Keep the Seat Back

This is the revised version of a story i wrote for klass. i revised it for my finial. it still needs some tune ups, and i think the central konflikt kould be stronger.

“Laura.”
“Frank.”
“This is a high security phone call. Are you in a secure location?”
“Yes,” she said after a few steps worth of a pause.
“Alright, look. I have a mission for you. I’m out in my car, and I have information exclusively for your ears.”
“Is that so? Am I in any danger?”
“You have to accept the mission before I can reveal anything.”
She hung up and stepped out the front door onto Travis’ porch, being careful not to slip on the bits of ice and snow that had collected on the steps as she made her way to the street. Laura peered down the left side of the street, then the right where she spotted Franks silver car, lightly frosted like the rest. She crunched down the sidewalk beneath the soft, orange glow from the streetlights. When she titled her neck to observe them, she stopped, and her focus immediately deviated from the lights to the sky, which was fat with gray clouds like god’s beard, curly and smooth. The wind blew her hair gently; the red strands meandered over her cheeks and lips, tinting them pink. Laura found Frank sitting in the passenger seat of his car wearing a Santa Claus hat. He opened the door, ushered her into his lap, and leaned the seat back, making room for two. Laura noticed the sun roof was cracked open.
“You accepted the mission, fantastic. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”
“It wasn’t an easy escape. Tell me my mission; I don’t have all night.”
“Ah yes.” With his hand on her thigh, Frank lightly kissed her neck, her cheek, and the tip of her chilly nose. When he brought his head back, smiles rested on both of their faces.
“Sounds risky,” Laura said just before leaning down to kiss him on the mouth. It lasted while their hands tip-toed over hills of jeans and slopes of skin. When it came to its end, Frank rested his head on the seat, and Laura’s rested hers against his shoulders, her hands wound through his hair.
“Looks like the snow might start again,” Laura said with a curl twisted around her finger.
“Twice before January, before the holidays even. It’s a goddamn Christmas miracle.”

Frank pulled two cigarettes from the pack that sat in the driver’s seat. They ashed out the sun roof. As they smoked, Laura remembered her friend Stacy inside, who was mingling with the crowd, drinking beers and imagining what Laura and Frank could be up to. Laura had intentionally ridden with Stacy to make sure spending the night would not be an option. However, she’d also made sure to wear her matching red and green striped underwear that she’d bought just for the occasion. Just in case, she’d told her self when picking them out. Though, the night would find them unseen from the shy volition of both Frank and Laura. On the way to the party, Stacy asked how long Frank was supposed to be gone and if Laura would miss him. To this, Laura grinned and told her that she didn’t know and that she certainly would. They did not call or knock when they arrived, and when they stepped through the door, Frank greeted them and offered Laura a drink, which she declined.

Outside, the night grew colder and the icicles hanging from the car grew thicker.
“So how has it been going in there?” Laura asked Frank. “Do you have any friends left?”
“I do in fact, thanks. Its been going pretty good. You’d be proud. Didn’t you see how many people were in there? Jesus Christ, I didn’t even know half of ‘em, but they were down to wish me a safe trip if it meant some beers. I made sure to point out where, when new people arrived i mean, where my 'exact destination’ is on this map that I had to stand on a goddam chair to reach. It was good.”

Laura laughed and told Frank he was an asshole, to which he responded by sliding his hat on to her head. “I even got Travis to call for me to have a speech. I acted all bashful for a minute while everyone tried to convince me to take the stand. For at least five minutes, those people sat and listened to me lie my soul to hell. Five goddamn minutes. I told them all about my ole brother Ezra and my plans to go to school up there. Told them I might be gone for six months. The whole sha-bang.”
Laura shook her head with a smile. As her head rubbed his shoulder, Frank grazed the palms of her hands with the finger tips of his free hand.
“When to you leave to go back to school?” Frank asked
“Next Friday. Until then, I have about a million family members to see, some of which I’ll venture to east Tennessee to visit, and then Christmas is Thursday.”
“Sounds pretty busy. We should try to squeeze a dinner in sometime if you find the time.”
“I’ll do my best. We’ll see what happens.” She looked up and smiled at him as she said this.
“Should be fine then,” Frank said as he returned her smile with a weak one and looked out the windshield. His eyes found houses lit with Christmas lights, some multi-colored, some white. He watched as some blinked and others merely reclined against the cloudy sky, breathing life into the death of the season. Some chimneys exhaled smoke. He imagined “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem” playing to the scene. He thought of how peacefully lonely each house was, each perfect in its solitude, content with its unique arrangement, refusing to shiver even with snow in their gutters.

“What are you going to do while everyone thinks you’re in Alaska?”
“I’m not sure. I guess I plan to lay low for a couple weeks, maybe hide out at my parent’s house in the country. Its nice out there. They have a couple dogs and some cats, and I like ‘em a whole bunch. I miss having them around. It’d be nice to have one for my place, but I’d feel guilty for locking a pet in an apartment with me and all the commotion and people that come in and out of it. Know what I mean? Its no place for an animal, just no fair.”
“And when you ‘come back’? How do you plan to explain yourself?”
“I rarely feel the need to explain anything I do. When my friends see me, I’ll tell them the truth and hope they’ll laugh with me. My mom thinks I’m going to get beat up. As for the fucks that didn’t show up tonight, I’ll tell them god found me out there, lost in the snow. I’ll say that he told me to go home, that I was needed in Memphis.”

Laura sat with her glance pointed down as Frank spoke, and when he stopped, she giggled and looked him in the eyes. The stare was soft and Frank wound a bit of her hair behind her ear.

Inside, packed bowls were passed around to the various people making seats out of whatever they could, while others wandered in and out of rooms, in and out of conversations, cheap beer in hand. The house was warm with laughter, red cheeks only from booze. Coats and scarves dressed coat racks and backs of seats. The beer Frank bought for the party was long gone, and the rum he’d bought with the intention of sharing with Laura was empty too.

Outside, the air, lightly furnished with the soft glow from the houses and street lights, began to fill with snow. Frank and Laura sat quiet and watched it drift down into the town and stick to the car windows. It came lightly at first, but it tripled not a minute after Laura and Frank’s mouths met again. Bits of snow made its way through the sun roof, and every so often, the electricity traveled from the lights outside through the snow and sparked on their cheeks as they made dancers out of their tongues and tied their legs into knots. The windshield was quickly covered, and Frank pretended they were trapped in cave, snowed in but safe from the outside. The further his imagination went, the deeper he kissed her and the tighter their legs squeezed. Frank imagined the houses outside, filled with families who would wake in the morning to find their yards glowing white beneath the sun and the roads too slick for use. The gray clouds that swam above Laura and Frank during the night would quarantine each house by morning. As their mouths met for the last time, Frank thought of returning the seat to its original way and dreamed of an ice age.