Elsa's birthday came on fast. It was in the middle of March, you see. And after we became a sort-of unofficial official couple...things seemed to fly by fast.
We didn't do anything special. We went over to her house, where I met her aunt for the first time. Then we hung around her room for a bit. We talked a little, but mostly we just laid on her bed, my head resting on her stomach.
I liked laying like that, because I could hear her heart; I could feel the bit of warmth that came off of her.
It was comfortable.
Eventually I gave her the present I had gotten her: A large box of chocolates.
"You know me too well," she had smirked, almost immediately opening the box. I accepted the chocolate she offered me easily.
Eventually, the sun began to set, allowing brilliant colors to paint the sky.
"It's almost summer," she said suddenly. I glanced over at her, wondering what brought about the weird declaration.
But she was looking down at the bedspread, her fingers tracing the intricate designs on it.
"I feel so old...you know?"
I shook my head.
She laughed dryly, petting my hair slightly, before her gaze softened once again. But it had an odd feel to it — almost despondent.
"I just...this is our last year in high school. At the end of this, we have to get jobs and move out and go to colleges...we have to be grown ups."
As she sank back into the bed, her eyes half lidded, I hugged her close to me.
"I don't feel grown up," she whispered. "Nor do I want to be. I'm not ready to grow up yet."
My hand drifted across the air between us, coming to rest on her cheek. Almost immediately I jerked it away, but she pulled it back.
"I feel like I've barely had a childhood. I'm not ready to grow up. I don't want to."