Superposition (Starting Position Sequel)

Chapter 13

(Two chapter updates today: 12 & 13)

Later that evening, Elliot and I drove to a Christmas themed carnival at the local Arts Center. While she had seen Cambrie a couple times since having returned, this was the first time I was meeting up with her. Her boyfriend, Jake, was also joining us. I was looking forward to it; the four of us hung out a lot over the summer before we all left for university, and I had developed a friendship with Jake in that time.

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland" was the theme, and when Elliot and I entered the Arts Center, I could only agree that whoever was in charge of putting the carnival together took that theme to heart. Christmas lights were everywhere; they covered the ceiling, lined the walls, and were wrapped around a number of booths – there were so many lights, I doubted the overhead lights needed to be on. A large Christmas tree was anchored in the center of the space, which was flanked by Mr. and Mrs. Clause and a handful of elves. The booths each seemed to be themed and contained a different game or activity, some of which looked like a station to paint ornaments and sew stockings, a snowball toss, and a cardboard cutout tree with balloons to throw darts at.

"Well, this is something," Elliot said, barely audible over the chatter and blaring Christmas music. "Cambrie never could turn down a party."

The corners of my mouth lifted as I caught sight of one booth. I gestured to it. "I'm expecting you to paint me a very elaborate ornament."

She shifted towards me and said, "Oh, are you? You do know that I have the drawing the skills of an angry toddler, right?"

"Looks like they have people to help the kids. You'll be fine," I said, motioning to the booth as an instructor leaned over and assisted a painting child.

Puffing out an air of amusement, she said, "Trust me. No amount of help can save me." She grabbed my hand. "It is our first Christmas together, though, and part of me feels like we should celebrate by swapping poorly painted ornaments."

"What makes you think mine would be poorly painted?" I asked.

"Ben," she started. "I've seen your class notebooks with your doodles –"

"You mean my comic strips?" I interjected.

"Is that what you call them?"

"Yeah, didn't you see the stick figures and thought bubbles – should have been a dead giveaway."

Elliot angled her head. "Now I know what we're doing when we get back to campus."

"Making a comic strip together?"

Elliot shook her head, a light smile dancing on her mouth. "I'll be reading all of your comics, so get ready to hand them over."

"Prepare yourself for something great," I said. "And I hope you've been paying attention to all the times I've thrown chemistry terms at you, because my comic strips definitely contain chemistry jokes."

Elliot laughed and took my other hand to draw me close to her. She lifted herself, nearly pressing her mouth against mine but pausing before she made contact. I could feel her breath, and my chest thundered.

"I'm looking forward to a chemistry inspired comic strip painted on a Christmas ornament," she whispered.

Wrapping my arms around her lower back, I smiled and said, "And I'm looking forward to one that looks like it was painted by a screaming toddler."

The sweetest hum escaped her mouth before she kissed me again, her lips rhythmically moving with mine. The wonderful thing about being with Elliot was her ability to make everything around us disappear, and as we stood along the edge of the room locked together, I felt the world melt away leaving just us two. Her fingers padded the nape of my neck as she continued kissing me softly. I was buzzing; my limbs felt like they were on fire and my lower belly started to stir. Not wanting to, but needing to, I pulled my mouth away, and whispered, "This is a family event, Elliot. I'm so disappointed in you."