“That’s so young.”
“Yeah, life’s a bitch.”
They both sat in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say.
“I’m going to be a nurse, you know,” Demi said brightly, looking for a way to change the tone of their meeting.
“Oh?” Arthur was genuinely interested in this. All the girls he knew dreamt of being models or professional cheerleaders.
“My Mom was a nurse so I’ve always dreamt of following in her footsteps.”
“Was?” Arthur picked up on the past tense and noticed a veil fall across Demi’s features as she shut the past out, something she had clearly become adept at doing.
“Cancer,” she said bluntly and Arthur nodded, fighting the urge to reach out and take hold of her delicate hand. He realized that he had never shared so much with anyone else before, bar Jared. Most conversations he had were so vacuous and devoid of any true meaning. Demi was different, everything she said mattered.
“So I still need to finish this chapter,” Arthur used the hand he’d wanted to hold her with to motion to the open book on the table between them.
“Yes, you do,” Demi agreed.
“I’m working tomorrow, but I reckon I’ll be able to read it in between serving people coffee.”
“You have a job?” Demi was surprised, she always assumed that Arthur came from a well to do family and therefore was financially supported.
“Yeah, at my Dad’s coffee shop; Cooper’s Coffee of Collinswood.”
“It’s a good use of alliteration.”
“It’s lame.”
“I don’t drink coffee, just tea,” it was a strange piece of information to share with anyone, let alone someone who was practically a stranger but Arthur seemed pleased to hear it.
“Coffee can be so strong, I get that,” he nodded. “Like British tea or Green tea?”
“Both.”
Arthur smiled; it felt good to get an insight in to who Demi was. He could stay and talk with her all evening but the clock on the wall of the study hall told him that he needed to get home and help prepare dinner.
“Well, I need to get going, but since I’ll have finished the chapter by tomorrow afternoon, why don’t we meet tomorrow night to go over it?” he suggested, trying not to sound lame.
Demi frowned as she pondered on this. “But tomorrow is Saturday; the study hall won’t be open.”
“We could meet at my house,” Arthur did his best to sound casual, like it was no big deal for her to come around his house when in reality he’d never had a girl in his home, he was too protective of Jared to allow any of his frivolous relationships access to him.
“Your house?” Demi felt panic rise within her. She’d never been around a boy’s house before, what would her father think? “But I don’t know where you live.” She wanted to think of reasons not to go but a part of her desperately wanted to see Arthur outside of school, at his home.
“Text me your address and I’ll come and pick you up.”
It felt so surreal to be arranging plans on a Saturday night with Arthur Cooper, that for a moment Demi feared she was being filmed on camera for some cruel practical joke. The previous Saturday she had baked cookies with Hayley before watching Amelie and Pan’s Labyrinth, two of her favourite films which Hayley detested but it was Demi’s week to choose. Hayley would enact revenge when it was her week and have them watching some predictable chick flick.
“Okay, come get me around seven?” Demi found herself saying, as though she was asked out on a Saturday all the time.
“Great, well I’ve got to go. So I’ll see you tomorrow.”
This time it was Demi’s turn to watch Arthur leave, her eyes glued to his athletic physique as he departed the study hall.
####
“So what is the plan for tomorrow night?” Hayley asked, her voice bubbly as her friend approached her at the bus stop.
“Oh, jeeze, I can’t make it,” Demi admitted feigning sadness.
“Why not?” Hayley placed her hands upon her hips and pouted mockingly.
“My Dad wants me to go spend time with my Nana.” Demi didn’t like to lie to her best friend but she knew she’d misinterpret things with Arthur if she told her the truth and there was nothing going on between them. He was probably just being friendly, and Hayley would only raise Demi’s hopes up only to have them dashed. Better to say nothing.
“Family stuff is lame, but okay. Sunday then?”
“Yes, Sunday would be great.”
The two friends smiled fondly at one another as the canary yellow bus arrived behind them and they climbed on.
####
The entire contents of Demi’s wardrobe was scattered on the floor around and she felt utterly panicked. It was now 6:45. She had just fifteen minutes until Arthur picked her up and she had no idea what to wear. It was at times like these that she missed her mother most, when she needed a mature female guidance. She had learnt to accept the fact that nothing would ever replace motherly love, no matter how hard her father tried.
She put on her dark jeans with a green top then took it off. It looked too casual. Then she put on a flowery tea dress she’d had for her last birthday but feared it looked too formal.
“Argh!” Demi cried out, frustrated.
A few moments later there was a faint tap upon her bedroom door.
“Sweetheart?” her Dad called tentatively.
“Daddy I’m just getting ready!” Demi called back, trying not to sound flustered.
“Okay, but I’m just wondering who this guy is who is picking you up?”
Demi had chosen her moment carefully to unload to her father her plans for the evening. Just as they were clearing away the dishes from dinner she said;
“I’m out tonight with a guy I’m tutoring.” It was factual, to the point, and as her father looked at her, dumbfounded, she made her escape to her room so that she could begin getting ready. She did not see how her father’s shocked expression fell away to a smile. He saw how tirelessly Demi studied and despite his reservations, he knew it would be good for her to begin dating. But then his nerves kicked in and he found himself knocking on her bedroom door, suddenly seeing only the little girl and not the emerging woman.
“Just a guy from school, Dad,” Demi replied as she pulled on a tiered skirt and hooded top and studied herself in the mirror. It looked casual but cool which was the look she was going for.
“So you have classes together?”
“Some.”
“What car does he drive?”
“Dad, I need to get ready!” Demi shouted, losing her patience.
“Okay, okay, I’m going,” her Dad backed away from the door, reluctantly.
Taking one last long look in the mirror Demi tried to settle her nerves.
“This isn’t a date,” she told herself, “So stop getting worked up like it is.”
On her bed lay her high school yearbook from the previous year, open at the page which displayed Arthur’s image. He was one of the lucky few who looked as good in photographs as he did in real life. Beneath his image were listed all of his sporting achievements. Contrasted with Demi’s unflattering photograph, beneath which read her single achievement that year when she was captain of the girl’s chess team which wasn’t all that difficult as there were only three members.
She and Arthur had nothing in common. They were from completely different ends of the social spectrum; there was no way that tonight would be anything other than a study session.
####
Arthur Cooper pulled up outside Demi’s home. She lived in a modest bungalow on the outskirts of town. On the driveway was a pick-up truck which he assumed belonged to her father but she didn’t appear to have a car of her own.
Not that Arthur’s car was much to brag about. It was old and barely holding itself together. “A fixer upper,” his father had told him when he handed him the keys on his sixteenth birthday. It was meant to be a project they would work on together but the
n Jared had got worse and the car was no longer a priority.
So Arthur arrived, hoping Demi wouldn’t clock the duct tape holding his seat together, or the many scratches on the body of the car. He wanted to impress her. Most girls fawned over his beat up car, expressing how “vintage” it was. But they were lying, obviously, as the car was a wreck and Arthur already felt that he knew Demi enough to know that she wouldn’t lie about it like the others. And that made him nervous, because it was a wreck and a part of him felt embarrassed by that.
The passenger door creaked open awkwardly and Demi slid in to the vacant space beside him wearing a hooded top and a bright coloured skirt which skimmed the top of her thighs. She looked really cute.
Arthur noticed Demi glance nervously back at her house.
“We’d better go before my Dad comes out to interrogate you,” she said quickly.
“Oh, okay,” Arthur felt a little deflated as he turned on the ignition and pulled away, wondering if Demi felt ashamed of him and therefore didn’t want her father to see him.
Perhaps sensing his doubts Demi smiled shyly before explaining;
“My Dad is just so over protective, that’s all. It’s understandable as it’s just him, but still…” she turned to glance out the window at the houses which were passing them by.
“Don’t worry about it,” Arthur offered. “You live in a nice area,” he was making small talk which made him cringe but he felt so nervous and on edge he couldn’t help it.
“No I don’t,” Demi laughed and he was surprised by her openness. “Then again, are there any nice places in Collinswood?”
“You know, I don’t think there are,” Arthur agreed, smiling.
“When I graduate I’m going to move away, go to a big city somewhere,” Demi declared proudly, “and Collinswood will just be someplace I once lived.”
“Wouldn’t your Dad miss you?” Arthur asked, shocking himself with how much he cared about this girl and her world.
“Yeah, he would,” she admitted, biting her lip guiltily. “But I’ve got to live my life, you know. My Mom wouldn’t want me to stay here; she had big dreams for me.”
“Yeah?”
“She wanted me to see the world. I remember how she’d say that the world was like a book, and to never visit new places would be like only reading one page.”
“Your Mom sounds like she was pretty cool.”
‘She was.” Demi had the familiar sensation where the emptiness of losing her mother hit her in the chest, making her almost lose her breath. Desperate for a distraction she leant forward and flicked on the car stereo.
The Cure’s Just Like Heaven blasted out in the small space and Demi felt her mouth fall open in surprise.
“Sorry,” Arthur noticed her face and quickly flicked off the music. “I’m just kind of in to old bands like that, I know most people aren’t.”
“Are you kidding?” Demi sounded elated and shocked. “I love that band, I love that song! It’s my favourite!”
“What! Mine too!” Now Arthur sounded both shocked and elated. He leant forward and switched the song back on and together they sang along, not caring how they sounded to one another, just lost in the moment of this shared passion. On the line, I’d run away with you, their eyes briefly met and something electric ignited between them. Behind the wheel, Arthur felt his heart race and his palms grow sweaty.
When they reached his house Arthur tried to beat Demi out of the car so he could open the door for her but she was already struggling with the rusted metal and half way out on to the curb.
“Your car is ridiculous!” she told him. “Ever heard of paint and oil?”
“Okay, point taken. I keep meaning to fix her up but never get the time,” Arthur admitted.
“I’d help you.”
“You would?” Arthur couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice. “You like cars?” The only girls he’d encountered with a passion for automobiles had moustaches and listened to grunge metal.
“No, but I like making things nice,” Demi explained and he nodded.
“Well, this is my house,” he gestured grandly to the two storey house behind him which was slightly larger and more maintained than Demi’s.
“It’s nice.”
“Thanks, tell my Mom that, it would make her day.”
Arthur led Demi in to his home and in to the bright kitchen where his Mom was busy baking cookies as they were Jared’s favorite.
“Hey Mom, this is Demi,” he introduced them.
“Hi, Demi,” Mrs. Cooper smiled flashing brilliant bright white teeth. She was slender and blonde. It was evident where Arthur had inherited his good looks.
“Please excuse the mess, we’ve been at the hospital all afternoon,” she said, sounding flustered.
“Oh no, your house is stunning!” Demi objected politely.
“Aren’t you sweet,” Mrs. Cooper smiled approvingly, still bemused that Arthur had bought a girl around as he’d never done it before.
“Where is he?” Arthur asked, concerned.
“He’s upstairs in his room. He’s tired. I’m making him some of his favourite cookies before he goes to sleep.”
“Come on,” Arthur instructed Demi to follow him and she did; through the lounge, up the stairs, over their sleeping collie dog and along the landing to a door which had pictures of space ships all over it. Arthur knocked lightly before entering, not waiting for a response.
“Hey champ,” he called fondly to the small figure sat in the far corner on the bed, clutching a game controller in slight, skeletal hands.
“Artie!” Jared’s face lit up when his brother came in and he went to get up but Arthur motioned for him to stay sitting.
“You need to save your energy,” he told him as he came and joined him on the bed.
“I’m not tired,” Jared lied. His skin was paper thin and dark circles hung beneath his eyes which should have been a brilliant blue but were now dulled. He smiled as Arthur playfully ruffled his hair before spying Demi lingering nervously in the doorway.
“Who is the girl?” Jared asked, sounding annoyed.
“This is Demi; she is a friend from school.” Nervously Demi came in, noting how the room smelt medicinal rather than of sweat and dirt like most other boys” rooms.
“You like spaceships, huh, that’s cool.” She said gently, glancing at the walls adorned with images of shuttles and planets.
“What do you know about spaceships?” Jared snorted.
“Last year I saw the final shuttle launch from Cape Canaveral. My Dad drove me down during the night and it was amazing. It flew up in to the sky, sending dust everywhere for miles and miles.”
“Awesome!” Jared breathed his eyes wide.
“See, she’s cool,” Arthur noted, gently placing a hand upon his young brother’s slight shoulder.
“Okay, she can come in.”
Relieved, Demi came and joined them on the bed.
‘See that space ship model there,” Jared pointed to an impressive large model sat atop a chest of drawers.
“Yeah, it’s big.”
“My Dad bought me that after I lost my kidney. And he gets me something every time I have my treatment. Today he got me that book,” he glanced at a hardback book which was on the floor, about space exploration.
“Nice. Have you read it yet?” Arthur asked.
“Nope. I was hoping we could read it together.”
“Yeah, definitely,” Arthur beamed. “How about tomorrow?”
“I’ll have to check my schedule,” Jared told him sarcastically.
“So why space?” Demi asked. “What makes it all so fascinating?”
“I like the idea of being able to escape to another world where things would be different,” Jared admitted sadly.
“I like that idea too,” Demi agreed.
“And I reckon aliens would know how to cure renal failure! They know everything!”
“I reckon you’re right,” Demi smiled.
�
�How about we read your new book now, the three of us?” Arthur suggested brightly.
“Yeah!” Jared nodded enthusiastically as Demi reached down and picked up the book, just as Mrs. Cooper came in with a plate full of fresh cookies, smiling broadly at the scene which met her.
####
“I had a really nice time,” Arthur admitted sheepishly. They were now sat in his car, a few houses down from Demi’s as she insisted they not park directly outside for fear of her father spying on them.
Just Like Heaven Page 2
