Yin & Yang

"I sounded like a Nicholas Sparks novel"

Adam P.O.V.

The clock was just about to strike midnight when I heard an incessant tapping on my window. I assumed that it was just the tree branches tickling the glass due to the slight wind.

But, the light raps soon turned into panicked harsh knocks. I stood frozen to the spot, not quite sure what to do.

I just got out of the shower; my hair still slightly damp and stuck to my forehead. I had only gotten home from soccer practice about four hours prior. I had parked my car in the street and did what I always had done in the last two years; looked up into Annette's window.

The lights were off in her entire house, but I noticed that sometime during my shower, the lights had turned back on and her mom's car was parked in the driveway. And now, there was a mysterious knocking on my second story bedroom window.

And there was only ever one person that dared to climb on the tree branch to reach my window. But, I wouldn't let my hopes get up; it couldn't be her. I can't tell what she has been up to in the last few weeks -whether she was just having fun or purposely getting a rise out of me and succeeding. I lost complete control in the supply closet and I know that Annette did also, but I had a firm belief that Annette still hated me. No matter how much her actions said otherwise. And no matter how much I wanted her.

Regardless of this fact, I approached the window with cautious steps and barely concealed hope. I lifted up my blinds and tried to make sense of what was blended into darkness. A female shadow crouched onto the thick limb of the tree was barely visible behind the window. It was her.

With a deep breath I quickly undid the latch on my window and pulled it open as fast as I could manage. The light in my room enveloped Annette in the darkness and highlighted her face in the soft yellow glow.

And for the first time in a long time I captured a glimpse of Annette's true emotions behind her cold and impassive mask.

Her lips quivered uncontrollably, shaking her jaw and puckering the skin above her chin. Her cheeks burned in emotions and the tip of her nose -a perfect pink as her hands trembled and she held onto the windowsill.

I could faintly make out the light glistening of the left-over tear tracks on her cheeks. Her chest heaves with each intake of her breath in such a way that you would think her lungs are too small for her body. She looks disoriented and scared; her eyes wide and darting around.

It's almost like she is having trouble breathing. But, what shocked me the most was the raw and conflicting emotions playing out freely in her eyes.

The clear blue of her iris became muddled and stormy with grief. As soon as her eyes met mine they flashed in regret and became conflicted. Her eyes swam with such overwhelming emotion that I felt as if I am intruding on her personal moment; her face almost like a car crash -I know I shouldn't stare, but I can't look away. Her eyes glisten with unshed tears and I could tell that she is barely holding on.

The whole scene is so shocking that I just stare at her for quite some time, unsure of what to do. Annette watches me also, but it's more like she is trying to calm herself down by studying my face. I have no idea what caused her to be in such overwhelming agony like this, but I am afraid that if I say or do one wrong thing she will shatter to pieces right before my eyes.

There was one thing I wanted her to do right away. And that was for her to climb off from the precarious branch she is crouched on.

I hold out my arms openly to her in a welcoming gesture. Annette looks mildly confused for a split second before practically leaping through the window. She lands into my arms with such force that I fall back onto my cluttered carpet. The minute that her body collides with mine it is almost as if a dam broke loose.