Orrin Bromm: "Locked"

501 West Franklin Street, this blue one has got to be it. Turn the radio down; no just pause it. 

I press the black knob and the kick drum and singing stops. Press the breaks and turn my wheel as the gravel shifts under my tires. Put my car in park as I look towards the door.

Oh my god…

Here she comes across the porch towards my car already, and she’s more beautiful in person than in the pictures she’s been sending me. 

Get the door, gotta keep it classy.

I get out from the drivers side and reach the passenger door as I smile and open it for her.

“Thank you!” she says as she smiles at me.

  

As close to the door as you can, keep her out of the cold.

I find a place as close to the theater entrance as I can. I put my car in park, turn to her and say, “Well, we’ve got about twenty minutes before we really need to go in.”

She leans over, and places her alluring lips on mine.

… 

She sits back in her seat, looks forward out the windshield and her cheeks are rose.

“I’m sorry, I’ve never done that before!”

“Uhm, what exactly was that,” I ask with a smile.

What was that! I don’t even care, just do it again. No, wait for later, that’s how to do it.

“I’m so sorry, I’ve never kissed anyone on a first date, I don’t know what I was doing. I just felt like I could kiss you.” she said as she looked down in her lap, smiling the whole time.

“Don’t say sorry, I never said I didn’t like it.”

She leaned over to kiss me again.

You said later. You like her, but you said later, lay out some gentleman rules.

“How about later, hmm?” I said as I grabbed her shoulders lightly, catching her mid lean.

“Ugh!” She smiled, and sat back in her seat.

I smiled, opened my door, and grabbed my things. She got out and followed me inside. I let her buy the tickets like she insisted. “I’ve got a couple of coupons actually,” she laughed as she pulled them out of her clutch purse.

  

When the movie was over, we went back to my car talking. 

And the door.

I got the door again for her, and she just smiled at me this time. I walked around to my side, and got in, but didn’t bother buckling. 

She’s gonna do it again. I’d bet five bucks on it.

I looked towards her this time, expecting her to lean over again. She looked at me and said, “What, you think I’m gonna kiss you again? You said later, remember?” She threw a sideways smile at me with that, most likely being amused thinking she’d played my words against me.

“Well it’s later isn’t it? I said that about three hours ago,” I retorted, throwing the same piquant smile and sass back to her.

“You’re right,” she said. As her smile grew from ear to ear, she leaned forward, placed her hand on the back of my neck, and her lips met mine. This time I let myself be unbarred, and leaning towards her slightly I placed my hand on her side. 

And at 11:41, I took her home.

The clock on the mantle chimes early like it always does. It says it’s 5:55, but it’s usually about five minutes fast.

You’ve got about ten minutes until Mya and Melayna will be here. Go shower, and put on something casual, but well fit. 

I went downstairs and showered as quick as I could, but it still wasn’t quick enough. My mother came downstairs and said to me through the door, “Mya and her sister are here.”

“Okay,” I replied, rinsing my long hair out with urgency. I couldn’t neglect what Mya liked most.

Later when she was sitting behind me on the couch, she insisted I let her braid my hair.

I’ve told myself time and time again I won’t let girls braid my hair, but hey, here’s to betting there’s a lot of things I’d do for her that I wouldn’t do for others.

While she was playing with my locks, ‘Take Me To Church’ by Hozier came on.

I haven’t heard this in at least a couple years.

Just as quickly as I started singing the first verse, she did too. Her sweet alto voice and my rich bass had harmonized well, but as we sang the song, it was as if it was written for us. She got done braiding my hair, and took a video on my phone to immortalize her masterpiece. She leaned over my shoulder, and pressed her cheek on mine as we rocked from side to side, singing, “Offer me that deathless death. Good God, let me give you my life.” Right then she laughed again.

I’ve got the prettiest, funniest, most wonderful woman in the world leaning and laughing on me, and she thinks she’s the lucky one…

When the song was done I’d had enough of the braid and took it out, giving her back the violet scrunchie she’d stuck in my hair. We sang more songs, talked with Tate and Melayna, and did whatever else we could to entertain ourselves. Nine o’clock came too soon, and her and her sister had to go home. 

I walked them to her car outside, and she was slightly ahead of me. Her sister came out behind me and elbowed me in the ribs saying, “You need to ask her out.”

“What do you mean ask her out? We’re going out.”

“So you are her ‘boyfriend’,” she asked giving me a very peculiar face.

“No, you can date someone and not be their significant other. That by no means doesn’t mean I don’t want to be her boyfriend.”

But you push your luck too far now, and you’ll blow whatever could be ahead. Don’t be stupid.

“Just ask her,” she said as we came up to Mya’s car.

I walked over hurriedly to the drivers side

The door.

I got the door for her, though she knew it was coming, and tried to beat me to the handle. When my hand reached it before hers, she just rolled her eyes at me as she got it. Tate had now found his way outside and was talking to Melayna in the passenger seat.

Make it obvious that you want to be something more, but don’t push it. Just don’t be discreet.

“You know, I’ve known you for ten days now, and have seen you more than half of those days. Sounds something like a boyfriend you know?” 

“Mmm, is that what that sounds like?”

“I don’t know, it’s just what someone told me. Guess it doesn't matter what it sounds like to me though, just matters what you think now doesn’t it?”

She gave me a witty answer to every witty comment I made over the next couple of minutes. Eventually she had to go though, and closed the door after I gave her a kiss. Before she rolled down the driveway though, she rolled down her window, looked back at me and said, “Yes, I’m your girlfriend now.” With that, she rolled her window back up and went on her way back home.

  

Car is washed, Tuxedo is pressed and laid out, wallet and keys are next to it, and phone is charging. Just got to take a shower and get dressed before I go get Mya. 

Hands in my pockets and not bothering to crack a smile, I stood and let my mother take more photos than necessary before she let me head out the door. After what felt like an hour of reassuring her I’d let her know where we were taking pictures, I managed to get to my car and head towards Mya’s house.

Thirteen minutes early, nice.

I pulled into their driveway right as Tate pulled in behind me. As I closed my car door, he walked up to me, arm stretched out for a hug saying, “Wassup brother?” 

“Just ready to have a good time with you buddy,” I said as I embraced him like a brother.

We went inside where Meleyna was ready for Tate, but Mya took a couple more minutes before we could leave.

I’m early, but I like to make her squirm a little.

A grin cracked across my face as she walked down the hallway into the kitchen and I saw her for what felt like the first time, for the thousandth time. “You’re stunning baby girl,” I said for lack of better words.

She’s gonna hate me for this.

I opened the door for her which she rolled her eyes at and just said, “I can get that myself.”

“I know, but I like getting it, makes me feel important,” I said as a smile unfurled across my face.

After stopping several places for pictures, working out some last minute dinner reservation issues, and killing some time, I drove us back to the high school for the dance. Walkthroughs weren’t what I expected. Frankly I don’t know what I expected, maybe a bigger production of it maybe, but it was enjoyable all the same. I spent the next few hours dancing in a circle of people, most of which I didn’t know, but my world was always on my arm dancing with me, so I could have cared less.

Now this is what makes Prom all that it’s cracked up to be. I wouldn’t want to be spending it with anyone else.

The dance was supposed to get over at 11 p.m. but about 9:30 I could tell Mya’s head was hurting her. She was still smiling and putting on a show for everyone, but I knew her well enough and picked up on her little idiosyncrasy she had when she wasn’t feeling well. 

“We can go now, babe,” I whispered in her ear.

She shook her head at me and said, “ No, I don’t want to go.”

We stayed and danced some more until about 10 when I convinced her to go home and rest before we went to the after, which she insisted on going to. She wanted to get a picture sitting on my lap with me holding her before we left though. So she gave her phone to her sister and sat curled up on my lap with my arms around her as we both smiled for the picture.

This, just feels so right.

We checked ourselves out of the dance, and I got the door for her in the parking lot. She was too tired to even give me heck for it. We waited a minute before Tate and Meleyna found their way outside and too the car, and then we headed back to Mya’s house. 

Her mother welcomed us all back and asked how the dance was. I waited for the girls to change before I changed into some more casual clothes to lounge around in before we headed to the after party. I was laying on the couch, watching some show on tv I didn’t recognize, with Mya curled up on my chest. I couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not, but if I had to guess I’d say she was awake because everyone else in the room was talking sonorously despite my asking them to keep quiet. 

See I’d be fine spending the rest of the night here myself.

She was awake when I told her we needed to be leaving if we were going to go to the party. She sat up, got her shoes on when Melayna handed them to her, and we headed out the back door. I got her door for her again to which she finally smiled, “Thank you,” to me.

Go ahead and take a shower, she’ll be done with practice when you get out.

I washed off any evidence that I’d been at practice this evening, and when I got back to my room, I dropped my bag full of homework next to my desk. I situated myself on my bed and Facetimed Mya. She was on her way home from the University having just gotten out of cheer practice. 

I spent the next two and a half hours talking with her, asking about how her day was and how practice was going. I told her about starting my Senior year, and how the football team was looking. I managed to craftily find out some information for her Christmas present I was planning for her. Eventually though, 1:00 a.m. came around, and we both needed to fall asleep. 

“I love you,” she said to me.

“Yeah, but I love you a little more,” I said with a smirk just to rile her up.

I laid there with her on the phone still like I always do, because she doesn’t like to be alone. She always tells me it’s kind of like me being there with her, and she falls asleep easier.

She’s got so much going on between cheer, work, college, and everything else… She tells me not to worry about it, it’s not going to affect us in any way. But I can’t help but worry...

God I just wish I could breath.

I polished off the last of the medicine in the cabinet as I kept belligerently fighting the sickness which had been ailing me for the last nine days. I drudged through the day just looking forward to when Mya would get done with cheer practice and looking at the picture of her all dressed up for church she’d sent me that morning. 

“I Love You” was captioned both in words and in the smile she had adorned.

That evening I missed her first Facetime call at 9:27, and called her back promptly at 9:30. As soon as I heard her voice, I could hear something foreboding in it. I knew the sound for what it was, and it spoke to me before she said a word that I actually heard. I saw goodbye in her eyes. She let it come over me easy, but she was kind enough not to waste time before she told me , “I think it’d be best if we were just friends right now. With all of the things going on between school, work, cheerleading, and my family, there isn’t enough time to think about when to see you next, let alone see you.”

I didn’t hear anything except for wisps of the rest of what she said.

There isn’t anyway you can change her mind. At least not now.

She wanted to go, so the phone call only lasted nine minutes, unlike any other.

I know her well enough, I want to change her mind... but I know I can’t. She’s too strong willed for that…

Just let me get the car door one more time. 
But the door’s locked.