Dancing with Horns

Arthur 3

It's been a few days since I saw her. My living room was the same as it was then. I haven't showered. I haven't hardly left my couch. My phone was dead, and my television kept playing the same movie. Her face and our interaction kept playing in my head. In all my years, I never saw someone as beautiful as her. I keep closing my eyes and seeing hers. They were emerald green and flickered with excitement. I imagined being with her. She would smell of candy, and taste like honey. I would picture her skin being soft and very warm. I even went on to think of how her breasts look or how she sounds when she's being touched. I was so fascinated by her I often didn't think of the world around me. My mother was probably worried. I had missed many days of school by now, and my phone hasn't been charged either. I needed to shake off this obsession. No one like her would ever want to be with someone like me.

  I lifted up my shirt and my nose wrinkled. I smell gross. I had no energy to shower, so I threw on a clean top and deodorant and plugged my phone in. After waiting about ten minutes,  my phone vibrated for what felt like hours. My mother had texted me hundreds of times. The messages went from being worried, to being angry, cussing me out and so forth. I sighed and dialed her number. It went straight to voicemail. Weird. I didn't think too much of it because just as I hung up, my phone vibrated one last time. Unknown number. I opened the message and read out loud, "Hey, it's Claire." Who is Claire?

I never responded to the text. I was sure it was some scam number trying to steal your data. I went on to call my mother several more times and she never answered. Man, she must be really pissed. My alarm went off. It was a Tuesday. I had a night class at seven. I debated attending but with the cold shoulder my mother was giving me, I decided it was best I went. I grabbed my belongings. It wasn't much. It was a laptop, a few books and a pen nearly empty of ink. My hair was a mess but I didn't care. I just needed to show up and leave immediately afterwards. I closed the front door and stuffed my keys into my pocket. The carpet in the hallway always reminded me of older movies. It smelled of mothballs and cigarettes. It wasn't the ideal apartment complex but it was affordable. I caught myself standing outside her door for a little while anxiously wanting to knock. I decided against it. I turned my back to leave and stiffed up when I heard a woman cough.

"Can I help you?", the woman asked.

I slowly looked over my shoulder to see her. Her arms were crossed. She didn't look pleased.

"I'm fine.", I assured her.

She went on to ask why I was standing outside her door. I lied saying I dropped something. She appeared to go along with it. God, she was so beautiful. I almost wanted to run towards her and rip off the little gown she had on.

She began to walk towards me. Her legs were quite visible. I watched her hair sway back and forth as she approached me. She lent out a hand.

"I'm Claire. I feel like I should probably introduce myself.", she grabbed my hand to shake it.

I gulped and replied,"Arthur."

She giggled lightly. Her hand was still holding mine. Her skin was soft and warm as I predicted. She didn't smell of candy though but of lemons and bleach? Interesting. She must've been cleaning. I didn't mind though. She still made me weak.

She released my hand and smiled. My phone vibrated. Wait. Claire. The text. It hit me.

"Hey, did you text me?", I asked.

Her eyes opened and her cheeks flushed. She almost appeared embarrassed.

She laughed. It was so nice hearing that.

"I did. I actually found your number on the bulletin out by the office.", she answered.

I always forget about the bulletin. I had a project awhile back and needed help. I meant to take it down but I guess I'm glad I didn't.

I let out an awkward laugh.

"So can I ask why you texted me?"

She looked down at the floor and turned to walk away. She didn't answer until reaching her apartment.

"If you had replied, I would have told you why.", and closed the door behind her.