Chapter 31

31

The day leading up to Abraham Lincoln Panim’s meeting with Ariel went quickly.

As was the norm now, he chose to walk to school rather than ride in the car with his mother. Not only was the walk good exercise, physically, but also was good exercise for his ego, as people continued to stare at him and his new good looks.

He didn’t stare back, but he knew what people were staring at.

Abraham Lincoln Panim arrived at school, was still being stared at by teachers and students alike, taught his class, was mooned over by several of his fellow teachers during lunch, and got through the day without a hitch.

He did not see his mother at the school that day, and he thought that maybe he was better off not seeing her, because of what had happened before.

“If she can’t handle my handsomeness, I guess that is her problem,” he thought to himself.

After his workday ended, Abraham Lincoln Panim walked home again, and prepared for his meeting with Ariel. As he lay on his bed, he continued to admire himself in the mirror when his mother came home in the early evening.

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, I’m home!” she said as she opened the door and it closed behind her.

“I’m in my room, mom,” he said. “But not for long, I have somewhere to go soon.”

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, I have something to tell you. That’s why I came home later than I normally do.”

“Sorry mom, I have to go,” he said, as he hurriedly moved past her and moved toward the door.

“We can speak later, I don’t have time now,” he said, as he rushed out the door, leaving his mother standing and shaking her head as the door closed behind him.

Abraham Lincoln Panim went to the park and to the very spot on the bench that he said he would be when he and Ariel last got together. He was a little early, but it gave him extra time to reflect on what he hoped would be a great time with her.

It also gave him extra time to preen and let people look at him, and people did just what he expected them to do.

Finally, after some time, he saw a figure in the distance, and as she came closer, he saw it was Ariel and Snuff.

She sat down next to Abraham Lincoln Panim, with her dog dutifully at her feet.

“Hi! I hope you didn’t wait too long for me?” she said.

“No, I have only been here a few minutes,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said, clenching his teeth at the white lie he just made. “Where might you like to go tonight?”

“I usually go to the corner diner on my street, right outside the park,” she replied. “The food is good there and not expensive, and they are very pet friendly with Snuff. I’ve gone there since I was a little kid, and they know what Snuff is there for. We can go there if you like.”

Abraham Lincoln Panim didn’t know where the diner was, but he said, “OK, just let me know where it is—“

“How about you follow me. I’m not that great on directions, anyway, so it would just be easier for you to follow me.”

“Sounds good to me—“

“I will take you there as part of my daily run. Do you jog yourself?”

“Well … I … don’t worry, I am sure I can keep up with you.”

“OK, you want to go now?”

“Why not?”

Abraham Lincoln Panim and Ariel got up from the bench, and Snuff also sat up on the ground, and Ariel began to run.

“Just follow me,” she said, as Abraham Lincoln Panim started to follow her. He realized that she meant what she said—she was running—and that he would have to run, too, to keep up with her.

He was not used to running, but he kept up with her, somewhat, as he moved into the near distance from him. As he followed her lead, he was running in the direction of the older woman who he had seen many times sitting on one of the benches. He saw her again in the distance, but as he approached, once again, she vanished from sight.

“Maybe I’ve been seeing things,” he thought to himself as he passed the bench where he thought he saw the older woman.

The run continued. Not only did he feel a bit fatigued, but the running was making him perspire, and it moved his hair out of place, so he kept moving his hair back where it should have been, which slowed him down as compared to Ariel and Snuff, who were way ahead of him, but still in sight.

After a few minutes, Ariel and Snuff reached the end of the park, and stopped on the pavement.

“Where are you?” she yelled, and Snuff turned around, pointing in the direction of Abraham Lincoln Panim, who finally caught up with her.

“I thought you said you could run?” she asked, laughing as she asked the question.

“Well, I can run, but I guess I can’t run as well as you can,” he replied, as he fixed his clothes and pushed his hair back to where it should be through huffs and puffs.

“I don’t look my best. I am sweaty and my hair is probably a mess. I won’t get too many looks looking like this,” he thought to himself.

The diner was across the street from the park, and he and Ariel and Snuff proceeded to prepare to cross the street.

“Do you need help crossing the street?” he asked Ariel, extending his arm before he answered.

“No, not me,” she replied. “Snuff takes real good care of me,” and as she said this, Abraham Lincoln Panim pulled his arm back to his side, and then used his hand to push his hair up on his head as he, Ariel and Snuff crossed the busy street and walked into the diner.

“Hi Ariel. How are you doing?” said a man at the front of the diner by the cash register.

“Charley, I am doing fine, and Snuff is doing fine too,” she said. “Oh, and I want you to meet Abraham Lincoln Panim. This is Charley, the owner of the diner. I have known him since I was a little kid.”

“Nice to meet you Charley,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said, extending his hand, the one that had been pushing back his hair after the run, to the man, who was about 70 and had white, balding hair.

The two shook hands, and Charley led them and Snuff to a table near the back of the full diner. As they walked to the table, Abraham Lincoln Panim could see out of the corner of his eyes that people were stopping their eating and their conversations and were staring at him as he walked to his destination.

“Even though I’m a mess, they still stare at me. Man, even the way I look, people still think I am so handsome … I love it!” he thought to himself.

“Here is your usual table, Ariel,” Charley said, as he pulled out the chair where Ariel was going to sit, with Snuff at her feet and Abraham Lincoln Panim sitting in the other chair.

“My, what a nice-looking boy your new boy friend is,” Charley said to Ariel as the two were seated. This made Abraham Lincoln Panim smile, and he primped a bit more as

“No, he is not my boyfriend,” Ariel replied.

“What happened to that other guy, what was his name, Brandon? What happened to him?

Ariel did not reply, and she hurriedly picked up the menu from behind the napkin holder. Abraham Lincoln Panim thought this was kind of odd, since Ariel could not see what was on the menu.

“Charley, let me have a cup of coffee, and Abraham Lincoln Panim, would I be able to get a cheese Danish too?

“You can get whatever you want,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said as he quickly looked over the menu, realizing that Ariel had asked for a cheese Danish and almost defiantly said, “The same for me too.”

“OK, and the usual for Snuff, I presume,” Charley said. Abraham Lincoln Panim looked up, not knowing what that meant as Charley walked away after the two placed their order.

“Listen, I’m sorry that what’s his name … Charley … brought up Brandon,” Abraham Lincoln Panim said to Ariel.

“No need to be sorry,” Ariel replied, fidgeting with the salt shaker as she spoke. “Charley has known me for ages. He was almost like a second father to me. He kind of took me under my wing, even more so than my parents did.

“He told me that I could do whatever I wanted to do in life, that blindness could allow me to see things in a different way than most people. I know he really cares for me, and I guess he wondered about Brandon, because we came here so often for a good amount of time. Forget it.”

Abraham Lincoln Panim heard what she said, but even being in the back of the diner did not stop people from looking up from what they were doing and staring at him. He knew he was being stared at, and while Ariel was talking, he continued to primp himself up.

“Abraham Lincoln Panim,” did you hear what I said?”

“Uh … yes … I did,” he replied as he had his fingers in his hair, continuing to put it back into place as people turned around and stared at him.

“I still can’t believe that people think I am so handsome, even when I don’t look my best,” he thought to himself. “Wow, if only they knew that just a few days ago, I was the boy with the rat face. Now, I am the most handsome man on the planet!”