| Page 7 �I believe you,� I said and a relieved smile broke out on Remy�s face. She leaped from her chair taking a last gulp of her water. �Let�s go,� she said heading to the door. �Where?� I asked following her. �To her house. I don�t know the way so you�ll have to show me. If you want your friend back now�s your chance.� Remy said dashing out the door. I only hesitated slightly before following her. If you want something done right do it yourself. I wasn�t going to let Simon screw me over like that. I knew the way to Al�s house so well I could have walked there in my sleep. Me and Remy go there in about 15 minutes and rang the bell. Remy took a huge gulp of water and offered some to me. I was about to take a gulp when the door opened. It was Al. �What are you doing here?� Al demanded curtly. Wow, she was still mad. Al had never held a grudge this long before. �I�m so sorry I kissed Simon,� Remy said. �I didn�t know he had a girlfriend or I wouldn�t have done it. I swear I-� Al held up her hand like a traffic cop. �That�s okay. I never blamed you. I know Simon all to well.� Remy grinned. Al smiled back then glared at me. �As for you, after this sentence I am through speaking to you.� �Al please let me explain! I�m really sorry I hurt you; you�re my best friend and I don�t want to leave for college like this!� I pleaded. Al�s face softened and I felt a glimmer of hope in my heart. �Natalie, I know you didn�t want to hurt me. I know you don�t do things like that. But what still concerns me is that you can�t explain why you did it. Everything happens for a reason and people don�t kiss other people without reasons.� �But-� �Look, Natalie, I told you until you can tell me why you did it I don�t want to talk to you, ever!� Al said and slammed the door in my face. I turned away biting my lip to hold back tears. �I�m really sorry,� Remy said. �I really thought it would work.� �That�s okay,� I said my voice wavering. �You did what you could.� I turned and ran toward home tears blinding my view. Chapter 9: Divine Inspiration I lay on my bed at midnight, my head pounding somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to sleep but opened them again when sleep wouldn�t come. My door opened and I turned my head to tell my mother to go away when I saw D.T. standing there in a T-shirt and jeans looking just like he used to. I rubbed my eyes to see if it was a figment of my imagination but he was still standing there smiling at me. �Oh great to top it off now I�ve gone insane. I see dead people,� I said like that kid in the movie. D.T. laughed. �No, Natalie you�re not insane. I�m here to help you.� �How did you get here? � I demanded. �That�s beside the point. I know the situation so you don�t have to explain it. We need to figure out how to make Al happy. Why did you kiss Simon� D.T. asked coming into my room and sitting next to me on the bed. �I don�t know,� I said pulling a pillow onto my lap and punching it. �I really don�t. Why doesn�t anybody believe me?� I cried. �Because that makes no sense,� D.T. said. �Now Al may be overreacting but she�s right in one sense. You must have had some reason for kissing Simon.� I stared at the pillow saying nothing. �Are you in love with him?� �NO! No, no no!� I yelled accentuating each no with a punch to the pillow. �I don�t love him he�s a jerk!� �Then why did you kiss him?� �I DON�T KNOW!� I yelled bursting into tears of frustration. D.T. paused to think resting his head on his chin. I glared at him waiting. �Have you ever done something knowing it was wrong but you id it anyway?� he asked something. �Yeah, everybody does,� I said sniffling. �Give me an example.� I blushed. �Once I stole a bright red thong when I was 12. I wasn�t going to wear it but I was tired of everybody calling me a goody-goody so I did it.� I laughed shaking my head. It all seemed so stupid now.� �How did that make you feel?� D.T. asked me. �You sound like a shrink.� �Just answer me, dammit,� D.T. said. �I don�t know.� This was my line. �It made me feel kind of wild I guess.� D.T. leaped to his feet. �Okay, now we�re getting somewhere. You felt wild. Now are you normally wild? No. Okay, did you like feeling wild?� �Yeah,� I said. �Everybody likes to break out and do something uncharacteristic at some point in their life. Maybe I was just trying to be the kind of person that did things like that. Be the person I always wanted to be.� �Yes, yes!� D.T. exclaimed practically leaping around the room. �Now here�s a thought maybe you just decided to randomly kiss Simon because you guys have nothing in common, you knew it was wrong and you don�t normally do things like that. Do you think that maybe, just maybe you were allowing yourself to care for him because you liked how different you were around him? Maybe kissing Simon let you step out of character and be a different, wild person. Do I sound like an idiot or worse Confucius?� D.T. asked suddenly. I stared at him dumbfounded. He hadn�t lost his touch even in death. Of course, it all made sense. By helping Simon and Al with their problems I felt like I was filling D.T.�s shoes and becoming more than just quiet Natalie. What D.T. said was true and I knew it. I felt like a ten pound weight had lifted off my shoulders. I felt so light I could fly. I stood up and gave D.T. a big hug. �Thank you, thank you, thank you!� I squealed. I was still murmuring thank you when I woke up. So it had all been a dream but at least now I knew exactly what to do. Chapter 10: Making Amends I sat back after explaining the entire story I had come up with last night to Al. Now she stared at me her eyes glistening with tears. �Natalie, you-you�sounded just like D.T.,� she stammered. I decided not to mention my help from above. I didn�t want her to think I was completely nuts. �Am I forgiven?� I asked hopefully. �Duh!� Al said giving me a big hug. Everyone in Burger Town who been listening to our little exchange burst into applause. I rolled my yes at Al and she smirked. I knew what she was thinking. People in this town were way too nosy. I said my goodbyes to Al and my new fans when my shift was over. I headed to the ice cream shop and found Simon there eating pretzels yet again. �Hello,� he said cautiously. �Hi,� I said sitting down next to him. We were quiet for a long time. �Did you really mean it? What you said that night?� he asked suddenly. I sighed recalling my cruel words. �Simon, I was mad.� �Yeah, but did you mean it? Am I really like that?� Simon asked softly. �Well, yes if you must know. You�re a great person but you don�t have to be afraid of it. If you started being nicer no one would expect you to be a saint. Nobody�s perfect.� I said studying Simon�s face. �Yeah, well thanks,� Simon said. �I needed to hear that.� �How are things with you and Al? She forgave me so I figured things were okay with you guys.� I asked biting my lip. Simon looked sad. �She�s my friend but only a friend. She said something about building trust before she�ll date me again. But we�re going to the same college so I guess I�ll have time to work on that.� Simon gazed at me unhappily. �You know it�s too bad you�re leaving for college in a week. We might never find out what might have been. I almost loved you Natalie. I really did. I nodded. He had brought up a good point, what might have been. I guess I�ll never know. �How about a kiss for the road?� I asked surprising myself. Page 8 |