One Winter's Night

The First Signs of Winter

***1 year earlier***

Winter was my favorite time of the year. The snow starts to stick to the ground and that's when I knew that winter is here. When the season changes from fall to winter, I knew that hot chocolate and Netflix awaits me every late night. And of course, Roman.

Roman Heart has been my best friend since I was 9. He was the first person that I met after my family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My dad was a doctor who moved our family from Houston, Texas to become the head of surgery at the University of Penn hospital. My mother was a stay-at-home mom who took care of me and my twin younger siblings, Sara and Stephen.

I met Roman during my first day of school in the fifth grade. As cliche as it sounds, Roman was the first person who spoke to me that day. 

"Hey, I'm Roman," 10-year old Roman first said to me with his wavy, blonde hair hanging in his eyes. His big brown eyes looking into my green eyes with such wonder and warmth in the winter's cold.

"Hi, I'm Reignah." Roman moved his chair closer to my desk that day and made sure that I had someone to talk to. After that day, Roman made it a point to sit with me everyday. He was there with me through middle school, high school, and even now.

Roman sat at the end of my bed as I watched The Office for the third time. This episode was when Michael Scott left Dunder Mifflin and had to replace him with Will Ferrell. I thought that this episode was so funny. Roman didn't find The Office very funny so he laid onto his stomach on my bed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started to text the girl he was talking to, Alayla. I was a little jealous of their relationship because every guy was afraid of Roman, so they never tried to ask me out or even speak to me.

Well, besides Josh. He was my dance partner for about five years now. He was my partner for ballet and hip hop while being my other best friend. I met him when I moved to my new dance studio in Philly. I started dancing when I was three and I absolutely loved it. His skin was soft and brown. His dark brown eyes pierce mine with every glance. He was such a beautiful man to me but there was one issue with that. Josh was gay and he was proud to be gay. He captured every girl's eyes and swiftly denied their every temptation with his actions.

I've been single since I was dumped by Alex. Since then, I've been trying everything in my power to find someone that would fulfill me in the way that I want but, as it always has been, I can't find one person to complete the task after Alex. I've even brought my feelings up with Roman and he just laughed it off. He gets sex every time he asks for it from Alayla and when he tells me about his instances I get so jealous. I haven't had sex since I was with Alex and even then it wasn't all that great.

"Roman, can you find me a date for tonight? I really hate going out with you and Alayla because it reminds me of how single I still am," I pleaded with him. He looked up at me and replied, "Reignah. You know that none of my friends are good enough for you. And besides, Alayla and I aren't gonna do anything in front of you."

He says that every time but they both manage to go somewhere alone for a five minute quicky. It's kinds disgusting when I start to think about the places they've done it in. I rolled my eyes at him and went back to watching The Office.

Roman noticed that I didn't believe him so he started to crawl next to me on my queen sized bed and started to wrap his arms around me. He did this every time I was upset about something and it always made me feel better. I knew what he was gonna do if I still ignored him but I was still surprised every time. He took a deep breath and started to tickle all my hot spots. He started at my neck and moved to my sides and behind my knees. I started to squirm and kick until tears formed in my eyes. That's when he would stop the tickle attack.