Lucas And The Time-Traveling Fog Party Animals
Chapter 18 HeartBreaker

But on Saturday, the only thing I could wrap my head around was how in the world I was going to break my dad’s heart, so to say, without making him not talk to me forever! Her! Not me. What am I thinking? It’s always Liz, Liz, Liz! Not me! I want her and John to be friends, but I don’t want to make it super awkward either….just natural.

So, there should be no problems, right? Wrong! After that day, I was so worried about messing up since the last conversation I had with a boy went so well. Who’s to say it won’t happen again. It had gotten so bad that like a day prior to this date, I nearly gave myself a panic attack. To distract myself, I decided give Liz’s mom a call. The first thing she asked was, “Hey Lizzie, how did the mall go on Tuesday?” I could feel steam bursting out of my ears.

I told her with a little bit of attitude, “It went great. I had a lot of fun...how are you?” Now, I expected her to move on from this, but no, she wanted to stick to the girl’s day topic for some reason that I don’t understand. Until she asked me a very strange question, and that was, “Who made you upset? I bet it was a boy, wasn’t it? Who is he?” I answered, “How did you know--” then stopped and simply said, “I don’t want to talk about it.” She didn’t buy that and boldly stated, “Lizzz.” Knowing that she caught me in a lie, I grunted.

She then said, “I’m your mother. You can tell me.”

I sighed and replied, “Fine... I’ll tell you. You’re right, it is a boy, and his name is Robbie Shelton. He’s a nerd and kinda quiet, really. I-well-Margie and I first met him with his buddy John on campus a week back. He’s somewhat tall, has brown wavy hair, has the biggest glasses I’ve ever seen, and braces. Actually, he had braces. I noticed he got them off when I saw him on Tuesday at the mall where--”

She suddenly cut me off and practically finished my sentence for me by saying, “Where you tried to do something nice for him, and he didn’t appreciate it? Am I getting this right?”

That’s where I foolishly exclaimed, “Yes, exactly!” then asked her, “What do you think I should do?”

“Seems to me like you have a strong feeling about him, so I think it’s best if you just tell him how you feel and ask him out.”

“On a date?” I asked. “Can’t,” I stated.

“You Can’t or You Won’t?” She boldly asked.

Something about what she had asked made me lose my cool and got so defensive about it. I screamed, “I don’t love him, though! What makes you think I do? You have no idea what I’m going through right now because I’m... I’m a..” Realizing at the last second that I had let my emotions of being trapped get the better of me, I held back the boy part and said defeated, “Girl…. while he’s a boy and I-I-I can’t be the one to ask anyway.”

“Well, someone’s got to, darling, because you and I both know he’ll never do it. Sounds like he’s too shy,” her mom replied.

Maybe she was right, I don’t know, but something about what Liz’s mom said to me sounded so cliche about love and frustrated me to the point where I quickly told her, “Maybe calling you was a mistake. I gotta go” and rudely hung up the phone on her. I was shaking badly after that phone call. A part of me wanted to call her right back and apologize, while another part of me didn’t.

I don’t why I am acting like this… oh I bet it’s those stupid girl thoughts messing with me again. Having these girl thoughts running through my head isn’t easy, especially when it has some kind of control over me every now and then. If you want to know what that’s like, try to imagine yourself being surrounded by a swarm of flies, and no matter how hard you swat at them, they just never seem to go away.

Just like this date, apparently, that I can’t avoid. I can’t simply sweep this under the rug, can I? I mean, this date is either going to be the death of me or the birth of me. Also, I’m in deep girl trouble as it is, and if my real mom ever finds out about me dating John behind her back. If she does find out...she might as well move out and not talk to me or John ever again, which is something I can’t let happen.

You wouldn’t believe how hard it was keeping this secret. Between me being a girl and this date, I don’t know which was harder not to spill. But the next day felt like I could crack at any moment, but luckily, I was saved when just a couple hours before the date, Margaret told me that she, Tiff, and Kim were going out exploring around the city and asked me if I wanted to join them.

I told her, “I would love to, but I got plans on my own. I’m visiting a friend that I used to know back in high school.”

She replied, “Oh...well, tell her I said hi, and I’ll see you later... bye.” She left the dorm before I could say bye back. That’s when I sighed with relief and thought, You’ve really done it this time, Robinson…that was too close of a call to you, and you know it. This better work, or else you’re stuck as this cute, annoying girl for the rest of your sorry life.

Ahhhh! This one chance at redemption that I have is putting a lot of pressure on me! I don’t know if I can go through with this. But as the clock keeps on ticking away on my free will, I still don’t know a thing about dating. But there’s nothing like the present. I mean the past to learn from, right? Right? Anyway, just as I finished getting ready, I left and locked the dorm room. As I was walking with my purse in hand to the lobby, I spotted John. My first instinct was to run from him, but I didn’t. I got too scared of what would happen if I did. We ended up talking for a little bit, and let’s just say things got extremely uncomfortable for me soon after.

It all started when we had just made it to my dad’s 1967 Blue Ford Mustang when he opened the passenger door for me to get in. OPENED. The only time I ever see him being a gentleman is towards my mother! Ohhh, this is going to be tough. But I swear if he ever lays a hand on me or decides now is a good opportunity to kiss me, I’m not afraid to knock some sense into him. So, I stood outside right next to the passenger door, confused for a moment, then I shook my head and said, “Thanks,” as I got in.

A couple of minutes had passed, and we were still on the road, so I asked, “Hey John, where are we going?”

John answered, “You’ll see, it’s coming up.” Ohhhh, speak for yourself. The surprise was just a little trip down memory lane. My dad used to take me when I was little to AMC Theatres. The only difference now is that he sees me as his date and the movie that we’ll be watching is St. Elmo’s fire that is being shown, which, of course, is a romantic movie. Once we arrived, he proceeded to do more gentlemanly things that I didn’t even ask him to, like opening the passenger door for me as I got out of his car, opening the door for me to go inside the theatre first.

He even paid for my drink and my bucket of buttered popcorn that I ordered. After paying, he told me to stay right here so he could see what room we’re in. I wanted to break up with him right then and there and tell him we were through, but one look at my father John changed all that. He was so happy...I could almost feel his excitement at that very moment. The only time I’ve ever seen him this happy was when he got his big promotion at his work in the programming business, and that was seven years ago.

You could call me a coward or whatever name you WANT! But I didn’t have it in me to break up with him...at least not yet anyway. So, I did what I was told and waited for him. While waiting, I couldn’t help but enjoy some of that delicious popcorn he had bought me. When John came back, he told me that we were in Room Eight. I followed him while praying to dear God that we don’t get the middle seat in the theatre because that is the most stereotypical romantic thing ever. Once we got into theatre room eight and sure enough, the center aisle was completely empty. You gotta be kidding me. Of all the seats that were taken, none of them chose the middle. What is wrong with people?

We sat down in the middle row of this theatre. No big deal, right? We were watching this movie, which made me want to vomit. During some part in the movie that I can’t remember, I felt a hand on my right shoulder. I quickly glanced over to my right and was shocked to see that John did the classic yawn and stretch maneuver on me. Oh, he didn’t do what I think he did, right? I thought. I had to look twice, and sure enough, he pulled the yawn maneuver on me. I couldn’t believe he did it.

I took his arm off my shoulder and tried to make it through the rest of that movie. When the movie was over, we were walking out when John said to me, “Hey, thanks for tagging along with me, Liz. This movie wouldn’t be the same watching it alone. I’m just glad these two tickets didn’t go to waste, unlike the others.”

Unaware that there were more tickets, I asked, “Oh, there were more than two tickets?”

John answered, “Yeah, don’t you remember? I told you that last week at Baker’s Square.”

“When did you tell me?” I asked.

“I told you towards the end of the double date. I said that I got a couple buddies along with their girls who want to see this movie and how we got an extra ticket by mistake. Then I asked if you were in, and you said you were so in.”

My whole world came crashing down on me at that very moment because everything I thought I knew was a lie or cupped up in my head. I stuttered, “Wait I-I-I thought we were, you know?”

“Dating? No, I mean, I like you, but I wouldn’t go that far. You seemed rad, so I thought I’d ask.”

“Rad?” I asked.

“Chill, cool whatever you girls call it. Anyway, since we had a lot in common, I thought--” He then stopped talking and said, “Wait, did you just say all that stuff to me back at Baker’s Square just to try and win me over?” Oh shoot, that’s what he really thinks that date between us was all about! Boy, I screwed up. I thought. Guess I didn’t have to say anything because John said, “Ohhh my gosh, you girls are all the same.”

I was taken back by this and replied, “H-H-How are girls like me the same?” as I gave him a blank stare.

“You really want to know, well I’ll tell ya. Whatever we say to you girls tend to go in one ear and out the other, and just because you have brothers doesn’t automatically mean you know how to hang out with the guys.If you want to be here, you have to earn it.”

I guess he’s right, but how did he know that I have -- I mean, Liz, has brothers anyway? I never told him. At least, I don’t think I did. So, I asked him, “Hey! How did you know I have brothers? Did I tell you?”

“No, you didn’t tell me,” John answered, “but Rob did, and he told me all about you.”

“Really? What did he say about me?” I asked curiously.

“Why should I tell you? After all, I wasn’t the one that hurt my buddy’s feelings,” he answered.

“I did? I mean, I know I said some things to him that weren’t nice, but I didn’t mean it. So, don’t take it the wrong way, please. I-I was just upset by what he said to me. That’s all,” I replied.

“There’s more to it than you’re letting on, isn’t there? It’s ok, and you don’t have to tell me. I already know. You think you’re the only one that noticed the glances you gave to him when we first met?”

My eyes went wide, and I thought, That’s a thing?! Why does anyone not tell me these things!

I quickly replied, “W-w-woah, about you? Someone had told me that you were staring at me too and--”

John interrupted me and said, “I don’t know who that someone was but whoever told you that was partially wrong. I was staring, but I didn’t have my sights on you. They were on that roommate of yours. She drives me crazy like you wouldn’t believe. Not a day goes by that I can’t stop thinking about her, you know. Something about the way she looks at me or when she--”

Not wanting to hear any more of this lovey-dovey talk from my dad, I coughed to get his attention. When he turned around and asked, “What?” I lied and simply told him, “Umm, girl here.”

John said, “Let’s talk about this more outside.”

I agreed, but in the back of my mind, I knew it...I knew it...I knew it! I should’ve never listened to my mother. Why did I even bother to listen to her when I know what is going to happen later in her life, like I don’t know getting married to the dude she loves, or more importantly, me being made...gosh, I feel like a total idiot right now. If it weren’t for her, I would never be here in the first place and intervened. I should’ve kept my eyes and ears shut, not open.

But it seemed like I needed to keep them open all along because once we left the theatre and slowly walked to his car, John asked me, “Hey, can I ask you a serious question? I like your roommate Margie a lot and was wondering if you can tell me what she thinks of me. after all, you are her roommate.” Wait...wait...did he just...I think he did. Oh, I’m saved, but wow, so this is how they exactly met. Huh, so I guess I did help my parents get together after all and not drift apart. I was off only by a week or two but still, and does Robbie really have a crush on me? I shook my head and said, “I’m glad you told me this. I can help you, but first, don’t be so nervous when you ask her, ok. Loosen up a bit, don’t be stiff, and just be yourself. Also, when we first chatted back at Baker’s Square, she wanted to know everything, and I mean everything that you said to me, word for word. But things have changed between us now since you asked me to go out with you and not her. I didn’t tell her anything about this to make her hate you or me. I think she needs a little convincing to change her mind about this, don’t you think?” as I nudged John’s shoulder to make it even more obvious to him.

John sighed and said, “Yeah...yeah, I get it. I’ll give it a shot, but how do you suppose I go and look for her? She could be anywhere on campus.”

I replied, “That’s where I come in...I can let you without Mo--Margie knowing so she can sit and eat breakfast with you first thing tomorrow morning.”

John asked, “Really? Wow, Robbie was right about you. You are pretty helpful. Now, W-w-what about you and Robbie? Are you going to do something about him?”

I stuttered, “Y-Y-You just worry about Margaret, ok. I’ll deal with him later.”

“I guess we have ourselves a deal, Elizabeth.” I immediately felt this huge weight off my shoulders when he said that.

Man, that was way harder than I expected! I can’t believe that it actually worked, and I am so glad it’s over. Oh, and I may have exaggerated to John when I said that Margaret liked him. Hopefully, she does, or else I’m in trouble like him because I’m not going to be the first one to ask her. But I am really praying hard that what I said is true, or else I won’t hear the end of it in my dorm room, and this whole attempt better not be for nothing.

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