Names

Short Story- Part Two

Allie

Not every girl is the same. I’ve learned that the hard way. You have to take a different approach, see what matters to them quickly, and harp on those to build a connection with them. So, that’s what I’m doing again now. Normally this would bother me, her being all over the place. Dropping shit left and right, silently apologizing to no one, while contemplating stepping around all the food she just dropped. But to me, it didn’t matter that her brown hair was all matted up in her loose braid, or that her clothes were all baggy and did not at all conform to her body. She seemed more humble, well at least more than Jade.

We met in the canned food aisle; romantic I know. She had grabbed I don’t know how many green beans, corn, and beans, all stacked in her overfilling cart. She sighed, mumbling under her breath, shakily bending down to grab them as she tried to not let tears overflow.

I reached down before she did, brushing her hand as she gasped. She pushed her sunglasses up into her hair, pulling her zip-up hoodie closer to her frame. I set the cans in the cart, a slight blush forming on her cheeks as she meekly smiled.

“Uh, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” I smiled back. You have to be subtle, don’t want to come on too strong and scare her away. She’s more guarded, and hesitant. I could tell from the rigidness of her shoulders, and shallow breathing I made her nervous. So, I took a few steps back and told her to have a good rest of her day, giving her the space she needed. She nodded at this, wishing me the same as she slowly pushed the shopping cart to the checkout counter. A sigh emitted from her lips as she took in the total, most likely having to spend more than what she budgeted for.

I know what you’re thinking, I should’ve stepped in and helped pay for some. I probably should’ve, but that would’ve been creepier if I did that compared to what I did in the parking lot.

She struggled to push her cart back to her beat-up car, lifting up packages of water bottles and what appeared to be formula. I stood back, my car was a few down from hers, giving me the ability to look at her without her noticing me. She banged her hand on the trunk after dropping the cans she dropped earlier in the store. They rolled under the car slightly, just out of her reach before I jogged over.

“Oh you don’t have to do that,” She protested. But I was already on my knees, reaching under her small car to grab them. I gently set the cans in the car, staring up at her before I got back onto my feet. She tore her eyes away from mine, tears welling up in hers again as she wiped them away.

“Something tells me you don’t want these cans.” I joked, hoping to lighten her spirit.

A small smile reached her face as she said, “I guess not.” She shook her head, looking down at my sweatshirt that was caked with dirt from the pavement. She tried to wipe it off with her hand, dust settling around us as she tried to pat some of it away. “You didn’t have to do that.’” She repeated, whispering.

“I wanted to.” I refrained from stepping away, I could feel her closing off with each second that we stood there.

“Are you okay- uh…”

“Allie.”

“Are you okay, Allie?” I already liked her much more than Jade. She wasn’t looking for attention, she despised it. But I knew I just had to keep giving her a reason to trust me.

“It’s just…” she sighed, rubbing her forehead. “It’s just my parents left me in charge of all of my younger siblings and they’re never around to help. I’m having to work three jobs to take care of them.”

She kept rambling on and after five minutes I stopped listening. Not because I didn’t care, but through her intermittent small sobs and heavy breathing, I couldn’t really understand what she was saying. But what I did understand was that she was reaching her breaking point, and I wasn’t sure if she would be able to stop.

A few minutes later she stopped abruptly and widened her eyes. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I unloaded all of that on you. I’m sure you have better places to be.” She shifted the weight on her feet. “Thank you for all of your help,” she added and closed the trunk of the car but struggled slightly because of how crammed it was. I grabbed her wrist gently and said, “I’m the oldest too, I raised my five younger siblings.”

After I said that it seemed like a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders, and she could finally look me in the eye instead of the awkward eye contact she kept making at the ground. So, once again, I’ll repeat this as much as I can, it’s all about relating to them.

She walked over to the driver’s side and stepped inside, shutting her car door. Her car took a few seconds to start and sputtered, while I glanced back and watched her sit and contemplate her next move. She was looking forward and rested her hands on her steering wheel. Should be any second now, wait for it…

“Wait!” I grinned and slowly turned back, acting like I wasn’t expecting that reaction. She threw open the car door, leaving her car running as I pretended to be shocked. “I know this is a little straightforward, but would you like to go to dinner with me sometime?” She asked breathlessly, putting a hand on her hip to regain some air in her lungs.

“I’d love to.” She tore my phone out of my hands and plugged her number in, a smile on her face as she handed it back.

“Dinner at your place?” I winked. She already took a few steps back, shaking her head bashfully as she yelled back.

“I’ll text you!”

This one was gonna be a slow burner, unlike Jade. I’d have to take my time with Allie, and gain her trust over time, not in a matter of hours.

We had dinner a few days later at a local Italian restaurant. Before that, we texted nonstop. My fingers felt raw and a headache would appear anytime I looked at a dimly lit screen, but she seemed to never grow tired of it. She might take care of her siblings, but man she sure found time to be on her phone.

The dinner went well, minus a few awkward silences, but I could tell that mainly came from her side than mine. Being cooped up in the house all day or stuck at her jobs gave her nothing interesting to talk about, considering she couldn’t even really talk about herself. Any prying questions I would throw her way would easily be dodged and converted to something one of her siblings would say. After two hours of agonizing talk about everything but her, she finally opened up and realized not once had she talked about herself.

If you excuse the useless facts I found out about her little siblings, I found out that she was more quirky than I imagined. Loved older songs that went all the way back to the ’70s, collected a bunch of old records, and surprisingly enough didn’t want any kids. I’m not sure how we got on that topic, it was probably a rant after explaining her complicated and tiresome relationship with her younger siblings. But after she let loose and talked about herself, it was nearly impossible to get her to stop.

“I’m sorry. I’m doing it again, aren’t I? Unloading way too much on you on a first date.”

I grabbed her hand gently. “You’re not unloading too much on me, I like hearing more about you.”

She blushed at this and tore her hand away from mine. She set her hands in her lap in what I assume was an attempt to calm down or prevent me from feeling her clammy hands, which I already felt by the way.

The rest of the night went fast, but our next date seemed to come by faster.

Besides her talent to wrangle and battle kids all day, she was also somehow good at mini golf, which we decided to play the next night. Having not played a game in her life, each ball she made she would celebrate. Jumping up and down as though she was a kid in a candy shop. And based on the weird and slightly judgmental stares we got, it seemed as if they felt the situation was odd like I did.

I guess I never took into consideration how much a sibling can affect an older child’s life, especially when you have to raise them by yourself. Being an only child, I never thought about it. Independence was something I always had, but for her, those moments seemed to be far and few in between. So, instead of listening to the shitty, not-so-under everybody’s breath comments, I soaked it in and enjoyed the small, but still over-the-top celebrations that came with each hole.

We had just finished nine holes before we decided to sit down and take a break, debating if we should go on with the last nine. We got dipping dots, something she has never gotten the pleasure to experience. I got cookies ’n cream while she got chocolate chip cookie dough, and not too long after the cups were handed to us, they were gone. She smiled and shifted on the bench we plopped on with some of her ice cream still on her face.

“As much as I love playing mini golf, I’m not sure if I wanna play another nine holes. The handle is starting to give me blisters.” She said, looking down at her hands where some of the skin was already starting to redden.

“You read my mind,” I replied. I grabbed her hand and she stood up, wrapping her arm around my torso as we found our way to the exit.

Our footsteps were quiet along the pavement, but my thoughts were loud in my mind with each step we took. She was so much different than I thought she would be. Despite having to grow up early and take care of everyone, she still possessed that childlike wonder that most of us grow out of too quickly.

She leaned her head on my chest and snapped me out of my thoughts. She looked up with a smile on her face, while I returned one back. She’s being more affectionate and trustworthy than I thought she was going to be, not that I’m complaining. I thought it was going to take more than a few weeks, but I guess all it really does take is some amateur mini-golf and some melted dipping dots.