Page 29 of All Your Lies
The credits are rolling, and the room is shrouded in darkness, besides the white from the lettering on the screen.
I take a chance and gaze over at her. She’s looking straight ahead and seems to be in deep thought.
“Hey, Lex,” I whisper and reach out to touch her arm. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” she says with a bright smile that makes my heart beat faster.
“I just made a new playlist. Do you want to listen with me?” I ask as I reluctantly remove my hand from her arm and grab my phone.
Alexa and I have the same taste in music, so I’m always making new playlists and saving them on my old iPod for her to listen to.
“Duh.” She grabs the remote and presses mute before jumping back on the couch and closer to me. We’re now sitting side by side, shoulders almost touching.
From her proximity, I can smell her sweet candy and coconut perfume I love so much. Last winter, I let her borrow my jacket one night when she was cold. When I got it back, it had this exact scent. I smelled it until her scent, unfortunately, faded away. That sounds creepy, but she makes me happy, and I love being in her presence.
Thoughts of her never go away. They play on repeat, just like my favorite songs.
I still don’t know the moment I fell for her, but I did.
My crush is turning into something more powerful. Something that’s sure to burn me alive and leave me in pain forever. She isn’t mine to have, but I can’t help but gravitate toward her.
Moments alone with her are rare, but when I get them, I cherish each second like it might be my last.
I hit the first song on my playlist, and the surround sound speakers pick it up at once. I watch her face as she hears the first song.
The song talks about finding your love while I’m busy looking at mine. Her head bobs to the music, making her hair shimmy around her shoulders. She’s so cute, and she doesn’t even try.
It reminds me of when I was watching her dance around in my mother’s garden one night with Rosie. It was impossible to ignore, or perhaps I should say hear, considering they were screaming a song at the top of their lungs into the sky while dancing around in the rain. Perhaps that’s when I first realized Lex was more than a friend.
She had a dark green dress that swayed in the wind as her hips moved. Her hair was longer back then and a little wild. Her fair skin looked so pretty under the moonlight, like an ethereal goddess.
Then, the dress started molding to her body from the rain, her hair sticking to her skin.
I remember wanting to be the rain droplets, covering her body completely with mine.
I register her staring right at me as a different song plays on the speakers.
When did the other song end?
A wave of regret washes over me. I should savor every second with her and not daydream.
“Whatcha looking at, silly?” she asks with a huge smile.
Your beautiful face.
“Nothing,” I blurt before averting my eyes. I can’t believe she caught me staring, and I didn’t notice.
There goes the electricity popping between us again. I wonder if she can feel it too. I gaze back over, right into her big doe eyes.
I find myself mesmerized, unable to avert my gaze. The lyrics combined with her proximity are maddening.
With a slow, deliberate move, I inch my hand closer to hers until our fingers nearly touch. Her eyes stay trained on me, but I can see her chest heaving. She feels it too. She has to.
I decide to take the moment further, because if I don’t, I’ll probably die. I slowly move my hand on top of hers and thread our fingers together, rubbing the side of her pinky finger with my thumb.
Her skin under my hand is so soft, and fits in mine like it was made for my hand.
She inhales deeply as she looks down at our joined hands. The tension in the air is thick.
