He was a tiny thing, only about 5'3. His hair was the color of raw bark and it curled like the strokes of Starry Night. Light freckles sprinkled over the bridge of his button nose. His eyes, glassy and blue, rimmed with dark lashes. But those are just the basics. He always had rosy cheeks, like you'd just pinched them, and his teeth were white and perfect except for a bottom canine, which was chipped in a diagonal way. You would barely notice until you start talking to him. He'd been in my class freshman year and we'd made it all the way to junior year together as best friends. He was funny and smart, in a warm kind of way. Not a lot of people knew that about him. Not that he was very shy, just didn't feel the need to reflect outwardly in most situations.
That's what I was thinking about as he jabbered away to me from atop my bed. I, on the floor, watched him with light infatuation.
"-and later I have to repair his shell." He crawled off the bed, his knees ending up on either side of my outstretched legs. In his cupped hands was a turtle about the size of a half dollar. The shell had the tiniest hairline fracture leading to a pin sized hole. I held my hands out and Nate let the baby turtle climb into them. "I call him periwinkle," he whispered.
"Why's that?" Our foreheads almost touched as we leaned over periwinkle.
"Because I like it," he said, matter-of-fact.
I handed him back to Nate and began searching under my bed for a shoe box. When I found it, I stabbed a few holes in the top with a pencil and gave it to Nate. "For the turtle," I said.
He released periwinkle inside the box and set it safely atop my bedside table.
"Do you think you're going to put him back in the lake?"
He glanced sideways, thinking. "If it's safe for him," he concluded.
"That's a good idea."
He was in front of me now, looking at me. He didn't say anything, but his cheeks were just a little pinker than usual, and I thought of a certain time back in the summer. It was only a few months ago, but it felt like too long. We'd gotten caught in a little bit of rain and took shelter in my house, where no one was home at the time. We talked about deep stuff like life for a while, until we got a little too close and our noses touched and our lips brushed. The only thing stopping us was the loud crackle of thunder, setting our nerves just a little over the edge. I remember, though, what he'd whispered just before it struck. "Bailey," my name. It sounded so intimate and different coming from him, coming from only centimeters away from my own lips.
"Bailey," he said, echoing my thoughts. He'd caught me in a deep memory and I thought how red my face must have looked just then. "Bailey," he said again.
"What?"
"You're staring at me," he murmured softly, a smirk playing on his lips.
I sat up on my knees. "Sorry...sorry." I couldn't think of what to say. "Do you remember..."
"Remember what?" His voice was barely audible.
The words wouldn't come to me. I closed a few more inches between us, wanting so badly to recreate that summer storm. My heart stopped when Nate was the one to suddenly press his lips to mine, grabbing fistfuls of my T shirt. After a moment, I let myself melt into him, pulling him onto my lap. His lips were full and soft, moving in perfect motion with mine. My hand moved to the back of his head as our kiss parted and reconnected. I never wanted to let go. His thighs pressed into my hips and I imagined myself picking him up and placing him on my bed. Almost outside the realm of my conscious thought, I heard the jingle of the front doorknob. Reluctantly, I pulled away.
