A Date with the Hand of God Read online

A DATE WITH THE HAND OF GOD

  by Nobo13

  Copyright 2012 Nobo13

  *****

  A Date with the Hand of God

  I stopped by the school gates as I wondered if I should wait or not. It wasn’t like I had time to, I wanted to apologise to Louise as soon as possible. We had an argument for no real reason, in the end we broke up by text… I shouldn’t be here, I wanted to see Louise and tell her I’m sorry, but for some reason, I found myself waiting.

  “Yo, you came” the girl approached

  I sighed as she came to my side. She stood close enough to be mistaken for my girlfriend. I took a step away as I walked off. She never really smiled but that was the first time I saw it. Usually, it was the cool emotionless face she had that scared me but actually, she looked cute when she smiled.

  Her name was Kylie, we were in the same class. We had never spoken to each other before. It was this girl, who out of the blue, asked me to come with her today. If I had to guess, she probably had a crush on me.

  I followed her down the hill towards the city centre. We had walked together for ten minutes when we reached the shopping mall.

  Now we were walking with milkshakes in our hands. Ah, maybe ‘hand’ is better? Today she came to school with her right hand in bandages. It was so heavily covered that it looked like a teddy bear’s paw. Because of that, I ended up helping her out a lot.

  Things like picking up CDs, holding up clothes, carrying shopping bags, holding hands… wait?

  I shook her hand off mine as I frowned.

  “What are you doing?” I asked

  “Isn’t it obvious?” she said with that emotionless face of hers, “I’m holding your hand”

  “That’s what I’m saying, you know I have a girlfriend”

  “Didn’t you break up?”

  “Well yeah, but-

  “Then it’s ok”

  “No it isn’t!”

  “We’re on a date aren’t we?”

  “No, of course not! You just asked me to come with you”

  “Isn’t that a date?”

  “Well, I understand how you could mistake this for a date…”

  After that we continued shopping. She asked if we should go see a film but I said no. We went to the arcades where I won her a teddy bear. Naturally I had to carry it. We played some games but she beat me at all of them. Shoot ‘em ups, fighting, even the slots! How she managed that, and with one hand, was a complete mystery to me! We had been out for two hours or so now, so I tried to escape.

  “Say, want to go home” I suggested

  “It’s a little too early for you to take me to your house”

  “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT”

  “I can’t bring you home, my mum and dad are there, what will they think?”

  “What exactly are YOU thinking? Look, it was fun but I’d like to go home now. Besides, I said already, I’ve got a girl friend”

  “You sure are strange, you’re on a date with me yet you call someone who you’ve broken up with your girlfriend”

  “Like I said, this isn’t a date!”

  After that, we got our photo taken in one of those cutesy photo booths. They print off the photos as stickers, she stuck one on both our phones. I sighed as I swapped which hand was carrying which bags. She sure liked shopping.

  “You know” I sighed as she tried shoes on

  “What is it?” she said

  “How long are we going to do this for?”

  “Well, this is my first date, I wasn’t sure how long dates go on for”

  “Like I said, this isn’t a date”

  “For someone who’s so against going on a date with me, you sure like spending time with me?”

  “Ah…” I turned away before looking at her hand

  “This? Don’t let it bother you”

  “Like hell I can, besides, can you carry all this stuff?”

  “Of course not” she smiled coolly, “That’s why I brought my lovely boyfriend along”

  That was the second time I’d seen her smile. To be honest, it was growing on me. We were walking to the next shop when we bumped into Louise. Our eyes went as she walked off with an angry face. I shouted for her as I gave chase. The heavy bags and a small hand stopped me.

  “What are you doing?” she said as she let go of me

  “You! Now you’ve done it, she’ll think we’re on a date!”

  “What’s wrong with that? We are”

  “That’s what I’m saying!”

  “Come on, I’m hungry”

  “Oi!”

  “You can choose, you can chase after her or follow me”

  I sat down having got burgers and fries. She smiled to me as she took some fries from me. What was I doing? For some reason, I couldn’t leave this girl alone. For now, I’ll listen to what she has to say, then, tomorrow I’ll sort everything out. I sighed as I wondered how I could explain all this to Louise.

  “Is something the matter?” she asked

  “Yes, you’ve ruined my life, oi! Don’t eat my fries!”

  “Isn’t it fine, a boyfriend should forgive their girlfriend”

  “Like I said!”

  “I know, I know”

  “You know, you’re pretty cocky for a girl”

  “Thank you”

  “Is it ‘cause your family’s rich? I bet that’s it!”

  “Well, I suppose you’re correct in a sense”

  “I knew it, a spoiled princess like you doesn’t know anything of the real world, have you even had a boyfriend before?”

  “Like I said, this is my first date but you should know, my family isn’t that rich, don’t expect my dad to give you a company job when you marry me”

  “Like hell I will!”

  I stared at her as she carefully ate her burger. Really, I didn’t know anyone who was so wary about getting sauce on their clothes.

  “So? How come you’re so cocky then?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That’s what I mean!”

  “Hmm, what was it… I suppose it’s because of how my parents raised me”

  “See, you are a spoiled princess!”

  “No, no, my parents were very strict, they kept me locked up until I was fourteen”

  “Locked up?”

  “Yes, I never left my room until then. All I had for company was my mum. Ah, because of that, I’m good at games though”

  “So that’s why you beat me on all those games… so you’ve had it bad then?”

  “Bad? Not at all, I got everything I wanted. I even asked for a polar bear when I was nine”

  “AND YOU GOT IT?”

  Wait, this didn’t sound right at all. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of father would lock up his girl but give her everything she wanted.

  “Say… if it isn’t a problem… can I ask why they locked you up?”

  “Sure, it’s because I’m cursed”

  “…Excuse me?”

  “You see, since the first time I took a pen into my hands, I was cursed”

  “No, I got that, you’re not serious are you? You should tell the police about your father”

  “Oh no, I’m serious, I’m cursed, it’s a secret so don’t tell anyone. Ever since I can remember, anything I write comes true. I can write about things before they happen, even make up something impossible and it will happen. That’s why I had to be locked up until when I was mature enough”

  “Right…” I sighed

  I played along with her little fairy tale. I didn’t think it, but I suppose she was telling a little of the truth. I think she was serious about not leaving her home until she was fourteen, I mean, I never met her before until a year ago. I suppose
that lonely life made her what she was today.

  After that we chatted normally. I was surprised but I suppose she could be normal as well. She even smiled a few more times for me. I didn’t know why, but I had completely forgotten about Louise. I was so absorbed in Kylie’s conversation that I really did think for a second this was a date.

  It was dark when we started to head home. She didn’t live that far so I walked her home. Ah, I had to, what with all this shopping.

  “You know, I actually had a good time” I said

  “That’s nice. I did too”

  “But it wasn’t a date, let’s get that straight”

  “But then you won’t get to kiss me when I get home”

  “Sh-shut up! Like I’d want that!”

  “Ok”

  “…Hey, can I ask, what happened to your hand?”

  “Oh?” she waved it in front of me, “This is my punishment, my dad broke my fingers with a hammer last night”

  I stopped and dropped all her things. She turned to me with those clueless eyes. If she wasn’t locked up like that, she’d know something like that was wrong.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, why would I lie to you?”

  “I’m calling the police”

  “No don’t, otherwise they’ll arrest my dad”

  “OF COURSE THEY WILL!” I shouted at her, “Besides, what kind of person let’s their father break their fingers?”

  “No, we agreed to it, otherwise I couldn’t come to school today, it was worth it”

  “You’re