Crystal Skies

Emma

The look that that girl Marissa gave me almost made me feel guilty. Almost. Eyes full of hurt, anger, and embarrassment. I knew that look. I had seen it a lot. On all the faces I torment. But the moment where her eyes meet mine passes, and she looks away. She goes off with that boy Kade to the bathroom.

After all that, I head to the art classroom. The bell rings, and the teacher, Mrs. Christianson, starts giving instructions on an assignment about a famous artist. "I have assigned you all partners," she says, "so there will be no choosing your partners." A couple kids groan. She starts assigning partners alphabetically. As she gets closer to T, I cross my fingers, hoping I don't get a bad partner. "Ashley Sawyer with Emma Thorn." Ashley Sawyer? Who's that? A girl with blonde hair and green eyes comes up to me. "I guess we're partners."

And just like that, we start working on the assignment together. I get stuck on one part and start chewing my pen. Ashley looks at me weird. "Ashley, I'm stuck on this part," I complain. "It's just Ash, by the way," she says. She inspects my paper. "Ah, here's where you messed up," she says. "See, you're supposed to tell when, not where," she points out. "Oh," I say.

We start getting paints out. Ash brings a tray over. But her foot slides, and in a last ditch attempt to save the paints, she dives forward. Before I know it, I'm covered in green paint. Ash just stares, wide-eyed at the mess she caused. "Oh my god!" I shout, infuriated. "Do you know who I am?" "What's going on?" Mrs. Christianson comes over. "She just dumped paint on me!" I say, my voice raised. "I am so sorry!" Ash apologizes. "Miss Sawyer," Mrs. Christianson says, "why don't you help Miss Thorn clean up in the bathroom?"

Ash practically has to drag me to the bathroom, I'm so upset. "This shirt had been perfect!" I complain. "Stop being a baby," Ash replies. I gasp. "Are you serious? You're calling me a baby?" "Yep," she says. The water starts running, and Ash gets some soap. "I need your shirt," she says. "What?" I ask. "Your shirt," she repeats. "I need it to wash it." "No way! Then I'd be shirtless!" I say. "You don't want your perfect look to be ruined, right?" Ash asks. "I-" I swallow. "Okay," I mumble.

I go into a stall and take off my shirt. I pass it to Ash over the stall door. I hear water running. I could tell from the sound of scrubbing and grunting that Ash was washing my shirt. It takes a while before I hear the blow-dryer start up. 

"What's taking so long?" I complain. "Chill out," Ash says. "I'm almost done." "Well, hurry up!" I say. I had never been without a shirt for this long in a public place. I was getting more uncomfortable by the second. Finally, Ash handed me my shirt from over the stall. After throwing my shirt on, I step outside. "All better," Ash smiles. And to my surprise, I smile back. But my smile soon fades, and seeing that Ash was still looking at me, I say coldly, "What are you looking at?" Ash shrugs. "Weirdo," I mumble.

"Well, thanks," I grumble. "Sure," Ash says. She then slides her scrunchie out of her hair. When her hair falls around her shoulders, my breath hitches. She's truly gorgeous. Then I mentally slap myself. What the hell? I'm not gay, I'm literally dating Tyler Hudson! Snap out of it! "Umm," Ash says, bringing me back to reality. "You done staring?" I immediately blush so hard my ears turn pink. Ash laughs. "It's okay, most people I meet can't resist," she smiles. That only makes me blush harder.

"So, are we gonna go back to art class, or are you waiting for a kiss on the cheek?" Ash jokes. "I would love a kiss on the cheek," I joke back. Then, to my surprise, Ash leans in and kisses me softly on the cheek. "There," she says. "Now let's go."

I would never forget that one fateful kiss. What can I say? It changed my life.