Leaping for Love
What's the worst that could happen?
Snuggling Tuxedo Kittens!
Shitpancake and Jayne snuggling as kittens! Shitpancake is already forcing himself onto his brothers at this early of an age…
…Time for this week’s story…
Leaping for Love
To Elliot, Juliet was so beautiful, he didn't think he stood a chance. So, when he and his buddy Richard concocted a plan to buy amusement park tickets then invite her and a friend under the pretext of having extra tickets, they were ready for rejection. However, it was senior year, and they had nothing to lose. Elliot had a crush on Juliet since middle school but never mustered the courage to ask her out. Elliot and Richard were beside themselves when Juliet and her friend Amy accepted.
“I haven't been here since I was eleven! This is my favorite park.” Juliet pranced into the park with a smile that belied a deep-rooted happiness.
Elliot wore jeans and his favorite t-shirt. Juliet wore a long, flowing skirt, a purple jacket tied around her waist, and a matching purple bow tying her long black hair into a ponytail. The four teenagers roamed the park, eating funnel cake and joking around while they waited in lines. Barreling down the log ride, Juliet held Elliot close, hiding behind him to avoid the splash.
The day was unfolding beautifully. Of course, being teenagers, Elliot and Richard felt they needed to impress the girls instead of going with the flow. The boys bragged about how high they could jump, and the girls challenged them to prove it.
In fact, the boys could jump quite high. They jumped higher and higher, tapping signs and archways with their fingertips. Looking to raise the stakes, they aimed to jump over a sign instead. Elliot leapfrogged over Richard, using him as a boost. Elliot was launched over the sign, and due to bad planning, crashed face-first into a hanging sign behind it and then fell face-first into the pavement.
The others rushed to him. Elliot's face throbbed. His lip was bleeding. Juliet ran off to get ice, which she wrapped in a napkin and held to his face. While supremely embarrassed, Elliot was overjoyed to have Juliet delicately cradling his face.
At the end of the night when they dropped the girls off, Elliot could barely look Juliet in the eye. When she checked on him at school that Monday, he could barely talk to her. The year concluded soon after, and their lives diverged.
Elliot moved to another state for college and, after graduating, got a decent first job in the same city. Making a good impression and working hard, he stayed for years, earning promotions and pay raises. He became friends with co-workers and rubbed elbows with executives. They talked about his executive prospects. With his fourth work anniversary approaching, the economy was on a downturn, but his job was safe.
It was a Monday morning when a car ran a red light and smashed into Elliot on his way to work. His car was totaled and he went to the hospital with a broken leg. Two weeks after the accident, the company which had gained his loyalty laid him off. Then, he stopped hearing from his co-workers. Although physical therapy was painful, that hurt more. He looked for a new job while he recovered, but after one hundred and eighty-three applications, he found nothing. With his injury, even basic labor jobs didn't want him.
Elliot was forced to move back home with his parents while he found physical and financial stability. It wasn't easy being back home after living on his own for so long, but he remained thankful for having a place to go. He just had to find a new physical therapist nearby.
In the waiting room of his new physical therapist’s office, a beautiful woman with long black hair limped inside and checked in for her appointment. Elliot tried minding himself, but after a moment he realized that she was actually staring at him. He turned slowly, then saw her face. All at once he turned to face her and the two stared at each other in wide-eyed disbelief.
“Elliot?”
“Juliet?”
“Oh my God! Elliot!” She jumped in her seat, then winced in pain, clutching her knee.
“Juliet! How have you been? I mean, aside from the reason we're both here, I guess.”
“Besides my knee, I'm doing okay. I'm living back home with my parents while I recover. You?”
“Same. I got t-boned then the company I've been working for since I graduated let me go. Back home to heal.”
“Sorry to hear that. I guess you won't be going for any high jumps any time soon.”
Elliot’s smile disappeared and he was transported back to the worst moment of his life. He turned away, head drooping.
“Still too soon?” Juliet asked with a giggle.
“It'll always be too soon. I was so embarrassed. I've tried so hard to forget that.” Elliot shook his head and covered his eyes to hide himself.
“If it helps, that was a truly impressive jump, and I had a lot of fun that day.”
Taken by surprise, Elliot managed to pull his head up and peek at Juliet, who was smiling back. He couldn't help but blush. That was when the door opened and the woman from the front desk called his name.
“Hey, since we're both home, would you like to grab a coffee?” Elliot asked before going.
“That would be nice.”
Coffee turned into lunch. After lunch they watched a movie, then drinks, then dinner. After spending the day together, they made plans to hang out a couple days later. They became a regular part of each other's schedules and were soon dating.
Their legs were fully healed within the year and they both found fulfilling work in their hometown. Just over a year later, they celebrated their two-year anniversary at the park where their first date went terribly wrong. In front of the sign where Elliot face-planted, he got down on one knee and proposed.
“Yes!” Juliet jumped for joy. They hugged and kissed, and were wed eighteen months later. Elliot never looked back at his double face-plant the same way again.