Weird Breath

It was that funny period in time when summer is morphing into fall and you're not quite sure what season you're in anymore. The leaves are still green, and the sun is still hot, but the wind blows past in icy swirls and you're rudely reminded of the changes in weather.

Brittany felt uncomfortable with the air surrounding her body. It was thick and humid so she felt like she had to put more effort into every movement of her body. Even her lungs had to try harder to suck in air. She just sat there on the park bench watching her stomach contract as she sucked in deep breaths, trying to fall into a comfortable inhale/exhale pattern.

It was still warm out so she left her jacket at home, but the sun set sooner than she expected and it became inexplicably cold. In fact, it turned cold too soon for Brittany's liking. As she stood up she could hear the soles of her New Balances scrape the ground. She took long lazy steps because the atmosphere was putting up too much of a fight.

She was still cold, though, so the thought of a warm house and warm clothes pushed her forward. The sun was almost all the way gone and it kept getting colder and colder. A light breeze had picked up, instantly bringing down the temperature.

She shivered involuntarily and folded her arms across her chest. Her breathing slowed because the air was now frigid. Every breath was like inhaling needles. Her lungs were stinging from contact with the cool, autumn air.

Ignoring her body's resistance against the wind, she began jogging, hoping that the exercise would warm her blood. The colder it got the harder she ran, and the harder she ran the harder the wind lashed out at her.

Her house was only a couple miles from the park but the weather deceived her. The wind stung her eyes and she would blink back tears, turning at the wrong corners in confusion. She stopped for a moment and tried to find her bearings.

When she realized she was nowhere near home and sighed. Turning back in the right direction, she decided to walk, and was overcome with depression at the fact that now she'd be staying out in the cold even longer than she'd anticipated.

Even though she didn't like the cold she did like seeing what the wind did to her skin. Little bumps were visible and it was like she could dissect herself piece by piece. She could identify each little pore and it fascinated her. She could see where she hand begun to sweat and she could see the little droplets fade away as she cooled off.

The little blonde hairs on her arm stood up and she was intrigued because she had never seen them before. They were so light-colored they were nearly invisible on any other day. But now she could see them clearly and was amazed that there were so many, but she never could tell before.

And even though her legs, and stomach, and chest were covered she felt the similar sensation all throughout her body. She felt little pieces of herself stick out more prominently as if to say, "Here World. Here I am."

She looked up at the sky and was pleased to see the moon and the stars. In the intense heat and humidity of the afternoon it was hard for her to see. But this air was thin and clear and she could see everything. She saw the stars twinkling and wondered if that was the sky's way of saying "Here I am" as well. She inhaled deeply just as the wind blew up against her face. She breathed it all in, figuring this was her way of speaking to the Universe. It would exhale and she would inhale and they could understand each other this way.

Suddenly something warm enveloped her body and she realized that she wasn't moving forward anymore. She looked down to see a head, nestled into her shoulder, raven-colored hair swinging around in the breeze.

Santana looked up at her smiling,

"Hey."

The smaller girl's hands were running up and down Brittany's arms and she could feel all her little hairs wilt back down onto her skin. Her body temperature increased considerably.

"Jesus Britt, you're freezing. Didn't you think to bring a jacket?"

Brittany shook her head sheepishly and Santana was already pulling off her own to wrap around Brittany's shoulders.

"Y-you don't have to," Brittany urged but by the sound of her voice wavering Santana just chuckled, and gave up her coat anyways.

Santana slipped her fingers in between Brittany's, casually, and pulled her along so that she was walking again. It was a subtle gesture but Brittany felt it one hundred percent, as Santana used her thumb to rub little circles on the back of Brittany's hand.

"Why are you out so late?" she asked.

As Brittany tried to speak she realized that there was something weird going on inside of her. As she inhaled to begin speaking she was cut off from all the precious oxygen. It was like there wasn't enough to fill her breath. She prepared to draw in a large amount of air but it was cut short. Still it was enough to manage one choppy, unsatisfying sentence, "I got lost."

It was a weird breath. She watched Santana's chest rise and fall slowly and she figured that the reason there wasn't enough air to breathe was because she was sharing it with Santana. That was okay though, because Santana was her best friend after all.

"Oh Brittany," Santana sighed.

At first Brittany was worried that Santana might think she was stupid for getting lost, but then she unclenched her jaw remembering that it was Santana, after all, and best friends are supposed to trust each other.

"I didn't mean to," Brittany muttered quietly, "It was getting cold so I started to run to keep warm. But the wind was stinging my eyes and I couldn't see so I must have turned the wrong corners or…" Brittany was out of breath before she could finish the sentence.

Santana chuckled, "I'm not mad at you."

Brittany supposed it was because Santana was using up a large amount of air that her breath was cut short again. Santana's involuntarily quick contractions required a large amount of oxygen and that's why Brittany had less.

The lack of…something…in her lungs made Brittany lightheaded. It was these weird breaths that kept bothering her.

Santana left her at the front door of her house, took back her jacket, then continued on her own way home. Once Santana was out of sight Brittany found that she could breathe properly again.

She looked up at the sky and wondered if it ever felt those weird breaths. Maybe it's just me…she thought, as she turned the knob to go inside.