So, do you like me?
Four
"GORDON!!" i yelled. "GORDON, OPEN THE DOOR". It was stupid, he wasn't going to let us come out. That's why I didn't want to be his partner, because he always did this kind of things. Last school trip, he pushed his partner into the lake. Another time in the zoo he bothered an ostrich until it was so angered it bit a girl. That's what Gordon liked to do, and this time he did it to me. "Open the damn door" i said again while trying to force the doorknob.
"Nope" he simply answered. "Have fun, i'll just go downstairs" and I heard his footsteps saying he was walking away.
Before, I had no reason to be upset, but now I was even more angry and with a reason. Then I remembered I wasn't in the room alone, so I sighed and took a look around. We were inside of a utility room. I guessed every floor had one, because I saw one at the lobby and other one on the first floor. I sat on a kind of bar and looked at Harry who was forcing another doorknob.
"It's useless" I said. "We're never going to get out if Gordon doesn't open the door again".
"Actually, this might work" he said without looking at me. "This is like an emergency door. If we manage to open it, we'll find stairs that will lead us downstairs".
"Oh, I see" I said. "And... do you need help opening it?" He shook his head.
I stared at the floor and wished I had a walkie-talkie or something to make the rest of the group know we were trapped. If only I had a cellphone.... WAIT! I freaking had a cellphone! I put it out from my pocket and turned it on. 'Come on, come on'. The screen finally lightened up, but OH UH. A little yellow triangle with a black exclamation mark inside indicated I had no service. Of course we had no service, the museum was in the middle of nowhere. How do the people who work there communicate with the rest of the world?
I sighed for like the 20th time. That was my karma. For being rude. I never acted that way towards people, and this time I was rude to Harry. I guess he made me more nervous than I admitted.
"I'm sorry" I simply spat out. Harry suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned to face me, a bit surprised, his eyes asking 'why?' "I'm sorry I've lately been rude to you, I just... You just..." I wasn't thinking, I just talked. "You just make me nervous and I never know how to act around you, I'm sorry".
He kept thinking for a while and then said "Yeah, you were kind of rude". That was definitely not the answer I was expecting. I don't know what was it that I wanted to hear, but not that. He saw the expression I was making and smiled. "It's just that... I don't know, I really wanted to talk to you, but you never showed interest in me, so that made it all harder"
I stood there, thinking of something not so awkward to say. "Well, you can talk to me now. I'll be nicer". Well, that was still awkward, but not bad. He gave me a big smile while nodding and continuing with what he was doing.
I started playing with my cellphone but after a while I got bored and took my headphones out and listened to some music.
******
I don't know how much time had passed, but I did listened and shaked my legs to a considerable amout of songs, until suddenly I felt a poke. I opened my eyes and paused the music. Harry was standing at a short distance from me and I just wanted to stay like that forever.
"I opened it!" he said happily and I'd say a bit proud too. He stood by the door and waited for me to step out first. I jumped off the bar and walked out followed by him. Just as he had said, there were many many stairs that lead down to every floor in the building. There were no roof and no walls and it was really cold. I felt the air hit me and I regretted not bringing a jacket with me. I was tempted to ask Harry for his, but I was too shy, and besides, he was wearing it.
On our way down we started talking. He said he didn't really know much about me, even though we knew each other since 6th grade and I said the same about him.
"Let's play 'A Hundred Questions', then" he proposed and I agreed. That game is always fun when you play it with someone you want to know about, even though I had never done more than 50 questions. I don't think someone has ever done 100, anyways. He asked first. We started with simple questions.
"Umm, do you have any pets?"
"I have a puppy and a turlte" i said. "I like my dog, but I want a Husky.... What are your hobbies?"
"I like music, so I'd say singing, and I'm taking some guitar classes. Do you like that too?"
"Me?" I asked. "No, I don't sing, nor play an instrument".
"Really? Because I'd say you like singing since you were happily doing that when I was trying to open the door"... I nervously giggled because I didn't know I was being so loud. Fortunately he was walking behind me, so he couldn't see my expression of embarassment. "Well, it's my turn... Is your boyfriend Austin?"
I froze. Where did he get that idea from?, I thought, but then I remembered I had told him two days before that I had a boyfriend. I'm so silly. Austin was a boy a year older than me and we went out only a couple of times. It hadn't worked out at all.
"Uh, no." I said confused. "Austin and I, really?" I asked trying my best to make him realize I wasn't seeing anyone.
"Well... If he's not your boyfriend, then who is it?" he said. By that time we had already walked down most of the stairs. Only a short tract was ahead of us.I didn't know what to say.
"I... umm... I don't have a boyfriend" I replied. I hoped that with that we would get it.
"Oh, so you broke up?" In exactly that moment, I reached the last stair and then the floor. A fee seconds later he did the same thing. I still hadn't replied to his question "Jen?" he softly said my name.
"I lied" I answered. "What I told you isn't true, I never had a boyfriend".
I knew that lying to him hadn't been good, Karen even told me I was crazy. But I didn't expect Harry to react the way he did. It seemed as if I had slapped him.
"Nope" he simply answered. "Have fun, i'll just go downstairs" and I heard his footsteps saying he was walking away.
Before, I had no reason to be upset, but now I was even more angry and with a reason. Then I remembered I wasn't in the room alone, so I sighed and took a look around. We were inside of a utility room. I guessed every floor had one, because I saw one at the lobby and other one on the first floor. I sat on a kind of bar and looked at Harry who was forcing another doorknob.
"It's useless" I said. "We're never going to get out if Gordon doesn't open the door again".
"Actually, this might work" he said without looking at me. "This is like an emergency door. If we manage to open it, we'll find stairs that will lead us downstairs".
"Oh, I see" I said. "And... do you need help opening it?" He shook his head.
I stared at the floor and wished I had a walkie-talkie or something to make the rest of the group know we were trapped. If only I had a cellphone.... WAIT! I freaking had a cellphone! I put it out from my pocket and turned it on. 'Come on, come on'. The screen finally lightened up, but OH UH. A little yellow triangle with a black exclamation mark inside indicated I had no service. Of course we had no service, the museum was in the middle of nowhere. How do the people who work there communicate with the rest of the world?
I sighed for like the 20th time. That was my karma. For being rude. I never acted that way towards people, and this time I was rude to Harry. I guess he made me more nervous than I admitted.
"I'm sorry" I simply spat out. Harry suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned to face me, a bit surprised, his eyes asking 'why?' "I'm sorry I've lately been rude to you, I just... You just..." I wasn't thinking, I just talked. "You just make me nervous and I never know how to act around you, I'm sorry".
He kept thinking for a while and then said "Yeah, you were kind of rude". That was definitely not the answer I was expecting. I don't know what was it that I wanted to hear, but not that. He saw the expression I was making and smiled. "It's just that... I don't know, I really wanted to talk to you, but you never showed interest in me, so that made it all harder"
I stood there, thinking of something not so awkward to say. "Well, you can talk to me now. I'll be nicer". Well, that was still awkward, but not bad. He gave me a big smile while nodding and continuing with what he was doing.
I started playing with my cellphone but after a while I got bored and took my headphones out and listened to some music.
******
I don't know how much time had passed, but I did listened and shaked my legs to a considerable amout of songs, until suddenly I felt a poke. I opened my eyes and paused the music. Harry was standing at a short distance from me and I just wanted to stay like that forever.
"I opened it!" he said happily and I'd say a bit proud too. He stood by the door and waited for me to step out first. I jumped off the bar and walked out followed by him. Just as he had said, there were many many stairs that lead down to every floor in the building. There were no roof and no walls and it was really cold. I felt the air hit me and I regretted not bringing a jacket with me. I was tempted to ask Harry for his, but I was too shy, and besides, he was wearing it.
On our way down we started talking. He said he didn't really know much about me, even though we knew each other since 6th grade and I said the same about him.
"Let's play 'A Hundred Questions', then" he proposed and I agreed. That game is always fun when you play it with someone you want to know about, even though I had never done more than 50 questions. I don't think someone has ever done 100, anyways. He asked first. We started with simple questions.
"Umm, do you have any pets?"
"I have a puppy and a turlte" i said. "I like my dog, but I want a Husky.... What are your hobbies?"
"I like music, so I'd say singing, and I'm taking some guitar classes. Do you like that too?"
"Me?" I asked. "No, I don't sing, nor play an instrument".
"Really? Because I'd say you like singing since you were happily doing that when I was trying to open the door"... I nervously giggled because I didn't know I was being so loud. Fortunately he was walking behind me, so he couldn't see my expression of embarassment. "Well, it's my turn... Is your boyfriend Austin?"
I froze. Where did he get that idea from?, I thought, but then I remembered I had told him two days before that I had a boyfriend. I'm so silly. Austin was a boy a year older than me and we went out only a couple of times. It hadn't worked out at all.
"Uh, no." I said confused. "Austin and I, really?" I asked trying my best to make him realize I wasn't seeing anyone.
"Well... If he's not your boyfriend, then who is it?" he said. By that time we had already walked down most of the stairs. Only a short tract was ahead of us.I didn't know what to say.
"I... umm... I don't have a boyfriend" I replied. I hoped that with that we would get it.
"Oh, so you broke up?" In exactly that moment, I reached the last stair and then the floor. A fee seconds later he did the same thing. I still hadn't replied to his question "Jen?" he softly said my name.
"I lied" I answered. "What I told you isn't true, I never had a boyfriend".
I knew that lying to him hadn't been good, Karen even told me I was crazy. But I didn't expect Harry to react the way he did. It seemed as if I had slapped him.
11/25/13