the sky is blue

<<<<< the next day >>>>>

My eyelids fluttered open. I sat up in bed and stretched.

All of a sudden I jump started and sprinted to my phone. Nothing.

Did she even read it?

A sea of ideas were circling me. I took a deep breath and walked out of the room.

She is a late sleeper, after all.

This was a coward's way of telling a girl how he felt. I was ashamed to be myself, unable to confront her.

Minute by minute, I waited for something. Anything.

Hour by hour, I paced around my room, trying to contain my excitement and possible anxiety.

I was getting a late breakfast when I noticed my phone had a notification.

This is it.

The exchange between us started off normally, with us asking what we were doing.

Then, before I could stop myself, I asked her about last night.

"Did you see the paper?" That was my text to end it all, or be the catalyst of something beautiful.

For a second, nothing returned. I hung my head in defeat.

But that's when she finally told me about it.

"It was the most beautiful thing anyone's ever written for me," she said with a virtual smile.

I started screaming and jumping. I had no control; I had to release my stored excitement. I just wished I could've seen her real smile.

Unexpectedly, I was hit with another long text of doom.

I got the gist of it- she wanted to keep our wonderful friendship.

At first, I didn't know what to say or what to do. I was legitimately frozen in the mind and body.

It took me a while to process what I just saw.

I need to talk to her.

I decided to call her; I owed her a real explanation with real voices at least.

I walked around my yard, talking to the girl who lived less than a mile away. The girl who I had known since first grade. The girl who goes to my school. The girl who rides my bus. Her.

"I'll be here," I said in a playful tone. The problem was that I wasn't sure what would happen next between us...