Sparks Fly
01.
Brook-
“I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us
How we met and the sparks flew instantly
And people would say ‘"They're the lucky ones."
I used to know my place was a spot next to you
But now I'm searching the room for an empty seat
‘Cause lately I don't even know what page you're on...”
The sounds of Taylor Swift's song Story of Us filled my car as I drove through the familiar streets. I was on my way home from my parents' house. It was a few days before Christmas and I had family coming in to visit from all over the country. After spending a few hours with some of them, I was exhausted. Also, it was almost midnight.
Don't get me wrong; I love my family, but there is only so many loud Italians a girl can take in one room before she goes crazy, especially when she is constantly being interrogated for her life choices.
Yes, I am going to stick with being a high school guidance counselor. Yes, I remember what hell high school could be growing up. Yes, I know I'm never going to be a millionaire and no, I'll probably never own my own gigantic home and drive a super expensive car. Most of all, yes, I am content being single. Given my past track record, I am in no rush to find another guy who could potentially mess me up even more.
I know everyone is just looking out for me because they care and blah, blah, blah, but sometimes I just want to stand on the table and scream that I'm twenty-three years old and I know what I'm doing with my life.
Well, at least, I like to pretend I know what I'm doing with my life…
"Oh my God," I gasped, slamming on my brakes as a white and brown ball of fluff dashed into the road, right in front of my car.
"Oh my God. Oh my God," I continued to mumble to myself, throwing the car into park and jumping out just in time to see the dog run into the wooded area on the other side of the street.
"Please come back," I called out as if it would help, slowly walking passed the trees in search for the small dog.
It didn't dawn on me until it was too late that it was dark and I was alone in the middle of the woods and my cell phone was sitting in the cup holder in my still running car. I guess all the horror movies my older brother forced me to watch as a kid didn't teach me anything.
"Oh thank God," I mumbled again when I found the dog sniffing at a tree stump.
I slowly made my way towards it, not wanting to scare if off again.
"Hey buddy," I said softly and thankfully the dog came right over to me, letting me check the tag that hung from the collar around his neck. "Well, Sebastian, it looks like you don't live too far away from here."
Carefully, I scooped up the dog. I was thankful that he didn't seem to flinch or whimper in pain as I carried him back to the car. He happily wagged his tail and I began to think maybe I hadn't hit him like I feared.
I sat down in the car and took a minute to compose myself again. I sat Sebastian on the passenger's seat and checked the address on the tag one more time before driving off. I made it about a block before he was crawling into my lap.
I don’t think I had ever been more nervous than when I carried the dog up the front steps of the house he came from. How do you tell someone you may have hit their dog?
A few seconds had barely passed after I knocked on the door when a tall boy about my age came outside. His facial expression changed from stressed to relieved when he saw the dog.
"Oh thank God," he said taking the dog from me. "Where did you find him?"
"I -uh- just a few blocks -uh- away-" I stumbled over my own words, only then noticing how bad my hands were shaking.
"Thank you so much for bringing him back. I have no idea how he got out of the yard. He's never been able to do that before. Do you want to come inside away from the cold?" he asked, noticing my shaking hands.
"No," I shook my head, stuffing my shaking hands into my coat pockets. "We need to get to a vet," I finally blurted out.
"What? Why?" The boy asked, looking less relieved now and more stressed again.
"H-He came out of nowhere. I slammed on my brakes. I-I don't know if I hit him or n-not."
The boy looked a little confused.
"He seems fine," he said as the dog wiggled in his arms, occasionally trying to lick his face.
"I know that he looks fine. He probably is but I will never, ever be able to sleep if I don't find out for sure. Please."
"Okay. Okay," he caved, realizing how serious I was being. "Let me run inside and grab my keys and phone and everything."
"I'll drive," I offered. "I'm blocking the driveway and my car is already running."
"Okay. Thanks," he said, juggling to put his coat on, lock the front door and carry the dog at the same time.
A few moments later we were in my car heading toward the nearest veterinarian office I knew of that was 24 hours. I drove as carefully as I could. I didn't want this guy thinking I was a bad driver on the regular.
The awkward silence in the car was making this experience just that much more painful. I was so happy when I saw the sign for the vet approaching in the distance.
I turned into the parking lot and pulled into the first open space I found and took in a shaky breath as I killed the engine.
"Let's do this," the boy said, leaving the car and waiting for me to get out before heading inside.
When the receptionist asked us why we were there, I felt like crying all over again when he had to explain that I may have hit the dog with my car.
The nurse carefully took Baz, as I heard the boy refer to him as, and even more carefully loaded him into a carrying crate to bring him in the back. We were informed they were going to give the dog some x-rays to make sure everything was okay.
"It will be a little while," the receptionist advised. "Please fill these out while you wait," she added handing the boy a stack of paperwork on a clipboard with a pencil attached.
“Did you want to file a police report?” a second receptionist asked, glancing over at me and giving me what could only be describe as an awful death glare.
My entire body tensed up and I felt tears pool in my eyes again.
“What?” the boy shook his head. “Of course not.”
The receptionist shrugged and went back to looking at her computer screen.
I quietly thanked them both and followed the boy to sit in the mostly empty waiting room.
"I'm really sorry about all this," I said again.
"Hey," he smiled warmly. "It's okay. Accidents happen. Plus, Baz is fine. We don't even have to be here."
I smiled back, only feeling slightly better about the whole thing.
"I'm Brook by the way."
Alex-
"Alex." I smiled, extending my hand to shake hers.
"It's nice to meet you, Alex," she replied as she shook my hand.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “It's too bad it wasn’t on better terms.”
I silently filled out all the paperwork and brought the clipboard back to the front desk.
I really didn't think we needed to be here. Baz was acting totally and completely like himself and didn't seem to be in any kind of pain. At the same time, I knew that I couldn't take any chances. Besides I didn’t think Brook was going to take no for an answer on the matter.
I have to say, if I could to pick anyone to possibly run my dog over, Brook would definitely be high on the list. She seemed like a really great person just based on the fact that she brought my dog back to me and seemed more distraught about the whole thing than I did. Sure, I'd spoken maybe fifty words to her and it took me thirty minutes to learn her name, but I definitely got the vibe that she was worth getting to know better. Aside from all that, you’d have to be blind not to notice how gorgeous she was but that was beside the point.
"Are you okay?" she asked after too long a while of silence.
"Huh?" My eyes snapped back to her.
"Your knee”, she pointed, "keeps bouncing up and down."
"Oh," I let out a laugh. "Nervous habit, I guess."
"So, you are nervous," she called me out.
"I guess," I shrugged. "The longer we wait with no news, the longer my brain has to make up its own conclusions."
She smiled at me sadly and there may have been a few tears in her eyes.
“I'm really sorry,” she said again for almost the hundredth time.
"Don't be sorry," I said, shaking my head and reaching over to squeeze her hand lightly."Really. Even if something was wrong, it was an accident. You don't strike me as the type to go mowing down dogs in the road."
"No," she sighed. "I usually stick to stealing candy from small children."
I smiled at her again and before I could open my mouth to say anything else the vet came out from behind the desk, holding a small crate.
"Mr. Gaskarth," he greeted, shaking my hand. "I'm Doctor Green."
"Nice to meet you, Sir," I replied, letting his hand go and quickly standing up. "How is my dog?"
"I think you two should consider yourself very lucky. There is nothing wrong with this guy," he said, letting Baz out of the crate and I quickly picked him up. "Except that maybe he’s just a little hyper."
"Thank you, Doctor." I said with a relived smile.
Brook stood up and shook the doctor's hand, thanking him as well.
"The one piece of advice I have for the two of you is to search your yard and see how he got out. You don't want to risk that you will be this lucky a second time around."
I'd picked up on the fact that the doctor was assuming that Brook and I were together and I figured it was not polite to correct him.
"Thank you. I'm definitely going to do that first thing in the morning."
We said our goodbyes to the doctor once again before Baz, Brook and I got back into her car and headed back to my house.
There was more awkward silence in the car but at least there was less tension now that we knew Baz was definitely okay.
Brook pulled up in front of my house and turned to me.
"This is going to sound really crazy but would you mind taking my number and just calling or texting me in a few days just so I know he's still okay?"
"Brook, you heard Doctor Green," I bit back a laugh. "He's fine."
"I know. But please?" she pouted a little.
"Yeah. It's no problem at all but I'm sure he's going to be fine."
"I know. I still feel like I owe you or something…"
"I'll be in touch," I nodded. "Don't worry and no, you certainly do not owe me anything," I assured her.
She smiled, passing me her phone.
"I guess just call yourself that way my number will come up on your phone."
I nodded, quickly dialing my number and waiting for my phone to ring before disconnecting the call.
I didn't know the girl very well, like I'd mentioned earlier, but if I did, I would have made a crack about her ancient, standard flip cell phone.
Thanks," she said. "I know I must sound crazy."
"I wouldn't say crazy."
"What would you say?"
"You're sweet. You seem like a nice person. Not many people would have done what you have tonight. Most people would have bounced after Baz ran into the woods."
"I like to treat others like I would like to be treated, I guess."
"That's a good way to live."
She nodded, noticing the time.
"Jeez, I didn't realize it would be after two in the morning when we got back. I'm sure this was not how you expected to spend the rest of your night."
"No, it really wasn't," I agreed, laughing a little.
"I'm sor-"
"Don't," I cut her off. "Please don't say you're sorry again."
"Okay. I'm sorry. I'll stop," she said, laughing slightly when she realized she still said it again.
"You know what? I actually have an idea how you can make this up to me..."
"But I thought you said I didn’t owe you anything?"
"Well," I shrugged. "Now, I decided there was something I want."
"What do you want?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, it's two in the morning; what do you think I want?"
"What?" she asked, slightly wary.
"Breakfast."
***
“I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us
How we met and the sparks flew instantly
And people would say ‘"They're the lucky ones."
I used to know my place was a spot next to you
But now I'm searching the room for an empty seat
‘Cause lately I don't even know what page you're on...”
The sounds of Taylor Swift's song Story of Us filled my car as I drove through the familiar streets. I was on my way home from my parents' house. It was a few days before Christmas and I had family coming in to visit from all over the country. After spending a few hours with some of them, I was exhausted. Also, it was almost midnight.
Don't get me wrong; I love my family, but there is only so many loud Italians a girl can take in one room before she goes crazy, especially when she is constantly being interrogated for her life choices.
Yes, I am going to stick with being a high school guidance counselor. Yes, I remember what hell high school could be growing up. Yes, I know I'm never going to be a millionaire and no, I'll probably never own my own gigantic home and drive a super expensive car. Most of all, yes, I am content being single. Given my past track record, I am in no rush to find another guy who could potentially mess me up even more.
I know everyone is just looking out for me because they care and blah, blah, blah, but sometimes I just want to stand on the table and scream that I'm twenty-three years old and I know what I'm doing with my life.
Well, at least, I like to pretend I know what I'm doing with my life…
"Oh my God," I gasped, slamming on my brakes as a white and brown ball of fluff dashed into the road, right in front of my car.
"Oh my God. Oh my God," I continued to mumble to myself, throwing the car into park and jumping out just in time to see the dog run into the wooded area on the other side of the street.
"Please come back," I called out as if it would help, slowly walking passed the trees in search for the small dog.
It didn't dawn on me until it was too late that it was dark and I was alone in the middle of the woods and my cell phone was sitting in the cup holder in my still running car. I guess all the horror movies my older brother forced me to watch as a kid didn't teach me anything.
"Oh thank God," I mumbled again when I found the dog sniffing at a tree stump.
I slowly made my way towards it, not wanting to scare if off again.
"Hey buddy," I said softly and thankfully the dog came right over to me, letting me check the tag that hung from the collar around his neck. "Well, Sebastian, it looks like you don't live too far away from here."
Carefully, I scooped up the dog. I was thankful that he didn't seem to flinch or whimper in pain as I carried him back to the car. He happily wagged his tail and I began to think maybe I hadn't hit him like I feared.
I sat down in the car and took a minute to compose myself again. I sat Sebastian on the passenger's seat and checked the address on the tag one more time before driving off. I made it about a block before he was crawling into my lap.
I don’t think I had ever been more nervous than when I carried the dog up the front steps of the house he came from. How do you tell someone you may have hit their dog?
A few seconds had barely passed after I knocked on the door when a tall boy about my age came outside. His facial expression changed from stressed to relieved when he saw the dog.
"Oh thank God," he said taking the dog from me. "Where did you find him?"
"I -uh- just a few blocks -uh- away-" I stumbled over my own words, only then noticing how bad my hands were shaking.
"Thank you so much for bringing him back. I have no idea how he got out of the yard. He's never been able to do that before. Do you want to come inside away from the cold?" he asked, noticing my shaking hands.
"No," I shook my head, stuffing my shaking hands into my coat pockets. "We need to get to a vet," I finally blurted out.
"What? Why?" The boy asked, looking less relieved now and more stressed again.
"H-He came out of nowhere. I slammed on my brakes. I-I don't know if I hit him or n-not."
The boy looked a little confused.
"He seems fine," he said as the dog wiggled in his arms, occasionally trying to lick his face.
"I know that he looks fine. He probably is but I will never, ever be able to sleep if I don't find out for sure. Please."
"Okay. Okay," he caved, realizing how serious I was being. "Let me run inside and grab my keys and phone and everything."
"I'll drive," I offered. "I'm blocking the driveway and my car is already running."
"Okay. Thanks," he said, juggling to put his coat on, lock the front door and carry the dog at the same time.
A few moments later we were in my car heading toward the nearest veterinarian office I knew of that was 24 hours. I drove as carefully as I could. I didn't want this guy thinking I was a bad driver on the regular.
The awkward silence in the car was making this experience just that much more painful. I was so happy when I saw the sign for the vet approaching in the distance.
I turned into the parking lot and pulled into the first open space I found and took in a shaky breath as I killed the engine.
"Let's do this," the boy said, leaving the car and waiting for me to get out before heading inside.
When the receptionist asked us why we were there, I felt like crying all over again when he had to explain that I may have hit the dog with my car.
The nurse carefully took Baz, as I heard the boy refer to him as, and even more carefully loaded him into a carrying crate to bring him in the back. We were informed they were going to give the dog some x-rays to make sure everything was okay.
"It will be a little while," the receptionist advised. "Please fill these out while you wait," she added handing the boy a stack of paperwork on a clipboard with a pencil attached.
“Did you want to file a police report?” a second receptionist asked, glancing over at me and giving me what could only be describe as an awful death glare.
My entire body tensed up and I felt tears pool in my eyes again.
“What?” the boy shook his head. “Of course not.”
The receptionist shrugged and went back to looking at her computer screen.
I quietly thanked them both and followed the boy to sit in the mostly empty waiting room.
"I'm really sorry about all this," I said again.
"Hey," he smiled warmly. "It's okay. Accidents happen. Plus, Baz is fine. We don't even have to be here."
I smiled back, only feeling slightly better about the whole thing.
"I'm Brook by the way."
Alex-
"Alex." I smiled, extending my hand to shake hers.
"It's nice to meet you, Alex," she replied as she shook my hand.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “It's too bad it wasn’t on better terms.”
I silently filled out all the paperwork and brought the clipboard back to the front desk.
I really didn't think we needed to be here. Baz was acting totally and completely like himself and didn't seem to be in any kind of pain. At the same time, I knew that I couldn't take any chances. Besides I didn’t think Brook was going to take no for an answer on the matter.
I have to say, if I could to pick anyone to possibly run my dog over, Brook would definitely be high on the list. She seemed like a really great person just based on the fact that she brought my dog back to me and seemed more distraught about the whole thing than I did. Sure, I'd spoken maybe fifty words to her and it took me thirty minutes to learn her name, but I definitely got the vibe that she was worth getting to know better. Aside from all that, you’d have to be blind not to notice how gorgeous she was but that was beside the point.
"Are you okay?" she asked after too long a while of silence.
"Huh?" My eyes snapped back to her.
"Your knee”, she pointed, "keeps bouncing up and down."
"Oh," I let out a laugh. "Nervous habit, I guess."
"So, you are nervous," she called me out.
"I guess," I shrugged. "The longer we wait with no news, the longer my brain has to make up its own conclusions."
She smiled at me sadly and there may have been a few tears in her eyes.
“I'm really sorry,” she said again for almost the hundredth time.
"Don't be sorry," I said, shaking my head and reaching over to squeeze her hand lightly."Really. Even if something was wrong, it was an accident. You don't strike me as the type to go mowing down dogs in the road."
"No," she sighed. "I usually stick to stealing candy from small children."
I smiled at her again and before I could open my mouth to say anything else the vet came out from behind the desk, holding a small crate.
"Mr. Gaskarth," he greeted, shaking my hand. "I'm Doctor Green."
"Nice to meet you, Sir," I replied, letting his hand go and quickly standing up. "How is my dog?"
"I think you two should consider yourself very lucky. There is nothing wrong with this guy," he said, letting Baz out of the crate and I quickly picked him up. "Except that maybe he’s just a little hyper."
"Thank you, Doctor." I said with a relived smile.
Brook stood up and shook the doctor's hand, thanking him as well.
"The one piece of advice I have for the two of you is to search your yard and see how he got out. You don't want to risk that you will be this lucky a second time around."
I'd picked up on the fact that the doctor was assuming that Brook and I were together and I figured it was not polite to correct him.
"Thank you. I'm definitely going to do that first thing in the morning."
We said our goodbyes to the doctor once again before Baz, Brook and I got back into her car and headed back to my house.
There was more awkward silence in the car but at least there was less tension now that we knew Baz was definitely okay.
Brook pulled up in front of my house and turned to me.
"This is going to sound really crazy but would you mind taking my number and just calling or texting me in a few days just so I know he's still okay?"
"Brook, you heard Doctor Green," I bit back a laugh. "He's fine."
"I know. But please?" she pouted a little.
"Yeah. It's no problem at all but I'm sure he's going to be fine."
"I know. I still feel like I owe you or something…"
"I'll be in touch," I nodded. "Don't worry and no, you certainly do not owe me anything," I assured her.
She smiled, passing me her phone.
"I guess just call yourself that way my number will come up on your phone."
I nodded, quickly dialing my number and waiting for my phone to ring before disconnecting the call.
I didn't know the girl very well, like I'd mentioned earlier, but if I did, I would have made a crack about her ancient, standard flip cell phone.
Thanks," she said. "I know I must sound crazy."
"I wouldn't say crazy."
"What would you say?"
"You're sweet. You seem like a nice person. Not many people would have done what you have tonight. Most people would have bounced after Baz ran into the woods."
"I like to treat others like I would like to be treated, I guess."
"That's a good way to live."
She nodded, noticing the time.
"Jeez, I didn't realize it would be after two in the morning when we got back. I'm sure this was not how you expected to spend the rest of your night."
"No, it really wasn't," I agreed, laughing a little.
"I'm sor-"
"Don't," I cut her off. "Please don't say you're sorry again."
"Okay. I'm sorry. I'll stop," she said, laughing slightly when she realized she still said it again.
"You know what? I actually have an idea how you can make this up to me..."
"But I thought you said I didn’t owe you anything?"
"Well," I shrugged. "Now, I decided there was something I want."
"What do you want?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, it's two in the morning; what do you think I want?"
"What?" she asked, slightly wary.
"Breakfast."
***
Notes
Story title: Taylor Swift - Sparks Fly
Chapter title: Taylor Swift - Enchanted
Brook's outfit
Hi guys. This is sort of an older story but I've decided to re-work it a bit and try posting on here. I hope you enjoy. :) Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. There is a good chunk of this story already written so I should be able to regularly post updates.
Thanks!
XOXOXO
I hope you come back to this story and update again. I miss it!
1/9/19