My Golden Life

Chapter 43

Artie remained on my mind for the rest of that week; whenever I was class, hanging out with the girls, even in my dreams. The drama scene we performed kept replaying in my mind like a broken tape. That blissful moment we shared was one that I will forget. The way we looked into each other's eyes, the warm touch of his hand on my cheek, not to mention that we almost kissed still made my heart flutter whenever I thought about it. However, ever since then, I felt a distance between us. 

Artie and I would smile at each other whenever we walked past in corridors, and occasionally we had small talk, but it wouldn't be for long. I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't have the same connection as before. I remember relaxing in my room with the girls after class one afternoon, and they were starting to notice that I was worried about something. I was so deep in thought that I didn't even know what the conversation we were having was about.

"Hello? Earth to Katie?" Merida called out. "You've been zoned out for the past ten minutes. Are you ok? You've been doing this since last week."

"Yea," I sighed. "I'm ok."

"You don't sound ok," Lucy said. "What's up?"

I fell back onto my bed, letting out a brief groan. "It's all a bit complicated. I just don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked.

I pushed myself up, brushing my hair out of my face. "Artie and I... had a moment last Thursday."

"Moment?" Lucy questioned.

"Did he say something bad to you?" Isabel added.

"No, quite the opposite, actually." I stuttered. "We... we almost kissed."

"What!" They all exclaimed, rushing onto my bed and sitting closer to me.

"How? Why? When?" Merida beamed. "I didn't know something was going on between you two."

"There isn't," I said, shaking my head. "At least, not to my knowledge."

I then began to explain what happened in my drama class and how Artie and I were acting quite distant from one another since then. The more I told the girls, the more amazed they became.

"So, you never decided for that part of your performance to actually happen?" Lucy asked.

"No, we didn't," I replied.

"Seems to me that if he orchestrated it all, he must have wanted to make it happen." Isabel laughed.

"What?" I gasped. "As in Artie used the exercise as a way to kiss me? I don't think so."

"Why else would he do it?" Merida questioned. "There has to be a reason."

"Maybe he just got really into his role," I shrugged.

"He's a pretty good actor if that is the case," Lucy smirked.

"Besides," I added. "Artie is head over heels in love with Gwen. He even wants to ask her to the Christmas ball."

"That's not going to end well," Merida mumbled.

"Look, Katie," Isabel voiced, turning to me. "I'm sure he's feeling the same way as you with all of this. You two got way into your performance, and now yes, things are awkward. But it will pass, I'm sure of it."

"Anyway, it does sound like you enjoyed that sweet moment you two had." Lucy smiled. "Is there a crush for Arthur growing? It appears that it's all you can think about."

A grin started to appear on my face, I could feel my cheeks getting warmer. I covered my mouth so that no one could notice, but of course, the girls did.

"She's blushing," Merida chucked. "She sure does like him."

Everyone started to laugh, including me. Was I developing a crush on Artie? I didn't believe it for one moment that I was, but when I look back on it now, I definitely did. I just didn't want to admit it, so I kept telling myself it would eventually fade away. How wrong was I?