Teenage Dream

A nightmare, a dream.

(6)

Teenage Dream

 

     Amalia woke up the next morning, not even remotely daring to hope that the night before had all been a dream. She knew it was real from the tear stains on her pillow and her dad’s loud absence. He had come into her room around eleven to say goodbye…at least for now.

     “I’m staying at my brother’s for a while. You can come see me whenever you want, okay?”

     With tears still escaping her eyes, Amalia answered, “Can I come with you? Please? I don’t want to stay here with her.”

     “It’s an hour away, Bug. You would have to change schools and I’m not gonna have Cal to drive you anymore.”

     “I don’t care. I can’t live here. I can’t look at her everyday and know what she did to you! Why isn’t she leaving? Isn’t this your house?” She was so mad she was shaking. Amalia hated when her body turned against her like that.

     “Amalia, please. This is just how it has to be for now.”

     She knew it was useless, so she hugged him goodbye and tried her hardest to sleep without crying first. Kris called during this futile process, but she sent him to voicemail. It took her an hour to fall asleep after that and once she woke up she felt like she hadn’t slept at all.

     Time had become muddled through last night’s screaming and Amalia didn’t know whether to get dressed for school or not. Then she heard a car horn sound off obnoxiously from outside her window. A glance outside revealed Lorelai in her mother’s car and Amalia wondered if her mom had worked for it or if her husband had bought it for her. Molly certainly hadn’t worked for s**t.

     Amalia’s cell phone vibrated. “Lorelai, why are you outside my house?”

     “Good question.”

     The line went dead and in the next minute Lorelai was sitting next to her on the bed. Amalia rolled her eyes.

     “I didn’t mean come in.”

     “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Someone woke up on the-”

     “Don’t finish that. I would have to shoot you, really.” She and Lorelai had agreed way back in fifth grade that they would never use those unoriginal clichés.

     “Understood. I don’t know what I was thinking. Use a cliché to annoy my best friend into getting dressed and spending Saturday at the beach? You’re right, whatever genius thought that up should be shanghaied at once.” Then came the Lorelai smirk Amalia had grown to expect. When she took a second look at Lor, she saw the flip flops, bikini top and jean shorts.

     “It’s Saturday?”

     “That would explain the glorious lack of school, my dear.”

     “Yeah, right. Listen, Lor…”

     “I will not take no for an answer! The beach and the boys await!” Lorelai leaped off the bed and grabbed one of Amalia’s bikinis from her closet. Ironically, it was her favorite one: famous Shakespeare lines. Her dad had gotten it for her during his business trip to London a few years ago. That piece of lost information sent her spiraling into a replay of last night which Lorelai brought her out of.

      “Woman, if you are not dressed and properly equipped for the beach in fifteen minutes, I am going to call Kris and uninvite him!”

     “WHAT?! You invited him? What’s wrong with you? Are you insane?”

     “Jury’s out on that one,” Lorelai retorted quickly, jumping out of the way as Amalia flew at her. “Calm down, I invited some other people, too.”

     “If by people you mean boys, who did you invite? We don’t know boys!”

     “Don’t be silly, of course we know boys. Well, I do. You know boy.”

     Amalia narrowed her eyes at her best friend. She was definitely clever and sometimes she despised that. She figured a day away from her house was exactly what she needed, so she went along with Lorelai’s plan and got ready.

     “So who did you invite?” Amalia asked.

     “You’ll see.”

     Amalia let it go, knowing she wouldn’t get anything out of her. She put on her bikini and a pair of shorts and dug the deflated beach ball out of her closet. Her hand brushed the white dress she’d worn the night she met Kris and blushed all over again just thinking about it. Of course, the thought of the dress led to the recurring thought of the ruined rebel socks but that eventually looped back around to Kris. Damn him, she thought. When was he going to stop doing that?

     The horn honked again. Amalia ran downstairs only to narrowly avoid knocking over Molly, who was carrying a cup of coffee back upstairs.

     “Where are you going?” she asked, throat raspy.

     “Out with Lorelai,” she answered, moving past her mother.

     “Dressed like that?”

     “Really, Mom? Where do you think I’m going dressed in my bikini?” Amalia asked sarcastically.

     “Don’t raise your voice to me, young lady. And be home by six.”

     Amalia snorted. “For what, exactly? The family dinner? In case you didn’t notice, you ruined any family time we were ever going to have. And I don’t mean your pointless soirees and fancy bullshit!”

     Molly’s eyes widened. “Amalia Demi Linden!”

     “Molly Renee Linden! Or should I say Anderson?” The use of her mother’s maiden name shut her right up. The silence that came in her rage and disbelief gave Amalia enough time to slip by and get in the car.

     “What took you? I was getting ready to call lover boy,” Lorelai joked.

     “Nothing. I forgot my phone… I had to go back and get it,” she lied. During the ride to the beach, Amalia forgot all about her mother as they sang along to the radio and she indulged herself with the memory of kissing Kris.

 

      The unmistakable smell of the ocean wafted through the open windows once they arrived. Amalia had never gotten used to the odor. She liked and hated it at the same time. The fresh air smelled great, but who wants to reek of stinky fish?

     “Okay, Lor. Who are all these people you invited?”

     “You have eyes, yes?”

     “A couple.” Amalia took the cue to actually strain her eyes and search for these mystery guests. There was a group of kids waving in her general direction, so she assumed they were the others Lorelai had invited. From what she could tell, they were mostly of the female variety.

     “Lor!” she yelled behind her.

     “What?” Lorelai appeared next to her balancing a whole array of beach gear in her arms: towels, chairs, an umbrella, a bag full of sunscreen and food.

     “You said you invited boys.”

     “I said I knew boys. I never actually said I invited them,” she replied. What a piece of work, her best friend. Before Amalia could protest, Lorelai continued, “Calm down, sweetie. The guys are here.”

     “Where, Sherlock?”

     “Again, Watson, you have eyes.” With that, she stumbled away. Amalia used her much discussed eyes to scan the beach for the supposed presence of boys she or Lorelai knew. In actuality, she was really only looking for Kris. That wonderful, frustrating boy! Someone poked her from behind and she spun around right into a beaming, shirtless, slightly damp Kris

     “You’re dry,” he greeted her.

     “Hello to you, too.”

     “This is unacceptable.” He scanned her with disapproval. Then he took a step towards her, closing the gap between them. She held her ground- but not for long. Kris picked her up, threw her over his shoulder and started sprinting to the ocean.

     “Kris! No!”

     Way before she was prepared, Amalia was dumped into the water. She wanted to be mad, but Kris’s laughter was infectious and soon she was cracking up, too. They splashed each other and had breath-holding contests like little kids. Amalia ignored the side of her that would usually push Kris away and jumped on his back.

     “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but I’m not a dolphin.”

     “I had my suspicions…” she joked as flirtatiously as she could. He quickly dipped under the waves, submerging them both. Amalia tightened her grip around his neck, not trusting the water to make up for her complete lack of grace. When he brought them back up, she jumped off.

     “I see you’ve abandoned ship,” Kris said with a smile, already walking against the current to be closer to Amalia.

     “I didn’t have a choice. The captain is nuts.”

     “Oh, really?” He was still getting closer. Amalia started to feel those butterflies trying to break out of her chest.

     “So I’ve heard,” she replied nervously.

     “You can’t believe everything you hear.” They were only a foot apart now. The butterflies had morphed into gigantic pterodactyls absolutely hell bent on the destruction of her upper body.

     “That’s too bad,” Amalia ventured.

     Confusion passed across Kris’s face. “Why’s that?”

     “Because I heard that this charming yet stalker-like boy wanted to take me out to dinner tonight… Might’ve just been my imagination though.” She turned around and acted like she was about to leave. Kris wrapped his hand around her wrist and spun her back around. The speed of it propelled her against him, and suddenly the creatures in her chest were still.

     “He’s charming, huh?” His smile… Stop that! Why do you smile at me like that?

     “I think he prides himself on it.”

     “So…” His gorgeous eyes pierced right through her.

     “So.”

     “You gonna give this charming suitor a chance?”

      For a moment they were the only two people in the water. Amalia felt like she was in the middle of a teenage romance movie. Normally that would bother her, but the intensity of his stare and her own nerves wiped the thought from her mind.

     “As long as there is no Alfalfa and Darla reference when you pick me up.” Amalia smiled as Kris picked her up and spun her around. And just in case the moment wasn’t already a page out of a storybook, he kissed her.

 

     Amalia felt like she was in a fantasy. She was laying against Kris on one of the many towels the group had between them, eating a chicken salad sandwich and looking out on the water. She and Kris had been talking for a while, but there had been no more mention of her home life.

     “How’s that poor dog of yours?”

     “Poor dog?” She took another bite of her sandwich.

     “Yeah, I know I’d have a problem with no identity. Imagine that conversation, would you? ‘Hi, what’s your name?’ And you have no answer…tough life.”

     She chuckled. “For your information, she has a name now. Pooka.”

     “Pooka?”

     “Haven’t you ever seen Anastasia? That’s the name of the dog in the movie.”

     He sat her up and moved so he was across from her. Then he snatched her sandwich away.

     “Hey!” She started to get up but then he stuffed the remains in his mouth. “So, do you plan on making me another one? I wasn’t really finished.”

     “Nope.” Then he strolled off towards the ocean. Amalia grinned as he left and did a belly flop into the water. This was the oddball, high society hating, amazing and frustrating boy that had decided to give her a chance. She still wondered why, with all her complaints and quirks.

     Suddenly, none of it mattered to her. With all the bad that was happening in her life, she wanted one thing good. And it was him. As scary as that thought was to Amalia, she just let it go.

     “Amalia!” Lorelai screamed her name from the water. She ran to join her friends and maybe-boyfriend, enjoying the new feeling of being a normal teenager. They swam away the afternoon, played tag on the beach, and when night fell it was someone’s bright idea to make s’mores. One of the other boys there, Jackson, volunteered to use his extraordinary Boy Scout skills to rub two sticks together. Amalia couldn’t help but laugh when the one spark he managed to produce actually scared him.

     “Heart of a warrior that one’s got,” Kris joked.

     After that, everyone started to disband. Pretty soon it was only Amalia, Lorelai, Kris and Jackson. The warrior challenged Kris to a wrestling match.

     “Tempting, really. I’m just scared of your enormous pyrotechnic abilities.”

     Jackson frowned. “Whatever, man. Lorelai?”

     Lorelai smiled at him. “Ladies don’t fight, silly.” No one dared to say she wasn’t a lady. Of course, only Amalia knew what a savage Lorelai actually was. Wrestling was probably one of the few sports left that Lorelai hadn’t played for the school. There wasn’t a doubt in Amalia’s mind that she would own that, too.

     Jackson had just begun to leave when Lorelai stopped him.

     “Where are you going? I never said I was actually a lady.” There it was. The challenge that Jackson had no idea he was about to lose. He ran back over to the group with the biggest smile on his face. It disappeared when Lorelai kicked his legs out from under him and put him in a choke hold. Amalia and Kris cracked up from the takedown and the look on his face: shock and defeat.

     “Shut up! I wasn’t ready.”

     Lorelai instantly released him. “Get ready then.”

     Kris pulled her hand. She got the message so they left Jackson and Lorelai to their games to take a walk. Once they were out of earshot, they found a rock to sit on.

     “I guess that dinner’s going to need a rain check,” he said.

     “Guess it is. This was an awesome day though,” Amalia responded.

     “I couldn’t agree more. Once Jackson gets his a*s handed to him a couple more times, he’s going to stick his tail between his legs and run on home. Which means I have to leave, too.”

     “The warrior is your ride? Does he drive a chariot?” she laughed.

     “Not exactly. More like his mom’s mini-van.”

     “That’s priceless.”

     They were quiet for a few minutes, just listening to the waves crash on the shore. He put his arm around her and she leaned into it. There was a loud “d****t” from where their friends were wrestling. Amalia knew Jackson was going to be sore in the morning.

     “Is this better than that swing?” Kris asked. She shivered from a combination of his warm breath on her ear and what he was subtly asking.

     “I think something’s missing.” She turned her head so they were an inch away from each other. No words passed. For about a minute all they did was breathe, which was excitement enough for Amalia. Kris took her hand and slowly kissed her. His lips were almost hot on hers because of the cold beach air. It was nothing like their first make out session in her backyard or the series of kisses in the water earlier. This kiss was sweet and deep, Amalia would even say romantic. Yes, it scared her to the core but it also made her the happiest she’d been in a while.

     When they pulled apart, Kris touched his forehead to hers and swept her hair behind her ears. Amalia might have gagged at this type of gesture a week ago but now it made her feel content and wanted. She looked at him and smiled. 

"You owe me a pair of socks," she said.

"Is that so?"

She nodded. "Yes." 

"One pair of socks coming up," Kris agreed. They hugged and walked back to the makeshift arena. Lorelai was sitting on Jackson’s back.

     “Sorry, Jackson,” Amalia said to the back of his head. Lorelai hopped off and Jackson hoofed it back to his car. Kris followed after pecking Amalia’s cheek.

     “Well. Well. Well.” Lorelai accentuated each word, then smirked at Amalia.

     “Oh, and you didn’t have your future boy toy’s face in the sand tonight?”

     “I don’t know what you’re referring to, Amalia.” Lorelai cracked a smile, knowing Amalia was right. “Alright, Amiga. Let’s go. Sleepover at my house!”

     They walked with their arms linked back to the car.

Reviews

[Shellie]

Nice chapter, just a day at the beach and kris and amelia spending time together after the knowledge of the affair. its all come together nicely. excellnt work.

[Anthony]

Grand. Just Grand. Love the story so far, and This chapter was a nice change of pace after the last one. Great Storytelling.