Jaded

Fifteen

FIFTEEN

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"I got one," I announced suddenly.

Parker looked up from his seat behind the counter. He smiled at me. "Well, then what're you waiting for?" he asked me. We were sharing favorites. I hadn't done something like this in-well, forever. Despite the childlike feel of it I enjoyed learning more about him. So far I knew he liked dogs over cats which I strongly disagreed with him on, that he liked Coke better than Pepsi, and that his favorite band was the Clash. I played with the ends of my hair, thinking on how I was going to go about asking him. I peered up at him from behind my hair.

"Favorite color?" I asked.

"You killed it! Everyone asks that!"

"But it's a valid questions!"

He gaped at me as if I had just said the most ridiculous thing. "There is nothing valid about it!" he insisted. I was becoming more and more flustered. I knew he was going to react this way. "We were having a perfectly respectable game just now and you've made a mockery of the entire this thing-with just that one question!" He looked as if he was going to continue his tirade but he was interrupted by a crash. We both froze, our eyes meeting each others with a wide look. There was only one thing that noise could be. Parker sighed, hurrying around the counter to the source of the noise. It was a child. Of course it would be a kid.

"I-I-It broke!" the kid said.

"It's fine. Look we can just-"

"It broke!" the kid wailed.

Parker reared back, clearly shocked by the child's sudden outburst. I was pretty damn shocked by it myself and I was all the way across the room. I can't imagine witnessing that up close. I shivered at the thought. Parker was hosting a class today. It was probably everyone least favorite thing. They held them early in the day. It was the perfect time for the elderly and the young to get together and make absolutely nothing of worth. I had seen a few older men and women come through and make some pretty spectacular stuff but it was rare. Most the time it was pots, plates, and bowls. It never ended. I was so sick of it I could have broken every single one in the store.

My eyes returned to Parker who was holding the broken pot in his hands. He was looking around the store either for an escape or the kid's mother. "Hey now, don't get upset. I can just get some glue and we can put this all back together," he told the kid soothingly. The kid was hearing none of it. He continued to cry and scream. The volume was so spectacular that the other guest had stopped working and were looking ready to leave themselves.

The joy of teaching. I knew one thing-I wasn't majoring in that. I might take up teaching high school but no way in hell would I find myself teaching kids. I watched as Parker tried to calm the boy but nothing seemed to work. Just when all looked lost a woman appeared from the back, rushing forward. The kid threw his arms around the woman, crying. It wasn't long before they both left, leaving everyone to silence. Parker dropped the broken pot into the trash. "That was unpleasant," he declared as he took his seat once again. "What were you saying?"

"Favorite color?" I asked again.

He sighed. "Blue. Yours?"

I pondered. "Black," I decided.

He wrinkled up his nose, throwing me a look. "That is not a color," he pointed out. I opened my mouth to argue this but he stopped me. The argument between white and black as colors was an old one and one that I always won. White was the absence of all color while black was the presence of all color. So to say black wasn't really a color was ridiculous because it was all color. We had already had this conversation though so he knew better. "It's not a very original color, but I digress. What is your favorite place in the whole world?"

I already knew my answer before he even finished asking the question. "Amsterdam," came my immediate response. It seemed messed up but at the same time I had been thinking of Pierce's favorite place. He had loved Italy. He loved the architecture and the history. He especially loved how divine it all was. But he also admired the beauty of it all-how grand. The churches, the paintings, the people. It was all so decadent and he had loved it. I, on the other hand, preferred Amsterdam. It was civilized but still remained almost wild. There was no real rules and people generally just didn't give a shit. It seemed a mellow sort of place.

"Bah! Amsterdam is overrated," he insisted with a wave of his hand. I mocked glared at him but he just smiled. "I, on the other hand, don't need to go far to reach my favorite place. That building I showed you the other night? That's my favorite place. It's a safe, beautiful place and in the most unexpected place." I made a face at him but he just laughed. I almost envied him his answer though. He only had but to walk down the road to reach a place he truly loved. I would have to go around the world to a place I might enjoy.

"I got one!" I announced.

"Hit me," he said.

"Your favorite memory."

He flashed me another one of his breathtaking smiles and then his face became thoughtful. I could almost hear him thinking. I waited and then after a few minutes he slapped his hand on the counter. "I know! It was when I was nine. My parents... they weren't really there for me most of the time," he told me. I couldn't help but notice the way he said 'there.' It made me wonder what exactly he meant. "But one time they managed to save enough money to take me to the zoo. I had never been to the zoo before. I remember the first time I saw a tiger. It sounds stupid but it felt magical? If that's a good word for it. It was a good memory."

I ran a hand through my hair, thinking about what he said. "I've never been to the zoo," I mused. My parents never had time for things like that. They were either working or just weren't around. Maybe once and a while we would vacation but it wasn't all that often. My dad actually found the zoo disgusting. He thought it was dirty so we just never went. My eyes moved back to Parker who looked like he was about to explode. I raised an eyebrow at him, questioningly. "What is wrong with you?"

"You've never been to the zoo?"

"No, I haven't," I answered him.

He gaped at me. He ran a hand through his hair in distress. "You're eighteen and you've never even been to the zoo once?" he asked again. He was clearly having trouble with this concept. I nodded slowly in response to his question. "That's messed up! That's like a kid never having ice cream. We must remedy this." I laughed at his over the top reaction. I bet he'd be surprised by the all the other things I hadn't done that everyone else had. He'd also be surprised at the things I had done. I opened my mouth but Parker cut me off. "What about you? What is your favorite memory?"

I played with the bottom of my shirt, thinking about the question. I didn't have many memories that stood out, but I knew without even thinking long on it which one was my favorite. I looked back up at Parker. "I was seven and Pierce was eleven. It was Christmas time," I started. I took a deep breath. "My parents weren't around. They missed out on a lot of things when we were growing up, but this Christmas they were home. Pierce and I were so excited. We spent the holidays in Lechston, taking snow rides and looking at the Christmas lights. I remember waking up early and opening presents with him. It was the last and first Christmas we had as a family."

We fell into silence-me because I was lost in the memory and Parker because of what I had just told him. I had never told anyone about that before. Mainly I never had because no one ever cared to ask me about it, but at the same time it was something I liked to keep to myself. After several moments of silence I pulled my eyes off the ground to meet Parker's. His brown hazel eyes met with mine. I saw so much in that one look, and for once I didn't look away.

* * * AUTHOR'S NOTE * * *

I went to a college day the other day and it totally cleared nothing up for me! I went in thinking, "Hey, maybe I'll do something with art." I talked to the Art Professor and in less words she basically told me I would fail at everything! I did feel better about Journalism by the end of the day though! :) The really cool thing about the day was that Mizzou has a wicked Rec room!