Giddy

Problem #3 - Glow Painted Heart

So I have an Instagram that I've sort of turned into an informal version of this journal. You can also read the bio and it'll tell you what else I use it for. I know, shameless promo.

neptuneromantic

That's the username. Enjoy this because it's my most recent dilemma.

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Another Sweet Sixteen! Not mine, obviously. I wrote about that already. This is at my friend's Sweet Sixteen.

I arrived second. That fact isn't really important, but arriving early sucks.

I won't spend too much time going into detail about the start of the party and what we did because that's not when this all started. I'll say that we were in the backyard, which was rather spacious. There was a deck-like space that I kept referring too as the stage and it was honestly a fitting name.

When the sun set and it became dark, that's when the newest Star Wars was set up to play on a projector against a large white screen set up on the stage.

Here's a disappointing fact about me: I've never seen a single Star Wars movie. Ever. So I didn't have too much interest in the movie.

What DID catch my attention was this photo booth station set up away from the space where people were watching the movie. Oh, and there were around twenty or so people there, so the majority who were watching filled the backyard. Anyways, this photo booth had a bunch of different props to use and pictures were being taken with a polaroid. The coolest part that drew me in was the glow-in-the-dark paint. Well, more like glow-in-the-blacklight paint.

I was very intrigued, but for a while I didn't know what I wanted to actually do with it. I wanted a simple design that wouldn't ruin my face, and that's when I decided I would create dots above my right brow that followed its line in a curve, and matching dots that curved underneath my left eye. One of my friends that actually had dragged me over to join her made a similar design on her face when she saw what I had done.

If it weren't for her love of picture-taking, I wouldn't have had the experience I'm about to get to.

And okay, so I lied about not going to go into detail, but I can't help it.

A few of my other friends joined us then: a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, and one other girl. The important person in this story, as you would probably be able to guess, is the boy. Let's call him Josh.

Josh's sister was cold because she came to the party unprepared in a t-shirt and shorts. It got cold at night. Josh decided it was a great idea to just take off his short-sleeved button up and give it to her to keep her warm. For a while, of course, we were just sort of stunned at his appearance.

Eventually we got used to it, so we came up with the grand idea of painting all over his upper body with the glow paint. His sister put the paint on her hands and made handprints, other designs were scribbled all over his back and front, and he even put it in his hair. I got the privilege of painting the design that I had onto his face.

I was dangerously close, but I wasn't thinking about it then like I think about it now.

After some more picture taking, we decided to settle down and we were just together talking. Now I'll admit, just like Josh's sister, I was not prepared for the cold. I didn't have time to change into different clothes, so I showed up at the party in a skirt and light, oversized zip-up jacket. I almost brought my flower crown that I was wearing earlier in the day since it was Earth Day, but I decided to leave it behind last minute. I didn't mind because my hair wasn't a mess or anything. In short, I was shivering cold.

I had brushed a hand against Josh's arm on accident, and realized how warm he was. Then I fully wrapped my fingers around his bicep and shared my surprise with everyone in our group of his warmth.

"I'm just going to grab onto you because my hands are cold..." I told him.

But no.

"Here." He says and he makes me let go of him as he drapes his arm around my shoulders in a sort of side hug.

Huddled to his side, I was a bit shy but satisfied with the warmth of his bare skin. It was at the moment that one of my friends raised the polaroid camera in our direction that I realized what position I was actually in.

Unfortunately, the picture wasn't captured because my friend stepped in the way without realizing it. However, we had stayed that way for a long time. He was careful not to get the paint on him onto me, and thank goodness it was dry.

My heart felt as if it were about to beat out of my chest. Then the moment that I thought would last forever was over when he pulled away to go grab something.

"Are you still cold?" He asked me.

I lied. "I think I'll be fine. Thank you." I had said thank you to him a lot, actually.

I regretted it, though. I missed being underneath his arm in that way. I missed the touch of his smooth skin and the warmth. I felt distracted. Definitely distracted.

But, I thought it wouldn't mean too much. It was just something he did.

But then, I also found out that he had a girlfriend at that time.

I just got more confused.

Problem number three, my friends.