Chapter 26: Reality

Saturday morning came and Tristan found himself standing in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection. He had already gotten dressed, eaten breakfast, and brushed his teeth. However, he was now facing a dilemma about his hair… He began parting it one way, then he messed it up and tried to make it spiky. He paused and stared at himself for a moment. Finally, he leaned over the sink and groaned.

“Ugh! Why does it matter what my hair is going to look like anyways?” Tristan yelled in exasperation. He thought for a minute. “But…then again…I do want to look nice, and my hair is a big part of that…” Tristan began to brush his hair back once more. “But I am just going to get into the water, which will mess it up anyways, so it’s not like it’s going to look nice for very long.” Tristan stopped brushing his hair, leaving half of it sticking up and half of it laying neatly on his head. “But Nora will notice if it doesn’t look nice to begin with. She’ll think that I don’t care! And if I don’t care about my hair, then that’s going to lead her to believe that I don’t care about anything!” Tristan began to quickly brush his hair again. He pulled on the brush a little too hard and it caught on a knot in his hair. “Ow!” Tristan exclaimed, removing the brush. He glared at his reflection, sighing deeply.

“I need help.” He said finally. He turned and left the bathroom, flipping the light off as he went. He grabbed his keys off of the small table nearby then headed out the door. He hadn’t been planning on going to work today, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

When Tristan got to the park, he walked straight to the welcome center. Once there, he told one of the girls behind the desk that he needed to find a young boy. “You mean that one that’s been following you around for the past few days?” she asked quickly.

“Um…yes…” Tristan replied slowly. The girl smiled.

“You two aren’t very sneaky, you know…” she said as she picked up a telephone. She began speaking into the telephone as Tristan laughed nervously.

“Will David Jorgensen please come to the welcome center? Tristan Motgomery is in need of your assistance.” The girl said, her voice booming from every speaker in the park. The girl put the phone down and smiled at Tristan.

“That should do it.” She said confidently.

“Thanks, Tina.” Tristan said softly. Tina just continued to smile. Tristan talked with Tina for a few minutes before David appeared. The boy dashed over to Tristan, panting.

“David! I’m so glad you’re here! I--” Tristan began, but David cut him off by holding up a finger. The boy bent over, placing his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Tristan waited for David to catch his breath before he continued. “I thought you might not be here, but I was hoping you were, because I really need your help.” Tristan said, leading David away from Tina. Tristan waved over his shoulder at Tina, but he really didn’t want to be around the girl when he told his dilemma to David.

“Okay, what’s the problem?” David asked.

“Well… I asked Nora out on a date yesterday. After our last tour. At first she turned me down, but then I told her about all of the feelings I had felt about her and she said that she was confused by my behavior but she thought that she liked me, too, and so then she said that she would go on a date with me.” Tristan paused, taking time to breathe.

“How is that a problem?” David asked, confused.

“That part isn’t the problem. The problem is…” Tristan looked around then bent down, closer to David. He continued in a whisper. “I don’t know how I should do my hair.”

David stared at Tristan, at first with no expression in his eyes and then with a look of bewilderment. “You what?” the boy asked, practically yelling. Tristan shushed him quickly.

“I don’t know if I should make it spiky or neat or what! I mean, on the one hand, I want to look respectable, but on the other hand, it doesn’t matter because we’re going to go scuba diving anyways, so I don’t know what to do!” Tristan explained. David sighed and shook his head.

“Just do what you normally do. She likes you because you’re YOU. Don’t go changing yourself for her, or else she won’t like you anymore. And if she likes your changed self, that’s a bad thing, too. You want a girl who likes you for you, no matter how you are or what your hair is like.” David said. Tristan sighed, nodding his head.

“You’re right, you’re right… I just need to be me…” he said softly.

“Tristan, I’m always right. Whenever you have a question, just think ‘What would David do?’ and that will answer it right there.” David said, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling smugly. Tristan rolled his eyes but smiled as well. He put his hand on David’s head and messed up the boy’s hair, making David yell. Tristan laughed.

“Okay, that was all I needed. I guess I’ll go now--” Tristan began, but David cut him off.

“Wait! I’ll give you my mom’s cell phone number so that if you need to, you can call. Just tell her your Tristan from the park and she’ll know who you are.” David said, pulling a small piece of paper out of his pocket. He handed the paper to Tristan. Tristan glanced down at the paper and saw a phone number scrawled onto it. He tucked the paper into his own pocket then smiled at David.

“Thanks.” He said quietly.

“No problem. What are friends for?” David replied, beaming. Tristan chuckled then led David out of the welcome center. From there, Tristan headed to his car as David headed back towards his mother.

Tristan got into his car and started the engine, a smile still on his face. That little boy would never cease to amaze him.

Chapter 23: Assistance

David tapped his foot impatiently against the ground, waiting outside the zoo’s gift shop. It felt like he had been standing there for three hours, when in actuality it had been no more than three minutes. Tristan walked out casually and made his way towards him.

“What took you so long?” David snapped. Tristan looked surprised.

“Um…I didn’t realize I had taken that long at all…” Tristan replied slowly.

“You are--” David glanced down at his large, electronic watch, “--three minutes late! Do you know how long three minutes is when you’re a twelve year old boy?” David asked, standing on his tiptoes to get closer to Tristan. Tristan stared at the boy like he was insane.

“Actually, no, I don’t know how long three minutes is to twelve year old boys.” he finally replied.

“It’s an eternity!” David exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Tristan held up his hands, trying to get the child to quiet down.

“Okay, okay, David, it’s okay. I’m here now, so you don’t need to freak out.” Tristan said calmly. David sighed.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m sorry for blowing up at you like that…” David mumbled. “I probably shouldn’t have had that extra glass of chocolate milk…” Tristan smirked then placed a hand on David’s shoulder, turning him around and leading him away.

“So, where’s your mom?” Tristan asked as the two of them made their way towards the welcome center.

“Shopping, as usual.” David replied.

“When are you guys going to have lunch?” Tristan continued as the two of them entered into the welcome center. Tristan slipped David into the employee’s only room before David replied.

“Mom told us to just go and find lunch if we got hungry and she wasn’t out yet. So, we all split up and I figure I’ll just grab something from a vendor.” David said with a shrug.

“You could share my lunch with me.” Tristan suggested. David crinkled his nose in disgust.

“Bologna on rye? Thanks, but I’ll pass.” he said quickly. Tristan rolled his eyes. He grabbed his lunchbox from his locker then closed the locker door before turning back to David. He stared at David for a moment before asking another question.

“So, where’s your dad?” he asked softly. David’s eyes clouded over with look of sadness and he glanced down at his feet.

“He, uh…he left us a couple of years ago…” David mumbled quietly. Tristan looked at David with pity.

“Oh, I’m sorry…” he said quickly. David shrugged.

“It’s nothing you need to apologize for…” the boy’s voice faded and Tristan saw him swallow hard. After a moment, David looked up at Tristan, his eyes clear and cheery again.

“Do you wanna go have lunch now?” David asked with a smile. Tristan nodded then quickly sneaked David out the door, still amazed by the personality of this little boy.

The pair walked along the paved path, passing brightly colored tourists and various vendors as they went. David would briefly inspect the vendor’s cart as they passed it before shaking his head.

“Okay, you have to get something to eat. If you don’t buy something, I’m going to force feed you my sandwich.” Tristan finally said as they passed the fourth vendor’s cart.

“I’m really in the mood for pizza. Does anyone sell pizza around here?” David mused.

“I don’t know. That’s a question for Nora.” Tristan replied quickly.

“Speaking of Nora, how did it go?” David asked, looking up at Tristan. Tristan shrugged.

“All right, I guess…” he replied slowly.

“All right? You guess? What is the meaning of these words?” David asked sharply.

“I don’t know… She seems a little…weird around me…” Tristan said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Define ‘weird’.” David said dryly. Tristan sighed.

“Like…hesitant, I guess. Or, maybe 'wary' is a better word? She just seems kind of tense and worried around me, like she’s freaked out about something.”

“Perhaps your sudden change of character?” David suggested.

“Hey, you’re the one who told me to be nice.” Tristan pointed out quickly, a scowl on his face.

“I know, I know. It’s a big change for her, though. You just need to be patient. She’ll come around eventually.” David said confidently.

“Are you sure?” Tristan asked, giving David a skeptical look.

“Positive.” David said with a nod. “What did you say to her today?”

“I told her that she looked nice.” Tristan replied. “I really don’t have much else in my repertoire.”

“Well, you have to find something else. If you just say ‘you like nice’ every day, she’s just going to get annoyed with you.” David said.

“What else am I supposed to say? ‘You look hot’?”

“In this weather, even you look hot, Tristan.” David replied softly. Tristan rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t hide a small smile.

“Anyhoo, I’ll think about what else you could say to her. Maybe I’ll ask my mom about what things girls like to hear.” David said, circling back to their original topic.

“That’s actually a good idea.” Tristan said thoughtfully.

“Have I ever had a bad one?” David asked. Tristan thought for a moment before he replied.

“That extra glass of chocolate milk this morning was probably a bad idea. You said so yourself.” he replied with a nod. David smiled then lightly punched Tristan in the arm. The two of them laughed as they walked along. Suddenly, David gasped. He stared straight ahead with his mouth hanging open.

“What is it?” Tristan asked, concerned that something was wrong. David pointed ahead as a smile grew across his face.

“Pizza…” he breathed. Tristan stared at him for a minute before the boy dashed forward towards the vendor with the pizza. Tristan chuckled and shook his head before he walked over by the boy. He was glad that he had David around to help him. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to make amends with Nora without this little boy’s assistance.

Chapter 22: Stress

Nora sighed heavily, placing her head in her hands. Tristan had been acting even stranger than usual this morning, and she didn’t know what to make of it. He was being really polite and nice to her since he had met that David kid… She wondered if that little boy had some sort of magical powers and if he had put Tristan under a spell… To her, it was all a mystery. She wanted to ask Tristan about is sudden change in behavior, but she was worried that asking him about it would make him feel self-conscious and force him to go back to being mean. Once again, Nora sighed, wondering what she should do.

“Nora?” Tristan’s voice came from the other side of the door. “Are you okay in there?” he asked, sounding concerned. Nora had told him she needed to use the bathroom, but really she just needed a quiet place to think.

“Yeah, Tristan, I’m fine.” she said through the door. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

“You said that five minutes ago…” she heard Tristan mumble. She rolled her eyes but realized that she had been in the bathroom for a while now… No wonder he was getting worried.

Nora quickly washed her hands and face then straightened out her ponytail. She looked at herself in the mirror then frowned. She looked awful. She had huge bags under her eyes because she hadn’t slept well and then somehow she had misplaced her makeup bag, so she couldn’t even try to cover up her blemishes. Nora attempted to cover the pimple on her forehead with her bangs, but her attempt was not completely successful.

Finally, Nora turned to the door and exited the bathroom, finding Tristan waiting nearby for her. She walked over to him with her back straight and her shoulders back, trying to look confident.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Nora?” Tristan asked as he began walking beside her.

“I told you, I’m fine.” Nora replied quickly. She tried to avoid Tristan’s eyes, which was pretty easy, since she had been doing it all morning.

The two of them walking in silence for a few minutes, walking back to the front of the zoo. Their next tour was in fifteen minutes, so both of them were walking rather quickly. Tristan glanced down at Nora hesitantly, but she didn’t look up at him. He cleared his throat.

“Y-you look nice today, Nora.” Tristan said softly. Nora felt her face heat up. She knew he was lying. She had just looked at herself two minutes ago, and she did not look ‘nice.’

“Yeah right…” she mumbled, looking away from Tristan so that he wouldn’t see her blush.

“No, really. You look nice.” Tristan insisted. Nora glanced up at him with a skeptical look.

“Nice how?” she asked quickly. Tristan thought for a moment, studying her face nervously.

“Um…well, your ponytail is perfect, and I like how your bangs are spread over your forehead. You usually have them pushed to one side.” Tristan said. Nora was surprised he had noticed that. “That shade of lipstick looks nice on you, and your makeup looks really natural.”

“I’m not wearing makeup, Tristan.” Nora said dryly.

“Oh…that would explain why it looks so natural, then…” Tristan said with a nervous laugh. Nora couldn’t help but smile a little.

“So…you really think I look nice today?” she asked, glancing up at him quickly. Tristan nodded.

“Yeah, I do.” he replied. Nora’s smile widened a little. She looked away again, trying to hide a blush. She had no idea why Tristan was being so nice, but him being nice was much less stressful than him being mean.

Chapter 19: Reconciliation

David walked with Tristan back to the employee’s lounge. “Are you sure your mom isn’t going to worry about you?” Tristan asked.

“Nah,” David said with a shrug. “Like I said, she can shop for hours. And I kind of have this habit of wandering off… She’s learned not to worry about me.” David finished. Tristan laughed a little. He was starting to like this kid.

The two of them came to the door of the employee’s only lounge and Tristan frowned. He glanced down at David, and David glanced up at him. Tristan quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching before he opened the door and pushed David into the room. David stumbled forward as Tristan rushed in after him. Tristan closed the door as softly and quickly as he could.

“Um, you realize this is the employee’s only lounge, right?” Tristan spun around as he heard Nora speak. She was pointing down at David with a puzzled expression on her face. Tristan hurried over to David and stood behind the boy, placing his hands on David’s shoulders.

“Nora, this is my new friend David. He’s, um…lost.” Tristan said. David nodded convincingly. Nora gave the two of them a skeptical look. “I saw him sitting on a bench…crying. Yeah, he was crying.” Tristan said, making his story up as he went along. David looked up at Tristan, looking offended and confused. Tristan squeezed his shoulders and gave him a look, silently telling him to go with it. David quickly got the hint and turned around to face Nora. He began to sniffle and wipe at his eyes. Nora sighed and folded her arms over her chest, giving Tristan an exasperated look. “So, I asked him what was wrong and he said he had gotten separated from his mom, and I decided to bring him here to…ask you what was the best thing to do…I guess…” Tristan mumbled the last part more to himself. David let out a little sob and Nora rolled her eyes.

“Okay, what’s really going on?” she asked, giving Tristan a light glare.

“What do you mean? That was a true story…” Tristan replied slowly, not looking Nora in the eyes. Nora sighed heavily.

“Okay, fine, if that’s what you want to tell me then that’s what I’ll believe. For now.” Nora said, throwing her hands up in the air. Tristan smiled. “However, we have more tours today, so we’re going to have to contact the front desk about a lost boy--”

“No!” David suddenly exclaimed. Nora shot him a confused expression. “I mean… I wanna go on a tour…” he said softly. He remembered to sniffle a little as he looked up at Nora with pleading eyes. Nora stared at him for a moment before she moaned in defeat.

“Fine! He can come!” Nora said, sounding exasperated. She stomped past the two boys and went out the door, slamming it behind her. David pulled his fist down towards his hip and whispered the word “yes.” Tristan smiled and raised his hand up for a hi-five. David jumped up to reach Tristan’s hand and slapped his hand hard. The two boys turned and walked out of the room together, trying to be sneaky as they ran after Nora.

Nora led the two boys to the front of the zoo where a crowd was already gathering for the tour. They waited for about ten minutes before beginning the tour, just to make sure everyone was there who had signed up. Once Nora thought that most of the people were there, she began the tour.

“You guys do this every day?” David whispered to Tristan. The group had stopped in front of one of the fish tanks, and Nora had decided to stand a few feet away
from Tristan and David. Because of this, David thought it was perfectly fine to talk to Tristan about her.

“Yep.” Tristan replied, looking at all of the tourists.

“Wow. It must get really boring really fast.” David said quickly. Tristan shrugged.

“Not really. It’s a different group every time we do it, so it’s not that bad.”

“Huh… I guess that makes sense… Do you ever get to talk, though?” David glanced up at Tristan, squinting a bit.

“Sometimes…” Tristan replied slowly. “Well, I only got to talk for the morning tours one day… Then I got Nora all mad again and she hasn’t let me speak since. I think she’s afraid I’ll say something bad.” Tristan glanced down at David, who sighed and rolled his eyes.

“No duh! She has a brain, she knows your agenda, and you haven’t done a whole lot to gain her trust. You’ve bashed the park every time you’ve opened your mouth and you expect her to let you talk to a group of customers?” David said incredulously. Tristan recoiled in shock.

“Hey! I thought you were on my side!” he exclaimed, slightly offended.

“I am, but to help you, I have to hurt you.” David replied with a nod. Tristan stared at him for a moment, a baffled expression on his face.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” he said slowly. David patted his arm.

“It will in time, young grasshopper.” the boy said softly. Tristan continued to stare at him like he was crazy.

“As I was saying, you need to regain her trust.” David continued, coming back to his main point. “You need to keep your mouth shut when it comes to bad things about the park. You need to start saying good things about the park. Most importantly, though, you need to apologize to Nora.” David checked off the items while counting on his fingers how many there were.

“What? Apologize?” Tristan exclaimed loudly. A few of the guests in the near vicinity glanced over at him in confusion. Nora, however, didn’t seem to notice his sudden outburst.

“Yep. It’s the only way to go.” David said, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding with authority. Tristan sighed.

“Why? I mean, can’t I just buy her flowers or something?” he whined.

“If you write ‘I’m sorry for being a jerk’ on the card that goes with them.” David replied quickly. Tristan sent him a light glare. “I know that ‘sorry’ is the hardest word, but it’s the only word that will make your problems with her go away.” David said, placing a caring hand on Tristan’s arm again. “It’s the only thing that will break down the barrier she’s built against you. You have to remove the barrier before you can build a bridge.”

Tristan sighed. He knew that the kid was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. He put his hand over his face and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping he would open them again and have the problem magically fixed for him. However, when he opened his eyes, David was still looking up at him knowingly and Nora was still ignoring him.

“You’ve gotta do it, Tristan.” David implored him.

“Can’t I just tell myself to stop liking her?” Tristan asked, staring at Nora sadly.

“No! You can’t deny true love! Don’t you know that you can die from a broken heart?” David hissed.

“Maybe I can just quit, move away, and forget about her… Find a girl that doesn’t hate me…” Tristan mused to himself. David smacked his arm.

“Ow!” Tristan exclaimed, rubbing his arm and glaring down at David.

“I will not tolerate that attitude, mister!” David growled, wagging a finger at Tristan. “You like her, and you are not going to roll over in defeat just because you have to apologize to her. Real men don’t do that! Real men go after what they want!” David cried, his voice getting louder. Tristan shushed him as people began to stare at them. David sighed and began speaking quietly. “Tristan, you’re like a dog--”

“Gee, thanks…” Tristan muttered, rolling his eyes.

“And Nora is like the bone that is buried in some other dog’s yard. You have to fight against that other dog to get to the bone. Unfortunately, the other dog is inside your own mind. It’s that little voice that’s telling you to not apologize. You have to fight that little voice to get what you want. It won’t be easy, but I know you can do it. You might have to work up to it. Start with just saying nice things to Nora and not saying bad things about the park. Maybe drop in a nice word or two about the park, too. Then you can work up to apologizing.” David explained. Tristan listened closely, amazed at the pearls of wisdom this boy carried. He nodded slowly, understanding what the boy was saying.

Nora began moving the group to the next part of the zoo, catching both of the boys’ attention. “Come on,” David said, turning towards the group. “We have to get up to the front so that you can start making friends with Nora.” he finished, taking Tristan’s hand a pulling him along. Tristan sighed and followed him.

And now began the process of reconciliation… Tristan was not looking forward to it.

Chapter 18: Disillusionment

Nora and Tristan walked back to the employee’s lounge at the same pace. Tristan refused to be left behind, even though Nora didn’t seem to want to associate with him at the moment. He had a few questions on his mind, and he had to ask them now, or he would lose his courage and never ask about them again.

“So, you really like that Nathaniel guy, huh?” Tristan asked casually, not looking at Nora. She glanced over at him quickly, a surprised expression on his face.

“What are you talking about?” Nora asked sharply, looking away from Tristan.

“It just seemed like you like him.” Tristan replied with a shrug. Nora shot him a glare.

“He’s just a good friend.” she said, trying not to sound too defensive. Tristan scoffed.

“Yeah, a friend you make googly eyes at…” he muttered, putting his hands in his pockets. Nora sighed heavily while rolling her eyes.

“Look, he’s just a good friend. I like him, he likes me. No big deal.” she said, hoping to brush the matter aside.

“No big deal? I thought for a minute that you were going to kiss him right then and there.” Tristan grumbled. Nora glared at him again.

“Well, it’s not like I have any better choices.” she shot back quickly.

“Oh, ouch, that really hurt.” Tristan said dryly. On the inside, though, he did feel a pang of…something… Some emotion he couldn’t place… Nora sighed once more.

“You know, I really wish life was like the movies. In the movies, the girl goes wandering off and runs into a handsome boy, then the two of them fall in love and live happily ever after. In real life, the girl goes wandering off and runs into a big-mouthed boy who becomes her worst enemy and makes her life miserable.” Nora growled, glaring up at Tristan as she finished speaking. Tristan looked straight ahead. He wasn’t showing any emotion. In fact, Nora wasn’t sure if he had even heard her.

“Ugh! You’re so aggravating!” Nora exclaimed, stomping ahead of Tristan. Tristan slowed to a stop, watching her leave. Her fists were clenching and unclenching at her sides as she stormed away. He sighed then turned to the nearest bench and sat down. He placed his face in his hands and rested his elbows on his knees.

“What am I going to do?” he mumbled to himself. He was finding it harder and harder to be angry at her, even when she was furious at him. Instead, he was feeling…sorry for her…sorry that he had made her so angry…

“Girl problems?” a voice suddenly caught Tristan’s attention. He looked up and saw a young boy, probably no older than twelve, standing near him. Tristan stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond.

“Um…kind of…” he said slowly. The boy nodded understandingly. He sat down next to Tristan and looked at him with the kind of emotion only a child can have towards a perfect stranger.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” the kid asked softly. Tristan stared at him, confused.

“Do I know you?” Tristan finally asked. The boy thought for a minute.

“I don’t think so.” he said quickly. Tristan recoiled in shock. The boy stuck his hand out to Tristan. “I’m David.” the boy said, waiting for Tristan to shake his hand. Tristan slowly reached out and shook the boys hand.

“I’m Tristan.” he replied, still a little puzzled as to why the boy was acting so friendly.

“Well, Tristan, it’s nice to meet you.” David said politely. “Now, would you like to talk to me about your girl problems? I’ve got all the time in the world. Mom walked into the gift shop, and she’s been known to stay there for hours.” David explained. He leaned a little closer to Tristan and whispered. “It makes for a pretty lousy vacation sometimes.” Tristan cracked a grin as David sat up straight again. Tristan took a deep breath and decided that there was no harm in telling this boy about what was bothering him. Besides, it might to him a bit of good to get his feelings off of his chest.

So, Tristan told David of his first encounter with Nora, about the attempted robbery, and about how Nora was being nice to him then suddenly got very angry with him. “No wonder she got angry! You’re totally dissing her favorite place in the world!” David exclaimed before Tristan had even finished his story. “She obviously has a back story that would be worth hearing. I’m sure it would shed some light on this situation. But we don’t have a back story, so we kind of have to do some guess work. I’m going to guess that family life isn’t so great and that she doesn’t have a lot of friends, she’s a bit of a loner, but she’s got a good heart…” David went on and on with his analysis of Nora. Tristan sat and listened, amazed by the young boy. Finally, Tristan was allowed to finish his story. Once Tristan had finished, David clicked his tongue and shook his head in disapproval.

“Tristan, Tristan, Tristan…” David said slowly. He sighed then looked up at Tristan again. “You, my friend, have been bit…by the love bug.” Tristan stared at David, shocked by what the boy had said. However, he thought about it a little longer and realized that he shouldn’t have been surprised at all. He had known for a while that he liked Nora, he had just refused to admit it to himself.

Tristan marveled at how right Nora was; life wasn’t like the movies. What character in a movie needs a twelve year old boy to tell him that he’s fallen head over heels for a girl who hates him?