the donut dialer [ongoing]

22: ❝breathless❞

❝breathless❞

lorelei┃parker

❁ ❁ ❁

april 21st, 5:21 p.m.

[✆ receiving incoming call from ✆]
peachy girl:)

✆ call accepted ✆ at 5:29 p.m.

"lorelei, were you seri—"

"you live on rochester lane, right?"

"—ious about coming over? please don't tell me you're joking—"

"was it 117 rochester lane or 127? i can't remember. i'll just have to figure it out when i—"

"—it's 127. peaches, you're totally okay with seeing me, right? i get i'm not the most handsome guy, and i'm no Prince Charming—"

"listen, you! shut the 'eff up, parker. you're talking nonsense. do you even hear yourself right now?"

"w-well, yeah—"

"maybe you're not prince charming, but i'm not any princess, either. looks don't, and never have, mattered to me in a person. it's your personality and how great you are as a human being that makes me want to see you, so can you please stop saying that kind of crap."

"lorelei..."

"is your house the olive green one with the huge garden in the front? it says 127, right...?"

"peaches, i don't think you want to—"

"yep, it says one-twenty-seven on the mailbox. ah. well, here i am. wow, your house is really pretty."

"nobody's ever told me that before."

"there's always time for things to change, right?"

"you have a buggy..."

"huh? oh, yeah. you can see me right now?"

"and you just parked in my driveway..."

"parker, stop being an idiot and come out to see me. i feel dumb waiting in here while you're in there."

"are you absolutely positive you still want to see me?"

"oh, my god. screw it."

"screw what? wait, what are you doing—"

"manning up and seeing you myself because you won't."

"lorelei—"

parker bennett heard a light knock on his front door, a signal that, indeed, lorelei stayed true to her word. she was outside his front door, waiting for him.

he froze in his place by the windowsill, curtains no longer drawn in his hand. he couldn't see her silhouette anymore.

his first instincts were to tell her to leave. the fact that she would see and recognize him was ultimately the scariest thing he could've thought of, and her rejection was another irrational fear he had. was she going to run for the hills? would she see him, and never want to talk to him ever again?

he remembered her face. he'd thought about it so many times in his lifetime, from sneaking discreet glances at her in middle school to seeing her in the hallways on her way to trigonometry. call him a creep, but he couldn't get enough of her infinite beauty.

he never once, in all the years he had known he liked her, had the courage to step up. to take a chance to just speak to her could be a fatal blow, and parker couldn't imagine the horror he would feel if she ever knew the real reason why he called her on april fool's day.

sure, it was a bet.  a bet made by james that he couldn't talk to his crush or he owed him ten dollars. he'd eventually had enough of james's pestering to actually talk to the girl he'd pathetically admired nearly every day, and he decided to call her workplace.

everyone knew lorelei sweet worked at a bakery and sold her countless, delicious delicacies to satisfy needy customers' hunger. he figured that she wouldn't even know his voice, therefore not knowing who he was. parker found it slightly even more pathetic that it was easier talking on a phone than pretending he didn't see her everyday  and admire her from afar.

he took a chance then, so why couldn't he take a chance now?

parker suddenly heard another louder knock on the door. his racing heartbeat thrummed in his ears, relentlessly pounding in his chest like a percussion band. hands shaking with nervousness and his phone still in his hand, he held his breath in his throat and started to make his way to the front door.

he heard her pretty voice again, this time saying, "spider-man, i don't have all day."

his pace got faster as he finally reached the door, his stomach churning with anxiousness. his sweaty hand grasped the door handle, slowly turning it.

"parker, what on earth are you do—"

he opened the door.

even after seeing her for what was probably the billionth time, his breath was still taken away.