Don't Touch Me

First Encounter

I plunked myself under a random tree around the outskirts of the school yard, redding-yellow leaves swayed softly in the autumn breeze. A huff escaped my lips as I reflected on the first half of that God-forsaken day; the first day of high school. I hadn't met a single decent person in the entire establishment, and there had to be some 4,000 kids there, at least! I shook my head, unzipped my book bag ,and pulled out Crime and Punishment, fluttering through the well-worn pages until I reached my last page. Just as I started to read, a quiet cough made me tear my eyes from the print before me.

A girl, who was shaking slightly, stood less than a meter in front of me, her blonde hair held in place by hair clips, pale brown eyes timidly met my green ones.

"Uh...hi. I- uh- I'm Terra," she said quietly. "I was- um...would you be...er...can I sit with you? I'm in your Social Sciences class...in second period. And- um- I saw you reading that," Terra gestured to the book in my hands, "and it's one of my favorite books. So I thought maybe that- um- you have a good taste in literature. And...yeah."

I barked out with laughter, but stopped immediately when I saw her gaze drop to her shoes. "Hey, no-crap. Of course you can sit here," I said with a smile, patting the ground next to me. Relief flooded her features as she walked over to my side, and slid her backpack onto the ground easily, sitting down quietly.

"What part of the book are you at?" she inquired excitedly. I shook my head slightly and patted Terra's shoulder. Looking back on it now, I didn't notice her flinch under my touch. All I knew was that that was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Noticing

Terra bounded up to me in the hall, smiling brightly. "Guess what!" She exclaimed, bouncing slightly. I placed my science supplies in my bag and closed my locker, looking over to Terra with an overly dramatic thinking face. "Um...you are finally going to do my homework for me?" I asked in a sarcastic tone with a hopeful glint at the end.

Terra snorted. "As if! That's never going to happen, hon," she said in an overly sweet tone.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, what's the great news?" I inquired, slipping my book bag over my shoulders. Terra's face brightened as she lifted what looked to be a 10 page essay into the air.

"I got an A from Mr. Snotter!" She all but screamed while waving the papers around. Mr. Snotter's real name was Mr. Snider, but he would give you an F any chance he got. And poor Terra had made it her mission to ace one of his essays.

"No way. Give me that," I said snatching the paper from her. Sure enough, there was a red A in the upper right if the first paper. "Oh my God, Terra! This is amazing! It took you until Junior year, but you finally did it!" I yelled ecstatically. I leaned forward and grabbed her in a bone crushing hug. That was the first time I noticed it. It took me three years before I did, and when I realized it, I felt horrible: Terra was completely tense and flinched when ever I touched her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Understanding

"Hey, Terra?" I asked timidly.

She looked at my with a furrowed brow, and her head cocked to the side. "Yeah?"

"Can I- um. Can I ask you something?" I felt like complete crap. Terra is usually the one stumbling over her words or asking me questions; I was always the one to make her feel safe, but now I felt vulnerable. How could I have never noticed? We'd been inseparable for three damn years.

Her features softened. "Of course you can," she said with a soft smile, taking a swig from her water bottle.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them I asked, "Do your parents beat you?"

Terra sputtered, lunging forward slightly, and started choking on the water she had in her mouth. I quickly went to her side and started patting her back.

"What? No! Why on earth would even think that?!" Terra coughed out in a slightly hoarse voice, her face contorted in confusion. I felt my body relax instantly, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," I breathed out, eyes shut lightly. Taking another breath, I turned to Terra and looked straight into her brown eyes. "You flinch- all the time. And when I hug you, you're always tense. What's that all about?"

"Oh," she whispered, removing her gaze from mine. Her body visually deflated after my comment. "Don't laugh, okay?" She asked timidly.

"I would never."

"Well, I have this thing- uh, phobia. It's called Haptephobia, and it's the fear of being touched. I don't have it as severely as most people do. But it's still there, and I can never get over it, no matter how hard I try," she finished, looking up at me, almost scared.

I wanted, so badly, in that moment to hug Terra. To squeeze the living daylights out of her. But I knew that would be a dick move after her little spiel, so I just smiled fondly at her.

"Now, why would I laugh at that?" I almost cooed, which caused her face to brighten.

"You mean, your okay with the fact that I have this really random and stupid phobia?"

"Of course," I laughed. "You're still the same Terra I've been friends with since the first day of freshman year! The only difference is I can't slug ya' one when that cute boy from your fifth period walks by."

She smiled the widest smile I've ever seen, and did something I didn't expect in that moment. She hugged me.

Maybe, just maybe, I'd be able to help suppress that phobia of hers. Heck, maybe I'd help her over come it one day! At the time, only one thing was for certain: Terra was and always would be my best friend.

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New story-done

Dedicated to my lovely best friends @forever_maeve, @demoncandeh, and Rebecca (sorry, I don't know your user name @-@) cause I love them all.

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~Read on book slugs; cause worms are overrated.~