurt Dana.

"Ruby? Why did you call him that?" Emma looked towards Dana's voice. Dana's mouth dropped open. "Isn't it obvious?" Dana looked at me and I glared back at her. I wanted to wallop her. Too bad she was a girl.

"Uh, no?" Emma tugged on my hand, she didn't know what to say. Dana looked at her, then her mouth snapped shut.

She put a hand out and waved in slowly back and forth in front of Emma's face. I slapped her hand. Hard.

"So what's in the box Dana?" Dana flinched at my tone. She took one deep breath, and then spoke as though nothing had happened. "These are all the newest ones, they want to know what's going to catch on and get snapped up." She handed me the box.

I released Emma's hand, and opened the box. There were cases that looked like they were carved out of metal, some were covered in spikes, some had pink kittens and crossbones on them. I dug through the box, and found the right one. "This one. It's perfect." I handed it back to Dana. She smiled, "Wicked." She rang it up. I handed Emma the bag. She opened the bag and took it out, opening the plastic wrapper. "So what's it look like?"

Dana gasped. Now I had to explain.

We stood there for a moment, Emma twisting the skin in her fingers. She spoke first. "Well, I thought you kind of knew, you did put your hand in front of my face." Dana's head snapped up, "How did you know that?" Emma smiled. "Well, I could smell your perfume suddenly, and then I heard a snap, like Rue had most likely slapped you."

"Rue?" Dana's voice was incredulous. "Yes, is that wrong?" Emma looked towards me, "would you prefer it if I called you Rupert?" I blushed and shook my head, "No, Rue is fine, but thank you for asking." Emma turned back towards the counter, "He didn't hurt you did he?" She waited. Dana laughed.

"No, he didn't hurt me, but then again, I don't think he could even if he wanted to." She flexed her arms at me, and I laughed darkly. I could take her, if she wasn't a girl. Emma's face brightened.

"So it doesn't bother you?" She tilted her head to one side. Dana looked confused, "Bother me? What should bother me?" She looked at me like I would know, but I didn't. "Well, to be honest, most people get uncomfortable when they find out I can't see them...... you don't mind?"

"Are you kidding? I was waiting for you to make some random comment about my clothes. It's nice you can't make fun of me."

I could just hug Dana.

"Why would I make fun of your clothes? At least your not wearing all white....are you?" I had to laugh at that. "Dana's dressed like a boy Emma, she's having gender issues."

Dana swung again and punched me in the arm. "Hey, it's not my fault boy clothes are more comfortable than girl clothes." She looked back at Emma.

"Why are you dressed in white?" She asked. I coughed and shook my head no. She looked at me and smiled, "But the sweater rocks, not bad." I looked to see Emma's face light up like the sun.

"There are clothes here, right?" Her voice actually squeaked.

Oh no.

Dana smiled.

Oh no, no,no.

"Yeah, all sorts, you looking?" She replied, giving me a snarky look.

Dumb question Dana.

Emma reached into her back pocket and pulled out a shiny gold card. Oh crap. She set it on the counter and pushed it towards Dana.

"No, YOU'RE looking. You game?"