polaroids | awsten knight

polaroid two

The second polaroid was taken a week later.

Otto had invited me to hang out with him and his other friends; that included you. He said he was inviting Geoff, his friend Jawn, and they were bringing along the girls they liked. Otto's little crush was Grace. You knew her.

Arriving at Otto's place, you were already there. What was up with you wanting to get there before everyone else? Well, when I got in Otto told me to keep my jacket, backpack, and shoes on. We would be going to the park behind our houses.

In a ten-minute time spam, everyone got there. Jawn brought Daphne, Geoff brought Chloe, and Otto invited Grace. You didn't bring anyone along. I thought at first it was because you didn't like anyone, though Otto debunked that, telling me you did like someone but they couldn't make it.

That left you and me without anyone. They were all talking to the girls, leaving us once again without anyone. The walk to the park didn't take long. It hit ten when we reached the destination.

"Gross," you had said when we saw Geoff kiss Chloe. I laughed with you, following behind the group of friends. It was awkward to watch our friends be all lovey-dovey, while we stood around.

That was when you had the great idea to split from them. They surely wouldn't mind. While they walked around in the grass, we sped towards the playground. You went onto the slide and I sat on a swing.

You had enough of going down the slide, so you sat next to me on the swing. We sat there, using the momentum to get higher up. We laughed and tried to get higher than each other.

Eventually, you jumped off of the moving swing and went behind me to push. At that moment I didn't care about gaining the most height, I just wanted to have fun with you.

I jumped off when the swing was at its highest and scared you. You thought I might have broken my legs. Instead of crying out in pain, I rolled on the sand that was replaced with woodchips. I laughed to put you at ease.

You lent me a hand, lifting me up off the uncomfortable woodchips. When I looked up I remembered seeing a bar flying across the sky. I pointed up and told you to look but it was too late and it had already flown away. You refused to believe me and told me it must have been a bird. All that mattered was that I knew it was a bat.

For a while, you mocked me about the bat situation. You said "Look, a bat!" every time something was in the sky, whether it be a bird or an airplane. I faked being sad and you stopped.

We went back to the playground and sat on top of the monkey bars. You had a hard time getting on top while I quickly pushed myself on. That's what three years of gymnastics got me.

The moon was bright, brighter than I usually saw it. If I looked closely I could see the craters, but maybe that was my eyes playing tricks on me.

"You look pretty when you're looking at something you love," you had said quietly. Your head was hanging low, watching your feet as they dangled off the monkey bars. I pretended like I didn't know what you said and asked you to repeat it. Then you didn't. You said it didn't matter. It mattered a lot to me.

That night never left my memory because of those words. Nothing could turn this night, or this week, to shit. Those words lifted me up and it was weird because it came from you, a boy I had just met a couple weeks prior.

We sat on the monkey bars until our asses fell asleep. I jumped down while you crawled to the end to have a bar to put your feet down on.

I had never been out this late for this long. You clearly haven't either, as you were very paranoid and looked around everywhere when you heard a noise. Even though I never go out late, paranoia can get the best of people, so I choose to ignore all noises.

I laughed at you when you would flinch at any noise. Maybe that was rude. You told me to shut up and your cheeks turned pink. I shouldn't have made fun of you for being safe.

For the rest of the night, we never did see our friends again. They probably went deeper into the park while we stayed by the kiddie stuff. I hoped they were having fun.

"Do you have a ride home this time," I joked. I sat and pulled on grass. Did it come out a joke or did you really want to sleep at my house again? You relied on me for the night.

We sat on the grass and knotted some together. It was getting boring. That was when you laid down.

I looked at you and knew I had to take a picture. Luckily, I packed my Polaroid in my backpack. Pulling it out, you didn't know I was taking a picture until the flash went on.

You snapped up just to see me grinning stupidly. "Let me see." Reaching over, you snatched the picture out of the camera when it came out. You shook it wildly, begging to see how it looks.

To cut it short, you loved it. I knew you wanted to keep it, but you let me keep it no matter how much your heart told you to hold onto it. Later I'd create a small pile of pictures we take together.

For ten minutes we laid in the grass without a word, just staring at the night sky. Airplanes flew through the clouds and I knew you wanted to bring up the bat situation again. Branches hit each other and you knew I wanted to mock you about the noise. We didn't make fun of each other.

It was getting very late at this point, and we wanted to go home. Well, I wanted to go to my house, and you wanted to join. That night my parents were home, I had no idea if I could sneak you in with me.

The more I thought about it, and the excuses I made, the more bringing you home with me was possible. So I brought you with me.

You slept on the side near the walls and I took the remaining side. Once again, I locked my door so my parents wouldn't walk in. They surely would still be sleeping when you leave.

That night you watched me put the Polaroid we took in the park on my dresser and began starting a pile. It was the first of many, and the first to have my writing on it.

Before you could notice, I grabbed a sharpie and scribbled what you said to me that night - "You look pretty when you're looking at something you love." If I could, I'd get that tattooed on me.

You had such a weird impact on me, and this was our second time hanging out together.

When we got into my bed, you pushed yourself up against the wall while I was enjoying my two-thirds of the bed. Why did you make yourself feel uncomfortable just so I had more unneeded space?

In the morning my door was opened. I thought it was because you left out the front door, but you were sleeping next to me. I must've locked it while it was still open. I let you sleep longer while I checked where my parents were.

"You never told us about your boyfriend," my dad said right when my foot hit downstairs. They were eating their breakfast and my mom was scrolling through her phone.

I laughed and shook my head, denying that we were more than friends. That's all you were to me at the time. A very nice, cute, caring friend.

Bad times to join a conversation was always my thing, but you took my crown. You walked downstairs with your hair a mess and your clothes all wrinkled, yet didn't notice everyone in the room looking at you.

Before my parents could say anything, I led you outside, sitting on the porch instead of in there with my parents. We sat for twenty minutes until your mom came to pick you up. She thanked me for keeping you overnight and welcomed me to your house any day. I wish I took up that offer earlier.

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