With my brow wrinkled pensively, I stole a glance at the hopeful look in Britta's periwinkle eyes and perused the idea of choosing her. She was headstrong, infuriating and beautiful. You could tell by the sly smile invariably on her thin pink lips and the twinkle in her eye that she was crafty, stubborn and maddeningly stunning. But I could also judge that by the way she was sending furtive narcissistic looks in Slater's direction that she didn't truly love me, that this was all a game to get Jeff Winger wrapped around her little finger. It was insufferable really, that the two of them were laying there so called feelings out bare in front of an audience of more than a hundred people.
I gave a slight shake of my head as I turned away from the blonde, to which she reacted with a disheartened downcast glare at the hard wood floor. I took a large gulp of breath before I turned to my ex statistics teacher and previous girlfriend, Professer Michelle Slater. The title made her sound even hotter, adding to the tan skin and chocolate locks of elegant beauty she already held so proudly. She had her eyes narrowed in a surreptitious fleeting glance over my shoulder at Britta, before she turned back to meet my eyes with a flirtatious smile.
She smiled with coy eyes, but I could see her forehead crumpling with the worry that I wouldn't choose her. She was conceited and swollen with pride, with a tempting curvaceous body and gleaming mysterious russet eyes. She couldn't love me; she was far too deep in love with herself. But besides the two wrongs that stood before me, there has been a constant in this whole equation, something I've been going about the right way.
And here, given the choice between these two attractive women who claim to be in love with me, I can't help but consider a third option. Turning around and getting the hell out of there. So with a final look in both girl's directions, I placed my palm down to straighten out my blue cotton shirt, I turned on my loafers with a squeak and pulled back the curtain and made my brainless escape.
The music faded as I walked under the pallor of the silvery moon. There were no stars in the sky, but the lamps strategically placed around the campus, lighting the way for the other chattering students, kept the way clear. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and looked up ahead, my heart thudding fast at the events of just a moment ago.
When I focused my bleary eyes on what lay ahead, I saw somebody I wasn't expecting to ever really see again. Annie. She was lumbering many bags on her shoulders and belongings resting in her arms, and she smiled when she spotted me. I stopped just a few yards from her with a mystified expression, to which she responded with a sheepish and bashful grin. The silence between us became heavy, and she shot me an apologetic look as she put down her bags.
I stepped closer to her. "I thought you left," I said contentedly, as if the earlier catastrophic episode hadn't even occurred. All thoughts of Michelle and Britta left my mind; Annie was here, my constant, my friend. She wasn't leaving? What happened with Vaughn? All these unanswered questions replaced my worries.
She shrugged her shoulders and looked down meekly, sighing. "I couldn't go," she said, looking back up at me submissively. Annie wasn't leaving Greendale to go to some hippy hacky sack college in Delaware, and suddenly I was trying hard not to let my smile overtake my face, and instead forced more confusion.
"What happened?" I asked lamely, pulling my hands out of my pockets. Annie avoided my eyes and looked over her luggage, then behind me at the street lamp that bathed us in an amber glow with a guilty expression.
"I guess…" she trailed away, then picked back up, "as we were driving away, I finally started living in the moment." I tilted my head, smiling. "And I realized…in the moment…" I waited patiently, watching her face change from guilt to happiness. "Greendale is where I belong." She glanced up at me with large watery, cerulean eyes and I melted. I offered a proud and ecstatic smile spread from ear to ear.
She then looked at me again, her brow furrowing in curiosity. "What're you doing out here?" She questioned as she fiddled with her fingers. I quirked an eyebrow before I responded and somewhat shrugged nonchalantly.
"Oh…you know…" I began sarcastically. "Britta and Slater told me they loved me." I waited nervously for her expression to change. Her nervous finger fiddling stopped abruptly and her eyes widened in surprise, looking worriedly up at me.
"Really?" She asked in pure disbelief. "What did you do?"
"I ran away," I said honestly, sending a fleeting glance at my shoes like a guilty teenager before meeting her eyes again. She looked at me sympathetically and waited for me to continue. "I know…it's hard," I said, struggling for words. "Slater makes me feel like I do when I write my new years resolutions; she makes me feel like the guy I wanna be. And…Britta makes me feel like the guy I am three weeks after new years, when I'm back to hitting my snooze button and screening my mom's phone calls. Back to who I really am…" I trailed off whilst I contemplated this. "So, do you try to evolve? Or do you try to know who you are?"
Annie looked breathlessly impressed as she raised her eyebrows and watched me ponderingly, her lips pursed. She let the silence hang for more than a few seconds, while she perused what I had said. It's not like me to be so deep, so thoughtful and even I had to stop in the midst of everything just to think. To think like Annie does, with logic and understanding. I was bought out of my thoughts when she spoke.
"I…" She said, shocked that she seemed to have no answer. "I don't know." She creased her brow pitifully, trying to tell me she was sorry with her eyes. She stopped to think, to empathize, to be logic. "I wish I could live two lives," she told me truthfully. "One of me would go with Vaughn and the other would stay here."
I nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, one of me could be back with Slater and the other could try it with Britta. And then we could all get together for some…weird foursome." Annie laughed like bell that tinkered prettily and almost inaudibly, starkly contrasting against the gloomy night. She rubbed her arm to keep herself warm and glanced off sideways. I followed her gaze, to see she was looking at the school entrance, and then turned back to her.
I took a large intake of breath as thoughts of the two women awaiting my decision flooded back into my mind, which seconds ago was calm and collected with Annie in front of me. "I guess…I better go deal with it," I told her but really, I didn't want to leave. I began thinking. Annie's always been here, little Annie Eddison with her big doe eyes and chocolate velvety hair.
"Good luck," she said encouragingly as she crossed her arms and smiled.
I scoffed a little and smiled back, looking down at her bags on the floor. "Erm," I started oh so intelligent and comprehensibly. "I'm glad you're staying." She nodded happily and I cracked another smile, holding my arms out to her. I wanted to touch her, to hold her tightly. She seemed so precious and so weak as she stepped closer to me and gripped me securely, the fragrant smell of lavender nearing my nose.
When we pulled away from the hug, we were closer. I could see her thinking, the gears in her head turning and the twinkle in her eyes brighter than ever. I trembled nervously when I saw her eyes travel to my lips, before flicking hastily back up to my puzzled eyes. She stood up on the balls of her feet until she was inches away, and I could closer see that she was still thinking about whether this was right.
Heck, so was I. Was fragile, eighteen-year-old Annie Eddison my third option?
I leant a little closer, yet still she took the initiative and pressed her warm lips to mine. Before I could really respond in the way I wanted so badly to, she pulled away quickly and left me with an empty feeling I didn't notice was always there. She wasn't leaving though, but I could see how scared she was. Scared. Terrified. Terrified of how I'd react to this, to her, to Annie.
She had her arms behind her back like a school girl, not sure whether to hold me closer or let them hang awkwardly by her side. I sighed, feeling the warmth drain out of me without her as near to me as she was just seconds ago. I gave a her an heartened and supportive look, attempting to show her that it was okay. That I liked it. That I loved it; this crazy new feeling. In the impulsive intensity of that moment, I wrapped an arm snugly around her dainty waist an pulled her flush against me, connecting our lips once again.
I felt her breathe in quickly through her nose as we pressed ourselves against each other, molding to fit the hold perfectly. She held my arm with one hand and the other snaked around my neck, pulling me intoxicatingly nearer. I held her head in place also, putting every ounce of passion and feeling I could muster into that single most extraordinary kiss. All thoughts in my mind departed.
All that mattered was Annie.
One shot or multi chapter?
Your choice.
If I do make it a multi chapter, I'd explore the reactions of both Britta and Slater, the effects this would have on the group, and more of Jeff's thoughts and feelings. So just let me know what you thoughts of this and whether you like it as it is, or want more?