Stories of the Short Type

The Spiral Notebook

The Spiral Notebook

She walked into her room on a Sunday evening to finish up her last bits of homework before school the next day. Her window let in a cool breeze that played at her long brown hair while she worked.

          When she was finally finished, she reached her hand back behind the headboard of her bed to pull out a tattered, worn, writing-filled, blue spiral notebook that held her conversations with her best friend.

          She sat with crisscrossed legs as she flipped through the pages of the notebook in her lap. Traces of colorful gel pens, hurried chicken scratch writing, and her bubbly writing filled each page up until the very last one.

          It read in his simple scratchy handwriting: Do you know what I have been thinking? You probably have not. I have been thinking that you are the most amazing best friend a guy could ask for. You are beautiful on the inside and out, caring, wonderful, smart, and cheerful. I mean what more could a guy ask for in a friend. I care about you, I always have. Ever since I first met you back in the second grade, I think, I think I love you. Actually I know it, I do love you.

          Her heart danced in her chest, and a smile split her face in the light of the lamp beside her bed. She had no idea that the cutest, funniest, most charming, and sweetest boy in the entire high school thought that about her, his best friend.

          She reached over to her nightstand, grabbed a purple pen from her nightstand, and flipped to the back of the page. She took a deep breath right before she lowered her pen to write. "Nate I had no idea. I can say this now and then later to your face. I love you too."

           Then she closed the notebook, set her pen aside, set the notebook carefully onto her nightstand, and turned off her lamp for the night. In the morning her alarm sounded just like any other day, she grabbed the notebook and held it to her chest, but she knew today was going to be different.

She started her usual walk down her street to the high school, but Nate's voice called from his doorway as she stepped in front of his house, "Tessa wait up!"

She stopped and smiled as he walked his way towards her. He smiled down at her with his shining blue eyes and said, "Good morning." Then he noticed what she held in her hands.

She handed him the spiral and he read it as we walked down the sidewalk. Tessa kept her eyes straight ahead and hoped that he could not hear her heart beat thundering in her chest.

The all of a sudden he grabbed her arm, pulled her into his chest, and ever so lightly kissed her. He pulled back and smiled, "I love you."

Tessa looked up into those twin pools of blue with a smile and said, "I love you too."

          "You don't know how long I have waited to hear you say that."