Once When You Were Mine

Chapter Six

                                                                            Did I just say something wrong?

                                                                                Did I just stare too long?

                                                                        Could it be that you see something

                                                                            You don't want to see in me?"

                                                                              - Huey Lewis and the News

"She said she doesn't want a boyfriend," Austin said bleakly.

It was Monday night; it had taken the better part of a week for Austin to corner Liz after school.

"Oh, Austin, I'm so sorry," I said with all the sympathy I could muster. "Do you need to talk about it?"

"I need to distract myself."

"The Addams Family is playing in town," I suggested.

"Perfect," he said grimly.

He sat stock still through the movie; I wondered if he were paying any attention to it at all. I shrugged and turned my attention to the zany antics of Gomez and Morticia.

After the movie, we walked around town for a bit. Most of the stores were dark, having closed down for the night. The wind swept the falling leaves across the sidewalk and into the street. I shivered involuntarily.

"Are you cold?" Austin asked. I nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag you around for so long." He shrugged. "The cold air is helping to clear my head." He took his varsity track jacket off and made me put it on. "Are you warm enough to walk around for a few more minutes?"

"Yeah, but I have to be home by eleven. I was lucky my mom let me out on a school night."

"Me too. We'll go home soon, okay?"

"Sure."

We walked in silence for a while. I looked up at him; his face moved in and out of shadow when we passed a streetlamp. I had the sudden urge to take his hand. What are you doing? I reprimanded myself. This is Austin. Dating friends doesn't work. But I could feel an indefinable tension between us tonight. It kind of scared me. I had never felt that before with Austin.

He finally broke the mood by scooping up a handful of leaves and dumping them unceremoniously over my head. I shrieked happily, grabbed some leaves from the grass and chased after him. He let me catch up to him and we had a satisfying leaf battle. Somehow, throwing leaves at each other exorcised whatever had been in the air, and it left us as carefree as a couple of five-year-olds.

* * *

I hadn't wanted to ruin the mood on Monday, so I waited until lunch the next day, Tuesday, to bring up the possibly touchy subject of Liz.

"If you don't mind my asking, what exactly happened with Liz?'

"Well, I was tired of constantly being put off, so I just came out and asked her what was going on. It probably wasn't the smartest move I could have made."