Inspired by the song “She Had the World” by Panic at the Disco
By Rachel Beth Ahrens
She was the most loving person he had ever met. Her eyes glimmered with stars that night, almost like the nail polish she wore that looked like silver galaxies. I will always love you, she whispered in his ear with a windy voice, her body pressed against him outside the car and snow falling around them. It was a bit curious, the snowfall in the middle of March. How can you love me, he asked, trembling in the cold. That doesn’t matter now, she said. My heart belongs to you forever. She gently kissed him on his cold, soft lips. He thought of fireworks at a carnival or an Independence Day event; she thought of shooting stars and comets rolling across the sky.
However, she was too much for him to handle. The wind blew at different speeds, depending on her mood or the way she walked. She controlled every event that happened in town from car accidents to people falling in love with one another. When she met Brendon, her heart almost stopped. By his personality which she detected with her supernatural mind, it was love at first sight. Still, the more they were together; the more he felt their relationship growing apart. Millions of people called her for help. The homeless shivered from the bitter cold weather of autumn when the homeless shelters closed. And when another great disaster occurred, like a terrorist attack or earthquake, she had to swoop in and carry innocents out of harm’s way. Sadly, she never had enough time to share her life with someone.
He knew he had to leave her. He never loved her and soon he was on his way to California to follow his dreams. But he still pictured her in his mind. He thought of her shiny, flowing black hair, her deep violet eyes, and her sparkling tears that streamed across her face when he left her heartbroken. Then he remembered the way she smiled after he made a comical comment. He loved it when she giggled nervously, especially when he kissed her cheek. He loved it when things were happy; he didn’t like thinking about breaking Maddie’s heart. It only cut into him much deeper.
Although he swore he didn’t love her, it hurt to imagine her heartbroken. He hated to see her cry like she did when they broke up. Somewhere, he felt twisted, as if he shouldn’t have said what he did.
But that needed to be put behind him. He was driving off in his convertible to an audition in Los Angeles, on the other side of the country. Cold wind blew through his hair as he did 65 on the highway in the Nevada desert. It was nearly dark, but he was almost there. He thought of the day they met.
Lauren looked down at her brown leather wristwatch. 11:38 a.m. She looked back up at the digital screen where the movies and show times were listed hanging from the high ceiling. She grunted and groaned, stomping her foot against the glossy tile floor. “Oh, no,” she exclaimed. “They got rid of it.”
“Got rid of what?” Brendon asked.
“Warlock University. I thought it was still here.” She kept eyeing the chart even further and gasped when she noticed that another movie was removed. “Aw, and so is Dragon Chi!”
“But didn’t you tell me you’ve already seen Dragon Chi three times?” She bowed her head, realizing he was right. The times she saw the cartoon film, she didn’t need to pay any money since she was out with company. But since she won a free movie pass to the normal theatre after attending a summer radio station event, she felt the need to use it as quickly as possible.
“I know,” she said. “But now there’s nothing I wanna see. God! Why is Knight in Black still up there? I mean, it was Miles Fletcher’s last movie before he died, but how can it be any good?”
“Well, it’s about the superhero and Miles Fletcher played great bad guys, especially in that film. Are you sure that there isn’t any movie you wanna see?”
She shrugged her shoulders and nodded in agreement.
“What about Eat This Message? The critics said it was really funny. Or Slumdog Airhead has got Kit Reynold and-”
“-I’m not into any of those lame guy films. I saw the previews for them and they don’t look funny to me. It’s all satire.” Sometimes she wondered whatever happened to the movie business. She thought that today’s comedy was in the men’s favor with all the bathroom humor and sex jokes.
On the other hand, Brendon was into those kinds of films. He had the stomach and attitude for them. Still, she wasn’t interested, just like how she wasn’t attracted to him. “I thought you liked movies.”
“I do.”
“C’mon, you gotta give some of em a chance. Not all action or thriller movies are bad. We have to figure out what we want to see before—”
“—We came late,” she interjected. “We already missed the eleven thirty show of Mardi Gras. I’m not sure what we could do for two hours and there really isn’t a place to eat around here.”
He was exhausted already. This wasn’t going well. “Look, I can take you wherever you want to and I’ll pay for it. Will that be alright? Just as long as the show is before four pm so it’ll be cheaper.”
“I understand you wanna save money, but I’m trying to diet and The Good Apple is really expensive when you think about it.”
“You know that diet means ‘die’ with a T on the end of it?” He chuckled and then suddenly stopped when he looked down at her face. “I’m sorry. I was trying to be funny.”
“You’re not doing a good job of it.”
I’m going to kill Matt for setting me up, he thought.
Then there she was, at nearly six feet tall with her flowing black hair tied back in a high ponytail. She spoke to them, giving her take on the situation. “Excuse me, can I make a suggestion? I highly recommend Autumn Winters. I’ve seen it once before and it’s really good. I think it starts at…” She looked above. “Twelve o five.”
“I’ve seen the previews for it,” Lauren said. “But I don’t really get what it’s about except that it’s some funny romantic comedy.”
“Well, it is a romantic comedy, but it isn’t what you think, or at least what you think from what the preview shows. There’s a bunch of things they left out that you have to see. It’s very, very good. Trust me.”
“Thanks,” Brendon said, relieved. “Ah, what was your name?”
“Madelane. Call me Maddie.” She held out her right hand as he took it gently.
“Brendon.”
“Nice to meet you,” they chimed in unison.
“Jinx!” Lauren called. “That was funny, you said that at the… never mind. Awkward.” She giggled in a low tone.
“Oh, and this is Lauren, my date.” They shook hands.
“Hey, girl. Listen, Bren, I’m gonna go to the little girls’ room; I’ll be back.”
As soon as she left, Brendon sighed. “I hate it when she calls me Bren. I’m so sorry about whatever we were causing. It was a little… weird.”
“That’s alright. I understand. Bad date, huh?”
“Yeah. Not going well. Hey, thanks for the suggestion. I heard it was a good movie, although I’m not into chick flicks.”
“No, it’s not much of a chick flick. There really isn’t much of a happy ending, but the whole thing is very funny. There’s one part in it where Autumn starts monologue-ing about her boss who just won’t leave her alone. He keeps saying the weirdest things to her like, ‘Can you see my chest hair through this shirt?’ And then she bumps into…” He smiled. “You’ll get the picture when you see it.”
“I think I get it. I might as well see it now that you told me what it was like. Hey, if you wanna go out for coffee or something later or if you just wanna talk, can I have your number?”
“I’m not sure if I can give out my cell phone number to you because I only use it for some very important calls, but uh… I guess I can give you my home phone and I could ask for your number, um… Do you want to give me your number?” She pushed a small piece of her hair back with her hand, smiled, and batted her eyes twice. Her cheeks turned a rosy pink. This only made Brendon like her more than ever. They exchanged numbers on their cell phones.
“Don’t mention it. I hope things go well for you. You seem so distressed and upset, maybe lonely. I take it that this date hasn’t been the best for you.”
“No, my day’s not going well. Lauren’s not who I- Wait a minute, how did you think I was lonely? I mean, I don’t feel lonely at all! What is it about you?”
“I don’t know. It seemed that you needed help, especially since things were going disastrous with that girl.” They paused. Her violet eyes were lovely and captivating. Like looking at an eclipse. “You seemed like you needed to be saved.” Suddenly, his heart fluttered and his lungs couldn’t catch up. He took a deep breath and began to breathe slightly faster than normal. Something was off. He felt his nerve fibers in his arm and finger muscles tingling with a chilling sensation. He felt weak as if he was about to die, but he had enough strength to keep standing.
He shook his head and blinked to come back to Earth. “Are you ok?” Maddie asked.
“I’m fine. I better get going. It was nice meeting you.”
“Yeah, you bet. I look forward to hearing from you very soon.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely call you.” They shook hands again and he left her without saying another word, trembling with the aftermath of a mind break in. He still wanted to call her for some reason.
As she walked away, she pulled the ponytail out and let her hair drape down her back to make it seem like she was wearing a black cape around her shoulders. Then she combed the hair with her fingers and pulled her hair back tightly into the ponytail again.
His blind date returned from the bathroom and said, “I’ve been thinking, maybe we should see Agent 9 just for the heck of it.”
“Are you sure? You said it was a guy film.”
“I’m sure. I want you to be happy.”
“Well, I want you to be happy, too.”
She swooned and put her arms around him. “You’re so sweet!” She released him when she realized what she was doing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that to you. Let’s go.”
“It’s ok.” But in the back of his mind, he was thinking about Maddie.
After they saw the movie and he dropped Lauren off at her place, Brendon called Maddie from his house, and they talked for three hours.
The Lady in the Blue Box 