About half way through the ride she said, "AJ, I know we're not, like, good friends or anything, but is there something wrong? You just seem really sad to me."
"Oh, it's um, nothing," AJ mumbled. He was looking out the window to his left, avoiding eye contact.
"I know that you don't know me at all, but if you ever need to talk to anybody, or you just want some company, you can call me any time."
AJ then turned and looked at her. Women my age can't be trusted! They are all heart breakers. "Thanx," he said smiling at her. She seems to be nice enough. But there is no way this one can be different from all the rest! "So Amber, where are you from?" he asked, knowing that he was being rude not talking ot her.
"I was born in New York City, but my father is in the service, so we moved about every year and a half from when I was I think…one and a half, to when I was about fourteen. We lived in a small town in Texas called Waco since then. Heather moved here about a year and a half ago, so I'm just visiting her."
"Cool, what places have you lived?"
"Well, from New York, I moved to a small town up in Maine. Then we moved way out to Paris-"
"So you speak French? Whoops, sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"It's okay. I only speak a little French, and that's from high school. I lived there mostly speaking a little English, I was very young so that's normal, but I do have great pronunciation!"
"Ha ha. Where else?"
"We moved to Mississippi when I was five. When I was six and a half we moved out west to Los Angeles. We stayed there for four years. Then we moved just outside of Las Vegas for two years. After that we went to Buffalo, New York for two more years, and then we moved to Waco, and that's where we stayed!"
"Why didn't you move anymore after that?" he asked.
"Well, two years later, when I was sixteen and in my junior year of high school, my dad needed to move us again. Heather was in collage. My mom and I really didn't want to move, she had a great job and tons of friends. My mom and dad had been fighting a lot before that. So, they got a divorce, and I stayed with my mom. We moved to a nice apartment across town, Heather kept her stuff with us, but she visited both of our parents equally."
"You didn't visit him?"
"Well, before the divorce he had started drinking a lot. He and my mom were fighting and when they separated, I decided to stay in Waco with my mom and my friends. He didn't want me staying with her and I guess he has never forgiven me for staying with her. When he didn't call me for about six months, I stopped calling him too. I haven't seen him since," she explained sadly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know how it feels to not have a father around."
"Yeah."
"You know about me?"
She smiled. "Well, I am a Backstreet Boy fan and I have read articles about you guys!"
"Oh, okay, I get it!" AJ laughed loosening up. "Where does he live now?"
"He lives in Florida, near NASA space center. He works there sometimes training astronauts and stuff.
"Oh," AJ said. That's so cool! He trains astronauts! AJ thought, not telling her that because of her situation with her father.
"It's pretty cool isn't it?" Amber said reading his mind.
"Yeah," he laughed.
"Well, we're here!" AJ said as he followed Nick's car into a nice small beach that wasn't too crowded.
"Alright! This is my first time going into the Atlantic Ocean!"
"It is?"
"Yep!"
"Well, I'll have to give you a tip then, watch out for sharks and crabs! It's a pain in the ass when they getcha!"
"What?!" Amber shouted
"Ha ha ha," AJ laughed. "I can't believe you fell for that, although all Texan girls I have pulled that one on have believe it!"
"Oh yeah, how many Texan girls have you told that to?" Amber asked.
"Well, there was this one, and she didn't doubt me at all, and she, like, shouted, 'what?!' at the top of her lungs," AJ joked, telling the story about her. Amber playfully hit him on the arm when he had parked. He ran out of the car and opened the car door for Amber.
"Why thank you, kind sir," Amber said in an English accent as he helped her from he car.
"My pleasure Madame!" AJ said also in an English accent while bowing to her.
"C'mon, let's go!" Amber said to AJ, walking toward everybody who were waiting for them at the edge of the parking lot.
Lauren M. Elizabeth "Littrell" © 1999
