Waiting for Superman

Flashbacks and Echoes

"To have memories of those you have loved and lost is perhaps harder than to have no memories."

-Van Helsing

Chapter 14

The light shining through the cracks in my blinds finally woke me up. I glance at the clock. It's only 9:00 that means I got roughly 6 hours of sleep last night, seeing as I didn't get home till 3am. Great. And I have about 30 minutes to get ready before Nick comes over. Perfect, not.

I drag my tired body across the room and into my bathroom. I splash water on my face in a futile attempt to wake me up. Looking into the mirror, I sigh, bags were beginning to show under my eyes from all my sleepless nights. I peel my pajamas off of me and walk into my closet. I grab the first pair of jeans, flip flops, and t-shirt.

After putting them on, I turn to look at my reflection in the mirror and I gasp. This was the exact same outfit I had worn the day that Matt asked me out. Without a warning, that day instantly replays in my mind.

Flashback...

'Meet me at Harris Teeter' the text read. I lock my phone and bolt out of my aunt and uncle's house barely muttering a goodbye. I really need to work on letting people know when I leave. I speed all the way to Harris Teeter, the more time I get to spend with him, the better.

By the time I finally pull into the parking lot I see Matt waiting in his truck. When he sees me pull up beside him, a huge grin expands across his face. I leap out of my car and into his car. "Hey slow poke, lets go, I got to babysit at 7:30!"

"Hey now, I'm not slow! I'm fast, I'm quick, I'm speedy Gonzales!" he replies while tearing out of the parking lot and onto highway 41. I laugh and roll my eyes. I loved his sarcasm, his sarcasm was a lot like mine, so I always got his sarcasm, and he always got my sarcasm, which was nice, because that meant there was never any misunderstanding between us.

Glancing at the time, I say, "God, could you drive any slower!" He slams on the breaks, partially to annoy me and partially because it was a red light, he then turns to look at me, and like a child he sticks his tongue out at me. I burst out into fits of laughter and he just smiles and shakes his head before pushing the gas pedal.

Ten minutes later, and three gibberish conversations later, we pull into Sullivan's Island and park in one of the places to visit the beach. As soon as we hit the sand and take our shoes off, his arm snakes around me and pulls me close. His smell wafted up to my nose and I breathe it in, it smelled wonderful. Resting my head into his chest, he gives my arm a quick squeeze and we continue walking up the beach.

After a good five minutes of walking, we pick an open, and somewhat deserted part of the beach. We sit down side by side and watch the ships go by. Like a cheesy clichéd movie, we write our names in the sand, to let everyone know that we were here, and that we were here together.

Upon entering the random topic of dancing, he brings up that he goes swing dancing with his sister. "Swing dancing?" I question, "I've only ever gone shag dancing with Kensey."

"Swing dancing is so much fun! Here, I'll show you!" Standing up and dusting himself off, he holds out a hand for me, eagerly, I take it, and dust myself off, too, once I've regained my balance. "It goes like this," he starts. He shows me the steps and tells me what to do. By the third time I've got it down, he spins me around and into him, I look up into his eyes and he looks into mine. "Emily?" he asks.

"Hmm?"

"I like you, a lot, will you please be my girlfriend?" his eyes fill with earnest. I can tell he's waiting on pins and needles for my answer.

Me, being me, I decide to toy with him. "Hmm, I don't know..." I watch his eyes fill with worry, but then a little smirk plays at his lips, he knew I was toying with him. I laugh, "Of course! I would love to be your girlfriend."

"Good, because I would love for you to be my girlfriend too." We both smile and then sit back on the sand and watch the sun go down. My head on his shoulder and his arm holding me close to him.

A knock at the door snaps me out of my flashback immediately. I glance out the window and see that it's Nick that is here. I look at my phone. He's early. I don't bother to apply any makeup, he's dating me for a reason other than my good looks, isn't he? He can get over the fact that I look like shit. Rushing down my stairs, I try to forget about my flashback that happened only moments ago. I put on my best smile that I can forcibly manage and open the door, "Hey Nick."

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Ahh! Dancing on the beach during the sunset, so romantic! And believe me it was! I replay that day all the time, for a hopeless romantic like myself, it was one of the best days ever!

Oh and so I just wanted to say, Nick called me the other day and we got to talking, and he got all like, almost upset that this other kid likes me, and maybe a bit jealous. Then right before we hung up he asks me to go to his rugby game that night, which I did and that was nothing but awkward, and then the next day he texts me asking me why I didn't wait for him after his game, ummm...??? And the day after we broke up he got so upset with me for being downtown really late, like why do you still care what I do? Why are boys so confusing? Someone please explain this logic to me.

And then to make matters more complex than they already are, Matt and I were supposed to go get coffee, and right as we were finally figuring out a date and we had it pretty much settled, five minutes later I get a text from him saying that he doesn't want to "rekindle our flame". I told him we had no flame to rekindle and he says its the "flame of friendship". What the flying fuck? And then everyone, including Nick, says he doesn't want to go get coffee because he's scared of getting feelings for me again. Seriously, can someone please explain to me how boys minds work?!?!!?

But hey another chapter, can't believe I'm already up to chapter 14, wow! Thanks again to everyone who has read this far! It means the world to me!