Spider strings by Rosaleah

/x/

Megan had the blackest eyes I have ever seen, so dark that you can't distinguish the pupil from the iris, the same color as her long curly hair. I could easily say she was one of the most beautiful women I know.

"The bad bitch is going on a date" Paul kept singing in my ears.

"I will stuff your mouth with sand if you don't shut the fuck up"

He laughed.

I grinned.

"Damn, I would pay to see that smile more often"

I looked into Megan's crinkled eyes, blushing slightly for zoning out, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"There! You are doing it again!" She throws her head back and claps. She always does that when she laughs. It's adorable.

I smiled, raising my eyebrows, confused.

Noticing my confusion, "You have this little quirks, you know?" She takes a deep breath, brushing the white table cloath, and then looks me in the eye. "I think it's cute".

"I-... don't know what to say" I exhale and laugh awkwardly, embarrassed at my lacking answers.

Throughout the dinner it gets oddly easy to talk and I am surprised by how the more she talks the more I want to know about her. Her parents are high school sweethearts. She has 3 sisters. She is a cat person, and has the vile addiction of saving unfortunate cats off the street. "My mom is going crazy, by this point I have 7 cats, but she still loves them all, how couldn't she? Let me show you some pics!". The cats really are adorable.

"Leah? Leah, leah…" she kept repeating out of nowhere after swallowing some lemonade, trying it out, rolling it around tasting it. "I like it. You look like a Leah"

"And what is a Leah supposed to look like?" I joked, raising my eyebrows.

"Like a beautiful woman who has been bugging my mind for the past 7 weeks"

I was stunned by her vulnerability, her power of talking about herself. I admired that, the courage she had to put herself out there and say "This is me! Take it or leave it!". Jared and Paul, even my brother, were like that too.

I have never been that kind of person. I didn't like the exposure, letting people in was kind of difficult. But a part of me prided itself on that, on being so selective of the circle that would have a seat in my presence.

She loved the sea. That's how we met. We happend to see each other on Third Beach weekly. I would be drawing, sitting on the wood log full of inscripted cheesy quotes, or greened out letters of "S×L" or hearted "forever together"-s. She would be taking pictures, the black leather strap of a camera hanging around her neck, the cool wind blowing her dark curls.

For weeks we ignored each other, sometimes throwing small smiles or quick glances in sign of acknowledgement. But one day, she sat next to me and silently stared at my sketches until she broke the silence by asking me out. So I said yes, and here we were.

/x/

At the end of the evening we drove out of Port Angeles. The drive was silent, FKA Twigs's soft electric sounds and beats flowing around, curbing against the cold glass and brushing the hard edges of my car. "I love her music" she whispered, grinning at me, and then we were both grinning at another little bond we had, like a thin but fibrous spider web strand, stretched tight between our chests.

I reached her house and stopped the car.

"I had a good time…"

"Me too"

"See you again? Next time?" she asks shyly, hope in her eyes.

"Of course!" I smiled widely, trying to not show my excitement.

She giggled, exhaling and letting her head fall back against the headrest.

"Ok, I guess…We'll talk… you have my number"

I nodded.

She took my hand, squeezing it tight, and left the car.

"Wait!" I yelled, getting out of the car and stopping right in front of her confused face.

"Yes?"

"I-um...huh"

She giggled.

Then, slowly, so she could know what I was planning on, I left my head down and pressed my lips against her check.

I exhaled softly against her skin, the puffiness of her plump check leaving a tingling on my lower back, but my breath was cut short the moment she pressed her lips against mine.

"Night…" she said as she took a small step back, her black eyes getting lost in the chilly night.

"Good night!" I breathed.

Megan smiled and entered her house, waving shyly with a smile on her face.

God, I felt like my heart would explode from the sweet sugar air it was filled with.

As I enter my car, and leave the driveway, I look in the rearview mirror and see, at one of the upper house windows, 1 woman and 3 girls. The woman was in her late 40, the three girls were ranging somwhere between ages 14 and 21, giggling and talking while pointing at my car.

I laughed, waving at Megan's gallery, the giggles getting even louder behind my leaving Chevrolet.

/fini fin/