Numbered

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Austin's normally manly face looked young and boyish as he smiled. For once, I returned the gesture, unable to contain the joy bubbling up from within me.

"We did it," he breathed, his minty fresh breath washing over me. I embraced it.

We were standing in the middle of the stage; arms spread wide, hearts pounding, the sound of clapping and hollering filling our ears like a sweet chocolate. The show was over and the audience was going hysterical, but so was I. I did it.

For once, it didn't feel like Austin was intruding when he wrapped his arm around my waist as we lowered our hands. After all, it was us that made the show so perfect. The dancing was spectacular. There, in the front row was Ms. Stacy, her many scarves practically falling off her shoulders with the fondness of her clapping. Her eyes met mine and she started to clap even harder, until she wobbled and fell backward into her seat, only to get up and nod to those around her, claiming she was fine.

Then my eyes caught the two men sitting on Ms. Stacy's left, the only two people in the audience that were neither standing up nor clapping enthusiastically.  They were the two government officials that came to watch the show, in charge of job placement. They were the whole reason the show existed. They were the ones who decided if I was going to become an innovator or an entertainer. My heart clenched when I saw them, sitting motionless in the two middle chairs in the front row. Did they not like it?

That thought was quickly drowned by a new wave of hollers erupting from the crowd. Everyone had loved it. Everyone had loved me.

Finally, Austin lead me off the stage, holding me close. Once around the curtain, he squeezed my hand once and let go, his eyes shining. The color of the sea before a storm.

"You did wonderful," he said, and I could tell that he meant it. His long, pale fingers fiddled with the tie on his black suit, loosening it. The suit matched mine, I remembered, and looked down at the very suggestive black dress I had almost forgot I was wearing. Black sequence reflected the dim backstage light.

I looked back up at Austin, and felt like I was drowning in the sea his eyes created. He seemed to notice that I was losing myself, after show jitters turning me into someone I wasn't.

"Can you forgive me now, please Kaytlin." My name rolled of his lips like music. Suddenly I was dizzy, a thousand flashbacks filling my vision.

First I was kissing him, gently. One hand clutched the grass, digging into soft dirt. The other was wrapped around Austin, holding him so tight it seemed like I would never let go. The wind rushed through my hair, entangling it with his, making a black and red fire that swirled around us as he held me close. Then, we were at school, in the lunchroom. He carried my tray to our table, the table that was now mine and mine alone. Then we were holding hands. A winter blizzard, locked indoors. A spring shower, me and Austin in the rain, behind his house. Austin and me, me and Austin. A hundred memories.

Austin and a girl.

But the girl wasn't me. 

A fire that had found its way inside my heart was always burning, and it grew like a hot fog when I remembered that moment, the moment I was betrayed. The fire grew until the heat scorched my insides and shriveled my heart. And I waited for it to grow, like it always did, waited for the fire to fuel my hatred for the blue-eyed boy in front of me.

But it didn't, and soon I heard the words 'I do' cross my lips and travel into his perfect ears.

"Thank you, Kaytlin. Thank you." Austin reached for my hand and kissed it lightly. His hands warm but his lips were so familiar. All the while his eyes kept me under, so all I could see was the blue of the ocean around me.