Falling In Love With The Duck

Soaring High

“Let’s get…physical…physical,” Duckie sings from my bathroom sink.

         I roll my eyes and find myself shaking my head at his out-of-tone voice. As he cleans the ice cream off his face in my bathroom, I sit patiently on my unmade bed wondering what will happen when he comes out. Folding and unfolding my hands, I think back to all the things we have been through.

        He worshipped Andie and the ground she walked on and, actually, he still sort of does. I fall back onto my pillows and let out a deep, audible breath. He ditched me at prom to chase Andie, but then he found me and we kissed while dancing. Something falls into my bathtub, making a loud crashing noise. Duckie cusses and I hear him trying to fix whatever just fell. I roll onto my stomach and stop myself from laughing too hard.

        He also lied to me about seeing Andie again, but he has lied to me about lots of other things as well and I never got mad at him until we started dating. I sit up and cross my legs. Do I even have the right to tell him he can’t love someone else? If I were to do the same to him, how would he feel? My heart skips a beat. Could I do that to him? I put my head in my hands. I couldn’t do that to him!

 “Hey, Doll Face.”

                I glance up from between my fingers and my face begins to heat up from behind my hands. Duckie is shirtless, in my room, staring at me like I’m the only other person in the world. His facial expression shows me that he is completely clueless to how he is making me feel. He looks down at his shirt and frowns.

 “Is there a way to get ice cream out of clothes?”

 I put my hands down. “Yeah, ever hear of a washing machine.”

        He smiles at my sarcasm and tosses his shirt at me. The wet pink shirt hits my face and suddenly I feel more weight on my bed, not from the shirt obviously. I go to take the shirt off my face, but Duckie’s hands wrap around mine so I can’t move. He pushes me down and straddles me.

 “Phillip, knock it off!” I squeal from under his shirt.

 “Oh, so now it’s Phillip?” He rips the wet floral shirt from my face. “Why is that, my love?”

                 His face is only inches from mine. My blouse allows my stomach to peek out the bottom and his bare skin touches mine softly. I feel my body burning from embarrassment. His breath on my face gives me goosebumps. I look up into his eyes and regret it. I bite my lip so that I can’t ruin this moment with my words. How is it that two minutes ago I was contemplating hurting him and now I just want to kiss him forever?

 I sigh and close my eyes. “Duckie, we need to talk.”

         He slides off me and lies down facing me. “Okay, but just so you know, I didn’t break the soap dish in your bathroom. It was totally like that when I got in there.”

 His smile forces my lips to turn up. “That’s not what I want to talk about.”

 “Fine, fine,” he props himself up on his elbow to look down at me. “What is it that we must discuss?”

My hands struggle not to reach over and touch him. “Well, I need to know if you’re going to keep running off with Andie.”

 “Come on, Caroline. I already promised that. You should see a doctor about that short-term memory loss.” He pokes my forehead jokingly.

I swat his hand away. “I’m serious, Duckie. I love you and I don’t want to feel like I’m just your second choice.”

        His eyes watch me contently as he ponders what I just said. Something in his mood shifts as he gazes at me. I suddenly feel very self-conscious and look away from him. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I mean, he never said I was his second choice…

“You’re not,” he whispers making a good shiver go down my spine. “I don’t want you to feel like that. I’m sorry.”

                 My hands fly up around his neck and pull him down on me. I can no longer take it; I need to feel his kiss again. When his lips find mine, I smile into them. At first the kiss is soft and slow, but then Duckie gets on top of me. I squeal as his hands squeeze my sides tickling me. He sits on me and keeps tickling me. I grab his wrists and push them away as I struggle to get him off me.

 “Philip!” I screech as his wrists break free. “Stop!”

         He pins my arms onto my pillows. I feel his breath on my lips as he leans down to my face. His smile makes my heart flutter. His dark curls fall perfectly on his forehead. He finally leans all the way in and steals a kiss. We stay like this for a while just staring at each other. A tiny piece of my heart keeps wondering what will happen when he sees Andie again, but that part is being quieted by the rest of my heart which is screaming:

  “I love you, Duckie Dale.”