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From: "Ryan Sylander" <ryansylander@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Looking Through The Lens Ch.01 Pt. 3/3 (rom)
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Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:10:04 -0500
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A new long story.  Check out my asstr web page for the latest.

   Cheers, Ryan ----------------------

   Looking Through the Lens By Ryan Sylander
http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/ryansylander/www/

   Chapter 1

   Part Three of Three

   That afternoon I went to help Melissa with some errands.  We had to get
some supplies from the hardware store and some food.  I didn't think
anything of it until we stopped for some fish at the market.  Martin's Fish
Market, I realized only after we were on our way in.  I thought about
waiting outside, but that would have been odd, since I always liked going
in to see the fish selection.

   Naturally, the pier girl was working the counter.  She spotted me right
away and smiled mischievously.  I pretended to study the fish intently. 
She finished with the customer ahead of us, and my Mom and I stepped up.

   "Hi, can I help you?" she said cheerily to my Mom.

   "We need some fish, what's fresh?" asked Melissa.

   "Oh, we have lots of good stuff today." She ran down the haul from the
morning, as my Mom nodded.

   "No luck at the pier this morning?" she asked pointedly to me.

   "No," I said sheepishly.

   Melissa looked at us.  "Do you two know each other?" she asked, with a
touch of surprise and humor in her voice.  I had a feeling she already knew
the answer.

   "Um, yeah, she was on the pier this morning when I was there," I said.

   "Yeah, he was having some trouble catching fish.  When I left he only
had two."

   "Three," I said lamely, half to myself.

   "I offered him some of mine, but he refused," she continued.

   My Mom eyed the exchange with a grin.  Fortunately she must have sensed
my discomfort and she placed her order.  The pier girl set about getting
the fish while I shifted about.  She rang us up, and I thought I had
escaped relatively unscathed.  As we said goodbye and turned to go, she
called out to us.

   "I'll see you tomorrow morning, don't be late again!"

   Despite a strong urge to run, I managed to leave at only a quick walk.

   As expected, the car ride was uncomfortable.

   "So, you 'caught some fish you didn't bring home' the other day, huh?"
my Mom said with a grin.

   "What?  No, that's not what I meant, I mean, she was there, but we just
talked for a few minutes, I don't know her really." I sounded pretty
stupid, I thought to myself.  "She showed up again this morning too," I
added.

   "A few minutes, and you already have a date setup for tomorrow huh?"

   "It's not a date!"

   "I was just kidding.  I'm glad you found someone to fish with who is
your own age.  She's cute.  What's her name?"

   "I don't know." I realized that we never asked each other our names.  I
had thought of it a few times that morning, but it seemed too late.  Like
we were already beyond names, and to ask now would be stupid.  Like asking
a waiter how much your dish cost after you started eating it.

   "Does she play guitar?"

   "What?  I don't know." I said, confused.

   "Don't worry, I won't tell Lara anything."

   "What do you mean?"

   "She mentioned you rushing off to meet a guitar player this morning."
Another mischievous smile crossed my Mom's face, when I glanced at her. 
She never looked at me though.

   "Oh, yeah, he never showed up," I said, pretending to yawn.  I was
really stifling the butterflies in my stomach.

   "Ah."

   Fortunately we arrived at the house before I dug myself in any deeper.

   At three, the girls convinced me to come on their bike trip.  I was
feeling relatively steady so I went along.  Lara and Julie were fairly well
recovered from the night before, surprisingly.

   Last night we had ended up out on the pier, where there is a little
gazebo halfway to the end.  James was there already.  We could watch the
sunset from there, and hang out and hit the Jack.  Two hours later and most
of the bottle gone, we headed back up the beach to our house.  Julie was
staying the night with us, so we hung out on the porch for a while until
the adults returned, at which point James left out the back and we
retreated to our rooms to sleep and avoid any questions.

   "Was your friend pissed?" asked Lara, as we biked along the beach road.

   "What?" I said absently.

   "Your friend you were meeting."

   "Um, no.  Actually he didn't show up."

   "Shame," she said.  "You should have stayed in bed."

   "I guess."

   The bike ride was enjoyable.  I was starting to find that spending time
with Julie was a lot of fun.  I could make her laugh, and she seemed to
enjoy having me around.  Lara didn't seem to mind at all either, and she
and James seemed to be getting pretty close as well.

   The next morning I had set my alarm, so I was at the pier at
eight-thirty.  She was already there, line in water.

   "You're late."

   "But you said ..." I stopped when I saw her grin.  I was learning. 
Slowly, but I was.

   "Was that your Mom yesterday?"

   "Yeah."

   "How come you didn't tell her about me?"

   "Um, I don't know," I said.

   "You could have at least introduced us," she said with a glint in her
eye.

   "Um, I don't know your name."

   "Ah, right," she said knowingly.

   I waited as she looked at me.  I returned the stare.

   "So?" she said.

   "So what?"

   "Are you going to ask my name?" I could sense the friendly challenge in
her voice.  I felt like teasing her for a change.

   "I don't know.  Maybe I won't."

   "C'mon.  I know you want to know my name." I did.  But I felt like
playing around with her, now that it had become a talking point.

   "Nah, I don't need to know it."

   I went to bait my hook, acting nonchalant.  She looked at me for a
moment more, considering something.

   "Fine, suit yourself, Matt." I managed to skewer my finger with the
pointed barb, and winced in pain.  She knew my name?!  I pretended nothing
happened, though a drop of blood formed as I pulled the barb out.  I heard
a suppressed chuckle from her as she saw me lick my wound.

   "Ah, first one today," she said cheerily as she pulled in a fish.

   How did she know my name?  I couldn't remember if maybe I had said it
the first day, though I doubted it.  A million thoughts went through my
head as I finally got my line together and cast out.  In the confusion of
thoughts I forgot to let the reel catch out and the line whipped around and
caught up in a tangled mess around the rod.  My bait flew off the hook and
into the ocean.

   "Nice cast!" I heard her say.  I groaned.  The familiar feeling of a
beet red face was creeping up on me.  I didn't know what to say so I stayed
quiet and went about untangling my line.  My playfulness disappeared as
quickly as my sinking bait.

   By the time I was ready to fish again ten minutes later, she had already
caught three more fish, each of which she loudly announced with glee. 
Despite her endless teasing, there was such fun in her voice that I
couldn't help but laugh with her when I managed to tangle my line again.

   "I give up," I said, plopping down in my chair and dropping my rod to
the deck with a clatter.  "So what is your name?"

   "You said, 'I don't need to know it,'" she mimicked in a low voice.

   "Alright, so I did.  I do want to know, though, I was just playing
around with you."

   "So am I."

   I resigned myself to the fact that I had lost control of my own game.

   "OK, so at least tell me how you knew my name."

   "I don't know.  Is your name Matt?"

   "Well, yeah, you said it earlier."

   "I guessed it," she announced emphatically.

   "No way.  That's impossible.  I must have said it the other day."

   "Nope.  You never said your name to me.  I'm just a good guesser."

   "Do you always tease people like this?"

   "No, just you," she said simply, as she reeled in another fish.  She
flashed me a smile I couldn't help but return.

   That afternoon as I sat on the beach, I wondered what was wrong with me.
After two hours of everything from random guessing to outright pleading, I
still didn't know the pier girl's name.  My game had backfired badly.  I
was being constantly teased, and did foolish things left and right around
her.  And yet I couldn't stop thinking of her.  I had no idea of her name,
her age, or anything.  All I knew is she worked at her family's store and
she liked to fish, and somehow managed to make me forget how to fish.  I
had brought home one fish that morning.  She had taken 12 home, although
she had offered to share.  Despite her teasing, my obsession with the pier
girl threatened to return.  In reality, it probably already had.

   The next few days she had to work, so I hung out with Julie, Lara and
James quite a bit.  Julie and I somehow ended up spending time alone
together, and even through the haze of my fascination or obsession with the
pier girl, I began to think she was flirting with me.  On the one hand, I
was thrilled to possibly have some sort of connection with her.  But at the
same time, thoughts of the pier girl weighed on me heavily.

   I had fun with Julie, but didn't give any sign that I was open to
anything beyond having a good time.  I turned down an offer from Lara and
her to hit the gazebo and the other bottle of Jack, since I was going to
the pier early the next morning to see if the girl would be back.  We had
left the time up in the air.

   When I went to the pier, I was relieved to see her down at the end.  I
walked the length of the pier quickly.  I chuckled when I passed the gazebo
and saw an empty bottle of Jack Daniels in the corner under the bench.

   I spent the morning fishing with the pier girl.  My fishing luck was as
bad as usual when I was with her.  But I had had some time to think, so I
felt much more relaxed around her, and didn't react to most of her gentle
jibes.  The morning passed with a mixture of small talk and periods of
quiet.

   When we had had enough fishing, we walked back along the pier together.

   "So tomorrow, then?" I asked her as we approached our parting point.

   "Is that an invitation?" she asked coyly.

   "I guess."

   "Well, Matt, I actually am going away tomorrow with my family, so I will
have to decline.  I will miss it, though."

   "Oh," I said.  I felt a tightness in my stomach.  "How long are you
gone?"

   "A few weeks.  We are going to see some relatives in Pennsylvania and
Ohio," she said.

   "Well, we are leaving in about ten days, so I guess I won't see you when
you're back."

   "That's too bad, I had a good time fishing with you."

   My insecurities started surging up again, so I felt like leaving before
I said something stupid.  It wasn't like we were going out, but I suddenly
felt very lonely, and needed to be alone.

   "Yeah, me too.  Maybe I'll see you next year," I said.

   "That would be nice.  I better go or I'll be late for work."

   "OK.  Bye."

   "Bye," she said.  She came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and a
bright smile.

   "Cheer up, you still have a week to practice your fishing so you can
challenge me next year."

   I laughed despite the hollowness I felt inside.  As she walked away, I
called out to her.

   "Hey, what is your name after all?"

   She stopped and looked back, the life and laughter full in her eyes.

   "I'm not telling," she said, with a grin.  "But, that reminds me, this
is yours."

   She opened her fishing box and pulled out a folded paper, which she
unfolded and placed on the ground.

   "Bye, mister Matt Jackson-Birch."

   I stood there for second as I watched her walk away.  I felt like asking
if I could come to Pennsylvania too, but obviously it was an absurd
thought. As she turned the corner, I walked over and picked up the paper,
staring at it for a second.  It was my fishing license.  Somehow she had
taken it from my tackle box.  Actually knowing me I probably had forgotten
it on the pier one day, and she had found it and used it to her advantage.
I knew she hadn't guessed my name, but now I knew how she had found out.  I
stuffed the license back into my tackle box as I looked longingly at the
corner she had disappeared around.

   I sighed and walked slowly home, wondering if the pit in my stomach
would go away before we left Montauk.
   ----------- End Chapter One 

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