Doris and Day

Ten

Doris licked her popsicle slowly and watched a woman she had never seen before get up off of the ground. Her long blonde hair flew around as she brushed grass off of herself and looked around. She seemed to mumble under her breathe as she went over to a tree nearby and started yelling at a bird that seemed unafraid.

Tapping her friend Doris pointed at the scene. "Do you think she's crazy?"

Hallie nodded, "Totally. Did you do Ms. Gardner's homework?"

"Yes."

"Oh my gosh you have to let me copy!" Hallie bent down and started unzipping her backpack. Doris couldn't hear what she was saying however as she kept watching the crazy lady.
She sat down underneath the tree and and held her head in her hands. She seemed upset, almost on the verge of crying. Doris didn't know what to do but she felt bad for her.

The woman looked up slowly and her big blue eyes met Doris's. The young girl didn't look away however as she kept licking her popsicle. She wondered why the lady seemed so surprised.

"OMG Todd is coming over!"

Doris looked at her friend who tugged on her high rise mom jeans. "What does he want?"

"I think he likes you."

Doris scrunched her face and glanced back over to the woman who still stared at her. This time the blonde lady started walking over.

The fence separated them as the woman curled her fingers around the chains. "Is your name Doris?"

She finished her popsicle and looked her up and down, "ya."

"Is this a school?"

Doris nodded.

"What's the date?"

"September 8."

The woman raised her eyebrows, "I'm guessing the 90's." She banged her head on the metal and groaned.

"Are you a substitute or something?"

"Sure."

"Shouldn't you be inside the fence then?"

"Wow you were an annoying kid." She mumbled. "Is your mom a nurse?"

"How do you know all of that?" Doris didn't seem scared or uncomfortable, she seemed curious. Her face was rounded and young, her hair shorter than she's ever seen it and her face covered in freckles from the time she spent outside. Her voice was even lighter, like Cotten candy. Day knew later her voice would be a lot heavier.

"I'm an old friend of hers."

"What's your name?"

"Day."

"That's a stupid name."

The older girl looked down at her with squinted eyes. "Your a dumb name."

Doris felt her friend come back over to her, "Todd is asking about you." Hallie glanced at the strange woman before leaning in to whisper. "He says it's about the deal you made."

"Just tell him if we aren't married by 33 then I'll marry him."Doris refuses to look behind her. She only brought her attention back to the strange woman she had never seen before. She was taller than her, and prettier. She had never seen anyone so pretty. Her eyes were so big and her skin was so smooth, she was almost embarrassed of her own skin.

Why would she care of Todd when she was on the other side of the fence? Her mom always told her liking girls was always ok. And she always assured her mother that wouldn't be an issue, but the way she felt when she looked at Day...her heart was going against her words in a big way.

She shouldn't think of it though, no one like the blonde in front of her would ever think the same.

"You made a deal with him?" Day asked.

Doris rolled her eyes, "he's always trying to date me. So I told him if I'm not married when I'm old he can marry me."

The older blonde stared at her for a moment. "Why 33? Why not 36?"

"Because I'm not going to be single for that long."

Day bit her bottom lip in thought. She wanted to tell her otherwise. Todd was the name of Ms. Kennedy's husband. She had to make her think differently. "Who cares then? Tell him 40."

Doris heard the bell ring, "The age isn't important. I got to go."

"Wait." Day held held her fingers through the chain. Closing her eyes she tried thinking of what to say. She couldn't find the words however as she let go of her. "Just wait ok?"

The young girl seemed lost at the conversation but nodded anyways. She soon disappeared through the sea of students. Day's view of her slowly going out of focus. Moving away from the fence she started running out to the sidewalk.

"Watch where you are going lady." A man said skating past her, a boom box securely in his hands.

"There's a reason I'm here." Day told herself, ignoring the man's rudeness. "Why am I Here?" Turning in a circle as a group of woman jogged past her in leopard leggings, Day held her head wondering what would happen next. Was she going to get hit? Was she supposed to be here longer? Did she mess it up?

She had to be closer to getting to her time, every time she seemed to wake up it would be in the same spot, by that same tree. The only difference is the school. It was fully built now. It had some differences though, she didn't know it looked like this before the remodel in 2013. And the bird. That same bird was always there.

"It's not time." Day tried to get away from the sidewalk as she went back to the tree. She needed to change Doris mind, make sure she doesn't marry Todd like she does from her time. All she had to do was convince her to-

*unedited.*