Early Bird | ✓

12 | crane

❁

           LIZZY stood motionless for a moment, unsure of how to react to Reece's daring move of kissing her. Reece was kissing her. Bewilderment blinded all her other senses and all she could feel was the smooth texture of his lips, soft and timid like a bunny rabbit. Reece didn't kiss her for very long; he disconnected after a few seconds, his focus averted to the ground, a deep maroon staining the entirety of his face. "Sorry about that, I've just always wanted to do that, and—I don't know—I felt bold tonight. Maybe because it's the first real party I've ever been to, but I—" he trailed off, rambling some string of words that Lizzy could barely comprehend as she stood, dumbfounded and inert.

           "Um, o-okay," she stammered, her eyebrows scrunching together as the reality of what just occurred sluggishly descended into her slow-processing brain like feathers falling gradually through the sky. Finally, Lizzy snapped out of it as though her whole body was drenched in ice water. "What was that for?" she demanded crossly, a spark of annoyance burning in the pit of her gut. Her hand tenderly touched her rosy lips, still warm from when his grazed hers.

           Apparently, Reece hadn't been anticipating such a callous reaction. "I, uh, I thought it was obvious that I liked you, Lizzy. And I just—I really wanted to kiss you," he finished plainly, his hands wringing themselves nervously, his eyes flitting about their surroundings like a bumblebee since he was unable to look her in the eye.

           "Well, I—" Lizzy paused, racking her brain for some explanation to inform him that Lizzy, in fact, did not feel the same affection toward him as he evidently did for her. The party carried on all about them, they a paused movie amid the oblivious world around them. The lights cast a rainbow glow on them, various hues dancing on Reece's skin as though Lizzy was staring through a kaleidoscope. It seemed but a dream, unreal and peculiar, and Lizzy pinched herself to validate that she wasn't at home, sleeping in her bed.

            "I'm sorry, Reece," she began. Now it was her turn to avoid his gaze, using her hair to conceal her reddening face. She could sense his crestfallenness from behind her curtain of curly hair. "I just don't—feel the same way. I can't—I'm so sorry," she stuttered, the snake in her stomach coiling tightly around her innards. Rejecting Reece was completely appalling because he was such a sweet friend; however, friend was all she saw whenever her attention fell upon him.

           "Oh, no, I, uh, I'm the one who should be—sorry." His voice cracked, straining to keep composure. There weren't enough words in the dictionary to describe the awful feeling that consumed Lizzy. She wished she could like him (he was incredibly affable and he exhibited the most wonderful traits that every human being should aspire to acquire). Despite their owners' best efforts to journey in one direction, hearts choose another. Maybe it was the fact that he was too good for her or that her heart had already planned for another to receive her affection. Whatever it was, Lizzy understood plainly that she did not yearn after Reece.

           "So, um, what were you going to ask me before?" Reece asked quietly, his voice almost drowned out and inaudible from the hammering, upbeat music.

           Lizzy had almost forgotten about her original plan when she first caught sight of Reece. Her goal had been to find a worthy guy for Teagan, one who didn't carry the characteristics of a heartbreaker. Dread devoured her when she realized that she, in fact, was the heartbreaker in this situation. "My friend, Teagan—you remember her from lunch?" Reece nodded, beckoning for Lizzy to continue. Lizzy tried to ignore his sniffles and his red-rimmed eyes. He was clearly in want of a private place to release his broken emotions, to flee Paisley's house where he felt he didn't belong. "I want her to hang out with nice guys tonight and not the weirdos she usually chooses and I figured you were the nicest guy I know."