Special Friend

Chapter Seventeen

Oakland: Had I known she would freak out the way she did, I would have never gotten that involved. I wasn't even planning getting so involved with her.
    A crunch of leaves under someone's foot from behind me startles me out of my thoughts. My head swivels around so fast I practically break it and lose my balance, stumbling a little before finding my footing again.
    "What're you doing out here?" Grace's voice comes from in front of me. I lift my head and meet her eyes. Her beautiful, extravagant, hazel eyes stare back at me.
    I shake my head. "I had to clear my mind, just getting some air." Truth is, I was hiding from her, and the possibility that she'd tell everyone what we did—what I did. Even I wasn't ready to face the consequences of my actions.
    "Hm." She keeps to herself, her eyes avoiding mine, her body tense. She starts biting her lips, picking at them.
    I move closer to her, now only a few feet from her. "What are you doing out here?"
    She looks at me, only for a split second, before returning her gaze to our surroundings. "Alder was looking for you, I figured you wouldn't have gone far."
    "How would you know?"
    She smiles to herself lazily, finally meeting my eyes. "There's literally nothing to do in this town, nor anywhere to go."
    I agree, nodding my head. "I guess you're right."
    We stare at each other for what seems like a million years before she breaks our locked gaze, looking away into the woods that sway and dance around us.
    "I remember," she says, her voice filling the silence, "coming here after school when I didn't want to go home, not that I had a rough home life." She sighs, speaking out loud, yet only to herself, "I used to meet a friend, sometimes we'd walk together, and we'd just sit and talk and laugh."
    I smile to myself, thinking about how peaceful that sounds. "That sounds like it was really nice."
    She nods at me in agreement.
    "I don't remember much of my high school years," I pause before remembering one detail. "I do get these crazy flashbacks though. They seem like memories from high school and there's this one girl who's always there. She's always by my side, always laughing, always smiling. The only problem is, I don't know who she is. Her face is wiped out." I stop and realize what I sound like. "Sorry, I probably sound crazy to you."
    She stares and stares and stares at me for what seems like ages. The wind blows past us, but she never breaks her gaze. The trees around us dance to the hum of the wind, the leaves singing along. Her hair flows in the breeze, but she doesn't move to fix it. Her eyes search me, my face. I drop my head, looking down at my shoes, embarrassed and unsure of what to do. I make the mistake of looking up at her once more, finding her biting her lip.
    "Don't pick at your lips," I say, swiftly moving towards her and placing a hand on her jawline, using my thumb to lightly separate her lips and keep her teeth from tearing them apart. My eyes find hers, and suddenly, I realize how close I've come to her and silence rings through us again. "It's not good for you," I mumble, my voice trailing off into the wind.
    My eyes search hers, hers scour mine. I can feel my heart beating in my throat and soon enough, I can hear hers. Our rhythms sync, creating a sweet harmony. My hand is burning and my skin feels like it's being stabbed by a million pins. And yet, this feels so familiar, so at home, so right, so...perfect. She leans in closer, closing what little space is left between us. My other hand finds itself on her lower back, pulling her up against me.
    Soon, our lips meet. Her hand is placed on the back of my neck, the other on my chest. Fireworks erupt in my stomach and my cheeks flush. Something about this, about us, feels so right. This kiss, its not like before. Our shared kisses from earlier were hungry, passionate even, for all the wrong reasons. This kiss is light and feels like heaven. Her lips are soft and glossed, her hands nimble and gentle. She fills me with butterflies, making me feel more than the word nervous could explain. She feels like home.
    Just as soon as our lips meet, they parted, and so did we. Not a word was spoken, but I believe we had come to a silent agreement. She let go of me, and I her, and turned and walked off. I stayed for a little while longer in the woods before returning back to my house. Her car was still in the driveway and I had the urge to go see her, but knew I shouldn't. My parents were out, so as soon as I got home, I walked into my room and fell asleep on my bed, my fingertips brushing against my lips as I dozed off.