When the Clock Struck Midnight

When the Clock Struck Midnight-15

Chapter 15-Jordan

          Oh my God. It’s her. It’s Holly. It was her all along. I couldn’t believe it. All this time she’s been right in front of me, and she didn’t even know it was me!

          I replayed everything that happened that night. It was so obvious, her smile, her laugh, her personality. How could I not see it before? It was her eyes that had made me hesitate. They were green. Holly had brown eyes, but she could’ve easily put in contacts.

          And why didn’t she tell me? It could’ve saved us a lot of trouble. Then again, I didn’t really tell her about everything either. I walked down the hall and outside toward the parking lot. I saw Holly waiting patiently by my car.

          “Hey,” I said when I approached her.

          “Hi,” she mumbled back, keeping her eyes on her shoes. Could she really still be mad at me? I sighed and got in the car.

          The ride home was achingly silent. I got in my driveway and turned off the car. Holly made to open the door, but I stopped her.

          “Holly, wait.” She let go of the handle and leaned back in her seat. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for laughing at you.” There, that was a start.

          “It’s ok. I forgive you,” she said quietly. It sounded as if there was a double meaning in her sentence. I looked at her and it seemed like there was more she wanted to say. “I was talking with Royce last period.” I waited patiently, knowing there was more. “He kind of put things into perspective for me.”

          “What things?” She shrugged. Watching her now, I could see parts of that girl from the dance and again, I wanted to slap myself for how dense I’d been. If only she would look at me. I needed to see those eyes. I put my fingers to her chin, forcing her to look at me. I ignored the tingles that ran up my arm and focused on her eyes; they were so vibrant that it made me hesitate. “Holly.” I stared into those brown eyes, completely lost. How could I not realize that I loved her before now? “What things?”

          She didn’t answer and I thought maybe she wouldn’t at all. “Things about us,” she whispered, looking down at her hands. My heart thudded and I worried if she could hear it, too. She looked so scared and I wanted to wrap her in my arms and comfort her, but now wasn’t the time.

          “And?” I prompted. She looked up at me again and I could see something I’d never thought I’d ever see in her eyes. I saw love. Forget wrapping her in my arms, I wanted to kiss her.

          “When you came to my room a couple weeks ago and told me you’d felt something that night in the kitchen and you’d asked me if I felt something too, I told you I didn’t. Well, I lied.”

          “I know.” I tried to keep the amusement out of my statement. Though, I doubt it worked. She blinked at me. “You’re a terrible liar, you know that.” It was then that I realized how close we were to each other. I was itching to taste her lips, but I had to wait. I had to hear her say she loved me, too.

          “Yeah, don’t remind me.” She rolled her eyes at me and smiled the first real smile I’d seen in a while.

          “I just did,” I said, grinning. She glanced at me before suddenly blushing. My grin grew wider when I saw the effect I had on her. “So, you were saying.”

          She hesitated before continuing. “Royce, believe it or not, gave me advice on relationships, which, usually, it would have been the other way around, but it wasn’t, so….” She stopped, probably realizing she was babbling. I waited for her to finish. “He told me that I should take a risk or I’ll regret it. He said that if I didn’t let myself open up to you the way you want me to, I would lose you completely, and I don’t want to lose you, Jordan.” She whispered the last part. I stroked her cheek comfortingly.