Love Her

Part 21

Not wanting to be ridiculously early for school, I ate my breakfast slowly, one Fruit Loop at a time. Then, when I'd washed the dishes, I arranged the magnets on the fridge into a perfect line. Maybe I was developing obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The last two magnets - round black utilitarian pieces that were my favorites because they could hold ten sheets of paper to the fridge without breaking a sweat - did not want to cooperate with my fixation. Their polarities were reversed; every time I tried to line the last one up, the other jumped out of place.

For some reason - impending mania, perhaps - this really irritated me. Why couldn't they just play nice? Stupid with stubbornness, I kept shoving them together as if I was expecting them to suddenly give up. I could have flipped one over, but that felt like losing. Finally, exasperated at myself more than the magnets, I pulled them from the fridge and held them together with two hands. It took a little effort - they were strong enough to put up a fight - but I forced them to coexist side-by-side.

"See," I said out loud - talking to inanimate objects, never a good sign - "That's not so horrible, is it?"

I stood there like an idiot for a second, not quite able to admit that I wasn't having any lasting effect against scientific principles. Then, with a sigh, I put the magnets back on the fridge, a foot apart.

"There's no need to be so rigid," I muttered.

I glowered for a second, but then sat; my temper had burned out as suddenly as it had flared and I'd calmed down enough to realize that I was making a fool of myself.

It was still too early, but I decided I'd better get out of the house before the inanimate objects started talking back.

I walked to school slowly, not really caring if it made me late, as I had a lot to think about.

I watched her as if she were in slow motion. She overstepped and in a fluid movement, she ran right into me. I held her to steady her. And to feel her warmth, I added. I have to admit, I could have stopped her before she fell into me, but I didn't want to.

In the dead silence, all the details suddenly fell into place for me with a burst of intuition. And as she'd watched, her wide blue eyes had become first confused and then concerned.

Are you okay?" she asked as we both lay on the ground.

A few people were hesitating on the sidewalk as we sat up, their eyes bright with expectation. Like they were hoping a fight or something might break out to alleviate the monotony of another tedious Monday morning. I saw Lauren Richards nudge Samantha Madden, and they both paused on their way to class.

We faced each other in silence for a long moment. More students gathered behind Lauren and Samantha. I saw Ethan next to Aria- He had one hand on her shoulder like he was holding her in place.

"Hey." I smiled a little at my anticlimactic greeting.

"Hey," she whispered back.