Octopus Lips

My Boyfriend Disappears

Occasionally I like to skateboard to school. Usually when the suns out, and that was today so this particular morning the cool air bit into my cheeks and the polyurethane wheels bit into the sidewalk as the world flew by me. I had Gwen Stefani's crunchy voice blasting in my ears like I was queen of the world, and in a way, I was.

I rolled up to the high school gates and standing there on his phone was a tall boy. He was strawberry blonde with a sly grin and bright blue eyes to match his sky-high personality. I flipped my skateboard up and caught it in my hand, then flicked out my hand and let the little red string trail along the ground until appeared tied around the boy's pinkie finger, and he looked up as I approached. His name was Gordon Jones, and he was the love of my life.

"Hey hun." I greeted and stood up on the tips of my toes to give him a quick kiss.

Gordon smiled against my lips, but it still seemed off. "Hey Gwen. It's good to see you."

I frowned. "You okay?"

He sighed. "Yeah I'm fine. I just had a long morning."

I stared at his face and tried to decipher what he wasn't telling me. He was a catalyst of rainy days and quiet sadness. Sometimes I would look into his eyes and feel gravity pull down on me a little harder. Gordon saw me staring and smiled at me and squeezed my hand in his real quick.

"I'm okay." He insisted. "I'll tell you about it over lunch if I'm still upset."

"Okay, fine." I agreed hesitantly. "Love you."

"Love you too." His phone went off in his hand.

I watched his face as he purposely looked away from me. "Who's that?"

"Johnny." He said nonchalantly. "He lost his math textbook."

"Sounds like Johnny." I laughed.

"Yeah." Gordon shut his phone off and then looked up at me, smiling sweetly.

I saw him almost every day and every day I was reminded how much I love him. I met Gordon freshmen year, he transferred over from another school a few states away. He was this quiet boy in the back of my classes that I loved to stare at and figure out what was going on behind those dewy brown eyes. I started talking to him soon after that and eventually found out he moved from another red-string area, and it wasn't long before I discovered he was the boy on the other end of my string. It had been two years and ever since then two of us were thicker then blood but every once in a while, our relationship rug would wrinkle and I was left to figure out how to smooth it out. It was okay, because I loved him, I really did. He was like a field of flowers that tickled my face. He was strawberry lemonade on a hot day. He was a hug and a pile of blankets when it rained. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Gordon Jones.

"See you at lunch." I said in the hallway over the hustle and bustle of other student bodies.

He nodded and stood up to kiss him again. I made sure to hold onto his hand and let him know whatever it was this time we'd figure it out, together. We always figured things out together. Then we parted ways. I said high to people on my way to my classes. I had lots and lots of friends, but they were mutuals. The whole school just... knew me. I stood out like a lit match in a paper factory. The teachers liked me because I worked hard to get good grades and was always nice to them when possible. The masses knew me because I was the cool girl whose parents let her dye her hair five different colors and never kept quiet if I could help it. I was the girl whose boyfriend was hot, popular, and on the football team. My friends were the coolest people I've ever met. Did I have a pretty sweet life? Hell yeah, Zack and Cody have nothing on me. I'm Gwen Degray and I'm living to slay.