One Night Stranger

I woke up to the sound of the birds chirping outside my window. The sunlight flooded my room. I had to squint to see the digital clock beside me. It’s already 10 in the morning. I was lucky I had no morning shift.

I felt rather dizzy and my head was heavy. I tried to remember what had happened yesterday. Last night had been composed of three things: tequila, dance and that guy.

*

I had already ordered a glass of tequila before Miranda called and said she couldn’t come. By the time I realized that I would be alone this night, a loud song by Lady Gaga started to play on the background. One by one people went to the dance floor. I was hesitated.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

A guy grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to the crowd. I knew I couldn’t resist this.

The DJ blasted the music to every corner of this room. The sound and the rhythm blended very well. I got a nice spot under the disco ball. Oh, the disco ball with of colorful lights! I liked to watch how it changed constantly. Red turned into blue before changed to green and became purple. Everyone moved their bodies following the beat. We’re all having a good time.

After three to four songs, I started to feel thirsty. I decided to get back to the bar and finished my tequila before I went home.

“Your dance’s good.”

I turned to the owner of the voice. That guy.

“Thank you and so are you.”

I cheered my glass to him and drank my tequila at one shot.

“You wanna get another drink? Two tequila, please!”

The bartender quickly made our drinks and put one in front of me.

“You really don’t have to do this. I’ve got to go home soon.”

“It’s okay. I won’t take much of your time. By the way, I’m Ted. Ted Mc Kenzie." He introduced himself.

“Mc Kenzie? Hmm... I used to have boyfriend with the same last name.”

He raised an eyebrow on me.

“Really?”

The guy looked at me closely for a while.

“You must be Sharon Lewis from C-High, right?”

“What?” I was startled that he mentioned both my name and my high school correctly.

“YOU’RE SHARON LEWIS FROM C-HIGH,” he said almost shouting at me.

“Let’s get outta here! I can’t hear you clearly.”

He paid our drinks and we went out to the parking lot. He asked me which one was my car. I said I came here by taxi. He, then, offered me a lift to go home.

Things got weird in the car. He knew exactly which way to my home without me giving him directions. I looked at him again, made sure that he wasn’t a friend of mine in high school. He had dark brown hair. His hands were steady on the steering wheel. He drove the car smoothly despite the tequila he drank before. I was certain I’ve never met this guy before. Nobody from Central Park High School had such beautiful brown eyes. In fact, nobody in my entire life had them. There just no way I could possibly forget a guy with such charm. He smirked at me. He knew I couldn’t tell who he was.

“No, you’re not from C-High.” I finally broke the silence between us.

“I’m not. I’m home-schooled.” He looked at me briefly before his gaze back to the road again.

Now, this mystery became more difficult to solve. I had no home-schooled friend in town. Home schooling system was never popular seven years ago.

“OK, I give up. Who are you ?”

“I’m Ben’s cousin.”

“Ben?... Benjamin Mc Kenzie? Really??”  I was surprised.

He nodded and smiled at me. Benjamin Mc Kenzie was my ex-boyfriend in high school.

“So, how’s he doing now?”

“He’s doing good. He’s already opened an art gallery in downtown.”

“Oh great! I know he’s going to be famous on that field.”

Then, I asked him what made his parents chose to home schooled him. He paused a second before answering my question. In short summary, he said his parents had died in car crashed accident when he was fifteen. After that, Ben’s family took him and his older brother in. Even though Ben's family was considered average, it wasn't easy for them to send another 2 kids to school. Therefore, Ben's mom chose to teach him and his brother by herself.

“I was in the same grade as you. I used Ben’s book to study.”

“Hmmm... I see.”

“And you used to doodle or write a long love letter on Ben's book. Ben often told me stories about you.”

I was blushed. I remembered I used to draw heart with Ben's initial and mine all over the page. It was embarrassing that this guy knew how crazy in love I was with his cousin.

We chatted for a while. We tried closing the gap between all these years. There was no forced or awkward conversation between us. Everything flowed smoothly. We seemed to understand each other. He told me some things about Ben and his family. I told him about the adventures I took some years before.

“How about you? What do you do for living?”

Ted said he worked for construction companies. The company focused on building under-developed countries which allowed him to travel overseas.

“Nice.”

“I build the city, the houses, the schools. Everything. But mainly, I build the road.”

“Oh, you should build one in Kitaisa.”

“Uganda? How do you know that place?”

“I almost died there.“

I showed him the scars on my left arm.

“What happened?”

I told him I joined the peace corps and was stationed there in Kitaisa, Uganda. I taught English for the African children. One day, a civil war broke and my arm was shot. The only doctor in the village had already been evacuated few days before. I didn’t get any medicine for 48 hours. The wound hurt like hell and I started to get infection.

“Then, out of sudden an ambulance came and I was rushed to the hospital. Thank God I’m alive.”

“Good. How is it now?”

“It’s okay. The wound was completely healed. The doctor asked me to check if I felt some pain. But, yeah, so far so good.”

We were already in the front yard of my house. He stopped the engine.

“Thank you for taking me home. I thought this night would get sucks because my friend couldn't come. You're really making my day.”

“It's okay. I had a good time too.”

He stared at me. Again, I saw the most beautiful brown eyes ever. It just sad that life gave him terrible events at very young age.

“I’m so sorry for your parents. They must be real proud of you.”

“You know what... all this time I never thought I would meet you. You were just a myth. A character in the story book. I grew up listening about you, not knowing that you're so much wonderful in person.”

“You are a wonderful person too.”

I hugged him for a long time. This guy made me feel at ease. He didn’t feel like a stranger. He was more like a long lost friend. I was glad I found him in this life.

I slept smiling yesterday.