Life Time

Le Coucher de Soleil

Instantly, I pushed Joe away from me. I knew I was blushing and that my expression was blank. I honestly didn’t know how to react.

“Oh!” was all that Joe said.

“What are…what…you were…I…what the hell was that for?” I stammered, standing up quickly.

“I…dunno.”

“You don’t know? How can you not have a reason for kissing someone?”

“I just wanted to kiss you, is that such a crime?”

“Yes, if you don’t have a reason!”

“Why?”

“Because that mean’s you’re joking around with me,” I said.

“I’m not!”

“Well, I know-”

“Aha!”

I blushed, and angrily sighed. I immediately began walking back to the cabin. Nothing here was real. It was all a lie. The sunset over the lake wasn’t there, it was all there just to make Joe and I think it was real. But the kiss, was that real or not?

“Alea, wait!”

“No, I’m going inside.”

“Alea, seriously, I-”

“No!”

“Al!” Joe said, using my nickname. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around so that we were eye-to-eye.

“What.”

“I don’t know what to say. There’s not much to say, is there? I…love you. I kissed you. Isn’t that what people do when they love someone? Listen, to me, Al."

“I’m listening,” I said, staring at the ground.

“A few days ago, I never would have even spoken to you-”

“Honestly, Joe! You-”

“Let me finish!” Joe said. “I never would have spoken to you because…well, we’re not exactlyfriends with the same people. Gina, Haley, Flynn- they’re my friends. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t be with us, too! But I couldn’t speak to you…because of them and because I was too nervous. You didn’t know it, but in gym and bio, I would always see you. I would think, ‘Wow, she’s not living a lie like me. She can be who she wants, but I can’t because I’m constantly judged by everyone else.’ You’re lucky. And I envied you, and I wanted to be like you, and I realized you were so much…so much better than all of the girls I usually hung around with that I eventually spoke to you before we came here!” Joe said quickly. He wasn’t lying, I could tell by the emotion in his voice.

“Joe, I-”

“No, please! I know, it’s pathetic. I wouldn’t talk to you because I was scared, etcetera. But there’s so much more to you than what I originally saw. There’s more to me than I realized. We’re more alike than you know, and if you’d only let me-”

“Joe, stop.”

He looked at me expectantly. I knew why he never spoke to me before, I understood. Since no one could die, we had everything to lose. His reputation might be messed up if his crowd found out he liked me, his friends would ridicule him, his life would just take a complete 180-turn.

“I know. I get it, and I agree that we’re more alike than we realize. But this isn’t you telling me all this; you, the Joe that I’ve been with all this time, doesn’t act like this. It’s the Dedisco that’s getting to you,” I stated.

It pained me to say that; I was basically telling Joe that I didn’t believe a word he said. Even though he wasn’t lying. I was confused.Joe let go of my shoulders and turned away. I went back to the cabin, and sat alone in my room.