Inspiration Point (4 page)

I had truly lost track of the time when my mobile rang
- it was Tyler. 

“Hey Tyler, what’s up?” I said as I typed today’s
results into the computer. 

“Just checking you haven’t forgotten our date.  I
know you get distracted when you’re working in the lab, which I assume you are
since I haven’t heard from you all day”. 

He was right of course, but my mind was stuck on his
use of the word
date
– did he think that’s what this was?  Would it
even worry me if that were true?  I tried to shrug this off; I am probably
over reacting because of Zeke’s tormenting. 

I check my watch to see that it is already six
o’clock. 

“Thanks, I didn’t realize what time it was, but I
haven’t forgotten.  I will be there at eight, I promise,” I said trying to
reassure him. 

“Okay, then I will meet you at the pizza place.” 

“Actually, Emin and Zeke are giving me a lift, so I
can probably meet you there if you like?” I said sounding a little
annoyed. 

“Emin and Zeke?” He questioned. 

“Yeah, apparently it would be a good idea for me to
have my brother there – in case I need him,” I said sarcastically. 

“No worries,” he said half laughing.  “I'll meet
you there then – bye Hayln.” 

“Bye Tyler,” I said as I flicked off my computer and
phone and headed upstairs.

I was nearly at the top of the stairs when I heard my
father on the phone, he sounded upset.  “Just keep an eye on her, I won’t
be long,” he pleaded.   “Well it’s too late for that now – just do
this for me, please,” he listened to whoever was on the phone. “Thanks I will
call you again later.”  I kept going up the stairs, wanting to know what
that was about.

“Hi Dad, who was on the phone?” I asked as he turned
towards me surprised that I was there. 

“Oh, no-one.  Just a salesperson trying to sell
me cheaper long distance.”

Whoa - Why would my father lie to me, I think to
myself? 

‘You better get a move on,” he said.  “Or you will
hold your brother up.”  And he walked back upstairs to his study I
guess. 

I can’t remember my father ever lying to me – I must
admit I am a little worried.  I decide to find Emin, maybe he might know
something.

He was alone in the garage, working on his project
.  It was
some sort of robot hand, or at
least that’s what it looked like to me.  He looked up at me, “why aren’t
you getting ready yet?” He said. 

“You're not,” I shot back at him. 

“Hayln, it will take me five minutes to get ready, I
doubt you will be able to pick what to wear in that time.” 

Ugh, he was right I hadn’t even thought about clothes
yet, but that’s not what I was here for. 

“Did, you see Dad much today?” I questioned. 

“Sure, he helped us on our hand here, why?” He
said. 

“Did he seem… weird to you?” 

“No – should he have?” He said, with a confused
expression on his face. 

“It’s probably nothing, don’t worry about it,” I
said.  Maybe I was making too much of it.  “You’re right, I better
get ready,” I said as I turned to leave the room, no more enlightened than
before I entered it. 

“Oh, by the way,” I turn back to him, “what should I
wear?” 

He laughs, “anything black would be safe – it is the
Sweat Room,” he said grinning. 

Black…. I thought to myself as I headed towards my
room, to see what outfit I could find.

I decided to shower first as I suddenly felt nervous,
with no idea why. Once in my room I searched for something to wear.  I
played with least seven different outfits before I decided that this was no big
deal, and grabbed my favorite pair of black jeans and my black suede
boots.  Then I only needed a top.  I still went over a number of
options but kept going back to my emerald green silk tank top.  It might
not be the perfect top, but I love the color and just couldn’t get it out of my
mind. 

I must have lost track of time again because I could
hear Emin honking the horn of his van out the front.  I quickly brushed my
hair, deciding to leave it out because I had no time to do anything else. 
I ran out to the car, yelling out to my father on the way.

“Night dad, I shouldn’t be late,” and then I closed
the door behind me and jumped in the back of the van.

“I told you, you should have started getting ready
earlier,” Emin complained. 

“I made it didn’t I?” I replied, puffing a little
whilst I buckled myself in. 

“You look nice,” Zeke said looking over the back of
his chair at me, smiling softly. 

“Um…. thanks,” I said not quite knowing what else to
say, and suddenly feeling shy. 

Emin glanced at me in the rear vision mirror and then
started talking to Zeke about who they thought might be there tonight.  It
wasn’t a long drive to the club, and once we were there I could see Tyler
waiting out the front for me, amongst a group of about twenty people waiting to
get in. 

I interrupted their conversation.  “Hey, could
you let me out here while you go park the van, Tyler’s just there.”  

“You sound pretty keen to get to someone who is not
your boyfriend, can’t he wait five minutes?” Zeke complained. 

“Just let me out,” I said firmly and Emin double
parked while I jumped out.

“Hey Tyler,” I said, happy to be out of the
uncomfortable situation I keep finding myself in with Zeke.  It will be
refreshing to spend some time with someone I am at ease with. 

“Hi, nice to see you remembered,” he smiled
teasingly.  “You look fantastic, by the way.” 

“Thanks, you do too,” I said suddenly finding myself
feeling shy again.  He had on his favorite pair of faded jeans and a white
button up shirt that fit him really well.

“So where are your babysitters?” He asked. 

“Parking the van,” I muttered. 

We made our way into the club and grabbed a table on
the mezzanine level where we could see the band downstairs.  The club was
already full of people enjoying themselves while the band did their final
checks.  It was quite dark inside.  The lower level had several
seating areas positioned around the dance floor, and I could see some of Emin's
friends already settled in for the night.  Tyler went to get some drinks
for us and was back just as the music started.  We started talking about
our day, but found it was too difficult with the noise of the band. 

“There are Emin and Zeke,” Tyler yelled, and pointed
to the left of the stage where they joined their friends.  We'd just
finished our second drink when Tyler suggested that we should dance.  I
nodded, and we walked downstairs towards the dance floor. 

Tyler and I had never been anywhere where we'd danced
before.  We usually just hung out at the coffee shop or the movies if we
weren’t in the lab.  As we made our way to the dance floor, I glanced over
to the boys.  I noticed there were a number of girls vying for their
attention.  Typical I think to myself - just what their ego’s need. 

Dancing with Tyler was pretty easy, although I must
admit, with this music it actually was just a lot of jumping around. 
After a few songs, I was dying for another drink and was just about to suggest
a break when the tempo slowed.  Before I could say anything, I found
myself with Tyler’s hands lightly on my waist.  I smiled nervously and
mimicked the same position, putting my hands on his hips as we danced.  I
was hesitant to look up into his eyes, as I felt the mood change between us,
and I wasn’t sure what to do now.  Before I could do anything, he pulled
me a little closer so my head rested on his shoulder.  I relaxed a little
knowing that at least now I didn’t have to look in his eyes.  We were
turning in a small circle when I noticed Zeke staring at me from where he was
sitting.  When our eyes met, he looked away quickly. 

I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the last
twenty four hours with these two boys and began comparing it to something I
felt more comfortable with – an experiment, but this time I was the
subject.  These strange situations and conversations felt as if they were
designed to make me feel awkward, shy and frustrated.  I didn’t know how
to react.  Zeke had always been like an annoying brother, and Tyler my
reliable best friend – but I had no idea what was happening now?

The music stopped, and I took a deep breath before I
looked up into Tyler’s eyes.  He smiled down at me, and he looked….
happy.  I suggested we get another drink, and we went back to our
table.  I watched him as he went to the bar.  Had his feelings for me
changed in some way, or was something else happening?  I have no
experience with boys at all – I’ve never even had a boyfriend.  So, if
there were signs - I was obviously missing them.  I decided when he came
back to try and get things back to normal – control the environment, I needed
time to think.  

Whilst Tyler was being served, I noticed Emin at the
bar leaning over to talk to a pretty girl who was serving drinks.  She
seemed to be enjoying his attention.  She was a tall, slim girl with
blonde hair pulled up in a high ponytail.  The way they were talking they
seemed to be friends, but I wouldn’t know, Emin never talks about girls to
me.  By this time, Tyler was back with our drinks.  Straight away I
started commenting on the songs the band were playing, other kids from our
school who were here, anything I could think of to keep things normal.  It
worked, we had no more… moments until we left the club.

We were outside waiting for Emin and Zeke when Tyler
reached out and took my hand. 

“I had a good time tonight,” he said as he looked at
me with his dark brown eyes.  “What about you?” 

This is exactly what I didn’t want, I needed more time
to figure out what was going on with him. 

“Yeah, it was fun,” I responded nervously. 

Just then a group of boys were thrown out a side door
of the club interrupting our conversation and then Zeke called out to me. 

“Ready to go Hayl’s?” Zeke said looking at Tyler, not
me. 

“I suppose, where is Emin?” I asked, expecting him to
be there too. 

“Let’s just say he's a little tied up at the moment,”
he said as he nodded towards the darker side of the entrance where I saw him
embracing the blonde girl - kissing. 

“I don’t think I needed to see that,” I said
squinting.

“No-one does.  He said for me to take you home,
he might be a while,” Zeke said. 

“I can get her home safely,” Tyler added, obviously
not wanting the evening to end just yet.  But I did. 

I needed a break from this experiment so I said, “its
fine, Zeke is staying with us anyway, so it’s probably easier.  Thanks for
a nice night though.” 

He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek before I knew
what was happening and said, “night Hayln, I had a fantastic night too, I’ll
call you tomorrow”. 

“Okay,” I stuttered, still feeling his kiss on my
cheek as Zeke grabbed me by the arm to lead me to the van.

As we turned and walked away Zeke let go of me and
went ahead to the van, unlocked it and got in.  He didn’t seem as if he
wanted to talk, and that was fine with me, I needed to think.  I hadn’t
expected Tyler to kiss me, but I was surprised how warm and happy it made me
feel.  Maybe things were changing with us, and maybe I was going to like
the changes after all.  We'd almost arrived home before Zeke spoke to me
again. 

“So, did you have a good time tonight?  Or were you
just saying that for his benefit,” he said. 

“Of course I meant it.  Tyler is my best friend
why would I lie to him?” I said starting to get upset. 

“Best friend!” He spat out, “I doubt that’s all he
thinks he is from what I saw tonight”. 

I didn’t reply, because honestly I didn’t know what to
say, and it wasn’t any of his business anyway.  This overprotective
brother routine was going a bit far.  He waited for me to say something,
but I didn’t.  We started to turn into our street, and I thought if I kept
my mouth shut that maybe I could get inside before we had to continue this
conversation.  But it didn’t work.

“So, how do you feel about that?” He asked in a softer
voice. 

“Um, I don’t really know,” I said honestly.  “I
mean, I was taken by surprise a little, I didn’t see it coming.  I guess
that’s why I let you take me home.  I needed time to sort things through
by myself.” 

We were in the driveway now, Zeke had unbuckled and
was getting out of the van.  “That makes sense I suppose… but, I wonder.”
 Then he stopped talking and hopped out.  I quickly unbuckled and
jumped out too.

“Wonder what?” I asked as he came around to my side of
the van to meet me.  It was the first time I had seriously looked at him
tonight.  He was dressed entirely in black.  Black jeans that I hate
to admit, fitted him perfectly, and a classic black t-shirt that hugged the
contours of his chest and arms.

“Well I was wondering if I had asked you to dance -
would you still be uncertain of how you felt?”  He moved forward so he was
close enough for me to reach out and touch.  Not that I could move any
part of my body, I was frozen not knowing what was happening.