How did I get here? With her? Her. She was everything anyone would want in a friend, or something more. Long black hair always trailed behind her, waving in an almost angelic way despite its usual effortlessly pencil straight look. The deep raven black framed her eyes that looked as though they were hand picked emeralds from any jeweler's finest collection. Slim fingers wrapped around my wrist as she jogged me across the park to what she called her 'favorite spot'. Despite the faintly chilly fall air, she still wore a usual graphic tee and shorts, uninhibited by a skirt or dress. Looking back at me as I fumbled to keep up with her long strides, she flashed a warm smile and squeezed my wrist slightly.
I hadn't foreseen this. Not when she first approached me in the waning days of school, not the weekends we wasted away in our backyards, not the sunny mornings I was woken up with a call and the most enthusiastic person I've ever known. It felt as if I hadn't stopped smiling the entire summer, but, now, it was autumn. She'd soon return to the group she belonged in and I'd return to the bottom of the social food chain. The golden, sunset orange, and red leaves swirled around our feet, making a satisfying crunch under our sneakers. My temporary friend had pulled me over to the stream that ran through the sizable area. Just as the water flowed around the rocks, large and small, we were to merely flow apart as the first bell rung, perhaps to meet somewhere again. But there were a million drops of water, and I was most likely destined to fade into the rest of them.
She led me onto the stone lined bridge and released my wrist finally. Her being a strong girl, most would be glad, but I was perfectly okay with it. Okay with her holding my wrist and maybe my hand, just maybe. "This is it," she said as she leaned against the small stone wall that prevented us from falling into the shallow trickle. "I just love watching all the water just run off into the distance to places I haven't yet seen, but something tells me I will one day. One day, I'll see it all." She sighed wishfully. I watched her as she observed in utter silence. After a few moments, she looked back over to me, eyes shining in the glimmering afternoon rays of sun. I held her gaze, trying not to collapse in on the little standing I had made for myself. "Hey," she began, voice holding a certain seriousness I had never heard in it once before, "can I ask you something?" Her eyes drifted from mine and settled back on the shining pebbles beneath the water's surface.
"Of course," I answered. Despite my go ahead, we both fell silent. I could feel the tension between us pushing me, pushing me to flee from the scene. The park was mostly empty now, parents already deeming it too late for their small children to be roaming. Still, we waited. For the other to say something, for a reason to talk, for a reason to just be. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her lips part slightly and nostrils expand for a slow breath. It felt like an eternity until she finally let go of a long, labored breath. She seemed tense. We needed something, anything, to break the shackles of silence that had chained us to the uncomfortable situation.
I could fix this. Gathering all my spirit and drive up, I lightly tapped her shoulder. As she looked over at me, I had doubt, but somehow I was able to push those aside as I lifted myself onto my toes. She was tall, but I was able to reach. For the first and most probably only time, our lips fleetingly pressed together. My heart pounded in my chest. I was kissing Caroline Bradshaw, Carrie of the popular girls, miss perfect in every last aspect. I was the luckiest girl in the world in those few seconds.
While the moment would replay in my head repeatedly forever, the inhibitions that had left me came flooding back to me. Ignoring the fact I'd still have to face her tomorrow, I ran. No, I bolted back to where we had left our bikes.
"Sawyer! Wait!"