Her Mysterious Ways

Chapter 23: Zero Inches

That's when I hugged her.

And no, it wasn't a little wimpy, I'm-scared-of-touching-people hug. No. It was a I'm-here-for-you kind of hug. Yeah. Lots of feeling behind that one. And the surprising thing was that she hugged me back... even harder. It was almost empowering.

"I knew you weren't going to kiss me." Her voice teased, muffled my my coat.

"And how did you know that?" Despite the seriousness of the situation, I grin at the thought of me hugging Andy... or whatever the hell her name is.

"Because I saw the look on your face. It wasn't the same as when you were going to kiss me at The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was different, softer than before. I know that sounds like cheesy shit but you get what I mean."

"Yeah, I get it. It's just... I mean I could kiss you right now but I'm sure you'd slap me and file a restraining order, so I'll just settle for this."

"Good, because that's all you're getting." She pulled away with a sly grin on her face and started walking slowly, looking back at me to make sure I was following her this time.

"I'm okay with that. I did just hug the great and almighty not Andy. What's your real name anyways?" Since we were now so closely acquainted, I decided to go for it. I was going for a lot of things that day.

"I told you, for all intense and purposes my name is a totally unethical, totally useless object that the world could go without and no one would miss it." It was like she was trying to make me like her.

"ROSE! IT'S ROSE ISN'T IT? I KNEW IT! GOD THANK THE HEAVENS FOR MY INTELLIGENCE!" I stopped walking and held my hands up to the sky, praising the wonderful world beyond for my brain.

"You're going to want to maybe thank them when you get the right answer." Her face was lit up with mockery it was almost amusing to see, and I was the one she was mocking for Gods sake.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"I mean you're going to have to guess again if you want to guess right." Even her eyes were mocking me. God.

"So I'm wrong?" My face drooped and my ego went from over the top to about the level of Egor the hunchback's in three seconds flat.

"To quote Shakespeare somewhere in his life, yes." Her smirk, although annoying, was cute. Shit this girl was doing weird things to my mind, but I was okay with it.

"Well then, what ever could your name be? Rosie? Rhonda? Riley? Rapunzel even? Shit, I don't know. Help me out here."

"Nah. It's fun to see you struggle." A small laugh escaped her lips and I thought I was going to fall over, but thankfully I kept my balance.

"Were any of my guesses even remotely close to right?" I was helpless. A name really isn't a big deal, but at the same time it is. I guess I thought that if I could get her to tell me her name, it would be one step closer to getting inside her head. As stupid as it sounded I really wanted to know her. I wanted so badly to know her favourite book so that I could read it, and I wanted to know her favourite song so that I could listen to the lyrics and somehow link them to her. I just wanted to know her, quirks and all, even if it was a little scary to think that she would want to know me too.

"One of them." Her voice pulled me out of my thoughts and back into reality, which I still thought was a dream because we were walking... together. Oh yeah. All alone for that matter. And now I had a clue to her real name. A clue.

"YASSSSSS!" I screamed to the sky while my feet stopped moving to make the great gesture all the more dramatic.

"You stupid idiot start walking or I'm leaving you here alone." Her head was shaking as if she were trying not to smile, but I couldn't see her face through the cascade of auburn hair that was swaying back and forth. God, she was beautiful.