“I-I-I-I’m not sure what, I mean-“
“Is that your name?”
I’m sorry, but I just have no idea how to lie anymore.
“Yes that’s my name. And yeah, I went to high school with you.”
She extended a hand, and her smile grew wider. But something in her eyes told me she was almost shaken.
“It’s great to see you again. You might remember me.”
I reached out and grabbed her hand.
“Yeah, I do. You’re Natalia, right?”
“Since the last time I checked, I am.” She followed with a little giggle, then turned to Shannon.
“And you’re Shannon Cohen!”
He looked down, scuffed his shoes, and pulled a hand out of his pocket.
“Yup. Hi Natalia.”
“Hey.” Again, she managed to greet him with no fear, no anger, but something in those eyes of hers told me that she was feeling something else. Just then, her friend came back from the washroom.
“Oh Nat, you wouldn’t believe what Galan…hello,” he said, when he saw us. I noticed he talked with a British accent, and looked just a little bit older than Nat.
“Hey,” I said, extending a hand. “We’re friends of Nat’s from high school.”
“Oh!” He exclaimed, brightening up instantly. “A pleasure to meet you.” He turned towards Shannon, but was greeted with the following,
“Are you two like, a thing?”
“Shannon!” I whispered. “You don’t say stuff like that.”
Nat laughed.
“It’s okay, it’s alright. No we’re not a thing.”
“I already have a man,” Richard said.
“So wait, you’re like, g-“
“OH MY GOD, look at the time! We have got to go! Come on Shannon. Uh, waitress!”
Our waitress hurried over to me and said, “Yes, you needed me?”
“Yeah, uh, can we take this all to go?”
“No problem!” she said, rushing off to get some containers and bags.
“So soon? But we were just getting reacquainted!”
“Yeah, Shannon’s got to go to work tomorrow, and he works back in our hometown,” I started to inspect a dust particle on the floor.
“Oh. Where do you work?” Why was she being so nice to me? She must remember the shit I did to her!
“I’m uh, a cop. I work around here.”
“Oh that’s cool!” she seemed genuinely happy. What is wrong with her?
“Yeah, no it’s not. Everyone hates us.”
“Well, they can’t hate you. Nobody can!”
Are you kidding me?
“Well-“
“Here’s your stuff, sir. Have a good night!” The waitress walked away, leaving the smell of her $20 perfume lingering in the air. I had to hold my breathe while packing up the food.
“Alright Shannon, we got to.”
“Bye Anthony! Bye Shannon!” She and her friend waved to us as we left.
I dragged him away from Natalia, whom he’d been ogling for the whole time. Or at least, trying to pretend he wasn’t. As soon as we were out the door and onto the densely populated streets, I said,
“Okay, first of all, you don’t point out if someone’s gay! Second, I’m pretty sure she thinks you’re a registered sex offender now. And-“
“Why are you blaming all this shit on me?! You’re the one who didn’t go with the plan! You exposed us! Why?”
“I don’t know, she didn’t seem mad at us!”
“I thought you said that’s because she doesn’t remember all the shit that happened, but that when she does, she’ll come hunt us down!”
“Yeah, that was stupid of me to say, alright?!”
We hurried down the street to the parking lot where and I had parked our cars.
“It’s just that…she didn’t seem angry or pissed off or scared or anything. But I feel like she was feeling…something else.”
“Are you really trying to be deep to me about the girl that about an hour ago we were claiming was the hottest model to ever become an Angel?”
“…you know what? You’re right. It’s not like it really matters anyway. Maybe she did remember all that shit, but she doesn’t care anymore. I mean, we were all in high school. We were all young and stupid…”
“Especially you,” Shannon said, laughing.
“Yeah, says Mr. “$50 and I’ll bang every girl on the cheerleader squad!””
“Hey! I needed $50!”
“No, what you needed was to inflate your self-esteem.”
“Oh shut up.” We got our cars out. I said bye to Shannon as he drove back to New Jersey. Meanwhile, I headed back to my apartment. I tried to get to sleep, but I couldn’t twitch off the memory of Natalia in my head. In my mind, all I had ever seen was an ugly nobody who never even deserved a sideways glance. But now she had almost every New Yorker turning their heads to stare up at what she had become. Yet, her mind was still set in the same place that it was in for most of her life. Kind, courteous, polite, forgiving, smart, witty. I never wanted to admit it to myself, but sometimes, I could actually see all of that in her. But I told myself that it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t like I was dating the girl. I told myself that there was no way I’d be caught with someone as ugly as she was.
But what about now? I mean, I still barely knew her, and it’d be awkward hanging out and being friends with the girl I just saw looming over Times Square, practically naked, looking almost like a superstar. It was as if the hypothetical tables were beginning to turn. I was becoming the ugly nobody who barely deserved a sideways glance, and she was potentially about to take the fashion industry, seemingly leaving her past in the dust. I guess I would have to try to do the same.
YOU ARE READING
I Think I Knew That Model
HumorNatalia has come a long way from her geeky, loser teenage years, and now her dream to move to Manhattan and become a model and is a reality. While the lifestyle in is far from glamorous, she's finally happy with herself, and what her life has to of...
