This Is The Story Of A Girl
Stalker Alert
Starbucks. My second home - almost my only real home. It’s the one place where I always felt at home. I didn’t work today though. I ordered my usual Hazelnut Mocha chino and found myself a table. The coffee aroma was enough to send me on a trip. I had my sketchbook open in front of me and with my pencil in hand I was ready to start drawing.
“Mind if I join you?” Frank suddenly asked out of nowhere and it took everything in me not to sigh in frustration. This kid had a way of always popping up out of thin air. I swear he had a Jacey radar or something. That or he was stalking me.
“If you ask that question one more time, I swear…”
He just laughed and sat down. “How are you today? Hopefully better than yesterday.”
“I’m good thanks and just for the record I was in a good mood yesterday.”
“Yeah. And I’m Peter Pan,” he replied smartly.
“Go figure.”
He was actually laughing at me. No matter how much I swore at this guy or tried to piss him off, nothing helped. He always laughed at me.
“May I please know your name?” he asked sweetly with a look on his face that made me believe that he never got into trouble for anything. With a face like that he looked like a saint, but I knew better.
“Why do you want to know my name so badly?” I asked.
“We bump into each other so often, but briefly, I never even get your name…” he started.
“We never bump into each other by chance. You stalk me and…”
“And whenever I want to talk to you or call you over I can’t, because I don’t know your name. It would just make my life so much easier. Besides, I think you have a pretty name,” he finished.
I laughed, “You don’t even know my name, but you think it’s pretty?”
“Yes,” he answered completely serious. “You have a pretty face, so I’m sure you have a pretty name as well.”
“Thanks, but Jacey is hardly anything special.”
“Jacey,” he said. “See, that’s a pretty name.”
“Haha,” came my sarcastic response. This kid was unbelievable. He was always so full of energy and smiles that I found it exhausting. How could he ever keep up this pace?
“I see your cup’s empty. Want some more coffee?” he offered.
“Yes, I would love some, but I’ll get it myself.”
“Okay, no biggie,” he said, putting his hands up in a defensive gesture, “I just thought that since I’m going to get some I could get you a refill as well.”
“I don’t need you to do me any favors.”
“I wasn’t…”
“Then why? Why on earth won’t you leave me alone? You’re like a freaking magnet always clinging to me. Why?”
Without any warning, Frank got to his feet and walked over to the counter. I stared after him in astonishment. He completely ignored my outburst like it didn’t even happen. Who the hell was he? When the teen returned, he placed a cup of coffee in front of me before taking a sip of his own.”
“Why on earth won’t you leave me alone?” I reiterated.
“Well,” came the answer, “I saw that you were all alone and I felt sorry for you.”
“Fuck you!”
He laughed, “No, I’m just kidding. I don’t really know. Something about you made me want to get to know you. You seemed like a cool person.”
“You still think so?”
“I don’t really know you yet,” he answered innocently. “So I can’t really tell.”
“Well that’s a shame, ‘cause this is as far as our relationship is going to go.”
“Ooh, we’re in a relationship,” he joked with a wide grin spread across his face. “Why are you afraid of me?” he wanted to know more seriously.
“I’m not afraid of you. I just don’t want any friends.”
“Why not?” he asked, “Friends are a good thing you know.”
“It’s not that. It’s a long story that I am not going to get into now.” I stopped. I was letting him get to me again. Frank always had a way of getting me worked up. He scratched at all the wounds, causing all my emotions to surface and I hated that. Maybe that’s why I wanted to keep him as far away from me as possible. If only he wasn’t such a persistent little ass.
“Look,” he started carefully. “I don’t have to be your friend. We can be acquaintances, but let’s hang out sometimes. I really think that we will get along well. Please. You might even want or need a friend later.”
“I doubt that I will need a friend as I already have one that’s like a brother to me and I know that I wouldn’t want a friend later, because I’m not going to be here later.”
“Why are you so hostile all the time? Don’t you get tired of being angry at the world?”
Once again I found myself gaping at Frank. For someone so young, he was way too wise. But he didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. How could he?
I didn’t answer him. I just sat there staring at my coffee. I guessed that he got the picture that I didn’t want to talk about it, because we finished our coffees in silence and went our separate ways.
“Mind if I join you?” Frank suddenly asked out of nowhere and it took everything in me not to sigh in frustration. This kid had a way of always popping up out of thin air. I swear he had a Jacey radar or something. That or he was stalking me.
“If you ask that question one more time, I swear…”
He just laughed and sat down. “How are you today? Hopefully better than yesterday.”
“I’m good thanks and just for the record I was in a good mood yesterday.”
“Yeah. And I’m Peter Pan,” he replied smartly.
“Go figure.”
He was actually laughing at me. No matter how much I swore at this guy or tried to piss him off, nothing helped. He always laughed at me.
“May I please know your name?” he asked sweetly with a look on his face that made me believe that he never got into trouble for anything. With a face like that he looked like a saint, but I knew better.
“Why do you want to know my name so badly?” I asked.
“We bump into each other so often, but briefly, I never even get your name…” he started.
“We never bump into each other by chance. You stalk me and…”
“And whenever I want to talk to you or call you over I can’t, because I don’t know your name. It would just make my life so much easier. Besides, I think you have a pretty name,” he finished.
I laughed, “You don’t even know my name, but you think it’s pretty?”
“Yes,” he answered completely serious. “You have a pretty face, so I’m sure you have a pretty name as well.”
“Thanks, but Jacey is hardly anything special.”
“Jacey,” he said. “See, that’s a pretty name.”
“Haha,” came my sarcastic response. This kid was unbelievable. He was always so full of energy and smiles that I found it exhausting. How could he ever keep up this pace?
“I see your cup’s empty. Want some more coffee?” he offered.
“Yes, I would love some, but I’ll get it myself.”
“Okay, no biggie,” he said, putting his hands up in a defensive gesture, “I just thought that since I’m going to get some I could get you a refill as well.”
“I don’t need you to do me any favors.”
“I wasn’t…”
“Then why? Why on earth won’t you leave me alone? You’re like a freaking magnet always clinging to me. Why?”
Without any warning, Frank got to his feet and walked over to the counter. I stared after him in astonishment. He completely ignored my outburst like it didn’t even happen. Who the hell was he? When the teen returned, he placed a cup of coffee in front of me before taking a sip of his own.”
“Why on earth won’t you leave me alone?” I reiterated.
“Well,” came the answer, “I saw that you were all alone and I felt sorry for you.”
“Fuck you!”
He laughed, “No, I’m just kidding. I don’t really know. Something about you made me want to get to know you. You seemed like a cool person.”
“You still think so?”
“I don’t really know you yet,” he answered innocently. “So I can’t really tell.”
“Well that’s a shame, ‘cause this is as far as our relationship is going to go.”
“Ooh, we’re in a relationship,” he joked with a wide grin spread across his face. “Why are you afraid of me?” he wanted to know more seriously.
“I’m not afraid of you. I just don’t want any friends.”
“Why not?” he asked, “Friends are a good thing you know.”
“It’s not that. It’s a long story that I am not going to get into now.” I stopped. I was letting him get to me again. Frank always had a way of getting me worked up. He scratched at all the wounds, causing all my emotions to surface and I hated that. Maybe that’s why I wanted to keep him as far away from me as possible. If only he wasn’t such a persistent little ass.
“Look,” he started carefully. “I don’t have to be your friend. We can be acquaintances, but let’s hang out sometimes. I really think that we will get along well. Please. You might even want or need a friend later.”
“I doubt that I will need a friend as I already have one that’s like a brother to me and I know that I wouldn’t want a friend later, because I’m not going to be here later.”
“Why are you so hostile all the time? Don’t you get tired of being angry at the world?”
Once again I found myself gaping at Frank. For someone so young, he was way too wise. But he didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. How could he?
I didn’t answer him. I just sat there staring at my coffee. I guessed that he got the picture that I didn’t want to talk about it, because we finished our coffees in silence and went our separate ways.
11/15/13