Transparent Moments #wattys2016

Excerpt from a story ill never write

*Not edited*

He threw the keys into the ignition and I felt the sweet humming of the car through my aching feet. Cool air blew from the air conditioning kissing my pale complexion, and I melted into the car seat from exhaustion and relief. The car merged forward until we were on the road throwing us into the darkness. The sky was painfully dark, blacker than the thickest of ink with only one or two stars to light our faces. The atmosphere had shifted in an unexplainable, eccentric way, and I knew this wasn't an ordinary night.

With one hand on the wheel, he used his free hand to adjust the music traveling from his phone and projecting through car speakers. I studied his face in amusement while he plugged and unplugged the same wire adjusting its position.

There was small chatter exchanged  between us with a few genuine laughs but it was mostly silent. The silence that crept through the car wasn't unbearable to the point you felt uncomfortable. It was the kind of stillness that was pleasant, and while it had you guessing what was to come, you didn't care because everything seemed to be working itself out.

I tried my best to keep my eyes on the road. He was such a beautiful distraction with his copper stained eyes, gentle lips, subtle facial hair. I couldn't help glancing in his direction. Because of the humidity we had previously encountered, his hair was frazzled falling into the perfect brown spirals. I beamed at how curly his hair had become in the course of just a few minutes. And though I loved the perfectly imperfect curls, I wouldn't dare tell him. He was anal when it came to his hair always trying to tame the waves and would only try to flatten them out.

My cheeks became flush with embarrassment when his eyes darted to mine only to catch me staring at him. I found myself thankful for the night sky to allow me to hide my blushing face.

We had only just started the drive home. It seemed like his alluring looks and soulful eyes had captured me in a trance for hours, but when I finally tear my gaze away and peek at the clock only a few minutes have gone by.

"Uhg," he grunts while dramatically unplugging the cord. I laugh to myself because even his frustration has a way of being charming. As he's about to press a button to change from radio to c'd a familiar melody carries through the car pushing the silence away.

"Is this journey?" I ask focusing in to the faint tune. He reaches for the volume and the lyrics are blasting through the speakers. Without hesitation we simultaneously begin shouting the words everyone in the world knows by heart.

"DONT STOP BELIEVIN," we sang together. My voice became quieter still relatively shy about my singing voice even though I knew he didn't care, something I admired about him. He was never shy, never afraid to be himself, never embarrassed. I didn't just admire that particular quality, I had fallen in love with it.

"HOLD ON TO THAT FEELIN." He rolled down the windows as we sped down the lonely road with the warm fresh air nipping at our faces and creating a mess of our hair. I may have felt embarrassed to sing, but dancing was something I was accustomed to and never thought twice about.

"STREETLIGHTS, PEOPLE." He sang louder than I while I broke out into awful dance moves. Without looking, something told me that he was tapping his foot to the song as if he were playing it on drums, one of his many habits.

The car came to a brief halt. Beside us possibly the only other vehicle on the road pulled up. It was only seconds before the chorus started up again. The man in the white pickup truck had his window rolled down all the way as well.

Without any shame he and I sang the chorus even louder this time knowing we had an audience. "DONT STOP BEILIVIN HOLD ON TO THAT FEELIN." He raised his voice while I obnoxiously mouthed the words and sporadically threw my arms in the air.

We continued with these child-like actions until he pressed on the gas leaving the man with that scarring image imprinted in his mind for eternity. We could barely contain the laughter as the song came to a soft ending.

I desperately fought back the feeling of wanting to press his lips onto mine. I wanted to feel his warmth radiate onto my skin. His kisses were unique, exotic and I somehow always became lost within his touch. And while losing myself in him, I found a part of me I never knew about.  But the moment didn't allow for it and I resisted the urge.

It was a moment so rare, one you hold onto because things have never felt so right before. I should have been ecstatic to encounter this once in a lifetime moment, but with him moments like these happen too often. Ever since he waltzed into my mundane life things have never been quite the same, and i'm never letting go.