Girls

Chapter 4

"Hey Nicki," Elizabeth is standing in front of me, smiling and looking very beautiful.
I say something back to her but for some reason I can't hear myself. She takes me by my hand and together we walk, her warm palm against my own, into a hallway of a school. The lighting mimics the sun on a clear morning. The rays reflect off of her red-brown hair in the most amazing way.

I stop walking to have her look at me. Her eyes meet mine and another smile touches her lips. My heart is actually steady for once, and I feel confident enough to lift up my hand and rest it on her cheek. I catch myself leaning forward as if I'm about to kiss her. I'm only a breath away from her lips, but instead of kissing her, I just look at her. Elizabeth's eyes are closed, her mouth slightly parted. Her chest is rising and falling calmly. She looks so perfect right now.

My eyes move back to her lips. Do I dare do it? I inhale slowly, leaning down the rest of the way and pressing my lips lightly on hers. The world stops for this small moment. It's just the two of us, our lips finding their own rhythms.

I pull away to look into her light brown eyes, but the moment I do, I find soft charcoal eyes looking back at me through glasses. Elizabeth is replaced with Sabrina, who is watching me with those soft eyes. Her lips, not Elizabeth's, curl into a happy smile. I seem to ignore the fact that I just kissed Sabrina instead of Elizabeth, because the next thing I do is kiss her again.

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I catch myself staring at Sabrina for the sixth time in the past half hour. The difference between this time and the last time is that I caught myself biting my lip as I looked at her. I'm not sure why I feel so antsy right now.

It was just a dream! It was just a dream. Nothing more, nothing less. But do I want it to be more? Do I want something to happen between Sabrina and I? I thought I liked Elizabeth?

No, wait, I do. I do still like her.

But what are these feelings I have for Sabrina? She doesn't even talk to me. I doubt she'd even want to.

Jesus I'm staring again.

"Ready, dude?" Tyler asks me before we get to the track. Oh yeah, I forgot today is Monday. That means we have the mile to run. Great.

"Sure," I mumble. I already know he's going to be running past me so I'm not going to make much of an effort to keep up with him. Instead I'll just hang back with Shannon.

All three p.e. classes crowd onto the track, the guys eager to be in the front.

It's actually a nice day out, but I doubt I'll be thinking that once this is over. I glance over Shannon's shoulder. Sabrina is talking to her Jade right now. I don't even know where Elizabeth is. I pull my eyes away and look forward.

One of the teachers blows their whistle and the crowd moves as one at first. After a minute or so, everybody splits up. I keep my pace, making sure I'm right next to Shannon and not running too fast.

"I hate this," She grunts.

"I feel you, dude," I grunt back. We run in silence for a bit until we get onto the dirt part of the run. We're almost finished, but we still have a way to go.

My mind is circling around both Sabrina and Elizabeth. The pros and cons for both girls are evenly matched, but my conscious just can't make a decision. I want Elizabeth but I dream about Sabrina. Good or bad? Neither, cause either way I can hardly talk to either without sounding like I'm having a panic attack.

After what feels like decades, I see the end and push out what last bit of energy I have inside of me. Everything inside of me is a screaming mess. I'm barely able to say what my time is to my teacher, my body hurts so much. As I'm walking back toward the locker room, Sabrina and Jade pass me, both in a steady pace. Elizabeth is still AWOL but I don't mind too much. I just hope she saw me sprint my ass off.

-end-

Song: Her Radiant Limb by Mother Falcon