Christmas Woes

Christmas Woes
Chapter Two: A Botched Couple of Dates

After giving Marie a good cursing out, Leigh grudgingly hugged her and wished her a good night. She waved to Tom who had his face plastered against the window of their car, giving her a funny face. ‘Poor Marie,’ Leigh thought. ‘Tonight is going to be a long night for her.’ She shook her head and began slowly trudging towards her front door. Her dad hadn’t been out that day to shovel the sidewalk as they had been too busy decorating the tree, something Leigh hadn’t been invited to do. Sighing heavily, Leigh dropped onto the snow-covered hill that formed their side yard. Even though it was midnight, Leigh didn’t feel a reason to go in and put up with her drunk father. So instead, she laid down again, staring up at the sky. It had stopped snowing and the sky had cleared remarkably quickly and though many street lights were on, it was easy to pick out the stars. The quiet of the world started to make Leigh sleepy and she yawned, her hand drifting up to cover her mouth. Out of habit, she said, “Excuse me,” but jumped when someone answered her.

“I don’t know how you can be polite about that when no one is around,” a familiar voice said with a chuckle. Leigh rolled her eyes and sat up as Brandon plopped down next to her.

“Where did you come from?” Leigh asked. His persistence was starting to freak her out.

He laughed. “Don’t worry Leigh. Marie figured this would happen so she gave me your address. I followed you over here. And before you freak out, you dropped this.” Looking down, Leigh saw that he was holding out her black purse, which she had apparently left behind when she stormed off at the party. Smiling sheepishly, Leigh muttered her thanks and made to stand up. Brandon, however, stuck out his hand and pulled her back down. “I think we got off on the wrong foot Leigh,” he said, looking at her seriously. “I met Marie at work about three months ago and we quickly became friends. And almost as soon as she met me, Marie was pestering me to meet you and go out and party and all sorts of stuff. For three months, I have been holding her off, but tonight, when you showed up that party, I realized how stupid I was.”

Leigh scoffed. “Oh yea. Stupid for not lying to Marie and telling her you were gay so you wouldn’t have to deal with me,” she said sarcastically. “Stupid for not running when you saw me. Stupid for actually introducing yourself to me. Real stupid.”

“Stop that,” Brandon said harshly. Leigh whipped her head around and looked at him stonily. “Look, Miss Leigh, I realize we are not in the best of situations right now, but that’s not exactly the way you make new friends.”

Leigh opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, but he reached out and grabbed her chin. Her eyes flashed but before she could say anything, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. Her lips immediately softened underneath his and he kissed her slowly, moving his lips over hers. When his tongue came in contact with her lips, she jumped back, her eyes wide. “What the fuck is your problem man?” she said harshly. “You chase me, you follow me, you snap at me, you kiss me. What is your deal?”

Brandon just grinned. For some odd reason, he had momentarily lost his ability to speak properly. His heart was pumping wildly despite just a brief contact with her lips, and he could still detect the faint scent of vanilla lingering around Leigh.

“Well look, thanks for returning my purse and if you don’t mind, I’ll be going inside now,” Leigh said, not looking at Brandon. She didn’t want to admit that the flush on her cheeks was due to more than just the chill in the air. As she stood up, Brandon stood up as well, and laid his hand gently on her arm.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you or anything by following you here, and I know it might be a little forward of me to ask, but would you like to do something with me tomorrow? Go to lunch, see a movie, rock-climbing, something?” Brandon asked, praying that she would turn around and meet his eyes. She did, and for a moment, Brandon could not breathe. The moonlight caught her eyes and almost made them glimmer.

“What time?” she asked, a faint grin playing about her lips.

‘Oh I was so stupid to agree to this,’ Leigh admonished herself as she smoothed the front of her black shirt. ‘Who does this in their spare time?’

“Don’t tell me you’re going to chicken out,” Brandon said, swinging twenty feet in the air, letting his toes bounce his body off the rock wall. Leigh sighed and turned around, leaning back to look up at him. He looked gorgeous up there, his hair hanging in his eyes and his face flushed from the exertion. The lights were reflecting off the sheen of sweat on his muscled arms, and he grinned widely. Nodding to the guy helping him, he began to rappel down the wall. He touched down lightly and unclasped the rope, then walked over to Leigh, who was holding the harness with confusion written plainly on her face.

“I think I’m too fat for this thing,” Leigh finally grumbled, shoving the harness at Jack, the guy who was supposed to watch her. Jack, a large guy with a bald head and several tattoos on his huge arms, just laughed.

“Darling, I’ve hoisted some pretty large guys on this thing. I’m fairly certain you’ll be able to make it,” he said, winking at her. Leigh flushed to the roots of her hair, pulled back in a messy looking ponytail. She looked away, right at Brandon, who was still grinning.

“Come on Leigh, you have to try it,” he said coaxingly. “I promise, if Jack drops you, I’ll hold him and you can kill him, alright?” Leigh sighed, looking back and forth between the two males.

“Ok,” she finally said, “but you’re going ice-skating with me after this.” Brandon groaned, but bent forward to help her put on the harness with a grin on his face.

Leigh laughed, struggling to keep Brandon from sliding into the wall. Graceful though he was when traversing the fake rocks, he could not keep his balance at all and was wobbling all over the ice. Thankfully, it was early enough in the day that the small outdoor rink was relatively empty, and Leigh didn’t have to worry about running into unsuspecting six-year olds.

“Don’t laugh,” Brandon said grumpily. “This is not funny.” Leigh grinned and poked him as he hung on the wall tightly.

“Oh you’re being silly. If you can rollerblade, you can ice-skate. Besides, you made me go up thirty feet in the air above all these older guys—.”

“Who were totally checking out your backside,” Brandon finished waspishly. He let go of the wall and started to take a step when the back of his skate got caught on a groove and, arms windmilling, fell flat on his rear-end. He sat there, giving Leigh a dirty look as she collapsed on the wall, laughing helplessly. Brandon didn’t even try to stand up until Leigh held out a hand, then he grabbed her hand and pulled her down on top of him. Leigh shrieked in surprise when she came within inches of smacking noses with Brandon, and being that close to him made her flush deeply.

Brandon grinned and reached up, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Leigh smiled sheepishly and Brandon winked. “You really are pretty when you smile Leigh,” Brandon whispered, noting the way Leigh’s ears moved when she smiled. She rolled her eyes and held out her hands to push herself back up, then reaching out to help Brandon up. They struggled towards the opening in the wall, where Brandon promptly collapsed on the bench with a painful expression on his face.

“Are you ok?” Leigh asked, sitting down carefully next to him on the cold metal.

“Be a dear and get me some hot chocolate,” he said, holding out a five dollar bill. He peeked at her underneath his lashes. “I’m afraid I couldn’t get up if I tried.”

Leigh shook her head and went to the vendor to get two hot chocolates. The soft Christmas music piping through the large speaker next to the booth made her close her eyes briefly. A voice made them pop right open again.

“Leigh!” a high pitched voice said with apparent shock. Leigh turned and looked at the boy running the vendor’s booth and her eyes opened wide.

“Matthew?” she said hesitantly. The short man nodded his head enthusiastically, his brown hair shaking in the cold breeze.

“What are you doing back from school so soon?” he asked, his voice setting Leigh’s teeth on edge.

“I live here. And in case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas is in two days. Surprised to see me?” she said, shocked at the acidic tone in her voice.

“Yea, for some odd reason I was thinking it was longer til Christmas, but oh well. What are you doing here?” he asked, leaning on the bar, his hazel eyes lighting up.

“Um, I’m skating with my friend and trying to get hot chocolate,” she answered, waving the five dollar bill in his face. She had no desire to talk to him. ‘What odd twist of fate is it that he is working at the place where I have my first date in almost two years?’ she thought.

“Oh, right right. Well, here ya go,” he said, setting two Styrofoam cups on the bar. “Don’t worry about it, it’s on me sweetie.”

“Thanks,” Leigh said through gritted teeth. “Have a nice Christmas.”

Matthew grinned. “Sure babes, you too. I’ll be seeing you around.”

Leigh just gave him a false grin and, grabbing the cups, turned around to find Brandon now talking to some blonde who had sat down next to him. She was grinning happily and had her hand on his thigh. And what Leigh noticed was that he didn’t look upset at all about it.

Letting out a snort of disgust, she put the cups on a table and knelt down to take her skates off. Almost breaking a nail in an attempt to yank them off her feet, she straightened up and stalked over to the bench, grabbing her shoes from underneath. When Brandon finally looked up, she threw the five dollar bill back at him and almost spat, “Here’s your money. Hope you get a good blowjob for it bastard.” Turning away, she stomped out of the rink, regretting almost instantly not putting her shoes on because of the snow still on the ground. She heard him call her name, but she didn’t stop. As soon as she got in the mall, she ducked in the first store she saw, Forever 21, and walked swiftly towards the back. Finding a chair, she sat and pulled on her shoes, then reached for her cell phone.

Dialing a number she knew by heart, Leigh fought to get her emotions under control. Seeing Matthew again had awoken all the old feelings she had for him, feelings she thought were long dissipated. And then to see Brandon, a guy who she was incredibly already falling for, almost drooling over some blonde bimbo bitch at the rink was more than she could handle. To her anger and dismay, she glimpsed Brandon peering through the windows of the store and before she thought to turn away, his eyes lit up and he headed towards the door. Leigh groaned, and the second Brandon opened his mouth, Marie picked up her phone.

“Hey baby girl,” Marie said happily. “I hear you had a date!”

Giving Brandon a dirty look that clearly said ‘shut the hell up,’ Leigh turned away and spoke into her phone. “Marie, can you come get me from the mall?”

“What?” Marie asked, confused. “What are you doing at the mall?”

“I’m needing a ride home. Can you come get me?” Leigh asked, a pleading tone in her voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brandon cross his arms and shift his weight, noticing he looked a little upset.

“I’m actually on break at work in Eddie Bauer sweetie. I don’t get off work for another three hours,” Marie said. “Is everything ok? Do you need me to come talk to you? Where are you?”

“Never mind, I’ll call someone else. I’ll tell you about it later, ok?” Leigh answered, sighing deeply, still fighting the urge not to cry. It was taking all her strength not to let her voice crack.

“Oh, ok Leigh. I’ll talk to you later then,” Marie replied, hanging up the phone. She put her sandwich down for a moment and looked at her phone. “I hope she’s alright,” she said aloud, before turning back to the show on the tv in the break room.

Before Leigh could even close her phone, it was yanked out of her hands by a very pissed off looking Brandon. She turned around sharply, almost falling out the chair, and was confronted with his shimmering green eyes, mere inches from her own.

“What the fuck?!” she snarled, no longer trying to keep the tears hidden. It almost broke Brandon’s heart to see her eyes bright with tears, almost as much as it hurt when she ran away from him at the skating rink.

“What is the matter with you?” he hissed, putting his hands on her shoulders to keep her from rising. “And keep your voice down. I don’t want to get kicked out because you jumped to conclusions.”

Leigh scoffed. “What a load of bullshit! I did not jump to conclusions. I did not agree to go on a date with you so you could ogle at other girls. Do you know how shitty and rude that is mister?” She fought the urge to spit in his face and chose to try to wiggle out of his grasp, but he only tightened his grip on her shoulders.

“See? You’re jumping to conclusions. You don’t even know who Becky is. Why didn’t you just ask instead of storming off?” he asked, trying to get her to look at him. He let go of her shoulder and put his hand under her chin, raising her face to his, but she still averted his eyes. “What’s the matter? There is something more going on than just some girl you don’t know.”

Leigh sniffled, hating herself even more at this moment in time. Becky. Who is that? All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and disappear. Once again, she had made a complete and utter fool of herself, and in front of a gorgeous guy who, for reasons unknown, seemed to like spending time with her. It was just like her to push people away.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered, trying to push him off her again.

“Look at me Leigh,” he said sharply. When she raised her wet brown eyes to him, his heart wrenched. “I think we need to talk,” he said, standing up and extending her a hand. “Come with me, I know a place we can go.”

Sighing, Leigh allowed him to pull her up from the chair and drag her to his car in the parking lot.

Twenty minutes later, he pulled onto a side street somewhere near the city border. He drove down the street a few blocks, then pulled to the side and parked the car. Leigh turned and looked at the snow covered park to the right of the car, complete with swing set, tire swing, benches, and play set. She turned to Brandon with a question in her eyes.

He laughed. “This is where I used to come when I was confused about anything, or just needed some quiet time to think. No one really uses this park anymore because no kids live around here. It’s really sad, if you think about it,” he murmured. Then he brightened. “Come on, I’ll race you to the swings!”

Leigh sat in the car for a moment, watching Brandon run to the swings, kicking up big clouds of crystal white snow. The entire car trip had been made in silence, and she was more than aware of the possibility that she had grossly overreacted to the situation. With a smile, Leigh decided to join him.

They spent about half an hour playing around and throwing snowballs at each other before Leigh sank down to the ground in exhaustion, looking up at the clear blue sky. She hardly noticed when Brandon sat down next to her, snow still in his hair and on his jacket.

“Here we go again,” he said, his hand playing idly in the snow. Leigh turned and looked at him.

“What do you mean?” she asked, squinting against the glare of the sun.

“Lying in the snow, looking up at the sky. Only this time, it’s during the day instead of at night,” Brandon replied, then turned to look at her. Before she could realize what happened, she was flat on her back with snow in her nose, mouth, ears and everywhere else. She shrieked and looked at Brandon, who was laughing helplessly. Leigh decided to fight back and, grabbing up a handful of snow, sat up quickly and smothered his face in snow, laughing herself silly. Her laughter turned to shrieks of giggles when he reached up and pulled her down with him, rolling them over in the snow until they came to rest with her underneath him. They stared at each other, both panting for breath and completely covered from head to toe in white snow. Leigh’s shining brown eyes gazed deeply in Brandon’s bright green eyes, and for a moment, the two of them could not speak.

When finally they could speak, all Leigh could say was, “Well.”