“I miss you.” Alex's voice tells me through the phone, and I give a short breath.
“I miss you too.” He has been my friend ever since he moved here, and I don't think I could ask for a better friend. “When I get back, which will be like, in three days, we're hanging out the second I get home. No excuses!” A warm laugh comes through the phone, and it makes me smile. I've always loved that laugh of his. “Yeah, that sounds great. I can't wait to see you again.”
“Alex, get off the phone with your girlfriend!” Jack yells from somewhere in the bus, and Alex quickly responds. “Molly isn't my girlfriend, you know that!”
“Liar, I know you're cheating on me!” There's a clatter of something and there's a little more shouting the background, something I can't help but laugh at.
“I've gotta go, but I'll see you in three days, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Bye!” But before I can give him my goodbyes, the phone call has already ended, and I'm back on my bed, looking up at the ceiling.
It's hard to tell when I fell in love with that boy, but I know that I wanted Jack's words to be real. I wanted more than anything to be his girlfriend. To be the reason for his smile, the inspiration behind a song of his, to be his Valentine every year, the person he falls asleep next to with our fingers interlocked and never having to worry about being alone again. But I am not. I'm the girl that got paired up with him in ninth grade biology for a project and saw my Blink-182 obsession and claimed from that day on we would be best friends forever.
And we have been. But I want so much more than that.
I resign myself to the comforts of my clean sheets, looking at the picture resting on my nightstand of me and the guys. All huddled together outside at a barbeque my parents had back when I was seventeen, the guys clothes stained with mud and grass from playing football. Thinking back to those days make me smile, and as I turn off the light, I fall asleep thinking about him.
The next few days pass by in an excited blur. I'm too stoked on them coming home to focus much on school work, despite a test coming up. Alex called late in the evening telling me there was a party and to get over to his house right away, I grabbed my jacket and was out the door before the call was even over. Winter had settled in, and the air was crisp against my face, the wind nipping at my cheeks before I could reach my car and get settled in.
When I pulled up to the house, I could already hear the music. Getting out, I rushed inside and was greeted by his voice over everybody else. “Molly!” Though the way said it made it sound more like 'Mawll-eeee'. Bringing me into a tight hug and briefly crushing the air from my lungs. “I missed you so much!” It was a Christmas themed party, at least that's what I assumed because of Alex's ugly ass sweater he was wearing. He slaps a piece of white paper in my hand before smiling. “We're all writing one Christmas wish before this party is over, so get to thinking what you want!” He leaves to go talk to a few of his other friends.
It doesn't take me long to find another friend of mine, who greets me with a large smile. “Hey there! Oooh, got anything written down.”
“Not yet.”
“Well, I already know your Christmas wish.”
“Oh, do you now?” She points a finger and it falls on Alex. I blush.
“Knew it!” I push her shoulder and her tongue sticks out at me. “Listen, I say go for it. You never know, he may feel the same way you do.” Before I counter her words, she leaves to go talk with someone else.
It's true though. And I find my way to the kitchen, getting a pen and scribbling it down on the paper and stuffing it in my jacket pocket, finding Alex and asking if I could talk with him. He nods, and we step out on the back porch, sliding the door shut. “What's up, Molly-dolly?” Ever since I dressed as Raggedy Ann one year, he's called me that. “I just wanted to talk to you is all.” He leans over the railing and I join him, looking up at the full moon. “So, what's your Christmas wish?” I ask as nonchalantly as I can, looking to him. “Just..to have a good year, make new friends, have an awesome tour.” He gives a shrug and a half smile. “Something simple, I'm not asking for a lot. What about you?”
I reach into my pocket, my fingers feeling clammy and thick as I take it out and hand it to him. “That.” My eyes are fixed on the paper as he unfolds it, his eyebrows arching some and looks up to me and then back down and then back to me. “You want me as a Christmas wish?”
“I actually want you more than a Christmas wish. Every holiday would be nice, and every day in between.” I'm surprised I can still make sentences, but folds the paper and puts it in his pocket, stepping forward and leaning down so he's at my level.
“I think I can make that happen.” And before I have to register what he said, his lips are pressed against my own chapped pair. He tastes like chap stick and liquor, but right now that's the best taste in the entire world to me. My hands find their way to his hair, and his hands hold my cheeks, the warmth of them stinging since I'm so cold. When he finally breaks the kiss, our breath comes out in steamy puffs. “Even for all the days in between?”
“Everyday in between, nights included.”
“So, we're giving this a shot?”
“I'd rather we call it dating rather than a shot.” A smile breaks out on my face, wrapping my arms around him and hugging him tightly.
A wish that actually came true.
