Without Her

Three

His wet sneakers squeak with every step he takes down the sidewalk. He lets himself stop in front of her house.
No one is supposed to know about them.
Only each other.
He lets himself walk up the front steps to the front door and lets his hand feel the texture.
Next, he walks into their backyard and stares into the window in her room. Her bed sheets untouched.
"She isn't back?" He questions himself as he continues his passage.
He gets to his house and climbs up the tree in the backyard by his window. It's the same as he left it earlier.
He lets himself fall to the floor as he gets into his room.
He slides his jacket off and opens his dresser and takes out the only picture he had of her and himself.
It was early summer. Her shorts and red converse were covered with the red paint they had thrown at each other. He let her have his jacket to keep.
They were at an old park no one went to anymore. The playground had grown so many weeds you couldn't tell which was grass and which was rocks.
She had her Polaroid all ready for their selfie looking at the camera meanwhile his thoughts were off his the camera and his focus was on her bright smiley face.
"C'mon look at the camera." She begged him holding the camera in front of her as she puts the first picture down.
He lets himself smile wider than before. Her frustration over him not looking at the camera made her cute, he thought.
The Polaroid camera snaps as he finally looks at it and she smiles and kisses his cheek. "Thank you." She smiles at him. He could feel the heat coming to his face.
He could feel his heart start beating faster when he looked at her lips. He had the urge to grab her and feel her soft lips against his.
He let himself go.
She let the camera fall onto the the grass as his lips touched hers. Her hands went around his neck as his went around her hips.
It seemed like eternity before she pulled away, their noses still touching. She giggled nervously and he let out a chuckle.
"I'm in love with you." He says suddenly. Her eyes focused in on his and he could've sworn he felt her breath stop short for a second.
Her body seem to distance itself from his and he instantly regretted his words. He opens his mouth but she shakes her head. "I have to go." She moves her arms from his neck and starts walking away from him. His brain reacts before his thoughts and he runs after her.
"Are you?" He asks her grabbing her hand with his. Her hands felt soft and warm just like they always were.
"What do you think?" She kisses his cheek and bites her lip looking at him. He wanted an answer.
But he never got one from her.
She was a mystery.
And that's how he left her.