Russel
I close the driver's door of Jameson's truck and walk up to Joe's with my hands in my pockets, looking down at the ground. It's dark and my parents went out, leaving Jameson I home alone. Amber and Stacy went to their friend's house, as did Kenny, and mom insisted on taking Lellin with her to the movies. That should be an interesting experience for them. I look up as I walk closer to the curb and notice Venice sitting on the bench, with her lap top open on her legs as she leans forward, staring intently at the screen with her eyes narrowed. She sighs and looks up, and notices me standing there. "Russel!" she exclaims, clearly surprised. "Hey," I reply with a small smile, "What are you doing here?" She sighs and pushes a strand of hair behind her ear, glancing back at her computer screen, as she says, "There's no internet connection at my house. I usually get it in my yard, but occasionally I have to come over here." I laugh, "Bummer! Desperately needed to check your facebook, huh?" She smiles, "No, actually, I emailed a research paper to myself from the library." She sits back, crossing her arms over her chest and looking over at me, "But I sent it a while ago, so now I have to search through a million emails before I can find it. Then I have to edit it, and then go home and print it out, so I can turn it in tomorrow." I raise an eyebrow, "Wow. And you left this all for tonight?" She shrugs, "What can I say, I'm the queen of procrastination." I chuckle, "I'm gonna go get a Coke, you want one?" She looks back up at me from her screen and smiles slightly, "Sure. Thanks."
"No problem." I push Joe's door open and step into the tiny convenience store. The blasting air conditioning sends a chill down my spine as I walk back toward the cooler and pull the door open, pulling out two Cokes." I walk over to the candy aisle and grab a super-size bag of Swedish Fish, which of course Joe has even though he doesn't have shampoo and conditioner. I chuckle to myself and go up to the counter where a sleepy red head rings me up, then step out of the store and hand one of the Cokes to Venice, who gratefully takes it and flashes me a smile before quickly opening the bottle and taking a long chug. "Thirsty?"
"Jeez, you have no idea," she says as takes the bottle away from her lips. She pouts, and her lips pucker perfectly, sparkling from the liquid she just chugged. Jeez, she's gorgeous. "Why didn't you buy some soda yourself?" I ask, forcing myself to look up at her eyes, which really isn't that hard seeing at they're gorgeous too, darkened by the night sky so that they look like a lake under the night sky, a sparkling dark blue-green. I can almost imagine a boat sitting on that lake, with a man waiting on it for the morning to come once again. "I forgot my wallet at home," she sighs, brushing her hair out of her face with one hand and running the thumb of her other hand around the circular top of her coke bottle. She puts the bottle down next to her on the bench and looks back at her lap top screen, and I sit next to her and watch the distant trees sway with the evening breeze. Venice shivers slightly and pulls her baggy sweater tighter around her, and I look down at my bare arms, noting that I don't feel cold at all. I smile, happy for the extra heat of muscles. I look at Venice's slim figure and can't even imagine how fast she must get freezing. She has no fat or muscle to protect her. "I would offer you my jacket, but I don't actually have one," I say, taking a sip of my coke, leaning forward on the bench and looking back at her. She glances at me for only a second and then looks back at her screen, typing madly, as she replies, "No, it's Ok, I have a sweater." Another breeze comes and she shivers again, and I chuckle, "Yea, a lot of good that's doing you." She sticks her tongue out at me without looking away from her essay, and I laugh, leaning back again and taking another sip of my coke before stretching my arms out behind me on the bench. She straightens slightly and I smile. She continues to type and we sit there in silence for a few minutes before she finally says, "Ha! I finished it!"
"I hadn't even realized you found it."
"Oh, yea, I remembered that I starred it so I wouldn't have to look for it so long, so I went to my starred emails, found it, and edited it." She closes her lap top and smiles at me, taking another sip of her coke. "Well," I say, standing up and dropping my empty cooke bottle into a nearby trash can, "since we're both here, and free," I pause for a second, and she narrows her eyes at me, but I can tell she's trying not to smile, "How'd you like to go for a drive?" She stands up, "Sure. Why not? Not like there's much more to do in this town." I role my eyes, "You can say that again."
"Not li-"
"Don't say it!" I yell, and she laughs before following me to Jameson's car.
"Other than Good Charlotte?" Venice asks.
"Yea."
"Owl City."
"Really?"
"Oh, yea. Definitely."
"Huh. Who would have thought?"
"My family."
"Wha?"
"They live with me. I listen to music loud."
"Ohhh. Right. That makes sense." I laugh and run my hand through my hair as Venice and I sit in the back of Jameson's truck with my super-size bag of Swedish Fish, looking at the stars and quizzing each other on favorites. "What's your favorite band? Other than Good Charlotte." Venice asks me. I ponder this for a moment, "The Beatles."
"I don't think that counts. We were talking current bands."
"Oh. Ok... The Black Eyed Peas."
"That's weird."
"What? You don't like them?"
"No, I do, I just didn't think you would."
"I do."
"Um, yea, thanks, I got that." I laugh and rip the candy bag open farther so I can reach in and grab a big handful of the fish. "Wow. You just swallow those things whole," Venice says, watching me eat the entire handful in a matter of seconds. I laugh, "Maybe, but your extremely slow dissection of every single fish kind of evens us out." She laughs and agrees, biting off a corner of a tail of a fish. "Ok. Favorite...movie."
"Hm. That's a toughie."
"Phantom of the Opera, for me. No doubt. Ooh! And Pride and Prejudice."
"Of course. Why am I not surprised?"
"Well, what's yours?"
"I don't know. I don't really have one, I guess."
"Ok, then. What about TV show?"
"I like Lost."
"Yea, but who doesn't? Something more original."
"Um...ok..." I think for a minute but can't seem to come up with anything. "You know what, forget you. New subject. Favorite song," Venice finally says.
"Furr."
"Fur?" Venice asks. I widen my eyes at her, "What?! YOU'VE NEVER HEARD FURR?!" She blinks, "Um. No?" I jump up out of the back of the truck and run to the driver's side door, throwing it open. Venice turns and watches as I hook up my iPod to the car and turn the radio on. I scan through my music until I find the song and then turn the radio up full volume. I get out of the seat, close the door, and jump over the side of the truck, back into the trunk, sitting down next to Venice again. She crosses her arms over her chest and I watch as she nibbles on a fish, listening intently to the music with her eyes narrowed. About a a minute into the song, she says, "You know, this is weird music for a guy who's favorite band is Good Charlotte to listen to."
"Shhh!" I hush her, "This is the best part!" I pretend to play a guitar as I put on a passionate performing expression and sing along, "You can wear you fur, like a river on fire, but you better be sure, if you're making God a liar, I'm a rattle snake babe, I'm like fuel on fire, so if you're gonna get made, don't be afraid of what you've learned..." I pretend to play the guitar again and sing along with the next verse, and Venice just smiles at me, as I slip into the words, "So I took her by the arm, we settled down upon a farm, and raised our children up as gently as you please." She joins in with me as the chorus comes around again, messing up the words and pressing her hand to her chest for dramatic effect. We both laugh as the song ends and my iPod plays another song, but we pay no attention to it. "Wow. That's a cool song, actually, but really surprising as your favorite song. Were you saying other than a Good Charlotte song, or does the beat them?" I smile, "I love Good Charlotte, but that song is the bomb."
"The bomb diggety." I laugh and Venice says, "It reminds me a lot of a book I read, actually...what was it called..."
"Shiver?"
"Yea! That's it."
"Yea, that's what my sister said, too, when I showed it to her." Venice laughs and lays down on her back, looking up at the sky, and I lay down next to her and grab more Swedish Fish, smiling widely.
© 2010
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