Chapter 6
Gatsby and Spiral Notebooks
***
It was as though the morning darkness echoed throughout my home. It was completely silent and dark as pitch. The city hadn't awoken yet and it felt like "me against the world." Even the skyscrapers were sleeping still... along with my ever-tired sister.
"Get up, Danielle."
Same daily routine.
"No!"
Flicking on the lights, I was greeted with a pillow flying towards my face.
That was new!
I sent it back her way and was thanked with a groan. Her anger was mounting as the days went on.
Walking away from the room, her voice echoed out from it. "Why is it so early?"
It was 5 AM. Ready to go...
Me? Yes.
Danielle? No way.
She definitely didn't inherit my parents' "early bird" trait as I had.
"You have an appointment today." My heels clicked down the tile of the kitchen. My businesslike attire was to resemble a responsible caregiver - a neat pleated skirt with a tucked in black tank top. A go-to in the business world.
"Happy Monday," she groaned as she stood, making no eye contact.
A giggle escaped my lips at the notice of her bedhead. As welcoming of a kid she was... that did not make her happy.
"I'm gonna change." Danielle continued to blankly stare at me. "So leave."
Sisterly love.
"Alright, alright..." The satisfying click of my heels met my ears again, returning myself to my coffee and book. Monday was "relaxation morning" - to get myself ready for the week I tried to read, rather than work. Today? A classic. Picking up my tattered and beloved copy of The Great Gatsby, I smiled, reading about how girls can be fools.
"What are you doing?" asked Danielle, her normally warm voice turning to pure anger. She was standing there, backpack in hand, new clothes on and blank-faced.
Time had passed without me realizing.
"That's mom's copy."
The smell of old paper grazed my nose as I slapped it shut, embarrassed at my mistake. "I know. I shouldn't have touched it," I said quickly, for once averting eye contact, my strong personality failing.
"We agreed that nobody touched mom's books." She did not move, her eyes seeping into my rolling stare.
"I know. I just... I figured that we should let them live on." I broke. "To tell you the complete truth... I've really just kept this single one to me. She used to read it to me, you know. To you too..." Now I looked back at her, tapping my fingernails on the square wooden table, regaining confidence.
Danielle moved closer, dragging her blue bag on the floor. "She did?" Her eyes sparkled like that of an excited star, amazed to be taking in new information.
"I can read it to ya if you'd like... just like how she did."
She smiled, that honey grin of hers returning. "I'd like that."
And with that, we picked up our things to head to her cardiologist appointment.
***
Ring!
That was the sharp iconic sound of my iPhone ringing. Still feeling my case of the Mondays, I was slow to pick it up.
"Hey."
"He's so hot!"
"What?" I glanced down at the caller ID - it was Erin of course. She started her new job today, making her shrill phone call make a little more sense. "Do you know his name yet?"
Silence.
"No, I still forget that; he's so hot! The job is great I'm on my dinner break, but I get out at 8! I'll call you then... was just updating you. Bye!"
Frowning at the fact that she hung up before I was able to bid her goodbye in return, I continued walking. I had one date later tonight, at 8:30, and it was with him.
Mondays always tended to be slow, with it picking up Thursdays through Saturdays.
Danielle's check-up had gone fine... same as usual, but expensive as usual. I had needed to do some shopping for school- binders and the works, but had to cut it short in order to keep enough saved. I was limited to a couple measly notebooks.
This was currently what I was up to, walking through the corridors of the busy shopping mall. It was grand, with palm trees in the center and while tiled floors throughout.
Brand names lined every wall... stereotypical ones like Forever 21 or Abercrombie and intimidating ones like Michael Kors or Coach. But all I needed was a CVS.
I sighed, half wanting to enter the stores but knowing it wasn't probable. When I was younger I'd occasionally venture in, but that was when there were less responsibilities within my care. I was here for fifty cent spiral notebooks, not Coach bags.
Still enjoying the clicking of my knock-off heels, the long mall halls went on. Couples were everywhere. A young edgy girl, sitting on a boy's lap on a bench, her parents probably having no clue she was here - a man bringing a tray of food to his wife and child in the food court, a real smile plastered to his face - two men, strolling happily hand-in-hand, entering a store. Everyone was so happy together. And I was alone.
But focused.
Notebooks.
I slowly accomplished the mission at hand. It was late. Almost 8. Time to head over to the date spot. Walking back through the saddening mall, I reminded myself of how empowering the tapping of my heels felt on the ground, in an effort to distract.
I changed in the back of my car, into an outfit more appropriate for the venue.
A movie theater. Unusual for my service. The point of the date was to talk to the woman, which is something that is kept very minimal at a movie theater.
He is just an unusual boy, though.
Just a quick run on the highway would bring me to the location. The late summer sun was setting as I drove, leaving it to be a peaceful ride as the orange cast down on my car.
I pulled into a close parking spot, since the movies weren't busy on Mondays. There was a boy standing out front. He was dressed nicely, his shirt casually untucked and slightly unbuttoned, the light pink of it matching the colors of the sunset and his khaki shorts sat well on him. He was distracted by his phone, clearly waiting for someone... that person being me.
Getting out of the car, I looked straight into his averted eyes, that familiar blue obvious from eve where I was standing.
It was as though his pupils saw your deepest desires.
I approached and his head tilted up, hearing me coming, that caramel smile returning.
"Jay?"
***
Author's Note: Sorry for the mini hiatus! I went off to camp and coming back was a struggle in general. Here is my 3 in the morning writing/filler chapter. Thanks for reading!
What's your favorite classic? Mine is obviously The Great Gatsby.
Why would a girl so young need to be seeing a cardiologist? Your best guess?
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