Chapter 3
"So what's your story?" he asked me as we were walking side by side on the shore of a deserted beach. I had my sandals in one hand and was pulling wisps of hair off my face with the other. I turned to look up at him with confusion written on my face.
"What do you mean what's my story?" I asked him before looking away to stare out to the nonexistent horizon.
"I mean, what's your story?" he told me as if it was obvious to what the meaning of his question was.
"I don't have a story." I replied with the same tone of voice.
"Come on, everyone has a story. Some may be more exciting than others or more boring but everyone has one." I could feel his gaze on me and for some unexplainable reason I started to blush. I was suddenly glad that it was dark and he couldn't see the color of my face.
"OK, since everyone has a story what's yours?" I asked him with a rebellious glint in my eye.
" Ah, the classic answer a question with another question. Good tactic to shift the conversation from me to you." He looked towards me before continuing. "My story's pretty simple, my dad died when I was 12, so my mom and I moved out of Cuba to start a whole new life here. I graduated from high school 2 years ago and am studying in U Penn. I am currently 21 years old." He finished with a boyish grin on his face. "So did I pass?"
"Pass what?" I asked him. We were now reaching a wall made up of huge black rocks, so instead of turning back I decided to sit down exactly where I was. It took him a while to notice I wasn't walking beside him and when he did, he turned around and sat down right next to me; both of us looking out to the huge expanse of water in the still ocean.
"Did I pass the test, was my story amazingly exciting or amazingly boring?" he asked me with a crooked grin on his perfect face.
"I'll have to get back to you on that since I'm still debating whether or not it deserves my approval." I replied with a huge smile on my face. I don't know why but for some reason I started to feel giddy, I was starting to wonder if it was due to the fact that I could feel his body heat radiating towards me from how close we were sitting.
"Alright, I'll let you get away with it this time but beware, next time I won't be so merciful." He said and I giggled. GIGGLED! I cant believe I giggled, how old am I like eight?! "Anyways now its your turn and this time you have to tell me."
"There's really not that much to tell," I replied while turning to look at him. He gave me a pointed glare as if he didn't believe me. I sighed before continuing. "I lived my whole life in the middle east, trying to adjust to the fact that I came from two completely opposite cultures, my mom being from the west and my dad the east. I lived a semi conservative life but at the same time all I wanted to do was break free of the societal restraints put on me..."
"Wait, what do you mean 'societal restraints'?" he interrupted, I looked back towards him preparing to reply with a mumbled 'nothing, just forget about it' but something in his expression urged me to continue on with my story and tell him everything. There was something about his aura that made me feel safe, as if I could trust him with anything knowing that I would never be hurt. But I knew that was all a lie, and that in the end anyone could hurt you no matter how much trust you put into them.
"Um... its kinda hard to explain," I turned back to look at the ocean before continuing. "ok, take for example the fact that over there in the Arab culture its considered improper to be seen with a guy by yourself. So this basically means no one goes out on dates. Its also considered improper to wear tank tops or really short shorts out in public because it is seen as being trashy or disrespectful. And over there the most important thing a girl can have is her reputation and by doing these so called 'improper' things your ruining your reputation and jeopardizing your chances of being married into a good Arab family. Its really hard to explain and it goes more in depth than that but that's basically the gist of it. In the middle east its much harder for a girl than a boy because she has her reputation to protect and since over there a lot of the marriages are arranged, the girl has to be on her best behavior all the time because she is constantly viewed by society as a potential bride." I nervously glanced towards him and could see that he was pondering over everything I just said.
"Go on, I still haven't heard your story yet." He replied without looking at me. I took a deep breath before continuing.
"Right, so I always felt confused as to who I was or where I fit in with the people over there. I thank god that I studied in an American School and met a lot of people in the same boat as I was and I wasn't as confused anymore, I finally knew where I belonged. I was happy. And then the divorce happened and my mom wanted to get as far away as possible from her old life so we moved and here I am." I ended by raising both my hands in the air as if to say 'and that's that'. I sneaked a glance at him and could see that he was staring at me.
"How do you feel about moving here?" he asked me.
"What?" I replied, confused as ever. Why would he ask me such a thing, why does he even care so much about my life? I was so curios that I asked him.
"I care because your interesting, there is definitely more to you than meets the eye and I want figure out what it is that makes you so captivating." He replied. I was shocked, I mean I never saw myself as this mysterious girl who has a hidden secret or something covert like that. I always saw myself as me, plain old Isadora, nothing interesting and nothing noteworthy, but apparently he thought different because he was now leaning into me closing the already small gap that was in between us. Is he really going to kiss me? I mean I only just met him a week ago and haven't even had more than one conversation with him. Was this really happening, my first kiss? I could feel his breath on my face and my breathing started to accelerate. I could hear my heart thumping in my ears and as I started to close my eyes I heard James Morrison's song 'This boy' start to play from the jeans of my pocket. I quickly snapped back to reality and pulled my face away from him as fast as I could. I could feel my cheeks beginning to grow hot as I fumbled with the zipper of my purse to retrieve my ringing cell phone.
"Hello?" I said into the receiver.
"Isadora, mija we just finished and were waiting for you at the café right next to the restaurant. Is Rafe with you?" my mom replied from the other end of the line. I turned towards him and saw that he was staring right back at me with an intense look in his eyes.
"Ya he's here. We're coming now." I replied without breaking eye contact with him. I pressed the off button on my phone disconnecting the call from my mom as I watched Rafe stand up and wipe the sand off his pants. He put his hand out for me to take and I hesitantly took it.
"Come on we better get going before they leave without us." He told me before leading the way back to where we came from. I stood still for a second looking at his retreating back before thinking to myself, What the hell just happened?
