Thinking Out Loud

Thinking Out Loud (Oneshot)

The five times Alex kissed Mitchie unexpectedly and the one time she didn't.

Mitchie

I remember the day I met her. It was raining and I didn't have a coat. First day at a new school and the drowned rat look was not a good mix.

I was shivering.

I remember having to do a double take when a girl with dark hair and bright red lips approached me. 'Great,' I thought as I braced myself for what was to come. 'I haven't even walked through the gates yet and it's about to start.'

But the girl smiled - not a fake smile either, an ear-to-ear grin that lit up her entire face like a firework.

I felt fireworks when she placed her hand on my soaking jumper sleeve.

"You look so cold." She stated as she looked me up and down. I shifted my weight from one leg to the other and returned her once-over. She was stunning, not just pretty but the kind of stunning where your heart jumps into your throat when she speaks to you. That was what was happening to me.

I nodded, unsure of what to say. Of course I was cold.

"Here," I snapped my eyes away from her hips and realised she had removed her studded leather jacket and was holding it out in front of her, leaving her arms bare and her white shirt to get soaked in the torrential downpour.

I was skeptical; I was the new girl, why was she being nice?

"Take it, you need it more than I do."

Now, usually I wouldn't have taken a jacket from a girl whose name I didn't even know.

But I was soaking.

And I was freezing.

"Thank you," I mumbled as I took the jacket and pushed my arms through the holes. It stuck to my wet sweater but it offered a welcome warmth that I had previously been missing. "Aren't you cold?" I asked stupidly. Of course she was cold.

"No, I'm Alex," She quipped with a smirk. I bit back a laugh and held my hand out for her to shake, responding with my own name. "It's nice to meet you, Mitchie." Her voice was comforting; I knew that I'd never forget it. The bell sounded from within the school grounds and she sighed, reluctantly turning to face the building. "See you around, Mitch."

I couldn't fight the smile when she bade me goodbye.

I certainly couldn't fight the smile when she turned to face me once again, placed her lips on mine and them proceeded to walk away.

That was unexpected.

*

Two years later, sixteen years old and enjoying life. Alex meant it when she said she'd 'see me around', getting my number from me during a class that we shared. We'd been best friends ever since. The kiss was neither spoken of nor acknowledged.

But I remembered it; it was everything.

"May I take you out for dinner tonight?" It was so polite and formal, everything that Alex was not, I learned quickly after getting to know her. Don't get me wrong, she was polite when it was appropriate but she wasn't polite around me; we were both too comfortable to fuss around with formalities.

"Excuse me?" I responded after swallowing the water that I'd just sipped from my bottle. "Did you just ask me on a date, Lex?" I quirked an eyebrow and looked at my best friend. She smiled and nodded; it was strange. There was an unspoken rule between us that we wouldn't mention the kiss we shared two years prior. We cuddled at night and held hands in private but it was never anything more than that. There was never any mention of feelings. Sometimes I wondered if she regretted kissing me that day outside the school gates.