In Plain Sight

part one: her's and his

Hers

Your hands warm to the touch; your face is soft, as the little hairs follow the strokes from my fingertips; your lips as pink as peonies. I sit there and admire you, loving you a little bit more every second. I felt safe.

We exited the bus as he let go of my hand, the cold air consuming the warmth... the secrecy begins.

We continue to walk to school, the usual teasing and flirting as we go; time with you feels like seconds. We finally reach the café and you scramble for the change to buy your breakfast, I stand beside you and plead for just one more kiss. The words firmly exit your mouth as they do every day, "But people." My heart manages to sink a little bit more than it did yesterday and the day before. We slowly continue our walk to school and our hands gently touch; just a little scrape as our arms swing. Butterflies overtake my body and I'm focused on you, but I can easily tell the only thing your focused on is the eyes of others.

We make it to where we usually sit with our group, my best friend casually waiting, she knows. "Where have you two been?" She wanders. My face lights up and I begin to speak "We-'', but he sternly cuts me off, "Nowhere." I shut my mouth as she stares, the light in my eyes slowly dying, thoughts running through my head, at least he's mine right? but no one even knows it.

We split for class, not even a hug goodbye. My heart aches as I walk. "Are you okay?" One of the girls asks as their hand reaches over my shoulder, "I'm fine, just tired." Yeah, tired of the secrets, tired of not being able to have you, tired of the lies.My head droops as I walk, my thoughts clouded of the feeling I get when I'm with you. In the end it'll be worth it... I hope.

His

Her hands cold, like ice. I could feel my warmth circulate onto her skin; her skin like olives with ash from the cold; her eyes, a light brown like the leaves off of a tree in the autumn wind. I sit there and gaze into her eyes with no care for the rest of world. My heart suddenly warming up as I notice her polished lips showing the slightest smile on her face, while the tips of her teeth slowly show.

She grasps for my hand a little tighter as we exit the bus, but I aggressively let go wondering if there are eyes; absent minded toward how that would make her feel. My arm falls abruptly by my side, nothing to hold onto; her warmth quickly gone as the wind replaces where she once was.

I scan the area to see if there are eyes, no one. The conversation starts up again, the occasional tease with the additional bat of the lashes. She's invested, she wants people to know, I can see it. The café, our next stop; I already know how this'll go... I'll grab change from my bag for breakfast as she pleads for one more kiss, but I'll refuse.

Our slow walk continues, our hands just scraping by the sides, but I'm unfazed as I continuously look around us. We make it to school and someone's waiting... Oh, it's just Miley. She harasses us as per usual, but before she gets a chance to assume, I cut both of the girls off, "Nowhere." I'm again oblivious to how she would feel.

We part for class with no hug, nor kiss... not even a glance. As much as I want her, I can't risk people knowing, I can't risk the already ongoing rumours. What will the guys think of me?

Hers

"If you were just a fling, I wouldn't have invested this much time into you. I will eventually show you that I'm not going anywhere." As if he hasn't shown me already... His words repeat in my mind like a scratched record, but the doubt still clouds my judgement, is he ashamed of me? Am I just a one-time off thing? What if...

Miley brings me back to civilization, "Hello?" She clicks her fingers in front of my face, "Anyone home?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Trust me, it's not important. It's nothing."

She can tell I'm lying, and I assume she knows. The look appears on her face; the sympathy face which she knows I loathe. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I exclaim, "I was just thinking about stuff."

A long sigh exits her mouth, "Again? Really?" I look at her in despair, roll my eyes and return to my haze, ignoring whatever she has left to say. It's like the world went quiet and without you, the seconds pass like hours. The sound of your voice replays in my head, "I love you, asshole." I notice as a smirk suddenly arises on my face, what is this boy doing to me? He's got my feelings all in a muck. Suddenly the bell rings, and the thought hits, I have to see him and pretend like we're just friends; like I'm okay with it.

I pass him as I walk out of class. He seems happy, his face is lit up like a candle, his eyes as bright as the stars... unbothered by the fact I'm not his. He continues to laugh with his mates, something about football, of course. He slightly glances toward me, resulting in butterflies. I don't know how to react, so I simply just continue walking.

I take a seat next to him once we reach our lunch table, our legs just touching; the only sort of physical attention I'll get from him for the rest of the school day. I pull out a book and act as if he's not what's on my mind. How unfair can the world get? I feel a rush of tears stream behind my eyes and a lump in my throat as it turns dry. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry I repeat in my head. I stuff my face deeper into the book as I hold back my tears. It's a romance; that's probably why I'm such a hopeless romantic, how dramatic can I possibly be?

He's sitting there casually with our friends having a good laugh, while I sit here distancing myself from the world, watching him... thinking about how different it would be if everyone knew? But then a wave of his words clouds my head, "Soon my love, soon everyone will know." It gives me a sudden glimmer of hope.

His

I walk past her just as I'm leaving my last period class; I notice as she glances behind her shoulder to meet my eyes. I speed up and casually brush my hand against hers as we start to walk in sync. Her vibe is off by a mile, something's wrong, but I avoid asking if she's okay since the answer is quite obvious. She is steering clear of making eye contact, a word hasn't been shared.

Five minutes pass, then seven, then ten. We're almost at the bus stop, so I speed up past her. "Stop," I hear her shaking voice say, "why are you walking so fast?"

"Well, it's not like you were saying much." My smartass mouth lets out.

"It's not like you started a conversation."

"You could've tried."

Her mouth shuts and she looks up at me, her eyes sparkling as the sun hits them, clearly moist from what looks like tears. She's beautiful, she's mine. But I have to keep her a secret, at least for now.

We tap onto the bus with our mycardz , her hands gently grabbing for mine, trying to take some initiative. I grin, "Bubs, people." Her face loses its light, darkness fills her eyes, I don't know what to do. "I'm sorry, you know I am. If things could be different, they would be, you know that."

"They could be, you just don't want it to be."

Wow, she really pulled that card. The guilt begins to hit...

Things could be different. I'm the one that's keeping us a secret. Is it my fault she's feeling this way? No, it couldn't possibly be, someone could've said something or done something to upset her... I hope it's not my fault.