Made of Glass Chapter 16

I actually went to the zoo today! Only I didn't get to see the tigers :(

I got up extra early the next morning and arrived at the zoo a quarter till the appointed time and got in line to buy my ticket. It would have been easier for rich, mansion dwelling, sky box owning, Eddie to buy my ticket which I’m sure he would given the opportunity because he was a gentlemen like that but we had to get some things straight in this relationship. Things weren’t all up to him. He couldn’t just decide to stop talking to me. If we were going to stop this it would be by mutual consent! Since I wasn’t going to do that any time soon he was going to have to stop being so flaky!

He arrived exactly on time and greeted me with my special smile. Sending butterflies through my stomach.

“Am I late?” he asked when he saw me sitting by a bench waiting for him.

“No, I was a little early,” I said smiling sweetly.

He got in line and asked for two tickets, but I stopped him.

“I already have mine,” I grinned.

He seemed ridiculously disappointed about that fact.

“So what do you want to see?” He asked me when we got inside.

“We don’t get to see everything?”

“It’s a very big park,” he said warily.

“Think you can't hack it, Buttercup?”

“Oh, I know I can make it. But your feet are very little,” he teased me.

I took out the map that was handed out with our tickets and planned out the route. I examined several paths around the park. They should have made it into a perfect circle for easy perusal but there was no way to see everything there was without a little back tracking. Eventually I decided on the most efficient route and drew it in on the map.

“Zoos are about just walking around and having fun,” Eddie chastised me. “You’re not supposed to plan out your every step.”

“That’s just stupid. There’s nothing wrong with having a well thought out plan.”

“This isn’t the way you would be doing it if you were a five year old on her very first exciting trip to see the animals!”

“But I’m not a five year old,” I said confused.

“I know but we’re trying to recreate a childhood remember.”

“Can’t it be a very well thought out childhood?”

“That is not how a childhood is supposed to go.”

“Says who?”

“I don’t know. Children?”

“What do children know? They’re dirty and they stick things up their noses! Come on we have a lot to see. We have to move quickly.”

I set off at a brisk pace. Several times throughout the day Eddie made jokes about power walking being an exercise and not something children would do but I ignored him. I stuck to our rigid schedule until I was thoroughly derailed by the tigers.

They had always been my very favorite animal but I had never actually seen one up close before. The way they moved was so graceful and powerful. Not unlike the creature standing beside me. Eddie was reading the informational sign next to the Siberian tiger’s cage to me since I also insisted that every bit of information available was to be gleaned from the park. My attention was torn between the largest cat in the world and the most beautiful person. I wondered if I would be more scared or excited if I stood in the cage with the tiger. I wasn’t scared standing next to Eddie. Perhaps Eddie was a little better trained than the tiger.

“Eddie.”

He paused in his reading turning to me as I called his name. I paused unsure how I was going to start this conversation.

“How old are you?” I said finally.

He looked very guarded and puzzled at the same time. “22. You know that,”

“You don’t talk like you’re 22,” I said keeping my stare locked on him.

“Dolly,” he said pleadingly. He didn’t want me to start this.

I did want this to start. I stared at him till he elaborated further.

“I guess I’m a bit more mature for my age,” he turned back to the sign he had been reading, thinking he had put an end to the conversation.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” he said with his back to me.

“You know . . . I don’t care.”

He half turned to me wanting to believe that but not sure that I wasn’t just saying it to get what I wanted.

“You would care. If you knew,” he spoke so quietly I barely understood what he was saying.

I walked over to him and put my hand on his arm.

“I wouldn’t care,” I promised him.

“Right now you think I’m the hero. I saved your life so I’m the protagonist. But it’s really not so easy as that,” he stepped away from my touch.

“So you’re just going to ignore all of it. Pretend I don’t know anything about any of it. Just tell yourself since I don’t know the whole truth it doesn’t matter that I know any of it.”

“I want to tell you, but . . . I don’t think you would understand,” he started to walk away.

Well, I was all in. I was pushing all my chips to the center of the table. I would play my last card and just hope it would be enough.

“My real dad died before I was born but my mom remarried when I was still a baby. I remember her a little better and I remember by stepdad when she was around. He was a good guy back then and he clearly adored my mother. But when my mom died he went a little crazy . . .” I swallowed thickly. “He became an alcoholic. A violent alcoholic. It started by just throwing things around when he had a bad day at work then it escalated to punching holes in the wall for stupid things like his favorite sports team not winning. I knew when he killed the dog in one of his fits it was only a matter of time until he came after me. At this time he would get mad for things like if I shut the door too loudly or got home from school five minutes late. I was in the hospital for something like my fifth or sixth broken bone when I decided to stop it. I took a baseball bat to his head. That finally got the child services attention. After that I went into the foster system but I never learned how to be part of a normal family so nobody wanted me. So that’s why I’ve never been to the zoo.” I finished quietly looking down at my feet.

Eddie looked absolutely tortured. His hands clenched and unclenched at his side. He looked so angry. I knew he wasn’t angry with me. I think he was imagining ripping the arms off whatever b*****d did that stuff to me.

I stood silently waiting for him to reply. He didn’t say a word just quickly closed the distance between us and scooped me up into his arms. He tucked my head under his chin and gently stroked my hair. I wrapped my hands around his waist. This almost made the whole confession worth it. Now if he would just open up as well.

After a few wonderful seconds he stepped away from me and looked me in the eye. I gave him an encouraging smile. I could see the debate happening in his mind through his eyes. Until he finally made his mind up.

“We’re going to fall behind your schedule,” he said walking away from me.

I stuck my tongue out at him as he walked away. That’s the last time I ever open up to anyone ever. No good can come of it.

 

In the end we did see every animal in the zero. Eddie was right about my feet not being able to handle it though. I collapsed into his car at the end of the day and rubbed them gingerly. I thought that being a waitress would prepare me for such torture but I was not prepared for such a hike.

Eddie was smug beside me. He was practically bursting to tell me I told you so. He wasn’t winning any points today.

It didn’t take a lot of convincing for me to accept his offer of a ride back to the bar. I wasn’t even sure that I could walk the two feet to the bus stop. Eddie of course was unaffected by the hard day’s work.

“I have to say you are an excellent zoo-goer. That was probably the most successful visit I have ever had.”

“I wish we could have gone back and seen the tigers again. I bet more of them are awake later in the day,” I kept my voice light to disguise my desire to return not only to the tigers but the conversation we had there.

“We can come back another time,” he turned and smiled at me.

“Alright but we won't be so ambitious next time,” I groaned.

I was pleased when Eddie parked his car in the parking lot rather than driving up to the front of the bar to drop me off.

“Do you want to come up?” I invited hopefully.

“I’m a vampire,” he blurted out.

A big smile split my face, I was ready to stand up and do a cheer. Another victory for Dolly! Wow, I am amazing at these things!

“I know!”

“What do you mean ‘you know’?” he asked puzzled. Of all the reactions he was expecting from this news was not one of them.

“I don’t understand what was confusing about that statement,” I said.

“How can you know?” he rephrased the question.

I shrugged. “I figured it out.”

“You figured it out?” he said disbelieving.

“You’re not very good at a secret identity,” I said stepping out of the car. “Freaked out by blood, never come out in the day, fangs, super fast and strong. The answer practically screams at you,”

“So you just wanted me to say it out loud?” he said racing around the car to join me on the other side.

“I wanted you to want me to know.”

“I don’t want you to know!” he practically yelled.

“You can't take it back now. Cats out of the bag,” I grinned smugly.

“Okay wait,” he took a calming breath “How long have you known?”

“Just a couple of days.”

“And you just . . . don’t care?” he couldn’t wrap his head around that fact.

“You know you don’t put off the normal vibe. It’s not like everyone in that bar doesn’t know there’s something wrong with you. I just figured out the label.”

“It’s a little more than a label.”

I shrugged and started to walk toward the bar but he arrested my progress.

“You just don’t care?” he asked again.

“I am curious though. You never did answer my question. How old are you?”

“Twenty-two, I did answer that.”

I gave him a flat glare.

“Alright I’m really only twenty-one but I started out here when I was eighteen and it’s been four years so I just go with it.”

That still wasn’t enough for me. He eventually cracked under my steady glare.

“I was born in 1901,” he said grumpily.

“Whoa. Blow my mind! That is so awesome!”

“There’s something wrong with you. Really,” But his thoughts were at odds with his words. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with me. He thought I was perfect. The fact that I knew and I didn’t care was probably some of the best news he could have ever received.

“Something’s wrong with me? At least I’m human!” I joked with him.

“That’s a low blow.”

I stared walking again but paused when he wasn’t following.

“So are you coming or not?”

“I can't,” he said shuffling his feet.

“Oh my gosh!” I said excited. “Can you come in if I don’t invite you?!”

“Yes, that’s not it.”

“Too bad, that would have been cool. So why not?”

He debated again telling me. “My family. They don’t like that I hang out with you,” he said peeking up at me worried about my reaction.

“So don’t tell them,” I said.

“They’ll know, anyway.”

“How?”

“We have good senses. They complain all the time how I come home smelling like you and we hardly even touch. I can't imagine what it would be like if I was actually in your room,” he looked longingly up at my window.

“You know what I think? I think you should come up just to spite them. Do it because they won't like it!”

Then a thought I had been overlooking came to me. “Whoa. Wait. You don’t eat people do you?”

He gave me a you’re-ridiculous look, “No.”

“Yeah okay then, screw them. I have a lot more questions,” I walked into the bar without turning to look if Eddie was following. He was going to have to make this decision without anymore goading. He was going to have to pick me over his family’s wishes.

He made the right decision. Soon he was trotting right alongside me rubbing his hands together nervously.

“Relax, I’m gonna think this is the first time you’ve ever been invited up into a girl’s room before, Buttercup,” I joked. He didn’t relax.

The bar only had a sprinkling of alcoholics who drank on Sundays but everyone working there turned and watched our progress toward the stairs. Elaina was at the door of the kitchen bouncing up and down. When she caught my eye she gave me a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes at her but had to laugh when Bucky joined her and did the same thing. It was nice to have people who wanted good things for you.

When we made it to my doorway Eddie hesitated again. “They do have a point.”

“What’s that?” I said impatiently. If he left now the girls would freak out all over me.

“It’s dangerous,” he looked for the correct way to express his worries. “You smell really really nice.”

Heaven knows why he thought that would do it.

“Thank you! You smell nice too.”

“Yes but I smell more like a really good-smelling boy to you but to me you smell more like . . . heroin.”

“Heroin smells good?” I said confused by his analogy.

“To a heroin addict it does.”

“But you don’t do heroin,” I said unsure I was extending his metaphor correctly.

“No I don’t but that doesn’t mean I haven't completely kicked the addiction.”

“Okay so let me get this straight. You’re family doesn’t want you to come up because they’re afraid you’re going to eat me because you’re a vampire and that means you crave blood right?”

“Right.”

“So what do you think?”

“What do I think?” he said confused by my question.

“Do you think you’re going to eat me?”

“No, of course not. I would never hurt you,” he said without hesitation.

“I’m really having trouble seeing what the problem is here,” I pushed open my door and gestured for him to enter.

He took a deep breath before shrugging and plunging in.

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[Summer]

I laughed at the last couple of paragraphs. Funny chiz bro.