The Infatuation Phase.

The Mess.

Him- 

Driving down the freeway was nerve wracking.

Driving to Columbia University from California  looked much easier on the map. I glimpsed at her from the side. She was breathtaking. Her eyes had dulled out, but never had they ever shone any brighter. As she rubbed her eyes, they had caught a reflection of the night. Her nose crinkled at the bitter cold of 1 AM. Her lips quivered, but were still a lush red color. Her skin reflected the pale moonlight. Never has she ever made me so nervous.

 She was apart of me ever since high school. I had been such a jerk to her, but never had I seen so much fiery passion within a girl. She retorted to all my remarks.  I knew how to push her buttons, from her ex-boyfriends to her passion for books. She knew how to push her limits by embarrassing me in front of all my friends to getting me into detention. For years, she had been relentless and sneaky with her attempts to get me into trouble. For years, I had found ways to annoy and pick on her.

This had been the first time we had encountered ever since graduation, and we both knew that it meant never seeing each other ever again. Why would we even try to keep in touch? I couldn't just tell her that I actually liked her right before we left to go to universities that had been on polar opposite ends of the country.I tried avoid thinking about not ever being able to see her smile again, or seeing the way she danced like an idiot while lip-syncing to a song that was blasting in her earplugs. This was the last time I would see her in a while. I wish I could see her more often, but our futures were both so important to us. With her, she completed a hole I could never fill by dating other girls. She was something different. 

As I exit the freeway and into the city of Chicago, I take the memory of her in. The way she made my car smell like warm gingerbread on a cold Christmas night back in Denver. The piece of hair that fell above her face when it was messily put into a bun. The sound of her voice when she complained about my music choice.  The way she twitched her nose when I teased at her insecurities- 

"Stop light, stop light, THERE'S A STOP LIGHT," she said as she nudged my arm from the side. 

It didn't occur to me that we were approaching a stop light, as I had almost hit the bumper of the car in front of me. I watched her hand that had been holding onto my jacket.

"Can't let go of me, can you sweetheart?" 

The minute she realized what she had been doing, she wrapped her arms quickly around her waist.  She twitched her nose and pushed her glasses back into place. 

"We're stopping overnight, I'm tired. We'll just keep driving in the morning,"  I told her, watching as she turned to me. 

"The bed is mine," She said softly as she turned to her side facing the window. 

Her- 

There had been something that had distracted him from stopping at that red light. He must be thinking about the girls he will get back to in California as soon as he drops me off at my dorm. 

He drove up to a hotel, a bit too fancy for my interest. He passed me his jacket, but I just threw it back. As I approached the entrance, he ran up behind me wrapping the jacket around my shoulders. I shrugged, too tired to fight back. I took my emergency credit card to the receptionist, and the only room available had been one with one king bed. I decided that it would be good enough, as I could sleep on the floor. 

I waited for him in the lobby, and as soon as he walked in through the grand doors of the hotel, my body went numb. I knew that one day I would fear seeing him ever again. Seeing him made me want to cry. From his head to his feet, he was pure evil. I could get lost in his eyes that were so wondering and certain. His smile so uplifting and devilish at the sight of his fat orange tabby to tickets to a sports game. Sports in particular did him well, enough to get him a scholarship all the way on the other side of the country. As I studied at Columbia in NY, he went to Stanford in California. I envied his intellect and impeccable social skills. He had every girl marveling at his feet. He would pick and chose which girl to screw with next, but it was so different with him.