The Dark Roads: The Complete Story

Chapter 7: Redemption

We continued talking to each other. Each time I would say something that made her laugh, it gave me great joy. Each time I laughed at something she said, she would smile back at me. It was a wonderful thing.

She was sitting a comfortable distance away from me; not more than a couple inches away. She had her hand down on the small gap between us. As we were talking, we came to a point where neither of us knew what to say. I looked down at my food then back a her. I was about to break the silence when she spoke.

"You know, I'm kinda jealous of you" She said.

"What, why would you be jealous of me?

"You don't have any sides, your just so... free, you know?

I thought about what she had just said. Why would she ever be jealous of me?

"Well what about you, your so... outgoing and... pretty." I was shocked at myself for saying that.

I felt her move a little closer to me. She looked away from me as I complimented her and blushed once again. I put on a smile as she turned back toward me.

"I'm really thankful that you said yes to being my date, I know this isn't really your scene but you are such a good friend and I couldn't go with anyone else."

My smile faded ever so slightly. The word friend made it feel like I was knocked down a couple of pegs; even if it was true.

Then she started to quietly laugh. It caught me off guard and I didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, It's just that.. I can't believe I just said that." She continued to laugh. I could tell that she was doing this in order to get rid of any awkwardness that might happen.

I chuckled so that she wouldn't be laughing by herself.

I could feel her getting closer to me. I knew she wanted me to say something but I had no witty comment about anything. So we sat there in silence, enjoying each others company. Then out of nowhere, I felt her hand. She was poking my index finger with hers. I didn't say anything. I just let it happen.

One way or another we ended up holding hands. At this moment, I felt a feeling I had only felt once. I felt it right after Lindsey first kissed me. And right now I felt it. It was a lustful wanting. A desire. I wanted her badly. At the same time, I was still nervous. I was very anxious.

I looked down at her hand that was holding mine. I squeezed it, and then I slid my hand out of hers. I needed both hands to take a bite out of my sandwich.

I watched her put her hand back into her lap. She looked away from me as if she was distracted by her surrounding. At that moment I knew was an idiot for letting go of her hand.

"You can be funny sometimes Christopher, you know that?" She smiled.

"How so?" I asked.

Then she did something very unexpected. She turned around and got about as close as she could to me. Then she got close to my ear as if what she was telling me was a big secret.

"Its funny how different you can be sometimes, I kind of like it." She explained.

I wasn't expecting that at all. Not only was she amazing, but she always kept me wondering. She was often mysterious, which made her even more endearing. I didn't understand exactly how I was different to her, but all I knew was that she liked it.

At that moment, it felt like the right time to make a move.

I sat there, waiting for the right moment. She had her hands in her lap. For a split second, she placed her hand on the little gap next to us. I seized my opportunity and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly, never wanting to let go. I saw her smile, a smile that no one had ever shown me before. In that moment, for the first time in a long time, I smiled back. This smile was different however; it was genuine and pure. I thought about nothing else in that moment but her.

Word Count: 733