“You’re insane!” Evan laughed. “I can’t believe you called her. I never thought you’d have the guts for something like that.”
I chuckled. Dan laughed too.
“Of course he has guts! Ethan’s the man!”
A group of us walked through the snow towards the bus stop the next Friday. Starlight played on the snow as we marched through the snow on the path leading through the trees.
“Would you both shut up?” I laughed. “I feel weird enough about this as it is.”
“So who is this girl?” Evan asked. “What’s her name?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s she like?” Dan pestered.
“Don’t know.”
“Where did you meet?” Erin wondered.
“Don’t even know that for sure.” I grinned.
“How can you not know?” Mandy teased.
“I got her number at pub two weeks ago. If anyone should know, it’s Dan. He was there.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like I kept track of your dance card. I was pretty drunk myself.”
“I think it was mean of you to let Ethan get so drunk.” Teri teased her boyfriend, poking his tummy. “He was a first timer. But I think it’s romantic, meeting his mystery girl like this. It’s like a movie.”
“Yeah, but it’s also how some horror movies start!” Dan laughed.
“She could be a stalker, a murderous psycho hose-beast!” Jon joked.
“Seriously, everyone shut up!” I said, my tone playful. “We’ll see when we get there.”
We rode the bus, the whole crew bantering in the back. I alone sat in silence, staring out the window, wondering if I knew what I was doing. Their conversations seemed distant, like overhearing a dinner party down the block.
We spilled out of the bus and crossed the terminal to take the stairs down to the subway. Several of us ran down the stairs, full of youthful exuberance, racing to reach the platform first. Dan gave Jon a playful shove, and he turned to swipe Evan’s hat. Mandy and Erin laughed as they chased each other.
I was only vaguely aware of these proceedings. I walked to the edge of the concrete, waiting for the train to arrive. I closed my eyes, hearing my friends laugh and bicker in the background. In the distance I could hear the tinny metal screeches of the train on its tracks, braking and turning, coming closer, echoing down the tunnel.
“What is Ethan doing?” Teri asked someone behind me.
The train rumbled around the corner. I turned my face towards it, feeling the wind of its speed blow across my face as it pulled to a stop.
“What are you doing?” Dan asked from beside me.
I opened my eyes. “Thinking about freedom.”
“You’re a weird guy, E.” Dan clapped me on the shoulder and we got on the subway.
I got us off the subway car at the right stop and everyone followed me onto the street. We walked up the block and came to the nightclub we’d been to months before. It was so popular the line stretched down the building. There were two doors. One of them, the one we had never been through, said “VIP” above it and had no line, just a much bigger bouncer. I walked up to this one.
“I’m Ethan.”
“They with you?”
“Yeah.”
He gestured, and we entered through his door. It was that easy.
We dropped our winter gear at the cloakroom and headed up some stairs, emerging from the stairwell in a luxurious room of gold and black. Leather seats in booths surrounded by glass and lights. The dance floor was glass, letting you see down to the room below with the other clubbers. Up here there was a milling crowd of beautiful people, but it wasn’t nearly so congested. This was clearly more elite.
“Drinks?” A waitress asked, so well dressed you only knew she worked here because of the tray of glasses.
“How much?” Dan asked her.
“Up here it’s free.” She smiled.
Dan grabbed a glass for Teri and himself, grinning. “Don’t mind if I do!”
My friends mingled with the crowd, talking amongst themselves about how impressed they were. I stayed still, watching the room, trying to see if I recognized anyone. My friends were too busy exploring, no help there.
A pair of hands suddenly covered my eyes from behind. I shivered, never having liked it when someone invaded my bubble.
“Shhhhh, relax. Remember me?” A girlish voice asked.
“I don’t know your name.” I said, blushing as she whispered in my ear.
“But you remember me, don’t you?” She almost giggled. I tried to place her voice.
“I’m not sure…”
“You still have the most beautiful eyes…”
I turned, twisting out of her hands. “The girl from the subway?”
She laughed, striking a pose to show off a clingy black dress. It was almost as if she had dressed to match me, as I was wearing black pants with a black sweater over a white t-shirt.
“Care to dance?” She asked, taking my hands.
“Don’t have a choice, do I?”
“None whatsoever.” She dragged me.
“Unless you want to meet my friends.”
“Nah. I only invited them to get you here.” She grinned mischievously.
She draped her arms around my neck and I put my hands on her trim waist as we moved in spirals around the dance floor. I couldn’t tell you the music, or the name of her perfume, but all of it seemed to suit the moment.
“This is nice.” She said, resting her head against my chest.
“I still don’t know your name.”
“Lilith. You can call me Lil.” She smiled up at me.
We sat down in a plush booth, where Teri and Dan joined us. They were profuse with thanks, impressed with Lil’s generosity. Drinks were ordered, laughter ensued. I hardly noticed. Lil was cuddled up against my arm and I was getting pleasantly inebriated. Who cared?
Towards the end of the night, before we had to catch the last subway train, she kissed my cheek.
“Call me sometime?”
“Sure.” I shrugged, grinning like an idiot.
She walked away, a portrait of elegant grace, pausing only to look over her shoulder and wiggle her fingers in an insouciant farewell.
25 comments
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April 4, 2008 at 2:30 am
Kitabare
Hah! It was her.
I was here earlier and a different chapter was up. I was confused. Now I’m not.
Lilith huh? *gets all suspicious*
April 4, 2008 at 9:01 am
Katie
Why suspicious? What am I missing?
April 4, 2008 at 12:40 pm
nomananisland
Yeah, I screwed up the “hey, let’s post these days in advance” order, and then noticed and fixed it.
As to suspicious, Katie, look up Lilith on wikipedia.org. You’ll know in about twelve seconds.
April 4, 2008 at 3:48 pm
blue_fleur
That was the first thought that went through my mind when I read her name. Warning Warning danger young man.
I am really enjoying the backround stories of Ethan at school. Reminds me of the times one is alone even when surrounded by people.
April 4, 2008 at 3:57 pm
nomananisland
Like an island in the sea of humanity?
(I think I’ve said that before. But it’s worth repeating)
April 4, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Katie
Oh. You’re right, that didn’t take long.
April 4, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Fiona
I suspect every name in this story was chosen for a reason. I hope you had a good reason for giving Ethan and Evan such similar names!
April 4, 2008 at 7:03 pm
nomananisland
You suspect correctly. You should be able to look up each name in the entire story on a baby name website and discover all their meanings.
Evan and Ethan are an unfortunate coincidence for how they sound, but their meanings fit their characters. Last time I checked, anyway. 😉
April 4, 2008 at 9:45 pm
sonjanitschke
It’s a shame Lilith is such a tabboo name. I loved it and would have named my daughter (if I ever have one, that is), but then I found out what it meant and I did a very Darth Vader noooooo sound in my head.
April 5, 2008 at 3:09 am
nomananisland
I’m assuming you mean you heard Luke screaming NOOOOOOOooooo after he learned Vader meant Father in German. And chopped off his hand.
You know, that family has issues.
April 5, 2008 at 6:17 am
sonjanitschke
Actually I meant the Revenge of the Sith “no”.
Luke’s contorted face is truly…well, let’s just say I can’t watch that part without turning my head because Mark Hamilton’s features give me the absolute WILLIES when he contorts it in Anger and Grief and OMG VADER IS MY FATHER OMG NOOOO.
So, since I find his face difficult to look at, I simply don’t think of it and thus forgot entirely about it :p
P.S I learned it as Vater or Pater (speaking of German, ever listened to the Lord’s Prayer in German by E Nomine? Very powerful).
April 5, 2008 at 7:01 am
nomananisland
ewwwwwwwwwwww Revenge of the Sith. How lame is that?
Empire rules all!
I just went by how it’s pronounced, I don’t know German spelling. But Darth Vader/Dark Father, sounds about right to me. Too bad Luke didn’t know German, he’d have seen it coming. Although, nothing prepares you for daddy chopping off your hand…
April 5, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Allan T Michaels
Yeah, couldn’t help but notice the significance of the name.
And yes – Empire is the best of the Holy Trinity. And we don’t discuss the apocrypha (i.e. Eps 1-3 (although Ep 3 wasn’t SO bad)).
Also, insouciant is an excellent word.
April 5, 2008 at 9:37 pm
nomananisland
Okay, this isn’t a Star Wars fansite. We probably shouldn’t get into it. I’m likely to nerd out and get violent.
But Sith was in some ways the biggest let-down of all, even though some scenes are beautiful to look at. The story was extremely weak. I spent almost two decades imagining the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, and the story in my head is so much better than that crap movie.
Although Ewan MacGregor is an inspired choice as a young Obi-Wan.
April 5, 2008 at 11:41 pm
sonjanitschke
Being a late blooming nerd —
A New Hope = Fave
Empire = Han + robots + Leia + Lando = awesome; Yodo + Luke meeting = awesome; force training = snore (this might be remnants of my religious upbrining when my parents told me that it was bad eastern mumbo jumbo — I haven’t seen Empire in YEARS so maybe I’m due for a watch and a revised opinion).
Jedi = Saving peoples from gian slugs! = yay; destroying death star = yay; showdown between Darth Vader and Luke = yay; Leia saying that she had “somehow always known” Luke was brother….not so yay.
The “first” three with whiny Anakin
Makes me sad and create fan fiction inside my head on how it should have been. Dialogue and story needed lots of work.
However, that said, I love the music (I could listen to that music all day long), I love the visuals, I love (some) of the people they chose (ditto to Ewan MacGregor). But that’s a bit it really.
I think they developed Yoda a bit more, that was nice to see.
I’m sorry to butt in on your site. Just nobody in my family/friends was as big a fan of Star Wars as I am.
But I’ll shut up now. Promise.
*zips le lips*
April 6, 2008 at 12:07 am
nomananisland
Sonja, you’ll notice I said no commenting on Star Wars and then proceeded to comment on Star Wars.
Meaning, go right ahead. The trilogy ranks among my favourite movies, which is why I hate the new prequels so much. If you need to let out your inner nerd, go right ahead!
Sooner or later, it will feature in one of my Rants.
April 6, 2008 at 2:34 am
Allan T Michaels
Of course, if we’re going to go off on ruined trilogies, I could do a whole dissertation on the Matrix. Don’t even get me started on what the Wachowski’s did to a beautiful movie…..
And to think – “There is no spoon” should have been our generations’ “MAy the Force be with you.”
April 6, 2008 at 7:46 am
nomananisland
AAAAAaaaaaaaaaargh.
I really enjoyed the Matrix in theatres, and just recently finished the other two. And it was a major let down. Reloaded was okay, it just felt like a middle. But Revolutions was like “Hey, let’s screw up our franchise, just for fun, by taking away everything meaningful!”
But “there is no spoon” was never going to be that cool.
Thank God for Lord of the Rings, the pure trilogy of AWESOMENESS.
April 6, 2008 at 12:02 pm
sonjanitschke
I was really disappointed what they did to Faramir in Two Towers.
And Sam at Shelob…Sam never woulda left.
But, other than those two points, it was made of awesome. Did you ever see the extended versions?
April 6, 2008 at 1:44 pm
nomananisland
I think I missed out on the extended Return of the King, but the others were good. I took changes from the book in stride, primarily because there was just too much to adapt the entirety. I loved the imaginative vision Peter Jackson had for the films, and so I just enjoyed the experience.
I am lucky enough that I can do that, most of the time. Separate genres/mediums from originals. I like the movie Batman, even though the comics don’t feature body armour. I prefer the comic X-men to the movie version, but I don’t bother to compare them because you can’t cover 30 years of history in 90 minutes. However Spiderman seems more true to the originals, so it can be done. I like X-men books better than Spidey, but Spiderman 2 is one of my all-time favourite movies.
LOTR was part of my growing up, but I can accept the movies in their entirety simply because it’s Jackson’s imagination — I can respect his interpretation, because it might not be mine, but it’s amazing. I respect Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ for the same reason: it’s not necessarily how it happened, but he richly realizes his own perspective of his faith. If he did a half-ass job, I wouldn’t respect it.
Star Wars and the Matrix sequels are a let down precisely because the imaginative vision in them is not up to the quality of what they’re based on. Passion, LOTR and Spiderman 2 show respect for the source material, and imaginatively re-envision it. The Star Wars Prequels are inferior to the original trilogy, and the Matrix sequels are lacking something the first movie had. Ironically, these let-downs were made by the same creators as the geniuses behind the originals, but somehow they lost their edge.
April 6, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Allan T Michaels
In Lucas’s case, it was the lack of proper inspiration, like the first time – see here – http://youtube.com/watch?v=STRja-ABexU
As for the Matrix, there’s an accusation the Wachowski’s “borrowed” from another script for the first movie. If so, that might explain it. All I know is that I walked out of Revelations feeling like Jay (from Jay and Silent Bob) at the end of Dogma. And man, I actually sat in the theater waiting for Trinity to die. That’s a bad sign.
As for LotR, it’s an excellent series of films. I can’t argue. And I can’t wait to see Smaug in the TWO Hobbits they’re making.
April 6, 2008 at 7:54 pm
nomananisland
That is the funniest thing I have ever seen on youtube so far. I can’t stop laughing.
By “felt like Jay,” I hope you mean because he spent a whole movie chasing Bethany and ended up with nothing to show for it. Because otherwise, Dogma is an awesome movie.
I was actually timing when they’d finally kill Trinity because I saw it coming. I was like, man, get it over with already! It was so stupid after all the effort put into keeping her alive during Reloaded. I was like, did you watch the last movie before you wrote this one?
I’m not pumped about the Hobbit, mainly because Jackson’s not directing and it’s two movies. Fellowship of the Ring is one film, and I’m pretty sure it’s a longer book. By that math logic, the LOTR trilogy should have been six movies. I think it’s a cash grab, to make the audience come back.
April 6, 2008 at 11:20 pm
sonjanitschke
I was leary about the Hobbit when I heard that PJ wasn’t directing the Hobbit (despite my comment above, I still love the films to death — and do watch ROTK extended, t’was good), but then I found out that Guillermo del Toro will be directing the Hobbit!
The dude who did Pan’s Labyrinth (which was an amazing movie, imo).
Hellboy! (The second looks awesome!)
Also, PJ isn’t uninvolved, last I heard he is the executive producer. I don’t know how much power that position has since the only experience with a producer I ever had was on a community theater play and she undid almost the entire work of the director so…who knows?
I also understand what you say about imagination and respect for source material. Usually I’m able to separate as well, but Faramir just…hit a little close to home, because he was my all time favorite character.
I love how what Jackson did with Boromir though. I never cared for him in the book, but Jackson seemed to draw out bits of his character which were more understated in the novel and I love him for that.
April 7, 2008 at 3:53 am
Allan T Michaels
When I say I “felt like Jay” I wasn’t meaning to disparage Dogma – I love the film. I meant, I walked out of the Matrix: Revolutions going “What the hell just happened? Who the ^^&^(&* was that little girl? Why the ^&^%(*& did Neo’s death kill Agent Smith?” etc.
Just like Jay after he watched Ben Affleck’s head explode.
April 7, 2008 at 11:48 pm
nomananisland
Ben’s head should explode in more movies.