Our Love is Born

Snow

I made my way over to the Kiszka's house on Sunday morning with a warm, fresh bowl of vegetable broth soup. It was particularly cold today, the trees bare arms rustling in the howling wind.

Too excited with my idea to make Josh soup, I'd skipped breakfast and instead, spent my time in the kitchen cooking up the healing liquid. I bit back the chatter of my teeth throughout my short walk across the path that connected our front doors, festering in the warmth that the container in my hands gave me.

For some reason, I had an unstoppable smile on my face. Today felt like it would be a good day, spending it with Josh and teasing him of all the things he told me in his feverish haze.

Once I reached their front door I could hear the echo of yelling from inside, clearly from the siblings. I fumbled with the container in my hands for a moment, struggling to grasp it in one palm alone to reach up and knock on the door.

I huffed in frustration at the size of my small, useless hands, the heat from my breath puffing out like smoke in front of me, as I bent down to place the container down onto the floor beside me.

"Ugh," I groaned, noticing the black scuff marks on my red sneakers which definitely weren't there last time I saw them. I was still bent over, furiously rubbing over the spot with the heel of my thumb when a long, droning whistle from behind me gave me a fright.

"Lovely view," a voice hummed behind me, and I straightened up quickly and whipped around, gasping.

A hand flew to my chest to calm my hammering heart, "Sorry, I didn't hear you coming up", I said to the boy who looked my age. He stood at the top of the porch steps, a backwards cap balanced on his head, even though today was as bleak and sunless as it gets. His hands were tucked into his light denim jean pockets and he leaned back, looking at me smugly.

"Oh, don't you worry darl', I could watch that view all day," He said, making me take a subtle step backwards. I noted the southern accent lacing his words and the toothpick he had lodged between his teeth. How much of a try-hard was this guy? He took a step towards me and I felt myself become very uncomfortable.

I said nothing, shifting my weight from one hip to the other.

"Who are you here to see?" He asked. His words sat in the silence between us as I weighed out my answers.

"Josh." I stated simply. His eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Really? I woulda thought you'd be in the younger ones year. What's his name again? Daniel?" He said.

He hadn't done anything to scare me, yet there was something that hung in the air between us. I could feel it in my bones, my belly, whatever, call it instinct, but I wasn't safe with this boy, and by the look on his face, he knew it too. Be it the reality of his danger, or merely his knowledge of my unnecessary fear and the power he had over the situation, he was enjoying himself. And that scared me even more.

"That's their friend." I said. "The younger brother's name is Sam." My confidence slowly melted as I watched his cocky grin morph into something of a snarl.

"I don't actually care," He scoffed, studying me for a minute, cocking his head to the left. Time was going by so slowly, yet so quickly. He made movement towards me, and it felt like the air around us was getting thin, despite the fact that we were outside, and a consistent breeze was caressing my face.

He stood right in front of me, almost toe to toe, and hung his head down close to mine. I felt pathetic and weak, standing, not moving. But nothing like this had ever happened before. I didn't know what to think. My breathing turned shaky the moment he was close enough for me to see the stubble on his jaw.