Weak | S.R

Spencer

As weeks pass by, I can feel myself falling for Allie harder and harder. I'm noticing little things. The way her hair smells, how she taps her fingertips together when she's focusing...

Sometimes when she smiles, she scrunches up her nose. It's the cutest thing in the world.

I look at her and suddenly the world seems perfect. She holds my hand and my worries are nowhere to be found.

She's my 'something good' when days are rough and life gets too heavy.

I know it now. And I'm not afraid of telling her. I'm ready...

I run to my room and grab the black velvet jewelry box off of my dresser.

I run back to her to see her with a gift box. The lid is secured by a ribbon tied into a bow around the box.

"Mine first!" She offers it up, smiling big. "I hope you like it."

"Whatever it is, I know I'll love it," I tell her with a chuckle, setting my gift for her on my desk.

Allie watches closely as I undo the ribbon and set it on my desk. I take off the top and pull out a strange contraption. It's three rectangular prisms, two that lay flat on the surface and one that points up and has a corner cut off of it. It's been made out of clay and glazed with a metallic gold glaze. It looks antique because of the finish of the glaze, but I can tell that she handmade it by the 'A' in the side.

I stare at it for a few seconds, not really sure what it is, then Allie speaks up.

"You told me once that when you were eight years old, you tried to build a Penrose triangle," She starts, looking down at the gift. "But you couldn't because it was impossible. Well, I found a way, sort of. It's a Penrose triangle..."

"It is?" I raise an eyebrow at her.

She nods, taking it from my hands. "It's not exact and it's not, y'know, a real Penrose triangle..." She sets it down on my desk. "But it's more of an illusion. If you look at it the right way...it's pretty darn close."

She moves behind me and positions me in front of it. "Look,"

The angle I'm looking at it from makes it look like a real-life Penrose triangle.

"Wow, Allie, this is... this is the best thing anyone's ever given me. You made this?" I turn around to face her.

She blushes. "I wanted to do the impossible for you." She scrunches up her nose right after she says that. A small giggle leaves her lips. "That was really cheesy, forget that I said that! Just, just...forget-"

I smile at her, shaking my head. "I love you," I say through a chuckle. It's then that I realize I said it, and she does, too. Allie looks up at me with wide eyes, biting her lip to keep a smile at bay. The words fell off of my tongue so easily, like I'd never been afraid to say them. "I...love you," I tell her again.

"Really?" She asks me, tears building up in her eyes. "You do?"

I nod, resting my hands on her arms. "I do, Allie. That's not how I wanted to say it, I had this whole thing planned out and I got you this necklace," I gesture toward the box on my desk. "And before I knew you weren't coming over this weekend, I was going to make you dinner and light candles. I just... I wanted it to be perfect. You deserve the best after waiting for so long. I just kind of blurted it and I-"

She cuts me off by pressing her lips to mine. Our mouths move in sync for a few seconds before she pulls away, resting her hands on my chest.

"Spence, it was perfect. It really was," She smiles up at me. The girl brushes my hair back with her fingers. "I love you, Spencer."