Early Bird | ✓

17 | pigeon

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THE evening progressed slower than Lizzy anticipated and she figured that was the result of her unrestrained restlessness and enthusiasm for the upcoming Facetime call between her and JJ.  He was right—just getting to see him through the screen live was the next best thing to actually conversing with him physically.  The Facetime call would be as though he was indeed sitting in front of her, a tangible boy who was real, someone she could simply reach out and touch.  Gosh, she'd love to graze his fingertips with her own or punch him in the shoulder (in a gentle, playful way, of course) or snake her hand through his soft hair.

As Lizzy sat in front of her desk after dinner alone, one hand cupping her jaw, her head tilted while she stared longingly at the wall with daydreams about him seizing her mind, she was forced to admit a fact that she hadn't realized until that exact moment: Lizzy liked JJ.

Was it possible to like someone she'd never met?  Lizzy now knew that was true in the realest sense.  How else could she explain these odd yet affectionate feelings she had for him?  These feelings that she felt for no one else but him?  Lizzy closed her eyes, picturing his downy, chocolate hair which probably smelled just as delicious; his beige skin, the color she associated with wood and forests and trees; his freckles, sprinkled on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose like he was a cupcake; his brown eyes absorbing the hue of golden toast.

Lizzy shook her head, burying this strange frame of mind under more practical things like the piece of paper that lay untouched in front of her, devoid of words and, therefore, special individuality.  She tapped her pencil's eraser against it, her eyes constantly roaming to the clock on her nightstand, which read 7:27 p.m., despite her best efforts to concentrate.  The only affair that she had accomplished was scripting her name in near perfect calligraphy.  Unfortunately, that was the only blank she bothered to fill so far with her pencil's ashen lead.

Lizzy's phone, who was waiting almost as excitedly as its owner, rested beside her on the desk, its screen dark and gloomy like a stormy day.  The time skulked past the half hour mark and Lizzy wasn't sure if she could bear the uneasy yet enthusiastic tug-o-war that was competing in her gut.  One question, Lizzy commanded herself.  One question and by then he'll have called you to Facetime.

She stared at the first question long enough for it to become ingrained in her head like a chisel chipping away at a rock.  "Choose six adjectives to describe yourself and select three or four of your interests and/or hobbies," Lizzy read aloud, hoping to muster up some motivation by speaking it.  She poised her pencil properly, the pointed tip pressing into the paper.  Using her hand as a power source, the pencil wavered, undulating a shaky line, a streak of gray like the smoke of a firework's aftermath.  Sudden inspiration overtook her and before it could escape her, a wisp of steam, she hastily scribbled the first things that popped inside of her head.

Gardening, hanging with my friends, eating, sleeping, she wrote as her hobbies.  Defining herself required a bit more difficulty and deeper thought.  Was she caring?  Lizzy certainly felt that way for her closest friends and family but beyond them there weren't many others that she cherished and enjoyed.  Maybe direct?  In her first conversation with JJ, she had been rather blunt about the reasons she conjectured about why he couldn't get any girls.  Lizzy marked that word down and attempted to summon another.  Hard-working?  In gardening and school and mending her best friends' relationship, yes, so Lizzy added that word to create the rough beginnings of a list.

Lizzy leaped up in exhilaration when her phone began to buzz maniacally.  JJ was endeavoring to Facetime her and she rapidly swiped the answer button, her eyes recognizing his face immediately when it appeared on her screen.  Bashfulness fizzled in heart as his face beamed upon identifying her.  He seemed to be soaking in every inch of her like a sponge, his gaze penetrating and awed.  Lizzy blushed under his intense gawk, seizing the moment herself to scrutinize all his features through the screen.  She'd rather talk to him in person but viewing him in real time was just enough to appease her desires for now.  Eventually, however, it would become too unbearable, the screen a constant barrier from him, a mountain that she would ultimately want to surmount as soon as possible.