Read Other Side of the Wall for Free Online Page A

you ok?”
he asked sweetly.
    “I’m
fine. I mean, I don’t like it, but unfortunately it sometimes comes with the
territory.”
    He
still seemed concerned.
    “Scott,
really I’m fine. I may be small, but I can handle myself.
    He
smiled. “Of that I have no doubt.”
    “So,
tell me about your day. I hope the whales kept their hands to themselves.”
    He
laughed. I think I said this before, but I really did like his laugh. “Ava,
you’re…” He kept looking down at me while he tried to form his thought.
    I
smiled and looked up at him. “I’m what?”
    “Pleasant.”
    I
had never heard that one before and, honestly, I was hoping for another
adjective, but I guess pleasant was nice. “Um, thanks.”
    He
looked bothered.
    I
just turned and faced forward.
    “Really
pleasant,” he added.
    I
just shook my head and laughed.
    We
didn’t say too much after that until we reached the park. There were already
quite a few people there. I noticed the crowd mainly consisted of couples. That
made sense; it was a great idea for a date, and a cheap date at that. We found
a nice spot in the middle, a good distance away from the screen. As we settled
on the quilt, I finally thought to ask what movie they were showing. He said
they were doing a series of movies based and made in Chicago; tonight’s showing
was “Return to Me”.
    “My
mom and I love that movie,” I said.
    “I’ve
never seen it. Jenna really wasn’t into romantic comedies.”
    I
wanted to say, why ever not? Romantic comedies were my favorite kind of movies.
To each their own, I guess. I was beginning to think that Jenna and I probably
wouldn’t have been friends. She seemed stuffy and stiff.  But maybe I was being
too judgmental or maybe Scott just wasn’t giving me the whole picture.
    “Well,
what kind of movies did she like?”
    “Documentaries
and independent foreign films.”
    Yeah,
definitely stuffy. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but when I went
to the movies, I wanted to get away from real life and be entertained. I wanted
my belief to be suspended for a couple of hours.
    “How
nice,” I responded.
    He
looked at me funny. I guess I didn’t hide my real feelings well enough.
    I
decided that was a great time to bust out the popcorn. I removed the lids from
the bowls. “Don’t worry, I ate dinner first tonight.”
    He
gave me a wry smile. I winked in return. He surprised me and threw a piece of
popcorn at me.
    “Did
you just throw popcorn at me? Because where I come from that means a
declaration of war.”
    “And
how would you retaliate, Ava?”
    “Oh,
you’ll never know when or where. Let’s just say I won’t use popcorn.”
    He
laughed at me again.
    I
was glad I was “really pleasant.”
    He
placed the popcorn containers in between us. It didn’t surprise me, but I had
never had a guy behave that way toward me, even my friends that were male. But
out of respect for his obvious discomfort of being physically near me, I
scooted over a little more to add to the protective barrier.
    As
it darkened, I got out the bug repellent lotion, stretched out my legs and
applied liberally. I hated mosquito bites. When I was finished I looked over to
Scott and asked him if he wanted some, but he was intently staring at my legs.
    “Um,
Scott?”
    He
came out of his stupor. He seemed embarrassed.
    “Are
you ok?” I asked.
    “You
have really nice legs.”
    Poor
guy.
    “Thanks,
so do you.”
    And
he really did. I had noticed earlier. He sheepishly grinned and took the bottle
from me.
    Finally,
it was dark enough and the movie began. I hadn’t seen the movie in quite a long
time, so I didn’t immediately remember everything that occurred in it. If I had,
I may have suggested we do something else. Toward the beginning, there was a
heart wrenching scene where the wife died and the husband was devastated. I
felt horrible. I looked over to Scott who was visibly uncomfortable. I thought
about reaching over the popcorn and holding his hand,