Stephen and Sharpies ~ Watty Awards 2012

Chapter One

    I feel my eyes widen. Stephen, the girl next door, is drawing a heart on my arm. With a red Sharpie she carefully draws the shape and colors it in. She watches me the whole time, waiting for me to say something.

    “Stephen, what are you doing?” I try to pull my arm away, but she stops me.

    “You know Alec, curiosity kills the cat.” Stephen shrugs her shoulders and then focuses back on my wrist.

    Waving her hand over the heart, she keeps one eye on me. After a minute she presses her lips to my skin, directly over the heart. I feel goosebumps rise over my body. She lets go of my arm and without a word turns her back to me and walks down the hall. I think for a minute about chasing after her, but my foot won’t move. They are frozen to the ground.

    She turns the corner and for a moment I think I catch Stephen taking one last look at me, but I must be imagining things.

    Stephen has left me stuck in the middle of the hall swimming in the scent she left behind. Smoke mixed with a strong perfume is left in the spot where Stephen stood.

    She had such a smirk on her face when she was standing in front of me. That face is imprinted in my mind forever.  

    I toss my letterman’s onto the bed and flop on top of it. As I grab the remote to my stereo, turning it on, the newest and most popular song begins to blare. My lips move in time with the words. Without knowing it, I’ve fallen asleep.

    The dream is simple. A white room with Stephen and me. She holding that red Sharpie and has her crooked little smile on her face. I sit with her in the empty space, in complete silence.

    My dream, however is interrupted. Someone’s hand is on my shoulder, shaking me awake.

    “Alec, wake up.” I turn over and Ma is standing over me. “You’ve been asleep for over twelve hours, it’s time to get up.”

    “What do you want?” I throw a pillow over my head and try to fall back asleep.

    Ma pulls the pillow off my head. “I just want to ask you about this girl, Stephen Dooley? She’s in your grade, do you know her?”

    “Yeah, I know Stephen,” I say, my voice peaks with interest.

    “Well anyways, she left you something last night on our doorstep.” Ma hands me a box covered with duct tape. My name is written thickly across the front.

    “Uh, thanks?”

    Ma smiles. “So who is this Stephen girl?”

    “Remember that girl in eighth grade?” Ma shakes her head. “The one we took to the hospital?”

    “Oh. I didn’t realize you two were close.”

    I feel myself going over the lunches and football games where I caught Stephen staring at me. I pull myself out of the memories. “We aren’t really.”

    “Okay, well I’m going back downstairs. Let me know what’s in the box, it looks pretty mysterious.”

    I laugh a little. “Yeah Ma, I will.”

    Ma closes the door behind her and I wait for her footsteps to fade away.

    I start to pull off the tape from the box. Opening the box, I am hit with that scent from yesterday. The cigarette smell and the fruity perfume. As I think back on yesterday, I feel as if I missed something. Something that was extremely important, but it doesn’t matter now.