Eternal Sunshine ✓

16. No Apology Needed

"I don't even get why you're mad that she left. You kissed her, probably made her uncomfortable, so she left."

A minute of silence stretched between the three, in which Steven thought about everything his friends had told him. He had to admit that he could see a bigger view of the situation after talking it over with them.

Although he hadn't known Tasha on a personal level for that long, he'd observed her over the years since middle school. If there was one thing he noticed about her was her ability to ignore, run away from, and hide things that made her uncomfortable.

Whether it be the fact that she went home crying during half of middle school like Mr. Simmons had told him, while always looking happy at school, or the current fact that she was intent on ignoring what was happening between the two of them. Tasha hid or ignored things that she couldn't put a name to or control.

Steven couldn't put a name on what was between them, either. At least not yet. He knew he was interested in Tasha, well maybe more, he was fascinated by her. A fascination that he, or anyone else for that matter, would never understand the root of.

Perhaps it was the youthful and authentic glow he'd witnessed on her face the first time he'd laid his eyes on her the first day of sixth grade.

She seemed amazed by the appearance of the school, while he'd been amazed by the simple way her face shined by doing something as mundane as walking down a hall infested with loud kids.

The day he saw her walking down the crowded hallway was the beginning of years of constant observation, adding interest, later on attraction, and finally fascination.

It was the little things about her that he found alluring. Like the way she was fully engaged and passionate whenever she argued something she believed in, the way she was so annoyed by his obvious teasing, or the fact that she only played on the volleyball team because her Coach had pleaded her to.

In reality, he knew she disliked any form of physical activity. She'd told him, in her words exactly, that she was somewhat incapable of telling people no.

"You know, I think she's scared. I'm not sure of what, but y'all are right. She had every right to leave, even though I didn't like that she did." Steven sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

Nelson slapped his locker shut and clapped his hands. "Great! So does that mean you're finally gonna talk to her and stop whining to us?"

It had been four days since the pool party, and four days since Steven had talked to Tasha. He realized that she was ignoring him so he had decided to do the same, now he regretted that childish decision. He definitely missed her.

He couldn't deny that she'd hurt hid ego a little when she'd left his house right after the kiss he wished had lasted longer. He didn't know what to think, his mind conjured reasons for her departure that left him insecure and confused. Had he done something wrong?

It didn't matter anymore, either way. He was going to apologize to Tasha and hope that things would at least go back to how they'd been for the last two weeks between them-friendly but flirty.

To Nelson's sarcastic question, Steven said, "Yeah, I'm gonna apologize and hopefully get things back they way they'd been."

The bell rang, causing a three-second pause in the guys' conversation. As soon as it stopped ringing, Malik patted his friends in the back and bid them a quick bye. He had a Calculus test that period and needed to get to class early to look over his notes, math absolutely was not his best subject.

Nelson and Steven, on the other hand, walked side by side with no hurry to reach their third-period class. Since it was their senior year, the two boys had chosen an easier schedule opposite of what Malik had done.