Stealing the Mona Lisa

Two: Ace

Lewis and I walk towards downtown with our new neighbour girl between us. Her honey coloured eyes are wide as she takes in the town that is Oakmeadow, I watch as Mona watches the scenery around us and I can't help but smile. I am infatuated with her wholesome beauty.

I wasn't bullshitting with Lewis, I do want to be Mona's friend and be the friend that she needs right now but I'm not blind! I can see that Mona is a gorgeous girl but I also realize that she sees through my facade, I know she can see through my cheesy pick up lines and my hyperbolic flirting. Mona just chuckles and her cheeks turn pink but the lines don't make her swoon. This girl is going to make me work for it, which I can appreciate and I definitely respect.

We reach downtown which really isn't much of anything but everything worth seeing is on this block. Main Street is home to almost ever business in Oakmeadow, the shops line both sides of the street and the Trader Joe's is plopped right in the centre of the right hand side of the road. The cinema is directly across form the Trader Joe's and beside the cinema is Lola's Diner. Beside the Trader Joe's is Cameron's Carpentry (which is where Mona's dad is going to be employed) and flanking the other side of the grocery store is the Oakmeadow Public Library. At the end of the street is our father's auto shop, Hart Auto. Finally across the street is the closest thing that Oakmeadow has to a hospital, Teddy's dad's medical office.

A couple streets over on the corner of Park Avenue and Taylor Road is Oakmeadow High School. The school sits perched on a hill and beneath the hill is the large football field and the bleachers. Down the street on Taylor is the church that more than half of the town belongs to, our mom belongs to a woman's group that plans events for the youth of Oakmeadow.

We walk passed the cinema, old posters from Rosemary's Baby still hang in the windows but so do the freshly hung advertisements for the carnival. Mona stops in front of the carnival poster and looks at the dates, it opens tomorrow and is in town until Sunday night.

"Oh! This looks like fun." Mona comments as she studies the poster, she turns to my brother and I. "Are you guys planning on going?"

Truth be told, I told the lads that the carnival was rather juvenile for us and that we shouldn't go. We usually do go and ride of bumper cars and the ferris wheel, we'd snack on popcorn and cotton candy but this year it didn't seem right. But if Mona wants to go, I'd go.

"We usually do but Ace decided against it this year." Lewis jabs.

"Ace makes your decisions for you?" Mona questions and side eyes me.

"Well, y'know, I'd go with you." I mumble and rub the back of my neck.

"I believe your exact words were it was childish." My brother quips and cocks an eyebrow.

That little asshole! I thought he could be mature about this whole thing but he's so love struck with Mona that he's going to drag me through the mud so he can get closer to her. She's older than him! Even if he drags me through the mud, Mona is still not going to be interested in him, I'm just saving him the heartbreak.

Before I can muster a comeback, the door to Lola's Diner opens and our neighbour Allan walks out. Allan is a few months older than Lewis and his best friend, Allan stands a full half foot taller than my little brother (after all, Lewis is about the same height as Mona). Allan is a scrawny kid with dirty blond hair that is slicked back, he's got dark brown eyes that lock on the three of us. He pops the collar on his leather jacket that has The Dealer's Choice embroidered on the back as he walks towards us.

"What's going on, skuzz buckets?!" He bellows and then he notices Mona.

Allan flushes bright red as he sheepishly stumbles up to us. He reaches us and makes dead eye contact with Mona.