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Alex Register

Short story: Title?

Rough Draft

                When the sun rose from behind the tall Rockies in the distance, the day appeared as though it was off to a good start. The sun was beaming through the clouds; sparrows could be heard signing each street; all was well in the small community of Saskatchewan, Canada. Although the sun was bright, it shown through grey clouds while rain drizzled down to the homes and asphalt below. The roads were lined with small streams of running water, which leaked into the drains below sidewalks on which the occasional resident could be seen with a loved one, a pet, or by their lonesome for a mid-morning, head clearing stroll. Passing by every few minutes went a child riding their bike, or the county mailman making his last rounds of the week.

The neighborhood was sketched down a mile long gravel road, back country, a short stretch of trees along the Meadow Lake bank that broke apart into a view of the wide lake. It was an old fashioned town; you wouldn’t have trouble realizing that with just a glance. Mailbox’s were found near a hundred feet apart, accompanied by small, cozy looking houses which no matter how large the family, suited them perfectly. Following the stretch of thin road for a few seconds more, you could find yourself in a small town, warm and welcoming as a mother greeting her small child after their arrival home from kindergarten. White buildings stretched down the center, shops, small diners, a single-screen theater, and a large town hall could be seen. Across from the strip was a small green field, where families gathered almost every day for picnics and recreational fun. Tall maple’s lined the field, keeping just the right amount of light to blanket it. Beauty could not be found stronger in any place, tranquility radiated from each building and peace could be found with every sight. It was truly an amazing atmosphere.

The occupants of this anti-depressant neighborhood could be considered the perfect residential match. Every house was well-kept and constantly appeared as though it had just finished construction, with windows polished, recently fresh paint, finely trimmed lawns and clean white stone paths, which led to shined pinewood doors. Yet one would not guess these houses could be so tidy, for the residents never seemed to be home longer than the time needed to rest for their next day, which was generally spent scuttling around town, greeting neighbors and friends and keeping the atmosphere as busy as possible. If a complete stranger were to walk down the street, there is no doubt he would receive from every passer-by a “Morning! How’s your day?” or “How’s it going, friend?” with the occasional handshake or pat on the back, least of all a nod of the head. It seemed as though nothing ever brought the down the spirit of these people, and the only frown could be found where pictures were flipped upside down.

Carpenter High, a mid-sized school, sat less than a mile away from the lake. Not a large school by any means, but neither was it small, having an enlistment role of 900 students on its highest rated year. The extremities consisted of two brick buildings that sat next to each other, with a large glass entrance door, and a tall bronze statue of a Spartan warrior, hence the team mascot being the Spartans. Being the only school within about 40 miles, all the local kids and teens attended here. As such, it was an every-grade school, rising from K through twelve, hence the separate buildings. The left building, slightly larger, consisted of K through 8, and on the right were grades nine through twelve. Behind the school was a quarter mile astro-turf track, surrounding a football field, which was transitioned into a soccer field when the seasons changed.

It was Saturday, mid-morning, and the rain was still drizzling as it had been all night, dripping off the gutter-less edges of the school, falling onto the concrete sidewalks. Though it was the weekend, if you walked into the school, you would be blind not to notice a light at the end of a hall, leading into a classroom. Sitting there you would see four people, three students and a professor, blabbering something about Mendel’s Laws of DNA replication. The students were hardly listening, glancing back and forth with mocking looks. Whenever one of them would giggle, snicker, or even so much as let slip a keen smile, the professor would snap to the floor in front of them, and stare them down until the smile was erased, giving him a false sense of power the kids knew they could easily break.

“Ms. Starley, would you please give me the definition of meiosis?” the lecturer broke from subject at the sound of another snicker, easily recognizable to be the 17 year old blonde, Megan. Her laughter came to a halt, and her eyes met his, the nervous look of being caught on her face. She began to stammer, trying not to sound as dimwitted as she had been acting. Unable to give him an answer, she shut her mouth, and proceeded to slink back into her chair. Obviously satisfied, the professor began to explain directly to her exactly what meiosis was. The other three students smiled at each other while his gaze was directed elsewhere, fooling with Megan rubbing in her unfortunate situation.

An hour passed, without any break in the giggling or the professor’s attempted whiplash as he spun around to try to catch the source, until the clock hit 2.

“…and as the cell divides, we see small tubes form around the centrioles �" Oh boy, look at the time. Well kids, I suppose that’s enough torture for your Saturday, have a good day, and I’ll be expecting a 6 page report on everything we’ve discussed on my desk by Wednesday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.” The professor finished, and without a moments hesitation the kids sprang from their seats and with their laughter growing louder, bolted out the door. They could be heard through the entire school, although there was no one around to hear. As they ran to the front entrance they had their laughs, the boys, Kyle and Jacob were shoving each other into walls and lockers as the girls, Megan and Sarah ran behind them, both trying to be the first out the door. They hit the push door with a smash at the same time, Kyle falling through onto the concrete laughing as Anthony stumbled over him, tripping over Kyle’s arm as he jumped to avoid stepping on it. Megan and Sarah came running out right after them, attempting to find their breath, as they had lost it between running to keep up with the boys at the same time as laughing at their childlikeness.

“You guys,” Sarah began, pausing to let out a laugh and catch her breath again, “are such idiots!!!” Laughing hysterically she fell back and sat on a stone bench outside the schools main door. “We thought you broke Anthony’s rib cage into pieces when you threw him into that water fountain Kyle! Anthony, are you alright?” She asked, but the sarcasm was obvious, as she was unable to hide it with more laughter spilling out.

Megan jumped behind Sarah, catching herself and leaning onto Sarah’s back with her arm draped around her waist. “Yeah, Anthony are you okay?! Hahaha! And Kyle you hit your head on that clock going when you were running so fast! I hope that knocked some of the stupid out of you!”

                Kyle was still laughing as he bent down to help up Anthony, whose eyes had rolled a full 360 since the girls started talking.

                “Yeah, I think we’re both good,” Kyle said with a smile as Anthony jumped into place beside him, “How about we go get something to eat and chill at Benji’s diner?”

                “Sounds like a good plan to me!” Anthony near screamed into Kyle’s ear. “But…who’s paying?” Without waiting for an answer he took off to the left of the school as fast as he could. “Last one there is!” he yelled back.

                The three others look at each other for a split second, and Kyle took off with the girls right behind him, as the laughter grew and exploded again.

                2 miles down the road, they were all out of breath, leaning on the side of a small white building with a 3-step porch leading to a swinging screen door. A swinging wooden sign, colored with chipping white and green paint, hung above the door. It read “Benji’s!” Come eat!” They managed, after a few seconds, to slow their breath, and proceeded up the stairs and into the door, as it swung closed with a creaking sound behind them. The smell of fresh coffee and apple pie surrounded them as they all took a seat at red leather cushioned booth, behind a grey porcelain table.

                Somewhere from the back a voice shouted, and they looked back behind a long bar with stools in the front, to where the order-pick up window was, and saw a plump, hairy looking man’s head pop out with a smile on his face. “How you guys doing today?! Staying out of trouble on your weekend?”

                “Oh yeah, you know it Benji!” shouted Anthony to the back, and all four of them looked at each other and laughed about the obvious untruth.

                “Whatever you say chief! What can I get yall? As you can see I ain’t to busy this afternoon. I just about forgot I was open until you guys walked in!” the friendly man shouted. They looked around, and the only other customer was a fly who was keeping to its own business buzzing across the opposite end of the room.

                “Wow, it really is deserted today,” Kyle whispered to the group, “I think we’re all just gunna take four burger and Coke’s Benji! Thanks!” He yelled back to the man waiting for their order.

                “Comin’ right up guys!” Benji disappeared from the window and they heard the sound of food being prepared, and Benji whistling an old folk tune to himself.

                “Kyle, why don’t you go see if you can get some music playing, and I’ll get us some napkins and silverware.” Megan said, as she proceeded to scoot herself out from the table, nudging Kyle in front of her. They both walked to the back kitchen, near where Benji was getting together their food, and Kyle went about finding the radio that was hooked up to the buildings sound system, while Megan began gathering utensils. Kyle turned around and saw Megan looking at him, a cocky smile on her face, with a look of expectation. “Well? What do you think they’re talking about?”

                He chuckled; he knew exactly what she was talking about. “I doubt their talking about anything, if talking at all!” They were of course referring to Anthony and Sarah, who had been so obviously in love for the past year since he had transferred to their school. The way they looked at each other the first day, and ever since them, it was to easy to guess that they wanted to be together, but had never realized the other felt the same. “I can’t believe its been almost a year, and they are both to thick headed to realize they both feel the same! I mean I knew Anthony was hardheaded right off the bat, and I still remember when he told me how much he cared about Sarah. But when you told me Sarah liked him too, I was amazed neither of them knew they both felt that way. Seriously, how stupid are they!?”

                “Shut up, they are both blonde.” She slurred, giggling. “But that’s why we planned today! So one of us needs to go out there and get them talking! Like, now!”

                “Thanks for volunteering Meg!” Kyle said quickly, and scooted back to the radio to try to get something other than the Spanish rap song that was blaring through the restaurant, while Benji was swearing up and down the kitchen to ‘turn that horse-mud off’. Megan picked up the napkins, forks and knives, and began to walk back to the table. She was entirely expecting what she saw. Anthony and Sarah, sitting their, her, looking out the window at the occasional passing car, him, just staring across the bar, pretending to read labels on the drinks in the back. 

                ‘What a shame. They could have been happy for so long by now!’ she thought to herself as she began to sit down. “Here we go, take these and put them on that side of the table Anthony. So what have you guys been talking about? Kyle’s still trying to figure out how to change the radio station.” She looked over at Sarah. Sarah turned her head away and brushed a lock of blonde hair out her eye, trying to avoid eye contact while shrugging. Megan looked at Anthony, with the same look of expectation for some interesting topic.

                “Nothing really. Is Kyle really that dumb he can’t figure out how to use a radio? Maybe I should go help the idiot figure it out” Sarcastically laughing, Anthony began to get up, but Megan shot out her arm and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her hand, stunned as she pushed him with a force a little stronger than he expected back down into his seat.

                “Nah that’s okay, I’ll go check on him. He probably electrocuted himself already.” Then she had a thought. ‘I know exactly how to make this work!’ “Hey Sarah, I forgot, when was the last time you had a boyfriend? Let me know when I get back.” She got up and looked at their faces just before walking off. They were both shocked, with their mouths slightly open, looking at her. She thought, ‘Perfect!’

                “So…um ...when was it, if you don’t mind me asking? I mean your last real relationship. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with a guy, other than me and Kyle anyway.” Anthony said, realizing this might be the only shot he gets, deciding to man up and take the chance.

                “Huh?” she was stunned he had kept the subject going. “Oh, uh…well I only had one relationship since middle school, and I really thought it was going to last, at least a lot longer than it did. We stayed together for a little over a year.”

                “What happened?”

                “He hurt me really bad, I’d rather not go into it…but don’t worry about it. How’s your love life?”

                “Well I’ve only been in one relationship since I came here, and that wasn’t really anything serious.” Anthony said, his confidence starting to rise. He began to think maybe there was a possibility this could be the time he would get the strength to tell her how he felt.

                “Yeah, I think I remember, what was her name? Carla?”

                “Mhm. She was bad news though. I just wish someone had warned me to stay away from her before I came here.” He said with a smile, looking straight at her for the first time, noticing her looking at him. She smiled, and was quite. This was not the first time they had been quite, by far, but it was the first time they had really looked at each other, into each other.

                In the kitchen…

“Oh my god!!! They are actually talking! I’m to damn good; I even surprise myself at times!” Megan said, as Kyle and her watched the couple sitting at the table from the pickup window.

                “Okay, yeah I’ll give you props there. But don’t let it get to your head. If they don’t get together today it means nothing.” Kyle argued.

                “Oh go stick your head in one of those fryers’s Mr. Negative!” she popped him in the chest and he laughed, as they continued to watch.  From there, they could see the two talking quietly, then all of the sudden they started to laugh and began to move closer. “Oh my god! Oh my god! We did it! I can tell they are walking out of here hand in hand! Admit it! It’s my doing!”

                “Get over yourself! We both thought of this! Now shut up and watch!”

                Back at the table, Anthony and Sarah were smiling, ear to ear, while they joked about their past, telling stories from their life and amusing themselves. Somehow among the story telling they had began to compete, to see who could top the others most hilarious, or embarrassing stories. “We had no idea what we were doing, so we just kept on making things up until the administrators had to come onto the floor and stop us! Ha! I win!” Sarah stated, smiling. Anthony began to compete, and tell a story from his old home.

                “….so then, we took off and the old guy was chasing after us screaming ‘Come back with my mangos!’ Hahaha…I totally win!”  Anthony finished his story.

“Haha okay! You win, you win! They were both laughing, tears in theirs eyes as she seemed to lose balance, and fell onto his shoulder. They both slowly stopped laughing, but not smiling. She looked up at him, still leaning on his shoulder and out of what would have seemed like nowhere, he arched his neck and kissed her forehead. She blushed, and looked away, wide-eyed, but without moving one hair away from him. His eyes didn’t move, although now they were focused on the top of her head, instead of her face, but he was happier than he had ever been. And she knew how he felt. She turned her head back toward him, and kissed his lips, and turned her head back down. He rested his chin on her head, and they sat there for who knows how long, because in the eyes of lovers, an hour in each others arms can seem like less than a second. Although in their case, it probably was only a second or so, as they were interrupted by a loud squeal and a yell from the back.

                “Finally! Thank god!” Megan came running around the corner in what seemed like a flash of lightning. “It took you long enough to kiss her! Seriously, its been like a year! Are you really that slow?!”

                Kyle followed her around the corner, much more cautiously, and began “Chill Meg, at least he finally did it. Thanks to us!”

                “Yeah,” she retorted, “you did a lot.”

                “Notice, I got the mood set, listen.” In the background of the diner, they listened. Playing was Marvin Gaye’s �" Lets Get It On. They all started to laugh, and the other two sat down. Benji just finished their food, and brought it out to them on one big serving tray. They continued to joke and play, for at least an hour after they finished their food. By the time they were leaving, the diner was beginning to become crowded as the dinner rush set in.

                As they walked out the swinging door, Anthony and Sarah were hand in hand, just as Megan had predicted. He looked down at her, and slowly bent to her ear and whispered, “You win.”