5.
On Sunday, my excitement for the school was turned into jumbled thoughts about Daniel and Carmen. When I first came here, I thought everything was the same (except Daniel's hair color of course) but after listening to Flynn, I realized that I was wrong. Things might not be like before anymore. Who was I kidding anyways? Six years were a long time for people and their relationships to change. How could I assume that everything would be just like it was when I left London before?
I couldn't think straight that day. It was hard to imagine them together, even though the possibility was real I had never thought about them that way. But they had acted so normal around me. But no, I had overlooked the awkwardness now and then, as if their relationship was never a thing. What about that?
If they broke up, weren't they supposed to be upset with each other? But then again, I didn't knew when all this happened. Flynn did mention that they sorted something out. But apparently it meant that even though they were 'acting' like friends, they were still troubled about it. At least Carmen was.
I was missing a lot of parts of the story, Dale had already said that he didn't want to tell me anything related to Daniel because it wasn't his place to speak and I agreed with him. Then the only person whom I could turn to was Flynn. But I didn't want to ask him without thinking this thoroughly. Wouldn't it be intruding Carmen's privacy? If both of my friends hadn't chosen to tell me this, there must be a reason behind that.
After tiring my brains for another half an hour I finally decided to let the matter go for now. Mom was probably working in her office downstairs and the house was eerily quiet. Back in New York, things were never this, my dad was a fairly loud person and whenever he was home, it was impossible to find a silent moment. Either it would be loud volume of CNN echoing in the living room or him talking obnoxiously to his clients. Even when I was alone, the sound of traffic and blaring horns outside managed to seep through the walls.
I dressed in a yellow dress and brushed my hair before treading downstairs. I knocked on mom's door and went inside. Her office was small but fairy organized, she was really good at keeping things neat.
''Ally, are you hungry? Should I make something for you?'' She asked while furiously scribbling on some documents,
''Um, no. I was actually going to the church-''
''It's already past the time, the sermon would be probably over.'' She murmured checking her wrist watch,
''It's okay, I'll go on time from next Sunday.'' I said goodbye to her and when I opened the front door I saw Dale watering the small lawn next door. He caught me coming and waved with a smile.
''Hey Caterpillar''
''Hey, keep that away from me.'' I said approaching carefully and eyeing the water pipe. He grinned viciously and sprayed a bit on me. I shrieked and leaped away from the hedges, rushing away from him.
When I wiped away the droplets from my face he was busy laughing carelessly, his blue eyes shining with mischief.
''Dale!'' I shrieked, looking at the damage. Thankfully I was still okay to go outside; the damage hadn't completely ruined my clothes.
''Y-your f-face! Ha ha ha ha!!!''
''Very funny!'' I snapped, ''I'm never saying hello to you again!''
''Well, I was the one who said hello, you didn't even bother to greet me.'' He commented after he was done laughing at me. I snorted,
''Is that your excuse, here I was thinking you have changed a bit.'' I muttered,
He ignored that and this time threw away the water pipe, ''Where're you going?''
''Church'' I replied briefly,
''You go to church?'' he spluttered and began laughing again. My previous annoyance quickly changed to insecurity. I chose my words carefully,
''Is something wrong with going church?''
''Ahh no, I never thought you're religious type. But church?" I felt uncomfortable as he kept on making fun of me and strangely I couldn't say anything in my defense even though I wasn't doing anything wrong. But this was Dale right? He found everything funny and had a habit of laughing at even serious things, he had been like this forever, and it was probably no big deal.
''I'll be going then'' I muttered, adjusting my bag and left without saying another word. When I passed the fenced gate I could still hear the sound of his laughter and something inside my chest hurt.
I went to the church with heavy heart, not really noticing anything else on my way. I didn't want Dale to think I was some freak; he probably hadn't ever seen someone of his age go to church before and reacted that way. I took these persuasions to the church with me, my mind trying to convince myself that nothing wrong had happened just now.
The church was much bigger than before; a lot more spacious and they had renovated it as well, replacing the painted walls with red bricks. Mom was right, the procession was already over and there wasn't anyone there. Two cars were parked outside, along with a bike. I saw a couple talking to a nun on my way inside.
It was empty. That was what I thought when I first entered inside, but as I began moving ahead I saw a lone figure sitting slightly slumped on a bench, somewhere in the middle. At first I ignored him completely and went forward to pray.
But when I finished lighting a candle, I whirled around and caught the look on his face properly. He had black curly hair, few locks fell on his crumpled forehead, his eyes were green - just like the drool worthy heroes in urban fantasies - his face was angular and it could've been perfect if he wasn't scowling to intensely at the statue of Jesus. He was sitting with his hands in the pocket of his jacket, eyes narrowed in concentration and so many things written on his face, it almost looked like he was indulged in some sort of silent conversation with God.
I didn't know him, but at that moment I wanted to. Maybe it was my own piqued curiosity or the explosion of feelings in his deep eyes that left me somewhat speechless. I wanted to stand at that spot and stare at him for a very long time. He on the other hand never broke his eye contact.
What a stubborn soul...
Mindlessly I grabbed a fresh candle from the table and began walking towards him. I felt nervous when I reached his bench but didn't want to back down.
''Hey'' I approached him, my voice small. He turned his head and gave me a troubled look, like I had woken him from a strange dream,
''Yes?'' He spoke with a mixture of surprise and daze,
''Won't you like to light one,'' I said and offered him the candle, ''there was a spare.'' He didn't answer but simply stared at me,
''My dad says that you should take a chance of making a wish, it might be just for you.'' I added, hoping I wasn't being a complete idiot.
To my surprise he rose and took the candle, his fingers brushing my hand slightly. The boy brushed past me and began walking towards the table with the candle in his hand which was clenched tightly.
I handed him the match and he lighted the candle, before setting it down gently. He closed his eyes and began making his wish. Taking advantage of his closed eyes I looked at him one last time feeling as if I was doing something I wasn't suppose to do. I backed a few steps and began walking away and out of the church.
Though I felt a weight of his gaze pressing on me as I left...
When I came outside I was surprised to see Dale waiting for me. He was leaning against the fence and tapping his feet impatiently. I was genuinely surprised to see him there, was he following me before? I didn't even notice.
''Dale, I thought coming to church was funny.'' For a moment I regret what I said, the last thing I needed was to be rude with anyone,
''Hey, I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have laughed,'' I didn't say anything for a moment, and he did look like he was guilty, ''it's just that I didn't know you went to church regularly.''
''Its okay'' I said and he was relieved, ''but you could've waited for me at home.''
''I wanted you to come with me to the park, we're meeting my friends there,'' Dale didn't wait for my response and began ushering me forward and I stumbled a bit,
Meet his friends? He did mention that before. I wasn't sure what to expect but I realize I was looking forward to see them, specially that blonde haired girl, Lillian Fisher.
* * * *
Lillian Fisher turned out to be a completely different person from my wild imagination. Somehow every time I thought about Dale's friend my mind would go back to Aiden Sullivan's girlfriend. I had thought that Lillian would be a make up clad girl with haughty eyes and a really short skirt.
However she looked really different from distance. I was under an impression that we were meeting up at some children park which was creating weird ideas in my head, instead we paused in front of a ground which was empty, save from his friends. Lillian was a tall girl with short blonde messy hair, she wore loose trousers and a white T shirt with a cap, and she held a cricket bat in her hand and was yelling at someone. Seconds later I saw a black kid running towards her and he spun the ball. She hit it with a swing of her bat. It wasn't until a second later that I realized that the ball was coming towards me.
I never got a chance to duck, the ball hit my cheek with a full swing and I went down on my knees clutching my face as it began throb painfully.
''Ahh'' It hurt so much, how heavy was that ball anyways. Looking sideways I realized it wasn't the hardball but a tennis ball. Whatever, it still hurt.
Dale bent down by my side and took my face in his hands examining the damage. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw two people running towards us, looking guilty.
''Shit'' Dale was muttering, he was too close and smelled like lemons and mint, ''does it hurt a lot.''
''I'm fine'' my voice was muffled.
''Oh I'm so sorry!'' A girl - Lillian spoke in a high pitched voice, ''I didn't mean to hit someone! Shit, are you okay? Should I bring ice? I've got in with me.'' She didn't wait for my reply and jogged back to the field.
Dale didn't realize that how much his nearness was affecting me and began blow softly on my cheek making me gulp.
''I-I'm alright,'' I whispered backing away from him, his grip fell away and he gave me a concerned look, now his hands were steadied on my shoulders, still examining my face.
''Really? Lil's bringing ice.''
'Lil' came back and handed ice to Dale who began to touch it to my face. I hissed, making him wince,
''It's okay'' I said and he continued, being extremely careful. Since when did Dale become so considerate?
The next few seconds passed in the blur of the black guy and Dale dragging me towards the benches and making me sit, Lillian kept her distance but apologized to me as well before turning to Dale.
''You should've told me you were bringing her, at least shouted when we were playing!'' She snapped at him in accusatory voice. Dale rolled his eyes and swung towards her,
''Hello Lil, how nice to see you.'' He said sarcastically and the other guy laughed.
''It's okay'' I reassured her for the fifth time, ''it doesn't hurt anymore.'' The lie couldn't hurt and honestly I felt like it wasn't a good start when meeting someone for the first time. I wondered if it was going to leave a bruise because we had orientation tomorrow and the last thing I needed was people to think I came back from WWE.
''Anyways, this is Lillian,'' Dale told me, motioning towards the girl whose image changed from head strong to bossy quite quickly, ''and this guy's called Lee.'' Lee smiled at me politely,
''Hey there-''
''Allyson'' I told him, ''you can call me Ally.''
''Oh you're the Ally.'' Lillian muttered looking pointedly at Dale who narrowed his eyes at her. Then she turned to me, crossing her arms. Her look was calculating, like she was judging me at that moment, her mind undergoing evaluations regarding me. I began to feel conscious under her gaze; she was the sort of person who had the effect on people.
''Next time, you have to play with us, I'm gonna start girls cricket team once we start school again, unfortunately I need a whole team for that.''
''I-''
''Ally doesn't like sports,'' Dale answered for me, his face showed that he didn't appreciate the idea at all, ''don't start dragging everyone in your stupid antics.''
I expected Lillian to snap back at him but she huffed and suddenly sat beside me, her arm going around my shoulder she gave me small slap like we had always been best friends, ''What do you say Allyson? Hmm? Cricket's a nice enough game, I'll teach you all the rules, it's gonna be totally crazy if you join me. We'll play cricket all day.'' I smiled uncertainly. If Lillian Fisher was a salesman or a leader of a promotion campaign she would fail for sure. Play cricket all day? No thanks, if playing this weird game meant to get hit by a ball straight on the face, I was okay without that.
''Uh sure'' My voice was squeaky,
''And you're coming to school tomorrow right?'' another slap on my shoulder, ''we'll discuss our plans there-''
''I told you she doesn't like sports!'' Dale snapped,
''Give her a break Lil.'' Lee Adams piped in,
Lillian narrowed her eyes at both boys, ''How do you know that?''
That was a good question. Did Dale still remember my poor coordination when it came to playing things? Somehow this made me feel giddy. We exchanged a look,
''She's been like that before and nothing's really changed.'' At that moment he said it carelessly, without any thoughts and I nodded. Lillian opened her mouth to say something but we heard a sound of tires screeching and a bike came to halt just outside the ground.
''Ah crap! I had help mom with stuff!'' Lillian threw her bat at Dale who barely held it without injuring himself, ''guys, I gotta go or Derrick will probably leave me here, bye Allyson! Don't forget to see me tomorrow!'' I nodded smiling weakly. Lillian said her goodbyes to boys as well whilst running towards the bike.
''Dale, I'll get my stuff from your house tomorrow!'' she said to him and my eyes trained towards the person on the bike. So that was her cousin, the one who worked in that café, the one with the scowl - as Carmen had called him. I stared at the boy for a fraction of second and suddenly he took off his helmet and ran a finger through his curly black hair.
My eyes widened. He was the guy from the church today, the one whom I gave the candle. Dale and Lee began to collect Lillian's gear and I stood rooted to my spot, my mouth opening slightly. What a coincidence.
As Lillian hoped on the bike, the boy glanced towards us; at first he was completely uninterested. Then he turned his head and stared at me, as if just noticing. His face registered surprise as well and he narrowed his eyes. Lillian was talking to him and after a moment he put back his helmet, driving away in a flash.
Ugh, I really did hate coincidences. Most of the times they didn't end well.
Later when I was lying on my bed, thinking over the days events I decided that Dale was wrong, because things had changed. I had tried to deny it as well, wishing that we all would be like our old selves - kids. How wrong! We were grown up now, and the biggest thing that had happened between all of us was time, one thing we couldn't reverse. Time passed, it created distance - often between relationships - and before we know it the distance drive us away from each other, into unknown territories.
But where was I now?
Probably still wandering around and searching for my place.
* * * *
I wanna mention that some times the letters in starting dialogues are not capitalized, it happens becuase Word automatically makes them smaller cases.
Thanks for reading!
Next chapter, school finally starts and creepy Aiden Sullivan is going to show up again!