ORPHIC

a masterpiece of emotion

The world is your stage wherever you go

You know I'll always be right in the front row

^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.

LUKE

Hanging off the side of my house in the dark and body planting on the sidewalk at least three times in every minute to go for a run and release some of the pent up tension was worth it after I had spent half the night moping at the party and the other half moping in my bed, resisting the urge to stomp over to where Harper was staying. 

Her leaving barely any time into the party was not what I had hoped for. Dancing and maybe some light hugging had definitely been part of the plan but me asking her out in a very awkward and stupid way had more than made up for it.

Notice the imperceptible amount of sarcasm in that last bit. 

Trying my best to not regret the fact that I may have scared her away forever, and failing, was an uphill battle if I had ever been in one and by the time I got to the beach, it gave way to a somewhat comforting epiphany.

She must have a lot of guys hit on her and in my limited experience with teenage and barely over boys-they could be disgusting. 

I, however, had at most come off as over eager and halfway shy. Both of which I had been but the damage wasn't too bad. Mortifyingly forward and extremely out of line also came to mind but I was too sleepy to really pay attention to that then. 

Good. Shy is good. We can work with shy.

Spirits lifted, I took of my shoes and took my first step into the slightly damp sand. The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon, miles and miles of uninterrupted water sparkling in its wake. 

In my fifteen cognitive years on this planet I had never stepped out of this town and yet the view of the orange baby Sun turning the sky into fifty shades of breathtaking gorgeousness still managed to give me an existential crisis.

I reveled in the growing warmth for another minute before starting on with my morning routine that had remained unchanged, except for the duration of the run, since middle school. 

As quiet as everything was now, in just a couple of hours the whole place was about to be bustling with activity. Even now, with every growing inch of visibility I could make out some of the people in fishing boats as they made their way into open sea.

The whole thing with Harper and the mounting frustration of choosing a college quickly fell away as my mind centered only on the next step. About a couple hours in, the sun beating down on my back now that the T-shirt had been long discarded, I saw a white misshapen blob in the distance that could have been a dehydration induced hallucination.

As I neared the blurry, white figure gave way to a tall, lithe body and then into one of the cruelest yet red headed jokes of my life. I had to stop and wheeze out a exasperated laugh directed towards the general area of any God who might be paying attention before resigning to the fact that there was simply no escaping from this witchcraft.

Once I knew for sure it was Harper and not just an illusion, I stopped to slip my T-shirt back on. I was already hot and tired enough. I didn't need the extra stress of her looking at me half naked.