'They met very early in life, back when coloring inside the lines didn't really matter'
She didn't like him at the beginning, in fact she thought he was the most obnoxious kid she had ever met. It seemed to her that he had a total fascination with her ponytails and spent most of his time pulling at them. How the hell was she supposed to know that was code for 'I like you'?
He liked her very much, the way a five year old likes another five-year-old. No, he didn't dream about their wedding day or having children or anything like that. His imagination only made it as far as the next day. He wanted to play with her, eat ice cream with her, spend time with her.
They lived in the same neighborhood and their houses shared the same backyard fence. The fence was too high for the poor boy, but he would settle with watching her through the space between each wood fence board. But his extremities grew longer and the fence shrunk in size as time went by.
Her friends made fun of him all the time. To them, he was this overzealous ten-year-old who would just yell her name and wave hello at her from across the room, attracting the attention of everybody around. She would just lower her head and pretend she didn't hear him.
His parents began worrying about him. He spent all of his time locked up in his room looking out his window. What they didn't know was that his room offered the perfect view, straight into her bedroom. He would spend his time watching her play games with her friends. That was until she caught him and closed the curtains of her room, to what it seemed, forever.
Their paths never crossed. She made sure of that, he got used to it. It was his own fault really, he thought. He shouldn't have been so forward. She felt guilty at times when she saw him sitting in his room without not much to do. But she was too cool for him, her friends told her. She shouldn't feel sorry for him.
She grew up to be a lovely young woman by the time she turned seventeen. Most of her childhood friends were gone, in fact most of her childhood anything was gone, except him. Except the boy that lived across the backyard. What was his name?, she thought.
He began to make friends and by the time he was seventeen he had lost count of how many friends he had. Things had changed since he was a little boy, everything but his feelings towards her. He still liked her very much. Her name always in his mind.
They had one more chance to get to know each other before high school was over when their English teacher paired them up for a project. They met every afternoon in her backyard porch. He would just jump over the wood fence that had been his enemy when he was young.
Her passion was writing. Ever since she could remember she had been writing poems, thoughts and stories; anything that came to mind. She was an artist as so was he. He loved music. He loved singing. Alas, they found something in common. They were both artists. And that's how their project came to live. They mixed his music and her writing and came up with a project that was surely going to make it the most unique of their class.
His physical appearance wasn't that bad, she thought. If he would only comb his hair in a different way and dress better. Of this she knew, she had stacks of fashion magazines up in her room, and if they were ever going to help somebody it might as well be him. Lord knows they never helped her. He felt embarrassed whenever she brought up the topic. She was so beautiful and lovely and talking about his lack of fashion just made her more embarrassed.
Their project was a total success. The teacher loved it, the students as well. It was the last day of school and it couldn't have gone a better way, or maybe yes. They couldn't stop talking about it as they ran back to their respective houses, fueled by the adrenaline that the success of their project had given them. They stopped under the shade of a tree to catch their breath and that's when it happened.
She had never been kissed, even though she had been in many dates, and when he leaned over and his lips touched her lips, she felt a sudden rush of blood through her veins. She had imagined many times before her first kiss but this was hands down better than what she had ever imagined. It was sweet and it was short, and she loved it.
He couldn't believe he was finally able to kiss her. He had her cornered against the tree, he placed his hands on her soft cheeks and it just happened. He saw the opportunity and went for it. She reciprocated his daring kiss. She kissed wonderfully. It was obvious to him that she had many years of practice with her countless dates. That's why he became self-conscience about his lack of practice, being that this was his first kiss, and pulled away.
They stayed silent for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes. She then realized what they had done and looked around to see if anybody had seen. She felt embarrassed and simply walked away in a hurry. He stood still under the tree, still savoring the touch of her lips as he watched her walk away.
Her summer after senior year was a long a tedious one. The day of the kiss was the last day that she saw him for the next two months. She couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. Why him? Why did she let him kiss her? Worst of all, why did she walk away?
He spent his summer away from her. He already had plans with his friends, a two month long trip to South America before college. He couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. Why him? Why did she let him kiss her? Why did he let her walk away?
Their lives had become perpetually intertwined by a kiss after years of obligatory hello's from her part and secret desires from him.
She waited patiently by his dorm room door after she softly knocked. Because of the conversations they had while they were doing their project together, she found out that he was going to attend the same college she was going to and after a few minutes of browsing the students' housing directory, she managed to find out which was his dorm room. A tall, blond girl opened the door.
He now had a girlfriend, her name was Sabrina. He met her in a hotel in South America, and much to his surprise she would be attending the same college as him. After getting over the fact that he would never be able to kiss her again, which was clear by her rejection after he kissed her, he decided he needed to do something with his life. He employed some of the tricks that her fashion magazines told him to do and soon enough he was looking like a decent college-bound man and found himself a girlfriend. Sabrina was a good girl. But he still loved her.
They laughed at the circumstances together and apart. He introduced her to Sabrina as his girlfriend and her as his'.friend. What was she doing there?, he thought. What was she doing there?, she asked herself.
Her room back at her parent's house still looked the same even though four years had passed by since she last slept in that bed. The window still offered the same view, his room. She wondered what had become of his life. Was he married? Engaged? In love? She laughed at how cruel fate had been with her. She touched her lips and remembered once more the touch of his, of his kiss, of her only kiss.
His room hadn't changed a bit either, it offered the same view it did before, her room. He noticed at how the curtains of her window were not closed anymore. But it was all too late. She was gone, she had been for years. The last time he saw her was at the threshold of his dorm room door. They waved good bye, and she transferred the next year to another college. He wondered what had become of her life. Was she married? Engaged? In love? Single like him. He had been for five years.
Their eyes met across the courtyard. She was standing in front of her window as he was standing in his. Of all the things they expected to see at that moment of self pity, seeing one another was the last one in their minds. She hadn't changed a bit and he looked handsome. She smiled at him and he smiled at her. She went out into her courtyard and he jumped over the fence that divided the two properties.
- Do you want to go out with me? - He asked.
- I thought you would never ask. - She said.
