Crushed

Chapter 16

His warm, gentle lips pressed against mine. His soft, slender hand rested on my waist. I was shocked, vulnerable, and most of all, in love. I ran my hand through his hair just before he pulled away. "I had to do that." He said. "It's alright, I wanted to too." I responded, still holding him close. He gave me a boyish grin, and I almost melted. He was just so... Handsome. I just wanted one more minute with him, one more second, one more moment. But I couldn't stay. If I'm not home by the time my mom gets home, she'll call me, and I'd rather avoid that awkwardness. "I have to go." I blurted, taking a step back. "I'm sorry, I just have to go." His hand fell from my waist, "Okay, that's fine, I get it." He looked genuinely hurt. "It's not you, it's just..." I trailed off. "No, it's okay, I'll see you tomorrow?" He said, looking hopeful. "Tomorrow," I said, before turning to leave. Tomorrow.

I regretted leaving so abruptly, but there was nothing I could do. I replayed the moment of the kiss over and over again in my head. I just felt so... nostalgic. Alex was my first love, my first boyfriend, and now, my first kiss. I never wanted that moment to end. Never.

*****

Monday flew by, but something was different, odd even. I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but it was... Anne. She was ... Quiet, something she's usually the opposite of. She just wasn't herself. She was weepy, and looked very sorrow, like she regretted doing something, anything, but I don't know, I'm not her.

Besides that, nothing really interesting happened. We had triple French, science, math, and history, nothing really fun. French was boring, as usual, science was nothing special, and history... Well, it's history, nothing interesting ever happens. However, tomorrow should be good. We have an assembly, and who knows what will happen.

When I got home I climbed the stairs, and collapsed on my bed. The day is done. I have no obligations whatsoever. That's the way I like it. I just slept, undisturbed, until dinner. No people, not pets just me.

*****

I woke up the next morning to my alarm, and willed myself to get up for another day of school...With Alex... I realised. I was practically skipping the way to school. I was excited, for once, to go to school. It might not have been for the reasons teachers would hope for, but no matter, I was happy, I guess that's all that matters.

At school, Anne was still weepy, and quiet, but I noticed something. A smudge of black... something or other, on her left cheek, next to her lip. I wonder what it is... I couldn't think of anything on the spot, so I pushed the thought away, and decided I would remember it some other time, when I wasn't so distracted by my emotions. I continued working on my project, which I had been doing, before I completely zoned out. I almost forgot! We have an assembly after break. I thought, my mind trying to think about anything but the history project I'm supposed to be focusing on.

Needless to say, I didn't get very far in the project, but the assembly... the assembly was something else. It was a presentation 'ceremony' where the teacher's pets get rewarded for sucking up to all their teachers. They say it's to 'encourage, and reward students for doing their best every single day,' but everyone knows it's really just a popularity contest. It's always the popular people in every class who win, but the prize is just a free yearbook and school shirt, so I don't mind not winning. I was surprised when Anne's name wasn't called, after all, she is a total teacher's pet. Then again, after what she said during the power outage, I realised that it would probably have spoiled her image, with Mme.Fenster anyways. Instead, in our class, Jacob won, and it makes sense, because all the drama he took part in with the thing with Emilie made him the centre of attention for about a month, even with the teachers. I'm not sure how he got popular with the teachers too, but it happened, and no one questioned it.

*****

Today, wednesday, Anne still constantly looked like she was about to cry, and there was once more a smudge of black, on her lip this time. Also, her hair was an unbrushed mess, and she wore sweatpants and a baggy sweater. She might as well have shown up in her pajamas.What could it be... I thought. Is the black... Ash? Is she...? I doubt it, I mean, this is only grade seven, she wouldn't. But maybe... I tried to push the thought away once more, but it wouldn't leave. It just lingered in my head for the rest of the day. Would she? I kept thinking. The only answer I could come up with was, maybe. It was impossible to know, and yet, I still couldn't help but think, what if she does.