Stories & Plays

I absolutely despised the question Amber decided on for our Friday Friend Night. 

Last week was John’s turn, and he picked the sexual question we all expected. The week before, Marcus asked if any of us ever participated in sports when we were in high school or younger. The week before Marcus, Adam asked us all our worst date story. I had to rehash the horror story of my senior year in college, when my date took me to the university food court and then to a "romantic" after-dinner frat party where he got smashed and decided to flip off the roof into the pool. A couple guys had to jump in to stop him from drowning. 

Adam hailed a cab for me that night, and while we were waiting on the curb, commented that he was sorry he didn't meet me before that date happened. I just laughed it off, a habit I couldn't break around him since we met. But when I got into my cab, he leaned in and said, "If you were mine, that would never happen." His lips grazed my cheek before he pulled away, gave me a wink and shut the cab door.

He obviously hadn't realized the repercussions of his actions. I now believed he liked me, and the crush I had on him since the moment I met him, crawled up from the dark place I shoved it in, and blossomed.

I'd been dying to see him since that night, and when I stepped into the bar and noticed the stool next to him open, I took my chance. He'd grinned that handsome grin at me when I sat down, and my heart fluttered. That was two hours ago, and Amber had been glaring at me ever since.

 This week was Amber's turn and she decided on a question I didn't particularly like. I’d honestly prefer John’s stupid sexual questions over this one. We get three 'chickens' that renewed once a year, and even though I hated this question, it wasn't worth the two I had left. For some odd reason, this question seemed to come up in my everyday life, and every single date I’ve ever been on. I don't understand why, because it doesn’t tell anyone, anything they need to know about me. Yet, here we are.

“Seriously though Veronica, what would your superpower be?” Amber’s voice is ten notches too high, even in a crowded bar like this. She’s been clinging to Adam's arm all night, and her squeal caught the attention of a couple disgruntled people around us.

I knew what she was doing. I'd seen her do it a million times before on every single guy she knew I had interest in.

“Flight,” I said and flashed a confident grin. John placed a shot in front of me, and I downed it quickly to avoid being harassed by Helena. “I’d want to fly.” 

Amber giggled obnoxiously and rested her head on Adam's shoulder. I caught his grimace before he covered it with a sip of his beer. 

She was staking her claim on a man that clearly had no interest.

“That’s boring!” Amber shouted. Helena grimaced and hit her softly on the back. She glanced between Amber hanging off Adam's arm, me sitting on the other side of him nursing my Vodka cranberry, and Adam's obvious dislike for being used as a jungle gym. She faked a crisis and asked Amber to join her in the bathroom. With a wink at me over her shoulder, they sauntered off. The other two boys were already preoccupied with scouting the bar for women hit on. Adam was the only one whose eyes still gazed into my own. I had the full attention of his baby blues.

“Why?” He asked. 

 “Because in the sky I can be free," I answered without thinking. " I don’t have to worry about anyone else or what they think of me. I can be fully and completely me.” It took a moment for my brain to catch up with what my mouth said. When it did, I gave a small laugh to cover the embarrassment that question, and answer caused. One Vodka Cranberry and a shot and I'm already spilling my secrets.

I laughed again when I noticed Adam’s brow furrow in concern, and quickly intercepted any comment he was about to say. “The only thing I'd have to worry about is running into buildings or airplanes.”

He smiled, shook his head, and leaned closer. My breath caught in my throat. 

“One day,” his blue eyes bored into my brown ones, and his breath washed over my cheek, “one day you won’t have to pretend to be anything you’re not.” I fought the urge to react externally, afraid he’d see through me more than he already had. He liked me. He had to like me, because I like him so much, I'm not sure I can hold myself back any longer. My fingers dug into my jean-clad thigh. The side of my leg that he couldn’t see. 

“You’re more than this, V. You’re more than you pretend to be. And I can’t wait to meet the rest of you.” He moved back to his upright position, turning away from me to motion the bartender over. I stared at his profile while my heart hammered in my chest and my face flushed. It was hard not to stare and take note of every feature. 

His blue eyes were the first thing I noticed about him when I first met him three years ago. Then he smiled, and I knew my heart had no chance. That was the start of a two year long and counting crush. The dimple in his left cheek each time he smiled and the way his eyes crinkled at the corners was so full of genuine warmth, that I immediately wanted to be something to him. He ran his hand through his dirty blond hair constantly, a habit I knew he hated but one he should never break. He was tall, but not so much so that he'd be imposing. His energy was so friendly and fluid that I instantly felt at home. Tonight was no different, I gravitated towards him at the bar, and even took the seat next to him. 

But maybe this was a mistake. He saw me like no one had before. He knew I wasn’t who I pretended to be, but this was the first time he acknowledged it. Hell, last week was the first time he even acknowledged me as more than a friend. But it was just a kiss on the cheek... is that just friendly? My stomach dropped at the thought.

“What if I’m not…,” my thoughts took over my mouth. I glanced down at my bouncing legs as he turned towards me. I knew I had his full attention, but I couldn't find the courage to look in his eyes. “Adam,” I placed my hands on my knees, a failed attempt at getting them to quit their nervous bounce. “What if you’re disappointed?” I said. The talking and music in the bar took over the silence between us for a moment before he responded. 

“Veronica,” he reached forward and lifted my eyes to meet his with a single calloused hand. “I know I love the person you are now.” 

Holy shit, love? My breath caught in my throat, and I waited for him to continue. His thumb began slow strokes along my chin.

“Anything you are now, anything you are in the future, or anywhere in between, will never disappoint me.” His lips tilted up into a smile, and his hand cupped my cheek in a loving caress.     “What makes you, you are the qualities that can’t be replaced,” he continued, “and I know you’re figuring yourself out, but I meant it when I said I can’t wait to see who you'll turn out to be. I’m ready to meet you whenever you are.”

I stared at him as tears formed in my eyes, and he stared right back with a knowing smile. His thumb brushed my cheek, and he began to lean closer. Is he going to kiss me? His eyes flickered down to my lips and then back up to my eyes, he was so close I could smell the spiciness of liquor on his breath.

“Let’s do shots again!” Amber's voice sounded down the bar. Adam and I paused, lips inches away as we glanced between each other’s lips and eyes. I wished he’d kiss me right here in front of all our friends. I wished he would kiss me until I forgot about everything. I wished he would kiss me. 

“Shots! Shots! Shots!” Amber sang in excitement. "Adam, order us shots!"

 Adam pulled away, winked, and turned towards her. “Okay,” he said and grabbed the bartender’s attention. 

“I think I’ll pass,” I said. I gave them all a small smile with a shake of my head and hoped that would stop them from bugging me about it. My heart was beating out of my chest already, and any more liquor in my system would not help keep my head on straight. 

"Boo!" Amber pouted, "You're such a kill-joy, V." Amber's glare cut in my direction, but no one seemed to notice. The guys shrugged off her teasing and grabbed their shots as the bartender sat them down. They all downed them on the count of three and then Helena turned to Adam. She shot me a wink from her place down the bar top, and I know my face turned a shade of pink. I hoped no one noticed.

“What about you, Adam?”

“What would my superpower be?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” She said. 

      He looked at me, a broad smile on his face, and his baby blues twinkled with mischief. “I think I’d choose flight too. Don’t want V to get lonely up there all by herself.” 

"Awe, how sweet," Amber said. One of her hand's slipped around Adam's bicep as the other crawled up his chest. I watched her hand in growing hatred as her red tipped fingers played with the collar of his button down. 

"Veronica's a big girl though, Adam," her sickly-sweet voice made my chest burn. "I think she can handle herself." 

Adam laughed lightly, scooting closer to me to be out of her grasp. Her hands left him for a moment before they clutched back on. 

"I know she is," he flashed me a blinding smile, "but I'd be more than happy to keep her company," he said. 

"Wouldn't you rather keep me company?" Amber purred, her fingers slipping inside the collar of his shirt to brush against his chest. 

"Amber!" I found myself shouting. A few people around us glanced in our direction, but I was too far gone to care what anyone else thought of me in this moment.  

"Yes, Veronica?" She pulled away from Adam, but still kept one hand on his shoulder, digging her nails in. 

"Will you knock it off. Adam clearly is not enjoying you hanging off of him." I said, refusing to look at Adam even though I could feel his eyes on me.

"You think he'd enjoy you hanging off him?" She raised a brow, her lips pursing.  

"I don't think he want's anyone hanging off of him." I said. She seemed to ignore what I said and carry on with the conversation she thought we were going to have. 

"He doesn't like you, V. I don't know why you continue to embarrass yourself like this." I took a sip of my drink, finally looking up at Adam to gauge his reaction. If the smirk on his face and the twinkle in his eyes was any indication, he was about to burst out laughing. I fought to hold in my own laughter.

"Amber, I think you need to take a step back and read the room." I said. 

She continued to glare at me but took my advice and glanced at the people around us. Our three friends we're looking at her with equally confused and irritated faces. When she looked at Adam, her face dropped. I almost felt bad for her in that moment, but then I remembered all the other times she's done this with guys I liked, and my anger spiked again. 

"Whatever!" She huffed and stomped away. We all watched as she left the bar and waited a moment to see if she would come back. When she didn’t, we sat there in collective silence. After a moment, Adam turned to me, laughter in his eyes. 

"For the record," he began, "I wouldn't mind you hanging off of me. I would, in fact, prefer it." A surprised giggle escaped me, and he chuckled before continuing. "Also, I don't know what she was going on about, but flying would have been my choice whether you picked it or not," he winked. "It was just an added bonus that the girl I like would be up there already."

I’m spinning. But it’s far from graceful. I never took ballet classes or any dance classes for that matter. I’m not a ballerina and I’ll never be one. They have their fancy outfits and their fancy poses for those outfits and their fancy terms for those poses. All I can do is spin faster and faster, spin harder. It’s chaos, that’s what it is. Something destructive like a tornado or a whirlpool or a black hole. Something you don’t want to look at, that you don’t want to talk about. You’d rather stare at a sweet little ballerina. And I guess that’s why you chose me in the first place.

We can call it love. My parents call it love…the way that they raised me, so who am I to judge? You like to judge them and you like to judge me. Pity, I think you mostly have pity for me. But you mostly have anger for my parents and for yourself. I know you wish you were older because 15 doesn’t cut it and neither does 16, but when you hit 18, maybe that’s when your parents will leave you alone like mine do (even though I’m younger than you). Neither of us are really in control: you with that anger and me with my…

As a child, I liked to collect music boxes. They helped me sleep with their twinkling tunes that faded away. The ballerina in the box only ever danced for an audience, for the one who wound her up. She only ever danced when there was music. She knew when to stop and she knew when to start again. You would wind me up, but there was something broken in the mechanism of my mind, or maybe the gears in my heart didn’t line up correctly because I never stopped performing for you. I never knew when to stop. Maybe I shouldn’t have removed my clothes. Maybe then you wouldn’t know how easy it was to twist me into being yours. But you were already in my bedroom, and you were already asking about all my music boxes.

It was just the two of us in an empty house that’s never really empty. Mother always needed another pair of Jimmy Choos and father adored his Degas originals. But my parents weren’t home, and they weren’t going to be for another week. You asked about that too, and I told you how they just loved to go abroad…but it’s okay because they always brought back a music box. There’s a fairy forest from Ireland, a girl who loved to ice skate from Switzerland, and a shipwreck full of pirates from the Caribbean. You wanted to know which one was my favorite and I couldn’t help but grin at that and giggle a bit. I pointed at Cinderella with her Prince from a family trip to Disney World. And you made them glide along to “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”. That was when you grabbed me by the neck and kissed me. Softly at first, but then firm and demanding more. Because even after you closed your eyes, even after you closed the box and threw it across the room, I made sure to pick myself up and twirl on broken glass. Twirl on broken toes.

It’s been a couple of months and my bedroom is still a mess. I break a music box each time you leave. The fairies were the first to go: they flew into my bedroom door and now they’re scattered, searching for a portal to their world. The Swiss skater missed her home, so I tried to make it snow, but all I had was a glass of water to drown her in. The pirate ship had survivors, so I brought the land to them and they landed on the floor in pieces. But don’t worry about Cinderella, she’s safely waiting.

This week we’re okay, but next week probably won’t be and I still have that black eye from last week. It doesn’t stop me from spinning, though. There’s bits of debris everywhere and I tend to trip on it from time to time, but I want to believe that I’ll become a ballerina. If I fall and bang my head hard enough, maybe I will be. I’m spinning even wider to suck you in further, to make you stay all locked up like a music box. Maybe it’s a merry-go-round or maybe it’s a carousel, but we both hopped on it at the same time. So if I make it spin faster and faster, if I spin it harder, you’ll be stuck. You’ll be dizzy and lightheaded and forget who we are. I’ll be pretty and perfect and pure like I was before we kissed. I can be Cinderella and you’ll be my Prince Charming.

Scene One: Living Room

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(The lights come up. Inside a living room is a man and a woman. A couch sits in the middle of the room. Two doors are on opposite sides of the stage, one a door to the outside and one to a bedroom.)

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(The man stands next to the couch as the woman slowly closes the bedroom door. The woman puts on a light jacket and slowly walks towards the door to the outside. She motions to the man and puts her finger on her mouth to signal the man to be quiet. She points to the bedroom and motions again. The man gives her a thumbs up. She leaves.)

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(The man sits on the couch and looks around. He is unsure what to do without making a noise. Soon his phone rings and he quickly silences it. He looks at the bedroom and waits. Silence. He goes back to his phone and starts texting. His face changes to worry. He slowly gets up, puts on a jacket, and checks his jacket’s pocket. He has what he needs. He nervously looks at the bedroom and creeps towards the door to the outside. He then leaves. The lights fade to darkness.)

Scene Two: Outside

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(The lights come back up. The man steps out from the door and to the outside. The lights are brighter. The city is alive with the sound of cars and people walking and talking. His neighbor walks across the stage. She spots the man and stops halfway across the stage.)

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NEIGHBOR: Well, hey neighbor! how are you! (He motions to speak but gets interrupted.)

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NEIGHBOR: Wait! Let me guess, the wife is out to work and you need me to watch over again? 

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(The man motions again about to speak but fails to say a word before the neighbor interrupts him.)

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NEIGHBOR: Already read your mind! You must be busy all the time if you keep leaving like this. (She walks towards the door but trips a little.) Oh damn sidewalks. You know the city should really do something about these uneven sidewalks. People can’t help but trip on them.

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(The man nods in agreement as he pulls out another pair of keys.)

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NEIGHBOR: Beautiful! You know, you’re lucky I’m free all the time.(She takes the pair of keys from the man and heads to the door as he walks away from it.) Oh! And if you can do me a favor, when you come back. Can you get me a coffee?

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(The man nods in agreement and waves goodbye. She goes through the door and leaves offstage. The man stands in the middle of the stage as the lights fade.)

Scene Three: Train

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(The lights come up. Noises are heard as the train moves. The man is sitting down on a seat on the train. A stranger comes onstage and stands next to the man.)

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STRANGER: Thanks for answering the text. I hope you can understand why this is last minute.

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(The man looks at the person and motions to talk but the stranger cuts him off.)

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PERSON: You know the routine. Don’t say anything, just look straight ahead.

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(The stranger hands the man an envelope of money. The man hands back a baggie of colorful pills.)

STRANGER: It’s a damn shame to hear you’re quitting. I hope it works out this time for you.

(The man’s face turns into confusion. The stranger looks at him and looks away.)

STRANGER: I’m not a complete asshole. I actually do hope it works out. My cousin tried to get out of the business but he got all tripped up in loose ends. 

(The train stops and an intercom announces its arrival.)

STRANGER: Good luck for your family’s sake.

(The stranger leaves offstage as the man gets up and looks at the money he received. He looks to where the stranger left and heads the other way. The lights fade to darkness.)

Scene Four: Coffee Shop

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(The lights come up. Sounds of people chatting and blenders going fill the room. A barista stands behind a counter. The man comes through the door and into the coffee shop. He walks towards the barista.)

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BARISTA, looking down: Welcome to- (She looks up and recognizes the man.) Oh hi!

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(The man waves hi.)

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BARISTA: The usual?

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(The man nods and flashes two fingers. He hands her some cash and she begins to make some coffee. As she is running around making coffee, she talks fast paced.)

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BARISTA: Oh gosh, how are you? Me? I’m doing just great. I actually haven’t slept in like two days. You know, being a college student while working a full time job-whoo! I’m straight up losing my mind! Coffee is basically what I’m running on. I tried to give up on coffee but working at a coffee shop is like having an AA meeting at a bar. I was running back and forth and back and forth, I basically tripped back into this whole bad habit. You?

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(The man tries to talk but isn’t given a chance.)

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BARISTA: Yup! I hear ya. Oh! Here’s your coffee! You have a lovely day now! (She hands the man two coffees. He nods and begins to walk away. He stops at the door and looks back at the barista. She isn’t paying attention. He leaves through the door as the lights fade to darkness.)

Scene Five: Living Room

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(The lights come up. The neighbor sits on the couch in the middle of the room. The man enters through the door quietly. The neighbor stands up and grabs the coffee. She silently thanks the man. He nods. She exits through the door.)

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(The man walks over to the bedroom door. He opens it and looks inside. He smiles and closes the door. He walks back over to the couch but trips to the ground, spilling his coffee and dropping the envelope with money. The money spills out on the floor)

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MAN: Fuck!

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(The sound of a baby crying is heard. The woman walks in, back from a long day of work. She hears the baby crying.)

WOMAN: The hell?! (She notices the money, now on the floor.) Is that what I think it is?

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(The man looks at the money. Looks at the woman. Looks to the bedroom door. Then looks at the audience.)

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END