Part 5

August could see a slight shimmer corner of the girl's eyes. He knew that tears were beginning to pool into the soft membranes between her long lashed eyelids. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He lambasted himself. "Are you really this inept at social interactions with a girl?" Calling them 'social interactions' was probably the start of his downfall.

August was unsure of what to do next. He obviously couldn't say the right thing. Whatever statement he thought may be comforting ended up having the opposite reaction. Maybe he should just remain quiet. Stand stoically by, just waiting for her to speak again.

This was typically how he lead his life.

He knew who she was. He had seen her before his embarrassing turn as her limousine driver. Her name was Sonrisa. It was the Spanish word for smile. He had always that that was a clever name.

He definitely knew who she was. He had first seen her at his cousin Charlene's 18th birthday gala last year. Charlene had insisted that her birthday celebration was dubbed a 'gala' because a 'party' just wasn't enough. She had been watching too many TV shows, August mused. Of course her father obliged her extravagant requests. Though his uncle was slow to give his employees pay raises, he was quite quick at showing off his wealth.

August was invited, no doubt solely with a measure of pity and begrudgingly only because Charlene's parents and his shared some DNA. He vowed to make the best of it though, he'd made sure he'd eaten more than his share of the jumbo shrimp cocktail and helped himself liberally to several pieces of the red velvet cake.

He made himself as inconspicuous as possible, trying to stay hidden in the shadows. He wanted to tell himself that he was keeping a low profile because he was already a College Freshman, and that going to a party for a high schooler would diminish his social standing. But he really didn't need to bother with his imaginary charade, no one at the party paid him any attention. That hadn't changed.

He definitely remembered her. They had even talked that night. Well, to say they talked would be a bit of a stretch. By definition a conversation usually requires communication between both parties, unfortunately August wasn't really able to fulfill his end of the bargain with Risa that night.

He had been standing by himself in the rear sunroom of his uncle's house holding a plateful of nachos that he recently looted from the snack table. Carefully taking five large triangular shaped tortilla chips he wanted to see how much cheese he could pile onto his man-made quintuple stacked nacho saucer.

To August's amazement, he was able to corral a golfball sized mound of cheese onto the nachos, which now made a sturdy and very tasty spoon. He eyed the cheese mound thoughtfully. He could make out the faint tint of greens and reds, signifying spicy morsels of green and red pepper. He wasn't a big fan of spicy food, but this cheese was right below his tolerance limit, making it very appealing.

He was so engrossed with his carefully constructed nacho masterpiece - admiring the rigid strength the tortilla chips displayed even under such cheesy stress - that he didn't hear the building commotion behind him.

As he raised the nacho tower towards his salivating mouth a large figure burst out of the screen door of house and nearly knocked him off his feet. The figure crashed into his left shoulder causing August to spin round so that he was facing back to the house. The figure that had spun him so effortlessly lumbered past him off of the deck and into the lawn. From there he could hear the tell-tale lurch and heave as a party goer's stomach decided to turn inside out and empty it's contents onto his uncle's finely manicured grass. August's instincts forbade him to turn around and look. After all, his mouth was now completely stuffed with cheese and tortilla chips that had been shoveled in accidentally during the collision.

The door to the house exploded out again. This time, like a careening banshee, his cousin Charlene came tumbling out. This had to mean that the gorilla that had nearly trampled him was Charlene's boyfriend Mason. In a cruel twist of fate, Mason was actually going to attend the University out east that August had longed to attend.

August had worked hard to a make sure his grades were top notch and that his entrance exam scores more than exceed the required or preferred standards. On one glorious afternoon he received the packet he'd been longing for.

His acceptance packet had arrived.

But it unfortunately came down to an issue of money. Though he was accepted, the financial package he was offered would have been barely able to cover the tuition. The cost of the books and the lodging alone sent his budget ledger spiraling into the red, taking his dreams of attending that University down the drain. Mason on the other hand, whom it appeared could not read past a fifth grade level, was offered a full scholarship, thanks to his girth and apparent willingness to smash his head as forcibly as he could into other football frenzied behemoths.

Mouth still brimming with warm nacho cheese August merely shot up a thumb, pointing over his shoulder to direct Charlene over to Mason's huddled figure. From the sound of it, it seemed Mason was able to expel most of whatever was bothering him, vodka or tequila or some other spirit they weren't legally able to imbibe yet.

August had planned to forget the entire incident, chalking it up to another botched moment in his already pathetic social life when Risa had exited the house. She came striding out, with one hand holding a roll of paper towels and the other hand a bottle of water. August was caught in a daze.

Maybe the extra large cheese ball he had eaten contained more spices than he anticipated. Maybe he had suffered a concussion from Mason's sudden impact against his shoulder. Maybe some alcoholic fumes had wafted up from the newly fertilized grass giving him a strange drunken euphoria.

Whatever it was, August was transfixed. Then, this water bottle wielding, paper towel holding, angel faced goddess before spoke.

"I'm sorry about that. Mason can be such an ass sometimes." Her voice was clear and strong. It didn't hold any edge of sarcasm, and August had developed a strong nose to sniff out sarcasm. She was being sincere. He wanted to charm her. He wanted to show that even with Mason's size it was only a glancing blow and he was no worse for wear. He could take hits like that all day and not even feel a thing. He wanted to prove that he was just as tough as any of these cretins at the party.

"Pffffttt"

That was the sound that escaped his mouth when he tried to speak. Horribly, it was accompanied by a a few particles of cheese and tortilla chips. The mass of nachos in his mouth had congealed into a sticky yellow mush that held his tongue captive. Whatever poetic words he wanted to recite were murdered by the cheese stuffing his mouth.

The girl offered him a strange look of amusement, she raised a carefully sculpted brown eyebrow. August tried to smile without opening his mouth, lest any more cheesy clumps fall out. He lifted his hands into a casual shrug then pretended to give a bow. Oddly, it was the only thing that occurred to him to do. The girl gave a small, yet very charming, chuckle as she stepped past him to help Charlene tend to the troll in obvious distress in the lawn.

A sniffle brought August back to reality.

Here he was, face to face with that girl again, and still, he was at a loss for the right words to say.