X. Breath
Nothing but the sounds of heavy breathing filled the car. Nobody answered my hissed question nor gave me a second glance. Viola was watching the night pass by us and Daniel's eyes were focused on the road ahead of him.
By the time we reached my house, the silence had settled within me, deep seated and rooting. I didn't want to speak nor did I want to hear anyone else.
I left without a word, mental or verbal. Daniel's eyes met mine and it seemed to translate into 'we will talk later'. I was thankful for this as I left, assured that I would have an answer soon. I made my way up to my room and let out a sigh of relief. I could finally sleep.
Fridays. There was always a feeling of excitement and anticipation pulsing through the air on this day. Most of the time I loved it, but today it was exhausting.
"Hey, Adriette." Mae always brought a smile to my face.
"Hey, Mae." I gave her a small smile and leaned back against the wall. It was lunch and I was hiding in the hall. She slid down to the floor with me.
"What's wrong? What happened to 'angel'?" Her eyes melted into me. I nibbled my bottom lip and glanced at her, my ears heating up.
"I'm just tired." I yawned, suddenly, as if to prove my point. She laughed and bumped her shoulder against mine.
"I call bullshit." She gave me a brilliant smile and I felt my heart skip a beat.
I shook my head and gazed down at my fingers. How do I tell her that there's nothing wrong except my urge to kiss her at the very moment?
"Its stupid."
"Isn't it always?"
"You're quite the charmer." I kid.
"Oh yeah, I know." She joked back.
"I still like you."
I gave up trying to live through school once lunch was over. I just went straight for my car and went home. I knew I was ditching way too much at this point, but I was damn tired and I wasn't going to survive.
The power surged through my body, blood red smoke curling around my body in wisps and twisted around my arms. I took a deep breath and felt myself grow, overwhelmed by the sense of strength.
Her beautiful eyes pleeded with me to save her and my heart nearly shattered. The stupid lilac humming bird was circling her, not landing a single time. I watched it, wishing I had a bow and arrow to shoot the damn thing.
"Leave her alone." I thundered, trying to hold myself back from running to her.
I was sweating when I woke up but I couldn't remember what I had been dreaming about. I rubbed my eyes and padded down to my kitchen. Pulling out a coke, I took a chug and started scrolling through my phone.
I'm coming over at 5. Mae. I glanced at the clock and noticed it was five 'til. I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair. I saw Nicholai out of the corner of my eye scurry up the stairs. I rolled my eyes just as I heard the bell ring. He knew exactly who she was.
"Hey." I looked up at her and fiddled with the hem of my tee. She raised an eye and I motioned her in, closing the door behind her.
She didn't say anything as she sat down on my couch. We hadn't hung out in a long time and I was grateful for her presence.
We didn't speak as we just relaxed and flipped through the channels, laughing at stupid shows. Eventually I realized we had slid against each other and were pressed shoulder to shoulder. Our time spent together was always relaxed and comfortable.
Before I knew it, it was getting dark and I turned to face her.
"Movie time. Scary or sappy?" I grinned and flipped off the lights. "You choose while I'm making the popcorn and getting crap to eat. Nicholai is in his room and my parents are on a trip until tomorrow afternoon. You know where the movies are." I shot her a big smile and hurried into the kitchen. When I finished collecting everything she usually loves to snack on, I carried it all out to the living room to find that she had put in some older movie.
"Scary." She laughed and sat down on the couch and I sat with her, pulling the top of the coffee table up to meet us so we wouldn't have to lean forward to get the snacks. "You know we're gonna end up on the floor. Why even sit on the couch at all?"
I agreed and pulled the pillows and blankets down to the floor, piling them up evenly so we could sit comfortably. I scattered our snacks around us, the popcorn bowl sitting in front of us. Mae pressed play and we sat back, grabbing random things from our pile to munch on.
The movie was slow at first and I started to nod off, leaning towards Mae. She bumped my head with her shoulder and I shot up, gazing at her.
In a single moment, her lips were on mine. I almost gasped in shock, but instead kissed back, my mental me doing cartwheels. We stayed like that, my hands on her knees, her hands on my cheeks.
When we pulled back, I tried to force back my growing grin but I couldn't. She laughed and I went in for another kiss, our lips meeting with equal force. We continued to kiss until I found myself drifting off and I knew I needed sleep. I curled up in the pile of pillows, laying close to her. We drifted off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I woke up. Mae's arm around my waist was not it though. I wasn't complaining at all. I didn't bother to move. I just glanced at my clock before closing my eyes. It was five in the morning.
The second time I awoke, Mae was sitting up, her eyes a bit dazed. I gave her an innocent smile and bushed, refusing to make eye contact. She just leaned over, kissing my cheek awkwardly and stood up.
"Bathroom," was her intelligent statement and she disappeared down the hall leaving me by myself. I gazed the spot where she had momentarily disappeared and sighed to myself. I was still in shock from the night before.
I grabbed my phone off of my night stand and clicked the screen on. I was scrolling down Twitter when I received a text message from Danielle.
Where are you? We have plans with David. I need help getting ready.
I rolled my eyes and texted back that I was a bit caught up in something and offered an idea for an outfit she could wear. Truth be told, I didn't want to third wheel on my best friend's wannabe date, but I felt bad telling her no.
Mae returned and flopped down on the floor quite awkwardly. I held back a laugh at her childlike behavior and turned my phone screen off.
"Hey," I suddenly had an idea, "Do you want to come with me to ward off the third wheelness of hanging out with Danielle and her new fling tonight? I don't know what we're doing, so I understand if you don't." I nibbled on my lip and glanced away, embarrassed at the fact that I was basically asking her on a date.
"Sure." She shrugged, yawning and stretching out her arms widely. I grinned and gently threw a small pillow at her, laughing when she flipped out.
"Cool. So what are we going to do for the rest of the day until then?" I beamed down at her, absolutely thrilled with all this special time I get with her. I, honestly, secretly hoped she would say more kissing.
"You wanna go to the beach? Or drive around until we find somewhere?" She was still laying down, looking up at me with that pillow tucked under her head. I nodded in response and stood up. Before exiting my room, she gently pulled me to her and pressed her lips to mine briefly.
"Let's go."
