My heart beats all the way down to my toes. This is the third time we go out, and we’ve seen each other almost every day for the entirety of the school year, but that doesn’t mean I’m any less excited. Everything about her just gets more interesting and addictive for every meeting. Even her name is intriguing; Aline. I’ve feared that I’ve become a clingy idiot by now, but she hasn’t said anything or looked appalled by me. On the contrary. So I take that as a positive sign. And that there already might be a chance for a fourth date.
I drive to her dorm and honk twice. That’s what we’ve decided is the best approach. If I knock I’ll be assaulted by her gossipy roomies. So I don’t do anything until I see her exit the house and walk the short distance on the little dirt road to my car. That’s my cue to go out and open the car door for her. When we’re standing right in front of each other, my throat runs dry as I hungrily take in the sight of the dressed up and strikingly beautiful Aline. Her brown eyes glimmer and her thick black hair curls at the ends.
– You’re beautiful, I say.
– You too, she replies immediately.
I laugh and she smiles. My heart has now beaten holes in my toes and continued down underground, where its heating up the Earth’s core temperature by several thousand degrees.
We drive to the restaurant while we talk about our week. Considering we’re both students full time, there’s little to no time for anything else but studying. But when we finally meet, it’s like no time has passed. We slip back into our easy going way of joking and – dare I say it? – flirting. I’ve never done any drugs, but this has got to be pretty close to the real thing. I swallow and reach over to her knee. When it lands, she doesn’t remove it.
I park outside the restaurant, close to the park. Which is part of a future plan of mine. I hold the door to the restaurant for her, and then jog to reach our table first so that I can pull out the chair for her as well. She rolls her eyes, fakes tiredness, but she winks at me as she sits down. Of course I’m trying to continually make a good impression, but we both know I do this for kicks. We’ve spoken about chivalry and about its possible death in the 21st century, so this is my attempt at proving that it isn’t. The attempt might be a little jokey, but still.
– What a gentleman, Aline says when I’ve sat myself down in front of her.
I put one hand flat against my stomach and take a bow. Aline raises an eyebrow.
– You really don’t do anything halfway tonight.
– I never do. Don’t expect that in the future either.
– And to what do I owe this honor?
I look down at her hand holding her glass of water. I reach out and grab it. Her cheeks turn bright pink and she looks at me with her head lowered slightly.
– You’re too special to be treated any other way.
She sends me another brilliant smile. The world disappears and all that is left is the girl in front of me. Addicting and unattainable. Yet here we are, and she doesn’t tear her hand away. Instead she starts rubbing circles at the back of my hand with her thumb.
Dinner flies by. We hold hands through the whole thing, which makes eating challenging, but we make it into a competition to see who lets go first. Equally as stubborn, we still hold hands when we pay and leave.
When we are out in the chilly fall air again, I get goosebumps all over. I hope Aline doesn’t notice as she grabs hold of my arm and interlock our elbows. I gently guide us away from my car and to the flower bushes that is the entrance to the park.
– If you don’t think it’s getting too late, it would be nice to take a walk through the park. The full moon almost works better than the street lights, I say, not ready to be separated just yet.
Aline stops abruptly, still with her arm in mine, so I’m forced to stop too.
– Wait. There’s a full moon? Tonight?
She looks up at the sky, and just then the white familiar phenomenon breaks through the gray clouds. Stars blink down on us. Her question is so full of disbelief that I have to laugh.
– Well, yeah. Are you allergic to round things? Because my dad developed a beer gut already at university, so you have something to look forward to.
But Aline doesn’t laugh. Instead she grips fistfuls of her hair and starts tugging it while she resumes walking. Only this time she doesn’t wait for me.
– No. No, no, no! This can’t be right. I swore I counted correctly, she mumbles.
My eyebrows narrow and I halfway wait for her to turn around and finish her joke – of which I understand nothing. But she just picks up her tempo and has long passed the flower bushes.
– So that’s a yes to my suggestion before? I ask as I begin following her.
Aline constantly looks to her right and left, her wild eyes taking in her surroundings. Something else than the cold makes me shiver. Either she’s a really good actress or there’s something very wrong here. Something I haven’t picked up on. We’ve reached the midway point of the park now. There’s not a single soul here, of which I don’t know if I should be glad or worried. Aline keeps on mumbling, but I don’t catch anything of what she’s saying.
– Aline?
I finally reach her and put my hand on her forearm.
– Get away from me, she says and shrugs me off with force.
Hurt, but mostly scared for her I run so that I wind up in front of her with my hands up in surrender.
– Listen, I’m sorry if I said or did anything wrong. Whatever is bothering you, let me help. I can-
– I said get away!
It’s not her shouting that makes me take a step backwards, and neither is her pushing me roughly in my chest.
It’s the very obvious, but still impossible sight of two molars falling out of her mouth and hitting her dress on the way down.
Aline taps her lips with her fingers. They turn red. I don’t move. Don’t know what to say. I look from the bloody teeth on the ground up to the empty space they left in her mouth. Aline finally looks at me – and I swear her eyes light up and turn bright green. I swallow.
– Was the bread you got with your salad rock hard or..?
I don’t put my heart into my joke. The girl in front of me is lacking two teeth. But even though I can’t laugh myself, Aline surprises me with a toothless smile. Followed by a laughter that is so raw and loud that I automatically take another step back.
In the end she is laughing so hard that she launches forward and grip herself tightly. As I’m continuing watching her, clenching my fists just so that I have something to do, her laughter turns into.. crying? Thick blood runs slowly out of her mouth and onto the ground, making a soft thud at the impact. Her hair has fallen like curtains around her face, making deciphering her expression an impossible task, but the muffled cries gives her away.
She’s in pain.
– Aline? Are you okay?
My question is left unanswered. Or at least; the answer isn’t what I expected. A series of unnaturally loud snaps, almost like the sound of breaking pieces of wood, fills the air. Aline stands up in a choppy motion in time with the snaps. When she’s fully upright, she not only screams; she roars. And I can’t hold back my own scream when I see the inhumanly long fangs in Aline’s mouth that have taken the place of the molars lying like white castaways between us.
The silence that follows is deafening. Until she speaks. And her voice is so dark and full of misplaced giddiness that I feel like I’m trapped in a waking nightmare. She puts her now unquestionably green eyes in me and grins with her new monster smile. She starts walking towards me, and I feel my body tighten, getting ready to run. But I can’t look away as the girl I once loved says:
– You should be proud, gentleman. No boy has ever reached the third date.
Fridatales 