My eyes lit up at the chance to talk about my best friend and my adopted little brother. “He’s a little quiet, and on the surface, many people tended to think he wasn’t very smart because of it, but none of them saw how… funny, creative, and absolutely lively he was. He could tell a joke so slyly, that, sometimes, I couldn’t even tell that it was a joke until later when I would burst out laughing. He wasn’t creative in the way I am, where he likes to draw and tell stories--he was creative with numbers. He thought of such easy and simple ways to solve equations that were far beyond anything I could understand. It was true that he didn’t talk much, but once I got to know him, he laughed, smiled, and hopped around more than anyone I know.”
I lowered my eyes. “Sometimes, he would hurt people, but it was never on purpose. He accidentally burned my chiropractor once, and a few of the clinicians, but it wasn’t because he didn’t have good control over his emotions it… well, I suppose he didn’t have the best control over his emotions, actually, but that was only because he was eight-years-old! But because he’s a shell, he’s expected to somehow… contain his emotions--to not cry when he’s in pain. It’s--it’s hideous…”
Melissa looked more and more confused with every word I told her. She shook her head. “He was eight? How could he possibly hurt the clinicians?”
Once again, I was befuddled by how little she knew about shells. I wondered if I should tell her how dangerous some of us could be. I was still so very frightened that I would lose her if I did. But something in me told me that I needed to tell her. Not because it would do me any good, but because it would do shells good for more people to understand them. Even if it was only one. “Some shells have the ability to heat up their skin to the point of it causing third-degree burns.”
Melissa blinked twice. There were words on her lips, but she didn’t know how to express them. “Really? I can’t believe I never knew this. It speaks highly of graduated shells that they’re able to control such… dangerous powers.”
She was breathing heavily. In fact, she looked devastated, leaning her forehead into her palm. Eventually, she looked me in the eyes and asked, “Do you have those powers?”
I shook my head. “No.”
She brightened at that, relieved that I could never cause her such harm, either intentionally or unintentionally. “And is Lyle still in the clinic?”
I nodded, unable to hold back tears at being reminded of that fact.
Melissa’s face was pulled into a concerned frown at my tears. “You don’t have to tell me! We can talk about something more fun if you want. This is supposed to be a good, tearless, first date, after all.”
I covered my eyes with my palms, sniffling. I took deep breaths as a way to ground myself, as I learned from my therapists, and then, when I managed to get ahold of myself, I said, “He’s still at the clinic. They told me I could adopt him if I graduated, but they lied. Shells can’t adopt other shells.”
Melissa looked at me searchingly, her face tensed with this new, horrifying knowledge I was granting her. In a moment, she smiled. “But humans can?”
Now, it was my turn to look at her in shock and admiration, wondering if she was truly going to offer what I thought she was going to offer. I nodded slowly. “Humans can.”
She wrapped my hand in hers. “I’ll adopt him.”
My soul blazed with joy, my tears turned from tears of misery to tears of happiness. My breathing was heavy as I said, “You would really do that?”
She looked down at our hands, nodding. “I would, but… the thing is, is that I would really like a husband to help me look after him.”
At that sentence, my blooming happiness wilted. However, I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to save Lyle from the clinician who was abusing him. Even marrying a woman I didn’t know. “I’ll marry you.”
Melissa giggled. “We don’t have to move that fast. But, I would love for you to move in with me. I don’t want you living in that dingy little apartment alone anymore.”
I was so happy, that, without thinking, I clasped her cheeks in my palms, leaned across the table, and kissed her. She didn’t pull away. In fact, she leaned into it.
I knew the kiss felt familiar to her because she was being far too aggressive for a public place. I barely had any self-control, myself. She smelled good, and her lips tasted good. Like cherries.
That was when I finally managed to pull away.
Cherri… I thought to myself, still feeling ashamed that I had moved on from her so quickly.
Melissa was blushing, smiling widely in delight.
“When should I move in?” I asked, my own excitement carrying me away.
“As soon as possible. How about tonight?” Melissa batted her eyes as they swept over me.
A passionate desire flared in me at what her words were insinuating. I had a need to rip that red dress off, and if I could do it later tonight, then it would satisfy that desire.
“I’d love that.” Was all I could say.
There was a pause after that as we both sipped our drinks, and then Melissa asked, “And who is this Cherri person? I hope not a girlfriend.”
I stuttered and stammered, afraid to admit that she was, but unwilling to lie and say that she was only a friend when, in reality, she was so much more.
Melissa giggled. “You don’t have to be shy. It’s okay to have dated people before we met. After all… I dated Milo before--before…” Her eyes were a little glassy.
I interrupted her, smiling and trying to lift the mood. “I thought we were trying to have a tearless first date. Tell you what… I’ll tell you a little bit about Cherri if you tell me a little bit about Milo.”
Melissa’s face immediately lit up, her heart leaping in joy at getting the chance to speak about the man she loved. “He was my soulmate. We met in college--the funny thing is, I didn’t even realize he was in the same class as me for about three weeks. He was a quiet sort of person. He sat in on lecture, did his work in the lab, and then went home without saying a word to anyone. His courage in asking me out came out of nowhere.
"You see, I don’t know how, but somehow the talk in class had turned from talking about engineering to talking about politics. It was a highly charged topic--I can’t even remember what it was now--and my opinion on the subject was in the minority. Me and the teacher argued about it for about ten minutes, and then class resumed. After lecture was over, someone tapped my shoulder. When I turned around, Milo was standing there.”
Melissa leaned her cheek upon her hand, her red lips turned upward in a wistful smile and her eyes lowered, looking down at the table as if she were gazing into the past. “He was super short. That’s the first thing I noticed about him. Not as short as you shells, mind you, but still very short. The second thing I noticed about him were his stunning blue eyes. God… I’ve never seen eyes that were so clear, and then, his platinum blonde hair. When I realized I had no idea who he was, or that he had been sitting behind me everyday since class had started, I had to wonder… how? How could I not have noticed him. Here was this man was incredibly distinct features, all incredibly bright, and I didn’t know that he even existed. He was impressed by how brave I was to argue with the teacher.”
Melissa’s face fell when she said that. There was something else behind her eyes other than unshed tears when she said it. I thought it might be regret, or guilt. But I didn’t know why she would be feeling guilt of all emotions when speaking of this man she loved.
“Regardless, even though I didn’t know him, when he tapped my shoulder and I spun around to face him, I didn’t think he would be my type. I--I was a shallow type of girl, and he had no muscles or any of the usual traits I was attracted to, but when he spoke, he spoke with such confidence and intelligence. He caught me off guard. Before I knew it, I told him that I would go out with him.” Melissa was blushing heavily just from the memory, and I hoped Melisaa would never compare me to this man who still had the power to make her cheeks flushed. “As it turned out, Milo had an extremely troubled childhood, so it made sense that he didn’t speak up very much, and when I learned that he had a troubled childhood, and yet he had somehow managed to find the courage to ask me out, I fell head over heels. I really haven’t dated anyone since.” Melissa admitted ashamedly. “There’s no one like him.”
She was fully in tears now, and the tears were making her mascara run. To save her from ruining her makeup, I clasped her hand in mine and said., “Thank you so much for telling me about him. I feel like I understand this… hidden part of me better. Should I tell you about Cherri now?”
Melissa nodded with a sigh of relief. “Yes please, take my mind off of Milo before I become a blubbering mess.”
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