Promise Ring

I slid the ring up and down my right pinky finger while I waited. I don’t know why I still had it, let alone wore it every day. I don’t know why I didn’t hurl it out the window or into the nearest body of water when she refused to accept it.

I was so sure that my search had ended. So sure that she was going to be the one, that’s it, game over. Seven beautiful months, and I bought the ring. Her birthday marked the eighth month to the day. I was going to celebrate our time spent together, and make a toast to the future by giving her a promise ring.

Wishful thinking. She took one look at the ring, her eyes went wide and she looked like she’d swallowed a golf ball. She looked at me, and that one word said it all. “No...”

A torrential week later, and what had been my best relationship so far was tossed aside like an empty pizza box. And I still had the ring. Return it? Melt it into a golden puddle, throw it away? It didn’t seem right, so I kept it. I’d wear it, every minute of every day until my real love came along to wash away the memories of the pretender.

***

“When’s the wedding?”

I stirred and looked at my watch. It was 1:37 AM and I was still waiting for my clothes to dry. I’d fallen asleep on a bench in the laundry room in my building. Needless to say, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to a complete stranger. I sat up and blinked a few times.

“Well?” She looked at me from her perch atop a double stacked set of driers.

“It’s not a wedding ring. It’s a promise ring, a gimmicky, high school sort of thing that means absolutely nothing.”

“Sounds like someone’s a little bitter.”

“Are you making fun of me?” I sat up a little straighter, taking a few inches from the height advantage of the pixie atop the driers.

“Yeah…oh, does that bother you?”

I laughed in spite of myself. Her question seemed so serious, so perfectly innocent, but was betrayed by the impish grin that formed a few seconds after the words left her lips.

The drier she was sitting on sounded off with a buzz and she nimbly leapt down. Pixie was an apt description, I thought, as she stood just over five feet tall, and there was no chance her weight reached triple digits. She grabbed a suitcase off the floor and began loading her clothes into it.

“Going somewhere?”

“Uh…well, first I’m gonna go to the drier to get the rest of my clothes. Then back to the suitcase then more clothes, suitcase, clothes, suitcase, shut the drier door, then probably back to my room.”

I laughed again. “You’re a little weird, aren’t you?”

She held her thumb and index finger close together. “Just a smidge,” then closed her suitcase and left.

***

“Hey! Hey, May!” I paid no attention to the shrill voice that rose above the cacophony of the campus's student center at lunchtime. That is until the owner of the voice just about plowed into the back of me. It was the girl from the laundry room.

“Hey, I’m gonna call you May.”

I looked at my watch, twenty minutes until class, then to her. “I don’t follow you.”

“It’s your nickname…you know, because of the ring?” My blank stare continued. “You said it was a promise ring, initials P.R. which makes me think of the word ‘prude.’ And tell me, who’s pruder than my mom?”

“And I’m going to guess your mom’s name is May?” I answered, starting to catch on.

“No, my mom’s name is Doris. But our cat’s name is May, god she loves that cat.”

I laughed again, then grabbed her arms and spread them out wide. “There you go.”

“There I go, what?”

“That’s how weird you are. I’ve got class,” I yelled over my shoulder, walking away.

***

Two hours later and classes were finally over for the day. I grabbed my books and turned, standing up out of my chair, only to run into a small brunette. Somewhat tired and mildly irritated, I walked around her without a word. Of course, she had to follow.

“What’s your fascination with me?” I asked grumpily.

“Ok…it’s kind of embarrassing…but you’re sort of hot, and I…I just want to have sex with you until you’re numb down there.”

My moodiness was gone in an instant, and for the first time, I turned to acknowledge her while we walked.

She smiled as my eyes met hers. “Just kidding, but you’re paying attention now, right?”

I shook my head, “I don’t think your arms are big enough. What’s your fascination with me anyways? I’d say you were stalking me, but you’re a little too hot to be a stalker.”

“So I see you around right, I’ve seen you eat, I’ve seen you walk to class, I’ve seen you shower. Ok, maybe not that last one. But the thing is, I’ve never seen you talk. So Personality number two says to Ginny, that’s me by the way, Virginia, grandmas name, blah, blah, blah. Anyways my other crazy half says, golly gee, he must be the loneliest, grumpiest guy on the planet. My other half says golly gee a lot. But the point is, that fascinates me, I just had to try and get to know you, you know, be a friend?”

“And then comes the sex till I’m numb?”
She laughed, “Well, at least you’re funny, if a little sarcastic”

“Look, you seem nice, a little messed up, but still nice. The thing is, I’m still a little sick to my stomach over the big ‘promise-ring-break-up.’” She jabbed me in the stomach.

“Hmm, not that sick, I see.”

“Is everything a joke to you?”

She tilted her head to the side, mock-deep in thought. “Life is hilarious May, life is full of laughter, and it’s bright and beautiful. Even the shitty parts.”

We’d arrived at my door. I keyed it and walked in. Before I shut it, I turned to her and pointed. ‘That is complete and utter bullshit.”

***

One in the morning brought a knock on my door. Clad in the shorts and T-shirt I usually slept in, I walked over and opened it. It was her.

“Are you insane?”

“Yes, we’ve covered that, come on, let’s go.”

“Go where?” I said, irritated and rubbing my eyes groggily.

She walked into my room and turned on the light. Suddenly blinded, I groaned and covered my eyes. She opened my closet, grabbed a sweatshirt and handed it to me. Then she rifled through my drawers until she found pants and socks and gave those to me also. Finally she grabbed my shoes and keys and hauled me out the door. Stupefied I followed her, dressing as we rushed through the hall, down the stairs, and out of the building.

By the time we hit pavement I was fully dressed, minus the shoes, which she handed to me and allowed me to put on. Still tired, I stopped to yawn, but was yanked further along.

“What the hell are we doing?”

“Shh, get in the car.”

She managed to stuff me into the passenger side of a tiny Chevy Cavalier. There was a pillow and blanket on the seat.

“Feel free to use them.”
For the first time I allowed my mind to not care and in minutes drifted off to sleep.

***

I woke up some time later. The trees that surround the muddy parking lot we crept slowly through impeded much of the encroaching light. The corner space she finally pulled into was so dark that it made morning seem like it was days and not just over an hour away. As she walked around and opened the trunk, I stuffed the pillow and blanket in the back seat and opened my door.

“I don…” yawned again “…suppose you’re going to tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“Don’t and shouldn’t,” she replied grabbing a flashlight and a backpack that looked as big as she was.

She turned on the flashlight, again grabbed my hand, and pulled me towards a muddy trail. Not wanting to be stranded in the middle of nowhere by a crazy person, I begrudgingly followed.

It was fairly easy going for a while. I was in good shape, and the trail wasn’t particularly steep, though it quickly became obvious that we were heading up the side of a small mountain. She carried the giant pack like it was nothing, using my arm as though it were some sort of leash as we traipsed through the woods.

Unfortunately, after about forty five minutes, she managed to drag me right through a puddle that looked three inches, and ended up being about three feet deep. To top it off, in my still somewhat tired state, I managed to fall and completely submerge myself.

She laughed as I spit out a mouthful of muddy water and handed me a towel she’d pulled from the pack.

“Made that mistake my first time here. God, that was like ten years ago. Looks like a puddle, ends up being a pit.”

I looked at her with disbelief, “You knew it was there?” She nodded with a mischievous grin. “And still dragged me right through it!?”

“My, you catch on quick,” she giggled.

“I want to leave…”

“We’re closer to the top than the bottom, come on, it’s just a little further. I’ve got some more stuff in here that’ll help you dry off.” She laughed again as I tried futilely to shed some of the dripping muddiness. “And a change of clothes.”

Before she could react, I grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Hope you’ve got two,” I said trying to transfer as much of the mud and water to her as possible.

When I let her go, she gave me odd sort of far away look in her eyes. I raised an eyebrow as she continued to stare.

“What?”

She smiled and started walking again, again pulling me by the hand.

***

A half hour, and thirty foot ladder climb later, we reached the summit, three thousand feet above where we'd begun the morning. There was a large rock, about the size and shape of a pool table that she decided was a good place to start unloading the gear.

True to her word, she handed me some clothes. Boxers, sweats, and a T-shirt, all clearly from the discount store in town back by school. With them she pulled out her own spares, and the two of used the rock as a divider to change.

Very quickly I realized that the shirt I wore was not nearly enough to keep me warm in the cool morning breeze atop the mountain. Nor was her pink tank top, but she seemed to have an answer for that as well, pulling a sleeping bag out of the pack.

Freezing, I climbed in next to her, and lay back on the pillow that soon accompanied the bag. Somehow, I soon found myself on my side on the surprisingly comfortable rock with my arms wrapped around her. We just laid there for a moment, the past few hours a sleep deprived blur.

Finally she rolled over to face me. She looked into my eyes and smiled, and I found myself returning the gesture. She gave me that look again, the one she’d given me after I’d hugged her. I stared into her eyes, braving the depth, trying to find the feeling behind the look. But it’d been so long since I’d even looked someone in the eye. I came up empty.

“What?”

She smiled. “I think you’re starting to get it.”

Blank stare.

“You’ve had at best two hours of uninterrupted sleep, you have no idea where you are, you’re cold, muddy, and wearing clothes that smell like my grandma, and your only companion is someone you barely know and have likely pegged as a complete nutter.” She smiled, “which may or may not be completely true.”

“Is there a ‘but’ to this run-on-sentence?”

She sat up pulling the bag and me along with it. “You tell me.”

I followed her gaze to see the sun poking up over one of the mountains on the horizon casting an ethereal stream of light over the valley. One by one the trees seemed to wake up as the sunlight slowly poured in. Eventually it hit a lake nestled in between two nubs off in the distance, looking like fireworks as it reflected off the water and illuminated the forest around it.

“It’s beautiful…but I don’t get it.”

“Yes…I think you do…what did I say to you?”

I thought for a moment. “That you wanted to hump me until I couldn’t feel my private parts.”

She laughed, “now I know you do.”

My head dropped and I sighed. I raised it to look her in the eye again….and failed. She pulled my arms around her tighter, bringing her hands to rest on top of mine.

“But...” I started, “...but this has been a truly interesting, if slightly crazy sequence of events, and this view is absolutely stunning...” I trailed off looking into the sunrise. I pulled her in closer to me until my chin rested on her shoulder. For several moments there was silence, but she patiently let me find the words to finish.

“And...” I choked up for a minute. She leaned her head back so we were cheek to cheek. ...and I’m done letting my past life suck away my present. I’ve found my life again.”

“Keep goin’ May, you’re not done yet.”

“And I’ve found someone to share it with?”

She leaned back and rolled over so I was on my back, with her on top of me staring into my eyes. She smiled. “You do catch on quick.”

My hands flew to her face as I pulled her close and kissed her. Passionately, honestly, she kissed back, taking the superficial warmth that the sleeping bag provided, and spreading it within me. Her hands ran through my hair, then down to my face. She paused for a moment to softly stroke my cheek, then ran them down until she held my right hand.

Finally she broke the kiss, and lay on her back next to me, still holding my hand. Her grip tightened, and I knew what she was getting at. I pulled away and slid the ring off.

“You about ready to get rid of that thing?”

I nodded.

She grabbed the ring from me and looked through it into my eyes. “Life is hilarious May, life is full of laughter, and it’s bright and beautiful...and this ring is ass-ugly, no wonder she didn’t want it.”

I laughed and wrestled it from her grasp. My left arm slid around her and pulled her closer. My right hurled the ring down the mountain.