Chapter 14: Banana Sushi
The next morning, when I woke up, my first reflex was to call Lena. I checked the time. 10.00 a.m. Knowing Lena, she probably was already awake, had jogged a couple of miles and had already finished her homework. I called her, and waited for her to pick up.
“This is pizza delivery service 24/7. What would you like to order?” A girls voice said on the other line.
I looked confusedly at my phone wondering if I had called the wrong number, but the called ID said: Lena. Then I heard a snort of laughter come out from the wannabe pizza delivery girl.
“Are you practicing for your future job, Lena?” I asked innocently.
“I’m just keeping my options open.” She replied with a joking tone.
“Hmm… I’m not sure that those white aprons and hats would suit you.” I teased.
“You’re just jealous that you wouldn’t be able to pull them off as well as I would.”
“For your information, I look very hot in an apron.”
Lena laughed.
“Sure you do! Anyways, why did you call me?”
“Take a wild guess.”
“You want to know how babies are made.”
“Not exactly.”
“You want to know how many bones a giraffes neck has.”
“Nope,” I answered.
“You want to know how my date with Charlie went.”
“And the winner is… LENA!”
I heard her laugh a bit, and then she said: “Meet me at the usual spot in 30 minutes?”
“I’ll be there.” I answered and ended the call.
I quickly started to run around in my room, trying to grab everything I needed. I put on some shorts, a blue shirt, and a pair of old tennis shoes. I put my keys, some money, and my phone in my ticket, and went outside to get on my bike.
The bike ride was familiar by now. I recognized the houses I passed, and I sometimes would even say hi to a couple of people. I liked it here in Tampa. People were nice. The only thing I was missing from back in Michigan was my best friend Kim. She was also a matchmaker like me, and we had met completely by accident. We hadn’t talked a lot since I had moved here, since I was horrible at keeping contact. We would send each other a few facebook messages, but it stopped there. I sighed and promised myself to call her later in the afternoon. Now I had to focus on Lena.
I arrived at the café I had gone to on the first day I had come here, and while I locked my bike, I could see a couple making out.
It was the same two people that had been at the table next to me on the first day. The girl I had made spill her drink on the and now they were together. That put a goofy smile on my face. I stayed smiling like that, until I met Lena at our usual spot.
‘Our’ spot, as I called it, was a part of the beach that was hidden from most people, and not a lot of people came there. Lena told me she had been coming here since she could remember, and that it was her favorite spot on earth.
I walked over to the place she was sitting, and sat down next to her. I was the first to talk.
“I hope you’ve got good news for me.”
“Depends on what you consider good news.”
“Something around the lines: ‘I believe in love again’, should suffice.”
“As much as I would like to tell you that, I can’t, because I would be lying.”
“Why? What happened?”
“It was okay, I guess. He is funny and all, but we’ve got nothing in common. We met a couple that goes to our school though, and they were really funny.”
I frowned. How could I keep on failing to match her up? It was as if when it came to Lena, my senses just deserted me. I sighed. I still had two chances and I couldn’t waste those.
Lena understood my frown immediately.
“Don’t worry, Will. It’s not your fault you can’t match me up. I’m just a very demanding person.” She said as she nudged me with her elbow, and a supportive smile.
“I guess so… Did anything else happen?” I asked knowing very well that the answer was yes.
“Yeah… We kind off found Nicole in the bathroom crying her eyes out, because Lance just left her for no real reason.”
“Oh…” I said trying to sound surprised, but I was a horrible liar, and Lena knew me to well.
“What are you hiding from me, Will?”
“Eh… I called Lance yesterday, because… I needed to know the homework…”
“What homework?” She interrupted me.
“Ehm… Spanish homework?”
She nodded her head and I continued.
“Anyways, we were talking and Nicole came up, and then he told me he got mad at her.”
“Did he tell you why?”
“He didn’t really know, actually. Probably hormones or something.”
She looked at me suspiciously, but didn’t say anything.
“So then I convinced him to call Nicole, and to apologize.” I continued.
“That’s not possible though.” She objected.
“Why?”
“Because Nicky promised to call me the minute he called.”
“She probably got distracted, or didn’t want to wake you, or something.”
“Yeah, probably.” She muttered, but I could hear in her voice that she didn’t believe it.
“Well”, I started trying to change the subject, “What do you want to do today?”
Lena bit her lip, and answered, “Sorry, Will. I can’t. I have got to watch Amie this afternoon.”
“I can help you.”
“We were planning to go snorkeling.”
“I can swim.”
She smiled at me, and said, “If you want to, you can come, but I’m warning you, it will probably be really boring.”
“I think I can handle it.”
Lena told me to wait for her at the beach, while she went to get her sister. I noticed that she still didn’t want me to come to her place. I guess she still didn’t trust me enough for that. I laid down on the sand, listening to the sound of the ocean, when I thought about Kim again. I should call her now! I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number. It was the only one I knew by heart. She picked up immediately.
“Will?” A voice screeched in my ear.
“Hi Kim.” I answered smiling, while I prayed that my eardrums didn’t get damaged.
“You really should call more.”
“I’m not the only one with a phone.” I answered teasingly.
“I actually was meaning to call you this afternoon.”
That was one of the things between close cupids. Once we got to know each other we would develop bonds that were much like twin bonds. When we were together, we sometimes say the same things at the same time, and we would have the same ideas. I loved having Kim as my best friend since she was the only one I knew that understood everything about me. There were some things I just couldn’t tell Lena; Like the fact that I am actually a cupid.
“How is your ‘work’ going?” I asked her.
“Same old, same old. Since you left none of the couples we have put together have split, except for James and Layne.”
“Really?” I asked disappointedly, “I really thought those two would work out.”
“Same here, but it looks like James is really jealous, and it got on Layne’s nerves.”
“So no heartbreaker involved?”
“Nope. To many happy couples for one to be here. How is the matchmaking working out in Tampa?”
“Not that bad really. I’ve put a couple of people together and I haven’t had too much trouble, except with this one girl, Lena; I’ve mentioned her before. She’s really picky, but she is an amazing person, and I really want her to believe in love.”
“What about the heartbreaker you told me about?”
“He or she hasn’t been to active yet. Yesterday, he/she tried something, but I was able to fix it.”
“That’s my Will.”
“Otherwise how have you been living life without me?”
“It’s not easy.” She admitted jokingly. “But I’m surviving. I was hoping I could come and visit you once.”
“That would be great! I would introduce you to all the people here, and my parents won’t mind if you sleep at our place.” I said excitedly.
“So you wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course not! You’re my best friend Kim! I miss you like crazy. I know I may not be very talented in this whole keeping in touch department, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you!”
“I’m glad to hear that. You were making me worried.”
“When do you think you can come?”
“I have a couple of days of in October. I could come then!”
“Fine with me, but I’ll have school then.”
“Perfect! I want to see how Carelly high functions anyways.”
“Great! I can’t believe you’re actually going to come here!”
“I know! Anyways, Will. I’ve got to go. I’ll send you a message with all the details of the trip.”
“Sure! Talk to you later and I miss you.”
She laughed. “I miss you to, Will.”
She hung up and I put the phone in my pocket. I was overjoyed to the fact that Kim was coming to Tampa in a month! I hadn’t realized it until now, but I really missed her.
At that moment Lena arrived with her sister.
“Why are you so happy?” She asked with a curious expression.
“My best friend from Michigan is coming to visit in a month!”
“That’s great! You never told me about him! What’s his name?”
“Actually she’s a girl. Her name is Kim.”
I thought I saw hurt pass through Lena’s eyes, but it was gone so fast, that I thought I imagined it.
“Will meet Amie, my sister. Amie this is Will.”
Amie looked at me with a shy smile, and hid behind her sister. Lena laughed and said, “Amie, how can you be shy? You’ve been wanting to meet Will for weeks now.” And she winked at me. Amie stepped out from behind Lena and stuck out her hand.
“It is nice to meet you, Mr. Will.”
Mr. Will? That sounded really strange. I laughed and instead of taking her hand, I lifted her up and gave her a bear hug. Amie was giggling by now, and when I put her down, she didn’t run away from me.
“You can call me plain Will by the way.”
“Ok, plain Will.” She said.
“No, I mean, just Will.”
“Just Will?” Amie asked confusedly.
“Yes.”
“Okay, just Will!” And she ran of towards the Ocean.
I slapped my head with the face of my palm and groaned.
“She gets it from me.” Lena stated proudly.
“I can see that.” I muttered.
Lena grinned at me.
“Do you want to come and help me with the snorkeling equipment?”
“Sure. Lead the way. Shouldn’t we look out for you sister though?”
Lena glanced at Amie. “She’s been around the Ocean since she’s born. I think she can handle herself.”
We walked over to the snorkeling center that wasn’t far from our spot and when we went in everybody greeted Lena. Some guys high fived her, and the girls would smile, and give her a hug. She said hi to everybody, and then went to the guy at the main desk.
“Hey Robbie!” She said to the guy. “Could I have Amie and my usual snorkeling equipment, and a mask, tube and fins for Will?” She asked pointing at me.
“Sure thing!” He answered with a grin. “What shoe size are you?” He asked me.
“ 7 and a half.”
The guy left the counter and went through a back door. A minute or so later he came back with 3 snorkeling masks, 3 tubes, and 3 fins. We both thanked him, and we went to find Amie.
“Don’t we have to pay or something?”
“Nah… Robbie’s an old friend of mine. I haven’t paid for any equipment for a few years now. He’s really awesome!”
I felt annoyed and bothered for a second, but then the feeling was gone. ‘That was weird,’ I thought.
When we got to Amie, she was making a sand castle, but the second she saw us, she got up and ran towards us.
“Snorkeling!” She yelled enthusiastically.
Lena smiled down patiently at her sister and handed Amie her equipment, and me mine.
“Are you going to go snorkeling in your clothes?” She asked Amie. Amie looked down surprised if she had only just realized that she was wearing clothes. I also looked down, and I hit myself in the head.
“I completely forgot about swim shorts!”
“Don’t worry.” Lena said. “Just go in your shorts or your boxers.”
“I’ll stick to my shorts I think.”
I took of my shirt, and shoes, as Amie and Lena did the same. Lena and Amie were wearing their bikinis under their clothes and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t peak at Lena while she was undressing. She had curves in all the right places and her bikini showed them off well. The bikini was brown, with seashells embroidered and it suited her perfectly. I quickly turned away before she could catch me looking.
“You guys ready?” She asked, not suspecting the fact that I had been admiring her.
“Yeah.” I responded, while Amie yelled, “Of course!”
We all walked into the ocean and only when we were about knee deep did we put on our equipment. I’m ashamed to say that Lena and Amie both had to help me put on my mask, because I couldn’t manage on my own. Lena quickly explained me the basic signs to be able to communicate underwater, and then off we were.
We all dove under, and immediately I was impressed by the silence that surrounded us. Everything was so serene and calm, I almost forgot about my hectic life on earth. I looked over to Lena and Amie. They were swimming forward while holding hands. Sometimes Lena would point to fish and would bring Amie closer to it. I followed them, and looked at everything that she pointed out. One of the problems was that I wasn’t very experienced with the fins and quite clumsy. I was advancing much slower then Amie and Lena, so after a while, Lena grabbed my hand, and pulled me along, so that I could stay on track. The fish weren’t very varied, but the ones that were present were colorful and incredible to see. We kept on moving around, and I kept on holding on to Lena’s hand. I was wondering how Lena knew where we were going, because to me, everything seemed the same. After what seemed like half an hour, we got back to our beginning spot.
I took out the tube of my mouth and said: “That was amazing!”
Lena smiled at me and answered: “I’m glad you liked it.”
We all took our fins and masks of carefully, and we held them as we walked out of the Ocean and into the sand.
Lena’s hair was completely messed up, but I thought it looked good on her. She caught me staring at her and she raised an eyebrow. I smiled and looked away, hoping that she wouldn’t think too much about it.
All three we laid down on the sand. Lena put her head on my stomach, Amie on Lena’s stomach, and I just rested it on the sand. We stayed there for a while until my stomach made a sound.
“I think somebody’s hungry.” She teased as she lifted her head up to look at me.
“What tipped you off?” I asked with a grin.
“I just had a feeling.” She answered. “Where do you guys want to eat?”
“At Chimpoo’s!” Amie shouted hopefully.
Lena groaned.
“Really? Chimpoo’s? Isn’t there anywhere else you would want to go?” Lena begged her sister.
“I really like Chimpoo’s.” Amie said, while she stared at Lena with her big blue eyes. “Please, can we go eat there.”
Lena sighed. “As long as Will’s okay with it.”
Amie looked at me hopefully, and I nodded.
“I’ve never been there. I would like to see why you like it so much.” I told Amie.
“Woo hoo!” Screamed Amie. “We’re going to Chimpoo’s!”
“You do realize that you’re going to regret this?”
“You’re exaggerating.” I said. “How bad can it be?”
Just for your info. Lena wasn’t exaggerating. The servers were all dressed in furry monkey suits, and the restaurant was decorated with palm trees. All dishes on the menu contained at least one banana, which isn’t to bad at first, but I could understand why coming here all the time could make you sick of banana’s.
A guy in a suit came over. “What would you all like on this ape day?”
I stared at him for a few seconds until I realized that he was talking to me.
“I’ll have the banana spring roll, with the banana ravioli, please.” I asked.
“The banana sushi for me, please.” Lena asked.
“I would like the banana peppers, with banana noodles, and as a desert the banana split.” Amie said.
“Coming right up!”
The guy walked away and he was out of earshot I leaned over to Lena and asked: “Banana sushi? Is that even edible?”
“Surprisingly it is.” Lena answered with a smile.
Amie went off alone to go hug some of the monkeys, and Lena and I stayed alone.
“So you really liked the diving?” Lena started.
“It was incredible. It was so calm and peaceful, and the fish were wonderful.”
“You should try diving sometime. The species of fish is so much more varied the deeper you go!”
“Since when do you dive?”
“Since I can remember! My father… he was the one that brought us to the Ocean all the time, and he would teach us the name of all the fish.”
“Do you miss him?” I asked. “Your dad I mean.”
“Of course I do.” Lena said dejectedly. “But I’m also angry at him for just leaving like that. If one day he would appear in front of me, I’m not sure if I would hit him or hug him.”
“You could do both.” I suggested.
“True. Why not? After all, he would deserve it.”
“He probably had his reasons for leaving.”
“What can be a good enough reason for leaving a four year old without a dad?”
“I didn’t say it was a good reason.”
Lena bent her head and stared at the table. Luckily our food arrived, and the awkward silence didn’t stay when Amie came back.
Surprisingly enough the roll and the ravioli were good. I even stole one of Lena’s sushi’s and they were really amazing.
Amie chattered the whole lunchtime, about how her teacher really liked her drawing in art class. Lena and I nodded our heads, but neither of us were listening. We finished our lunch, and I paid before Lena could even protest.
“Don’t worry about it!” I said as she started making a big deal about it.
She crossed her arms, but muttered a tiny, “Thank you.”
I smiled at her showing that I had heard what she said, and she smiled back reluctantly. We got out of Chimpoo’s, and I told them I had to go home. Amie came to me to give me a big hug.
“Bye, just Will!” She said.
I chuckled and rolled my eyes. Lena stuck out her hand and said: “Goodbye Mr. Will.”
I grabbed her and pulled her into another bear hug. She returned the hug, and when we broke apart we were both smiling.
“See you on Monday, Lena! And I hope to see you again soon, Amie!” I shouted as I walked off.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't edit people so don't kill me!! ^^
I hope you like this chapter, cause I worked hard on it. I think that deserves a vote!!
I dedicate this chapter to my sister, because she was begging me to upload! Love you sis!! =)
Sooner upload will be 20 votes! =) You can do it! just take a few seconds to click that vote button, and also leave a comment behind to tell me what you thought!
So what do you guys think of Kim for the moment?
COTAN!!! =D