Him and Her

Nineteen

Nineteen

Ana

"Thank you, Harriet. I will be back to the library in a few months. I promise." I say hugging her, again.

"Take all the time you need, dear." She responds, kissing my cheek. "Love you darling." She says making her way toward the door.

"Love you too." I say. She blows me a kiss and I catch it before she walks out the door. My mom helps her out to the car.

"Who was that?" Eric questions. He looks traumatized.

Harriet can be very overwhelming. "That is Harriet. I help her out in the library before I go to school. She is really nice." I explain.

"Seems it." He agrees.

"Yeah, anyway so..." I trail off, continuing the lesson.

During the last few minutes of the lecture, I can see Eric staring at me. But I brush it off, and act like I don't see him. My cheeks get warm— maybe because I hate being stared at, or because I don't hate the fact that he is staring at me with a grin on his pretty face.

- 4:34 pm -

"Today's lesson was hard." Eric admits, laying onto the floor.

"Yes. It was difficult." I agree.

After some silence, he sits up and looks at my legs. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what happened exactly?" He asks cautiously.

"Oh, so. Some guy went to turn into a road that my car at the time was in front of and he rammed right into my driver's side." I explain. "Then I was suddenly on a hood of a car, passed out and woke up and was told I had a knee replacement." I laugh a little. "I won't be able to walk for a while, so I'm stuck in a wheelchair."

Stuck. Immobile. Tears threaten my eyes again, but I choke them down.

"I am really sorry that happened to you." He says. I turn away from his concerned eyes in fear that the tears may actually come.

"Y-yeah." I wipe my face with the sleeve of my shirt.

"Are you okay?" He asks me.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I lie. Just then Buddy wakes up and when he jumps off the couch he hits my leg and I wince in pain. "Sorry." I mumble.

"Ana." He presses. "Are you okay?" He asks again.

"No." I say honestly, looking down.

Before I know if, Eric takes my hands in his and looks at me directly. "Never be sorry. There is no reason for you to be. You are an amazing, smart, funny, beautiful girl. You always are thinking of others. Don't be sorry." Eric explains.

A single tear rolls down my cheek. But Eric reaches up and catches it before it falls onto my shirt.

"Do you need a hug?" He asks me.

To my surprise, my chin tilts down and I nod. I sit up as Eric wraps his big arms around my back and I nuzzle my head into his neck. He smells of salt water, and the forest. I hope I smell okay...