Fancy a date, Mr. Finn?

Hanging Out

I had went to Pigeon Forge with some friends (that happened to be the Beckett's brothers, Linus and Percival (who we call Percy), that I remained friends with because we are very, very close to each other and they don't deserve to be punished for his sorry actions) to go to Tanger Outlets.

After we finished shopping, we went to the Cracker Barrel down there and ate. When we finished eating, Linus asked me about if I would have wanted to make my ex jealous. I responded to him, "No. But I know someone, who if I had ended up with them, would make him jealous." And he asked "Who?", and I said, "Ellison Finn."

Now, I have no idea what possessed me to say his name, but I did. I guess in a way I had been thinking about him since I got back in contact with him and I honestly thought that it wouldn't have been so bad to get back in touch with him (plus it was my life and I was free to see whomever I wanted to).

Later on that evening, there was a big, very windy storm that blew through and I knew the vicinity of where he lived at and I kind of got to thinking about his safety because of how bad the storm was. Well, it took me a day, but I worked up the nerve to message him and ask what he was up to or just whatever, all while experiencing all those feelings that I felt so long ago.

He was getting his haircut and then asked about my hobbies. I told him, and he asked me if I wanted to go bowling. Of course I said that it'd be good and we set the day to go, the following Sunday.

Sunday comes and we had a homecoming at a church we were attending. For anyone who doesn't know what a homecoming is, it's the primitive Baptist word for listening to the message God has given and then go and eat and fellowship.

Afterwards, we took some food to our cousins and talked for a bit before I went bowling with Ellison. I went home and let Annie (our pug) out and then made my way to the bowling alley where we were supposed to meet.

The drive felt like that it took absolutely forever to get there(even though I was already late as always). When I got there, I went straight in and there he was, standing at the counter. Black cap, red shirt, blue jeans, comfortable shoes. I kept asking myself if that was really him. Needless to say, it was, and I was already trying to stop myself from falling for him all over again.

He got us an hour to bowl and we got our shoes and made our way to our lane. Ironically, the first thing he asked was, "So, how's life?", to which I responded with, "It's life", and we shared a small chuckle.

We got to talking about how life had been since we saw each other and about cars and just different stuff that I'd normally talk about with people, if they'd let me of course.

What got me was the fact that he was actually listening and interested in what I had to say. Normally, people will listen but they don't care. I was taken aback and the thought just kept running through my mind of, "Wait... is he actually listening? That's odd." (I found out later that he was listening to every single word that I said) I found myself hanging on to every word he said as well.

I really didn't want to leave when we did because in some way, I felt safe and secure(normally, people don't make me feel that way, it's always been family and certain people that have made me feel safe like that).

When we got ready to leave, I had this dumb question (that I hesitated to even ask but I asked it anyways). "Would you maybe wanna go grab something quick to eat or something?", I asked. "I've got to get home and help out with my cousin.", He replied. "Okay, see you later." "See ya."

I got in my car and went to my grandmother's grave (where I had found peace and comfort) to tell her all about him before church that evening. And that's exactly what I did.

I told her about how that when I left the house that day, the thought crossed my mind that he just might be the one. Now, mind you, I was in no mental mindset to be having thoughts like that, and I knew that if he was the one, I'd have to fight for him (not in the way you'd think though). Either way, it wasn't going to come easy.

When I had that thought, I felt such immense peace. I finished out with praying to the Lord about everything and got back in the car, fired it up and headed for home to put on my church clothes. This would be the last time that I would visit her grave as a 17 year old.

Later on that night, I messaged him and told him that I enjoyed bowling with him and invited him to a co-op outing thing that our homeschool group was having and it just so turned out, he was able to go.

Couple days go by and it's the day of the outing and I learned that day, he manages time very well. I was late (as always) and he spent some time with the old friends and stuff and I just kinda kept to myself and let him do his thing (cause I don't know lol) and went about my stuff. Later on, we shot basketball with friends and stuff and it came time for him to get home. I offered to walk him to his car (in my head I was like "girl, what are you thinking, child?") and he was alright with that and so we talked on the way up. He told me about maybe going into construction but he wasn't sure about it yet and I told him about me going into automotive/auto mechanics and soon enough, we were at his car.

I figured I'd just walk back down or whatever and he asked if I wanted a ride back down. I'm a lazy person sometimes and so I accepted (being lazy wasn't the reason I accepted but you get the point). He gave me a ride back down and explained sheepishly about his car's problems and stuff (fun fact: I really didn't care about all that because when you live 4 years with someone who doesn't prioritize car maintenance even though they are the car maintenance person, it's definitely fun) and I noticed myself once again, hanging on to every word that left his mouth.

We reach where my mom parked the car and I found myself once again, not wanting to leave his presence. I thanked him for the ride and got out and all I remember from the conversation was his Pizza Plus bag of ducks and I do know why he has those ducks but that's for another story, it may even be a short story that I will write one day, who knows. We say goodbye and off he goes, at least in my mind it was like driving off into the sunset but anyways.

I get into the car and Linus was with us, and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is "I think I know why you're talking to Ellison." I respond with, "why is that?", just to see what he says. "You want to make Beckett jealous." Knowing it wasn't true and there were no ulterior motives, I replied, "ha, not hardly dude, not hardly." Refusing to believe me, he goes on to another topic.

Later on that evening, Ellison messages me and thanks me for inviting him and we end up talking for a bit before he goes to bed. We say goodnight to each other, and so ended an awesome day.