You and Me

Chapter 3: The Trip

Reed caught up with me and abruptly caught me by my wrist. "Come on," he said. "There's something I wanna show you."

I stood there looking at his glowering eyes for a second, my skin burning from where he grabbed me.

"Reed, I have an algebra test in—"

"Screw algebra," he said. "Trust me, this will be so much more worth it."

Curiously, and with slight remorse, I let Reed lead me to his car parked in the school lot.He grabbed his keys and revved up his engine.
I stared in disbelief.

"You coming?"

Running to his car, I got in the passengers seat.
"What the hell, Reed," I yelled, " I'm not skipping class."

Reed gave me a crooked grin. "Too late."

I turned my head so he wouldn't see me smile.
Ugh, he was too cute.

"So," Reed said as he was driving, " where'd that come from?"

I stared in confusion.
"Where'd what come from?"

"That. What you said back there."

I glared at him and shrugged.
"I don't know. It just did. Preston's a douche."

Reed laughed.

"Thanks for.. you know.. for trying to—"

"Always," he softly said. "Your my best friend."

I forced a smile onto my face. Great. Friends.
If I didn't stop myself, I would've said there was something else Reed wanted to say, but it was obvious I imagined the whole thing.

The car ride was weird. Reed and I weren't the type of people to stay silent for long periods of time. There was always something we wanted to talk about, gossip, frustrations or concerns; so naturally I felt a need to start a conversation.

To my dismay we suddenly made a stop.

"We're here."

I glanced outside my window.
"Reed, we're in a factory."

"Exactly," he said, "and the view's great." Reed got out of the car and opened my door for me.

"Come on."

Taking in my surroundings, I observed the old pipes and machines, still functional but not modern, and obviously well used. The fact that Reed took me here didn't make any sense.

Nevertheless, I followed him till he lead us to a ladder.

"Reed, it says: 'NO TRESPASSING'."

"Cally."

I sighed.

"Cally, we'll be fine. I promise."

He started going up first, I was right behind him. Cautiously, I placed one foot after another , occasionally slipping and needing to regain my balance. I wasn't afraid of heights, but this was a little nerve racking.

Eventually I made it to the top. Of course, me being so short, needed a little help in getting up.

Reed pulled me up, a little too hard actually, making me swing up into his chest knocking him over.

My breath caught at the feel of his body. Reed looked at me, equally as surprised as I was. I could feel his chest heaving, his eyes darting around my face.

Awkwardly, I subconsciously moved my hands to my hair. "Reed?" I whispered.

His face started to flush, and I could see it in his eyes, he was just as embarrassed as I was.

"Reed?" I whispered again.

He clumsily stood up and offered me a hand. I gladly took it.

Reed looked me in the eye and told me that before he said anything stupid he wanted me to look at the city.

So I did.

The sun was starting to go down, illuminating the buildings with a reddish, yellowish color. It kind of reminded me of the sunsets in Cancun, the sun slowing sinking into the continuous horizon, accentuating the mysterious vastness of the ocean. A lot of times my family liked to travel to infamous beaches during the summer, we all agreed that's where sunsets look best.

From up here, the houses looked tiny in comparison to the rest of the city, like a set up in a monopoly game: small homes for small people, existent, yet vaguely unnoticed by the rest.
I had to admit, it was pretty breathtaking.

"Woah," I weezed between breaths.

"I know." Reed paused before speaking again. He hesitantly ran his hands through his hair and then proceeded to crack his knuckles. "I used to come here with my Dad, before he died. He said he worked here as an assembler when he was younger."

I studied his face with concern.
"Well, t's beautiful, Reed."

He let out a long, heavy, sigh.
"Yeah," he said confidently, "and so are you."

My heart skipped a beat. Snapping out of my peaceful state, I uncomfortably shifted and shook my head in frustration.

He did it again. What an idiot.

"Stop saying that! I'm not beautiful, Reed, I'm really not. So you can stop trying to fill my head with false observations. Don't lie to me."

"Damn it, Cally!" He yelled. "Why do you do that? You're so beautiful. I miss you so much when I'm not with you. All I do is think about you and want to be with you, because when I am, my heart stops."

He took a deep breath and then calmed down, this time speaking in a much softer and gentler tone.  "I can't go one day without you; my world revolves around you, Cally. And I hate myself for it. I know you see it too, I can tell from the look in your eyes. When are you going to admit that there's something between us?"

I was stunned. No words could describe what I was feeling. Too sum things up, I was happy, angry, relieved, frustrated, so many emotions just mushed up together.

"Cally." Reed whispered. " Cally, please just say something."

I scoffed. "You think I don't have feelings for you? You're the one who hasn't been listening. I tried to tell you and you shut me down."

I congratulated myself for my sudden burst of confidence, but then realized that I had just admitted my feelings for Reed.

" Is this why you called me on Sunday, Cally?"

I couldn't speak, so I just nodded.

Reed burrowed his eyebrows. "How could I have missed this?"

I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying, instead, I couldn't stop looking at his lips. They were full, pink in color. I wanted to kiss him so badly. What was I waiting for?

Screw our friendship, I needed more than that.

So I crawled over to him, grabbed his face, and kissed him. At first he tensed under me. But then I felt him kissing back. I wrapped my arms around his neck so that I could get a better grip on him. I was so nervous that I wondered if I'd throw up. God, please, no. I'd kill myself if that happened.