Amy and I walked out of the tent and headed towards the coffee
stand that was parked in between a fancy milkshake stand that sold every
flavour of milkshake imaginable, and a Coca-Cola stand that sold all the latest
variants of their fizzy drink. The coffee stand smelt delicious.
‘Now would be a
bad time to say that you don’t like coffee,’ Amy said as we stepped in line,
waiting for the customers ahead of us to finish being served.
‘No, I like
coffee,’ I said, ‘just don’t drink it as much, that’s all,’ I said truthfully.
‘I have had only one kind, though, and that’s the Tesco’s own brand,’ I added.
Amy smiled, ‘then
prepare to have your mind blown. Your taste buds won’t know what hit them after
you’ve tried a cup from here.’ I caught a glimpse of the prices and was a
little shocked, but at the same time I kind of expected them to be that high
considering that the stand is selling fancy coffee. Luckily, I had enough in my
wallet to not worry about having to dart off to find a cash machine. Even
though I appeared to be confident in that parallel universe, and I really want
to appear to be in this universe as well, just so that I can impress Amy, but I
don’t want to act somewhat uncharacteristically. What happened in that parallel
universe, stays in that parallel universe.
My nerves are making my head a
little full at the moment, so even if I wanted to be confident, I don’t think I
would have done so as well as I was back there. I’m doing alright at the
moment, I feel. Amy hasn’t walked off or said anything about how I’m acting,
which means I must be doing a good job. Acting normal, they say.
The customers in
front of us, satisfied with their purchase, headed off to somewhere else,
letting us step up to the stand. Now that I’m in the front row, I was able to
see the many kinds of coffee and was surprised with just how many there
actually are. I knew there were a few from many places around the world, but
not this many. All different colours, flavours, smells, textures, and of course,
prices. The most expensive bean was £40.00 per cup and the cheapest was £4.00
per cup. I’m terrible when it comes to making these kind of decision – it takes
me forever just to decide what cake I want down at the local bakery. Usually,
whenever my mum or dad asks what cake I want, I let them choose for me just to
save the embarrassment of standing there, silently, whilst picking what one I
want. But if I do find myself having to choose by myself, I always play it safe
and go for what I usually get anyway, which completely contradict the many
minutes I’ve been standing there silently for. It does save a lot of time when
my mum and dad are choosing the cake. But now, I’m the one picking what coffee
I would like and instead of making myself look like a complete indecisive idiot
in front of Amy, I decided to play it safe and go straight down the middle. I
wasn’t worried about what the flavour was, the texture or anything about the
bean except that it was the one I chose to make a quick decision.
‘Blimey, you’re
trying something fancy,’ Amy said as I had just handed over a twenty to the
person behind the stall. I looked over and saw that Amy was only getting the
£4.00 per cup bean. Maybe I had made the wrong decision, but I was dedicated.
She saw me make my decision and so I was not going to retract it. I let the
twenty go and the person set about making the coffee by grinding the bean and
adding the necessary ingredients to make a very nice smelling cup of coffee.
‘Thanks,’ I said,
reaching out and taking the cup from the person’s hand. As I was doing so, my
sleeve got twisted on my arm and so was pulled upwards, revealing my watch. Amy
noticed it and made a comment about.
‘Where did you
get that watch?’ she asked, curiously. This was the part where I absolutely had
to make a quick decision. For a moment, I must change back to who I was back in
that other universe just so that I would be able to decide upon a decent story.
‘It was a gift
from my parents,’ I said a little too quickly after she asked. She looked at me
with curiosity. What was going through her head? Oh, no, I think I should have stayed
true to who I am in this universe.
The cup of coffee was hot to the
touch, but the paper napkin protected my fingers from most of the heat and I
was able to hold it for a long period of time whilst I waited for it to cool
down a bit. I like my coffee, but I don’t drink it straight from the kettle.
‘That must have
cost them a fortune. Look at that thing,’ she said, looking at my watch with a
smile. To her, it was just an ordinary looking watch and I would like to keep
it that way. One of the rules that I came up with was not to show what this
watch is capable of as that might be problematic for me in the future.
‘I didn’t ask,’ I
said, wondering just how long I was able to keep this conversation up before I
say something that I shouldn’t. I decided to change the subject by taking my
first sip of the coffee. It was still a little bit hot, but the extraordinary
taste that pelted my taste buds the moment the liquid it my tongue really did
blow me away.
‘Wow,’ I
exclaimed.
‘I know, right,’
she said, taking a sip from hers. ‘For someone who doesn’t drink coffee that
much, you certainly pushed to boat out on this occasion,’ she said.
‘Well, you know
what they say, you only live one and all that jazz,’ I said.
‘True,’ she
nodded in agreement. I was beginning to feel a little embarrassed from my
decision. I know I shouldn’t be, but I couldn’t help it. All I want to do is
not make myself look like a total idiot, and so far, I’ve done nothing except
that. Amy has just shrugged or laughed it off. Maybe she’s only staying with me
to get as many stories as she can off of me before she tells them to her
friends who’ll then spread them about the school where I will then become a
laughing stock…
No, I can’t think
about that because I can’t be sure if that is true or not.
As we walked
through the fair, a question at the back of my head that kept repeating itself
over and over again the moment that I sat down next to Amy made me wonder if
this was all a ruse. What on Earth did Tom say to Amy to allow me to sit next
to her, let alone actually allow me to talk to her? Tom is my best friend and
would never set this up as a dare or something. Did he say that I liked her?
I’m not going to get the answer unless I ask Amy, and I’m not sure that’s the
best thing to do for that might spoil the entire evening. But, you can’t deny
that I’ve been struggling to even make a single word in front of Amy and here I
am having full conversations and drinking coffee with her. I’m not going to get
the answer if I don’t ask the question.
After we finished
our coffee and disposed of the cups, I decided to go for it. One half of my
brain was shouting at me to just do it, whilst the other half was shouting at
me to not for I will ruin this moment and may never get it back ever again.
‘Amy, can I ask
you something?’
‘Sure,’ she said.
‘What’s up?’
‘What did Tom say
to you before he left earlier?’ I asked slowly so to not flub any of my words
and make the tension last longer than necessary. That side of my brain that was
shouting at me to not ask the question gave up trying to help and left.
‘Oh, um,’ she
said, ‘he just said that you wanted to have a word with you, but you are a bit
nervous, so I’m here to break the tension a bit,’ she said, her eyes were darting
all over the place telling me that that wasn’t the whole truth.
‘Did he say
anything about…’ I stopped myself before I went too far, but I’ve started the
sentence and so I have to finish it, but how do I finish a sentence like that
and keep it relevant to the topic at hand. I’m in very deep waters now, and
there is no way that I’m going to keep my head above the surface. I might as
well accept my fate and drown. At least I won’t be able to repeat this
incredibly bad performance again if it is never going to happen again. My
entire body shook with nerves. The coffee in my stomach rolled over as
violently as the sea in a storm. I’m going to get it over and done with.
There’s no way out but up.
‘… My having…’ I
paused as I forced my mouth to make the words. My brain was working overtime to
create the words I needed to say. I concentrated so hard to make sure that I
wasn’t going to pronounce a single word wrong. ‘… Feelings for you.’ That was
it, I had done it. It was now up to Amy to react accordingly. What is about to
happen will happen and there is nothing that I can do about it.
She stared back
at me, taking in the words that I had just said, obviously struggling to deal
with them properly. A long pregnant silence followed whilst she stood, waiting
for her mind to come up with something to say in response.
‘I’ve had
feelings for you as well,’ Amy said, answering my question before I asked them,
which saved the pressure, then, one she started she couldn’t stop the words
from pouring out. ‘I never said anything because I’ve been nervous just as much
as you did. Truth be told, I didn’t know you had feelings for me until Tom said
that you did. I jumped at the chance of meeting with you when Tom wanted to
arrange a meeting.’ She then stopped herself.
She had gone as red as an apple.
Was she as nervous as I am? Either that or she is incredibly embarrassed? Or
both? This doesn’t make any sense. I’m waiting for her to walk away and say that
she had completed the dare her friends had challenged her to do. But that would
mean Tom was in on it, and that would be a betrayal of trust if that is true.
He wouldn’t do that. I think that means only one thing. Does it? I think it
does. But it still doesn’t make any sense. It just doesn’t. Does it? Stop going
around in circles, you’re making yourself look like an idiot, I mean more of an
idiot, I mean… I don’t know what I mean anymore. All states of logic have gone
out of the window. No, I think that might be taking it too far, but it still
doesn’t make any sense.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
Amazon:
eBay:
SkyCat Publications:
Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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