Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Story by ME!

Well, I didn't really want to blog about this so soon, but I guess we are about half way through BEDA :( Therefore I am going to do it. I'm going to post a short story I wrote for my creative writing class last semester. This is actually a reworked excerpt from my novel. Tell me if you like it!

Some Courage

Paige couldn’t believe Jack’s suggestion. She thought it over for a whole minute, wondering if he felt the same way as she did.
“Okay, just as friends,” she said, believing she interpreted the meaning behind his façade correctly, while also using it to protect herself if he didn’t like her back.
She took a deep breath and made the first tentative movement toward him. Two more steps and there was only a foot of space left between them. The sudden nearness would have been terrifying if she weren’t completely sure that she didn’t want to be just friends, but it shredded her one ounce of confidence to pieces anyway.
Paige noticed the heavy rise and fall of Jack’s chest. The rhythm complemented her quickening heart beats.
“Um, okay,” Jack said, looking at his hands to hide a sudden smile. “Well… I don’t know what to do with these?”
Paige was alone in a classroom with her best guy friend and her first crush, who was asking to be her first kiss. How was she supposed to know what Jack should do with his hands when Paige couldn’t even remember her name?
She thought of their much more experienced friends, Matt and Jessica. Little inhibited their public displays of affection. At thirteen, Paige couldn’t understand why when Matt and Jessica kissed they seemed to use their hands more than their lips.
Paige shuddered. “I think we should keep them behind our backs.”
“Right.” Relief flooded his face as Jack clapped his hands together behind him. He looked directly into Paige’s green eyes and seemed momentarily stunned. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards. “Um,” he said, refocusing, with a shake of his head as her favorite half smile spread across his face. “I’ve never seen people kiss with their eyes open. How do they make sure not to miss?”
“I don’t know,” she said. Why was he smiling? This was not helping as she tried to focus on the coming kiss. “I’m just going to close my eyes and you do it, okay?”
“‘Kay,” he said with confidence. Paige saw mischief in his bright, hazel eyes. She knew he could sense her nervousness.
The tension in the middle of her chest, the one that always accompanied Jack’s presence, swelled, nearly suffocating her. Paige searched his face, wishing she could know what he had in mind for her when she closed her eyes.
“I’ll count to three.”
Paige squeezed her eyes shut.
“One.” Fear. “Two.” Panic. “Three.” Anxiety.
Nothing.
“Are you still there?” Paige asked nervously.
“Yes,” Jack whispered. Paige could feel his breath on her face.
Her heart caught mid-beat, stopping completely. “What are you waiting for?”
“Some courage,” Jack said. “Please don’t open your eyes.”
“Okay.” Trying not to smile and follow his request, Paige waited. “Please hurry.”
“‘Kay,” Jack said softly as he smoothed the wrinkles from her forehead and around her eyes with one finger before tucking a strand of her curly, black hair behind her ear. Her heart thudded once. Paige sighed, her jaw shaking nervously.
“One.” Anticipation. “Two.” Joy. “Three.” Elation.
All of Paige’s vital organs melted as Jack’s exquisitely soft, warm lips touched hers. If not for his hands on her face, she would have been a puddle at his feet. She felt her hands in his chocolate colored hair before thinking how nice it would be to have the thick locks around her fingers.
Jack broke the quick, gentle kiss but Paige kept her eyes closed. She felt his lips graze hers as he whispered, “Thank you.”
Paige’s halted heart beats raced through her chest all at once.
Jack released her face, and Paige’s hands were suddenly empty. She opened her eyes and looked around, disoriented. He was already half way out the door, mumbling something about homework.
“Some courage,” Paige said, rolling her eyes, as the door swung shut behind him, hoping he had heard.
“Some courage.” She gently pressed her fingers to her lip, remembering the way Jack’s lips had felt there; it held no comparison.
Paige smiled, gathered her books and Jack’s forgotten backpack, and left the classroom to find him.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. Please leave lots of comments. Thanks!

Geri!

1 comment:

  1. You've added some things since I last read this.. it's got an older tone to it now. I noticed you used "Paige saw" and variant phrases a lot to show what Jack was doing, and it got a tad annoying. Just tell us!

    ReplyDelete