Dustin's Second Chance

“Are you hungry?” Dustin asked Victoria, his blonde ex-girlfriend, as he helped her limp down the street towards Zack’s car, which was still parked outside the Walker Newspaper headquarters. “We could get an early dinner and then…maybe, see a movie?”

When she thought about it, her stomach grumbled as if in response, as if to say, ‘yes, I am hungry, feed me', to which Victoria laughed, looking to Dustin, “I guess I am hungry. But, yeah, that sounds nice. Cinema sounds good too.”

“Great,” Dustin agreed, helping her shove past rude pedestrians who still expected a teenager with a crutch to get out of their way. “Are there any movies you want to see at the minute?”

“Actually, yes, Secrets of the Locker Room is out at the minute,” Victoria replied, remembering. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to see it this weekend because we were up at the cabin, but this is great. I’ve been really looking forward to its release.”

“Oh, really? I assume it’s a mystery film,” Dustin guessed, smiling. “Those were always the type of films that got you hyped the most.”

Victoria smiled, feeling warm and safe, enjoying being with someone who knew her so well and even remembered her tastes and hobbies. Maybe this was a good idea after all. She’d been hesitant when Ashley set up the date but now that it was actually happening, Victoria felt good. Perhaps this was just what she needed to cleanse her palate of her relationship with Gavin.

They reached the parking lot and the car. Ashley was still there, calling someone on the phone. Victoria slid into the passenger seat, pushing the seat back as far as it would go to give her injured leg all the room that she could. Dustin retrieved the keys to the car from Ashley and returned, jumping into the driver’s seat. Victoria waved good bye to her best friend as Zack’s shiny blue sedan left the lot, moving into traffic.

Though the cinema wasn’t far away, it was a little too far to walk, especially with Victoria’s conditions. But with traffic it still took several minutes before they made it round to the theatre and parked close.

“I’ll go book tickets now and check starting times,” Dustin announced, as he pointed out the window to a small restaurant across the street. “How about you go get us a table at that Italian place over there?”

“Sure,” Victoria readily agreed, waiting for a car to pass before opening her door and using her crutch to pull herself up out of the low street. She shut the door and waited for another couple of cars to pass before hobbling as quickly as she could to the restaurant. The host saw her coming and stepped forward to open the door, pursing his lips at her attire.

“Thank you,” she said pleasantly, as she entered the restaurant.

“My pleasure, ma’am,” he said, returning to his post behind a lectern. “How may I be of service?”

“My date is just across the road and will be joining me in a minute,” She explained. “I was wondering if you’d be able seat us immediately?”

He agreed, showing her to a small booth near the back of the restaurant. Many of the seats were still empty but that was to be expected given that it was still early for the dinner time rush. She waited, patiently, finding herself nervous, sitting alone in the Italian eatery, waiting for Dustin. There was nothing to be anxious about, she’d been on many dates and sat in many restaurants with Dustin. But this time felt different, almost like the first time all over again, new and exciting and even a little bit scary.

It wasn’t long before Dustin arrived, the host showing her dark haired date to their table. As he approached, he had the movie tickets in hand, staring at them and looking a little unsure. “What was this film about again?” He asked.

“It’s about a group of cheerleaders who uncover a sinister plot and wind up being targeted,” Victoria explained as Dustin slid into the seat opposite. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing, I just wanted to make sure I chose the right film,” Dustin said, his uncertainty turning to a smile as he shoved the tickets into his jeans pocket. “That definitely sounds like your type of film.”

“Yeah, I’d talked about going to see it with Ashley and Brandon after Spring Break,” Victoria admitted. “But seeing as Ashley and Brandon are broken up, I don’t know if that was still the plan.”

“Ashley and Brandon broke up?” Dustin repeated, shocked, and blinking rapidly. “I didn’t know that.”

“Did Kendra not tell you that?” Victoria laughed, enough time having passed that the blonde found herself capable of laughing about Dustin’s lies from the night before. “She’s slipping up.”

“Ha, yeah,” Dustin laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. “Well, that’s why I came out with you today, because I wanted to apologise for misleading you last night.”

“I thought you were in town to buy me a present?” Victoria replied, raising an eyebrow.

“R-right, to apologise for lying last night,” Dustin replied, suddenly feeling quite warm. “B-but, I mean, it’s also why I agreed to Ashley’s proposal. I wanted to take this chance to apologise again.”

“I don’t know why you felt like you had to lie,” Victoria retorted, her eyes sparkling like emeralds as she stared at Dustin sweating beneath the hot restaurant lamps. “You know if you’d just come back to town and told me you’d come to see me, I’d have been ecstatic. I will always make time for you, Dustin.”

“That’s sweet, and you know you’re all I’ve ever wanted in life,” Dustin confessed. “I just didn’t want you to think that I was some creepy, obsessed stalker who couldn’t get over you.”

“Does that mean you did get over me?” Victoria giggled, teasing him just as she had before he’d left, feeling like their old relationship was so easy to slip back into. “Did you date other girls in your new town?”

“A few, but nothing serious and none of them worked out, because none of them were as smart and as beautiful as you are, V,” Dustin said, seriously. “My life is shit. I don’t fit in with my family, I haven’t made any friends, and every girl I meet is utterly lacking in comparison to you. Even miles away, you’re the best thing in my life.”

Victoria smiled, blushing and was grateful of the arrival of a waiter to give them something else to talk about other than how great she was. They ordered drinks and realised with all their discussion they hadn’t even looked at the menus. Quickly scanning the traditional, Italian menus, they found something they liked and ordered, not wanting to hold up the cooking process so they’d still have time to eat before the film.

“Well, we know I missed you,” Dustin said as the waiter left. “Did you miss me?”

“I did. I mean, I still do, you were the best relationship I ever had,” Victoria told him, looking down at the table, too embarrassed to look him in the eye while pouring out her feelings like this. “But after a while I felt like I had to move on. As far as I knew, you were never coming back. But all the guys I dated were jerks who just wanted sex. Even Gavin, who I thought was different.”

“I can’t believe any guy would cheat on you,” he said, shaking his head. “But fuck Gavin, I’m here now.”

“Yeah, fuck him,” Victoria giggled, finding it cathartic to insult him after how he’d insulted her with his actions. But she also remembered Ashley words about not trying to get even and just moving on. “But, will this really work between us? Won’t you have to go back in a week?”

“I don’t care,” Dustin replied furiously. “I already let me dad break us up once. I don’t care if we have to do long distance, I want to be with you, V. There’s no one else for me.”

“I…Dustin, I don’t know,” Victoria bit her lip, thinking about how intense Dustin’s feelings for her were and how her relationship with Gavin had just broken up. “Gavin and I just had this big fight this morning….and I don’t know if I can commit to something like that yet.”

“I understand,” Dustin replied as the waiter came and set down their drinks. “You don’t have to say anything right now. Let’s just take the week and have fun together and at the end, you can decide to commit or not.”

Victoria smiled and nodded, feeling much more comfortable with that idea. “Okay, yeah, we can just play it by ear.”

“Great. Any chance with you is a chance I’ll take,” Dustin said, looking a lot brighter and happier than she had seen him in the past two days. “Now, hopefully that food comes soon. I’m hungry and I don’t want to miss the movie.”

“Me too,” Victoria laughed, her stomach grumbling again to confirm once again that she was hungry as well.