Thursday September 23rd, 2010. Early Morning.
Road
Kolleen had been holding Randy's hand, leading him out of the hospital into the parking lot. "What time is it?" he asked, the darkness was throwing him off. She withdrew her cell phone and said, "It's four A.M." "Ah, it's still very early." Kolleen continued to pull him across the parking lot and away from the hospital. "What's the rush?" She stopped halfway across the lot, looking down at her feet. Bending down seemed like the best attempt to see her face. "What's the matter?" Kolleen didn't answer him, but looked out towards the road.
"Come with me. I have to take you home and I'll talk on the way there." Rather than argue, he let her continue pulling him over to her car. She had a good amount of strength behind that small body of hers. When they got to the car, he opened the driver's side door and allowed her to enter. When she was seated he shut it and sprinted around to his side. Something was bothering her, and it was nerve racking. When he shut his door and got his seatbelt on, something warm touched his left leg. He looked down, noticing that Kolleen was sliding her hand up and down his thigh. "Are you alright?" He asked her, grasping her hand in return.
"Look at me." The worry in her voice startled him a bit. He did what he was told and locked his eyes onto hers. She looked like she hadn't slept for days. There were tiny bags forming under her eyes and the eyes themselves were bloodshot. "I haven't slept for a while Randy. I'm too nervous and scared to even think about it." She was beginning to go into her usual routine where she built up the sadness in her face. First her bottom lip would tremble, then her eyes would glisten and following that would be tears. "What's scaring you?" She rested her forehead against the back of her hand, which held onto the steering wheel. She just shook her head, rocking it back and forth while the dry sobbing continued.
"I can't help you if you won't let me Kol." She continued to cry for a couple more minutes and turned her head to face him. "I'm scared of what we're becoming." Randy shook his head with bewilderment, not knowing exactly what she meant. "W-what do you mean?" She shrugged in return, continuing to rest her head on the steering wheel. "I've had horrifying experiences with guys in the past. I'll explain on the way back home." Kolleen sniffed deeply, and turned the car on. Once they were out onto the freeway, she began the route back to their houses.
"Tell me about them Kol, I would like to know." She just shrugged again, still sobbing. "I'm not even sure of where to begin. I guess the first thing to talk about is my first boyfriend. I met a guy during my first year of being at the high school. He was a typical jock; tall, handsome and seemingly charming. I thought he was a perfect guy…" Randy knew who she was talking about. He saw her hanging out with Gregory Hammond. "Are you talking about that one guy?"
She nodded, driving the car to the right, so they could enter the four lane highway. When they entered the road, she continued her discussion. "He was an amazing guy Randy. He always picked me up after class, gave me flowers and took me out. There wasn't a single flaw to him. He even was captain of the wrestling team, that was until you joined and well, kicked everyone's butt."
For a brief second, the right corner of her mouth twitched. "Continue please, I'm listening." Randy said. She took in a few good breaths and then pressed on with her story. "Ever since you won that division championship, Gregory became obsessed. He would spend hours in the gym, working out over and over until he would puke. He used steroids Randy. He would come back to my house, tear out of his truck and call me to the door…" Kolleen started to trail off. Randy leaned in, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. He noticed the blushing on her cheek followed by a tiny smile.
"He was a horrible person. He did just… terrible things to me. He demeaned me, calling me names, yelling… he hit me, a lot!" They were already near the end of the highway and ready to take the next turn towards their house. "He's a jerk Kol! You're a beautiful girl with an upbeat personality. You deserve to be happy, no matter what." Randy replied, sliding the back of his hand on her cheek. "You're an amazing guy; you really are." "Who... Who else wronged you?" She shook her head in return, "Just every guy after him. In all fairness, he was the nicest of them all. At least he seemed nice at the beginning. The rest were all jerks; I hated them."
"Well…You don't have to worry about that anymore. That's the past and this is the present. I am a good guy and I will never hurt you, no matter what." She rested Randy's hand on her leg, rubbing the back of it gently. The car turned again, as they entered the road leading to their homes. "You're really an amazing guy. I don't know what it is about you, but you seem so much nicer than all the other guys I went out with, combined." Randy looked over at her, noticing her lips were no longer trembling and her eyes weren't leaking. "I want to come to the school with you tonight Randy. I want to see you in the ring." She started driving down the long road to their houses. The sun was beginning to slowly emerge behind the mountains.
According to the clock in Kolleen's car, it was, 5:10 A.M. "My God, the time has just flown on by, hasn't it?" Randy asked. "Yes, it has. It's funny how time flies when you're having fun." "Fun?" Randy replied, looking at her with a weird face. "Yes! Not the whole your mom being hospitalized thing, but being with you in general. Despite the dark conversation that we had a few minutes prior…I had a better time." They were still holding hands and Randy's heart immediately began beating faster than normal, making blood rush into his head. "Can...I ask you something?" Her voice was shaky. She was already backing up into her driveway as she said this.
"Of course, you can ask me anything." When she was sure that the car was parked safely, she threw it into park and turned abruptly towards him; her hair whipping around fast. She didn't appear angry or upset; if anything, she was excited. Her eyes lit up like fireworks, complimented with the familiar grin she always flashed him. "I totally forgot!" Randy immediately said.
She looked confused, "Forgot, what?" Randy groaned, looking up at the car ceiling. "It's Thursday Kol. The show's tomorrow night." Kolleen nearly face palmed herself when she heard this. "My God! I'm an idiot!" She said. Then out of nowhere, a fit of giggles escaped her as she lightly hit her head on the steering wheel. Randy held onto her shoulder, shaking her playfully. "You're not alone Kol; I forgot too." She stopped hitting her head and that's when he saw the red all over her face. "You're so cute! I mean it, I can't get over how amazingly wonderful you are. Words cannot explain in justice, what my heart is feeling right now." The giggles slid to a stop followed by loving eyes.
It felt as if she were piercing his soul by just staring at him the way she was. Her mouth was shut, eyes wide open and arms pushed together as she held herself up. She leaned in towards him slowly; Randy didn't know what to do. A dozen of emotions were slamming into him all at once. He felt the urge to kiss her but something told him that he should wait. Instead of kissing her on the lips, Randy held onto her face with one hand and slowly turned it to the right. Once he did this, he kissed her lightly on the cheek. When they pulled away, both of them resembled lobsters by how red their faces were. "I'm sorry Kol, I just can't do this right now. I want to know you better before we kiss like that."
"I understand. Would you like to come up to my room? I'm not sure if it's safe for you to be alone at the moment. What with the mom troubles, you really should be with a friend. I mean, we have work tonight anyway, why not spend the day together?" Randy backed off, leaning against the door. "Kolleen Sparks, are you asking me out on a date?" She saw the grin he was fighting back and laughed in return. "Of course not… Unless you want to call it that, I think of it as spending quality time with a really good friend." "In other words, it's a date." She didn't even resist nodding in return.
"Alright, it's a date then. Will your mom be okay with me spending the day with you?" "Of course she will be. She knows we're good friends, and she likes you Randy. You're different than the other guys I was with. She sees the good in you and she knows your family's full of good people." "If you say so, then sure; it sounds good." He unlocked his door and entered the slightly chilly morning air. It felt so welcoming on his face, following this chill was a very small breeze. It swept the hair away from him, giving him the cool feeling that he needed. Kolleen got out, and started to run her hands through her hair.
He couldn't help but feel giddy at the moment. Anything that this girl did around him made him feel this way. He walked around the end of the car and leaned in towards her. Wrapping his arms around her stomach, as he set his chin upon her shoulder. She tied her hair up and put her fingers through his hair, ruffling it up as well. "We should get inside and go to bed soon. We know how this story ends; we'll need the rest." "Right, let's get inside then." Kolleen grabbed his hand and led him to the front door.
"I'll take you up to my room as soon as I can. Let's go, and be prepared for anything my mom will say. We may get lucky however; she works nights as well, remember?" Her head cocked a bit, making her hair dangle across her face. His heart skipped so hard that time, he nearly fell over. "Yes, I do. She won't quiz me, will she?" She knew what she was doing to him as she shook her head. "You'll be fine. Come on now, we need rest." She opened the door slowly and kept pulling on his arm until he followed her. The door clicked shut; Randy was so amazed by what he saw, that his jaw dropped.