The Two of Us

Arkansas Revisited

 I arrived at the movie theatre before Blair again.

I leaned against one of the pillars near the doors and spammed Bonnibel with pictures.

More specifically, pictures of birds in Canada.

 Y'know, to pass time until Blair showed up.

Bonnibel still refused to believe that birds lived in Canada and I was still trying to convince her otherwise.

Bonnet: "Those aren't real"

Bonnet: "You photoshopped them"

"I am way too damn lazy to Photoshop a bunch of birds into pictures of Canada, Bonnie."

Bonnet: "Then somebody else photoshopped them because birds can't survive there its too cold for them"

'What??'

I looked up from my phone, trying to think of an adequate way to respond to that.

Nothing came to mind.

Suddenly, I noticed somebody in my peripheral vision.

It looked like Blair had arrived but hadn't noticed me. I guess I wasn't standing in the most visible spot.

I couldn't see her face since because her back was facing me, but it was obviously her because her haircut was pretty distinct.

Like, I'd recognize that blue mohawk bun anywhere, y'know?

Seeing a golden opportunity, I snuck up behind her and grabbed her shoulders. "HEY THERE!"

Blair jumped, because... Well, who wouldn't if they didn't see that coming?

I laughed, "Did I catch you off guard?"

She turned around and gave me a look of feigned irritation. It lasted about three seconds before it dissolved into a smile. "I suppose that I should have expected that to happen at some point with how many times I've scared you."

"Your reaction was priceless. You jumped way fucking harder than I thought you would."

"In my defense, my brain had trouble processing that it was your voice I was hearing because you grabbed my shoulders and you're not tall enough to do that standing."

My eyes dropped down to the small ledge I was standing on.

"How dare you," I said, trying my best to sound as offended as possible. "I can reach your shoulders."

She leaned closer to me, leaving our faces only inches apart.

"Just barely."

"This is ridiculous. I've never been so disrespected in my life."

"You said that exact same thing to me after you let me copy your notes in Fitzgerald's class and I told you that your handwriting was hard to read."

"Yeah, because my handwriting isn't hard to read. I worked very hard on my penmanship in elementary school and I think it paid off. I am the Michaelangelo of handwriting, motherfucker."

"You agreed with me after you said the whole 'I've never been so disrespected' thing, and then proceeded to fail at deciphering your own notes when I asked you what a word was."

"You know, you really ruin the impact of my already low-quality jokes, dry comments, and sarcastic comebacks when you remember all of the dumb shit I say with startling accuracy."

"I do know that. I do it on purpose."

"Meanie."

Blair laughed, "Really? Meanie? I expected something a little bit more clever than that."

"Yeah, well..."

She looked at me expectantly.

I think my brain was malfunctioning.

"Actually, I can't defend it. It was pretty lame," I admitted. "But it still conveyed what I was trying to say, which was that you're mean."

"Maybe I am, but you like me anyway."

"Yeah... I do like you."

Okay,

So,

I'm not exactly sure what the hell ran through my head because it felt like twenty different things all at once, but I closed the small gap between us.

I kissed her with everything I had.

After a moment of slight surprise, she kissed back.

Her arms wrapped around my waist.

I don't know how long we stayed that way, but eventually, we broke apart.

I'm pretty sure that I had only ever seen her blush once before.

"Woah," she murmured.

My face was equally as flushed.

"We should...uh, probably go inside. You don't want to miss out on listening to Arkansas Revisited, do you?"

Blair raised one of her stupidly perfect eyebrows in question. "I thought it was Oklahoma Revisited?"

"Same difference."

I hopped off of the ledge, took her hand, and dragged her inside with me.

It was time to laugh at people getting strangled with Christmas lights.