- Taylor's POV -
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I picked up the sketch from my car dashboard before I went inside. Brandon had given it to me, as a gift. He said he didn’t want it. I had felt sadness tug on the edge of my emotions as he explained the sketch to me. I knew part of it was my own, but a little was Brandon’s. I tucked the sketch under my arm and swung open the side door. What time is it? I wondered. Hmm, half past eight…Emilie will be asleep, but everyone else is probably awake.
As I thought about Brandon’s emotions, it made me wonder something else. How much of an emotion do we have to feel for the other to feel it? Brandon’s sadness had barely been present, but I knew it wasn’t my own. Maybe the degree we feel the emotion matters…
Mom was awake, watching TV in her room. I wanted to go see her, but then I’d have to explain why I had met up with Brandon, and I didn’t want her worrying about that. Deciding to go straight to my room, I tiptoed down the hall and creaked open the door to my room. It was still too early to go to bed, and I didn’t really want to go out of the house again, so I decided to watch Netflix in my room.
After I figure out how much it’ll cost to get this sketch onto a canvas…
***************
“Hey.” Henry nudged me. “You okay? You spaced out for a minute there.”
“What?” I shook my head. “Oh, yeah. I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” I had been thinking about the link between Brandon and I and how it worked physically--could he tell when I was hungry? Did it only work with skin wounds, like the papercut? The papercut! I remembered. I should ask him about that!
“Earth to Taylor.” Henry looked a little slighted. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, I promise,” I assured him. Trying to recover from my trance, I glanced over at the history textbook. “Where were we?”
“The Cold War,” he said, a little bit suspiciously. He put a hand on my arm. I felt a girlish thrill. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I--I’m fine. Really.” He’s touching me--!
Henry shook his head. “Okay, if you say so. Come on, back to studying.”
We’d decided to take our break between classes to study for an upcoming world history final. In reality, we hadn’t gotten much studying done. I had been laughing at his jokes for most of the past hour, and it was almost time for me to get back to class, which I mentioned to him.
“Really? You can’t skip just this once?” Henry gave me his puppy dog eyes. I almost buckled--almost.
“I can’t.” I didn’t want him to let go of my arm, but I did have to go, so I began to pack up my things. “Finals are coming up and I can’t afford to miss a class.”
“Aw, okay,” Henry relented. “If you say so.” I shoved the textbook into my backpack. “Can you hang out soon? Say, tomorrow at 3? The weather has started to warm up; could you come with me to the park to take a walk?”
The thought of taking a walk with Henry made me blush. I still wasn’t used to affection from a guy, even after hanging out with him several times over the past week and texting him constantly. I tried to quiet the butterflies in my stomach and replied, “Sure. That works just fine for me.” I smiled at him, and he smiled at me. The butterflies moved around in an uproar.
I’d finished packing up my things, so I pulled my backpack into my lap and sat with it. “I guess I’ll see you then…?” Henry left the question unfinished as he placed his hand on mine. My brain suddenly ceased to function.
“Uh…Yeah,” I said, my voice squeaking. “Um. Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I stood up, swinging my backpack around my shoulders. I need to get out of here. He’s messing with my brain.
Henry stood up too, and before I could react, he slipped his hands around my waist and hugged me. It was a little awkward because of the bulk of my backpack, but I was still speechless. He was solid--steady--unmoving--but gentle. I finally found the sense to hug him back, after several long seconds. He’s so much taller than me, I thought, my mind racing and my heart beating a mile a minute. He could probably lay his chin on my hea--
Henry gently rested his chin on the top of my head.
“I…I should go,” I said into his sweatshirt, my voice muffled.
“Yes, you should,” he agreed. “Go to class. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay,” I stuttered, trying my best not to stagger away. As soon as I was on my way to class, I whipped out my phone and texted Jamie.
“He hugged me!” I told her excitedly.
She responded almost instantly. “Really?? That’s awesome! Go girl!”
I barely made it to class in time, but I didn’t care a bit. The butterflies still whirled through my midsection, and I let them. Class passed painfully slowly--the material was difficult and everyone was cramming before finals. I almost wasn’t looking forward to the summer, because it meant no school and a lot of working to keep myself busy.
My thoughts were all over the place. They darted from Henry’s hug, to Brandon and the papercut, to Henry, to maybe taking summer classes, and back to Henry again. I still couldn’t believe he was into me. I shook my head in wonder. Crazy.
My phone dinged. I turned it on. It was a text from Brandon: “You been with Henry today?”
I blushed just thinking about Henry. “Yes. Why?”
“I haven’t had butterflies this bad since I was in middle school and asked a girl out to the dance.”
I grimaced. “Sorry. Can’t control it.”
“It’s fine, just try to tone it down a little. Lol.”
I looked for Mom as I walked inside. I wanted to ask her if I should take a summer class. I found her on the couch, asleep, one arm hanging over the side and a blanket draped on her back. Catching movement out of the corner of my eye, I saw Isaac and Elijah peeking around the hallway. “We gave her the blanket,” Isaac whispered loudly, his twin nodding.
I smiled, feeling a rush of love for my brothers. “Thanks, boys,” I whispered back. “I love you two.”
The twins grinned and tripped back to their room. I straightened the blanket and went to my own room. Time to get a little more studying done. I wanna keep that 4.0.
***************
Henry and I walked around the park, laughing and talking. It was gorgeous outside, and I wore shorts for the first time in the year. I felt pretty, and I felt loved.
“Hey, wanna sit on the bench?” He pointed to a bench beside the sidewalk. It looked cozy, and there was almost no one around. I nodded, and we sat down.
“It’s such a beautiful day.” I smiled and gazed at the view.
“Not as beautiful as you are,” Henry said, winking at me. I blushed furiously. He laughed and stretched, casually placing his arm behind me. My stomach whirled as his hand slowly moved to my shoulder and he pulled me close in the silence.
The only thing this is missing is a sunset, I thought. I’m glad I told Brandon not to text me. I feel bad about the butterflies I must be giving him. So much for being too salty to have a boyfriend. I’m head over heels for Henry.
I felt my eyelids start to droop. “I’m sleepy,” I yawned.
Henry nodded his agreement. “Finals gonna hit us all,” he said sympathetically. “Just lay your head on my shoulder for a bit. I’ll wake you up if you fall asleep for too long.”
“Thank you. I think I will…”
I felt myself drift off to sleep.
“Hey. Wake up.” Henry shook me gently. “Come on, babe. It’s time to go.”
Blinking slowly, I looked up. The sun was setting. “Henry! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” I jumped up, pulling on his hand. “We need to go! My mom is gonna kill me!”
“Hush,” he assured me as he stood. “It’s okay. Your mom called while you were sleeping, and I answered and told her that we’d be on our way soon. That’s why I woke you up.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He laughed. “Come on, sleepyhead. Let’s go.”
When Henry dropped me off, Dad answered the door. I scowled. He was the last person I wanted to see, at any time on any day. But, I thought, he was bugging me about having a boyfriend…
“Dad,” I said offhandedly, “this is Henry, my boyfriend.”
Dad smiled, which I thought was an odd reaction. “Nice to meet you, Henry.” They shook hands, both smiling. Carefully, I scrutinized their expressions. Neither seemed surprised to see the other. Had Dad expected him?
I narrowed my eyes. “Do you know each other?”
“No, why would you think that?” Dad cocked his head to the side, almost as if he cared. I knew he didn’t.
“Just wondering,” I said innocently. “Well, thanks for the date, Henry!” I hugged him goodbye, smiling up at him.
“Goodbye, Tay. Love you.” He returned the smile and squeezed me tight.
“Love you too.” I slipped past Dad through to my room.
“Home,” I texted Brandon. “Sorry about that.”
“How long does it take for butterflies to go away?” he texted back. I wrinkled my eyebrows. Another text popped up. “Wait this isn’t google.”
“Ha ha, very funny,” I replied.
“One of the lovely side effects of being psychically connected. You got time to meet up tomorrow?”
“Nope. I have to work all day, 9-5. Then studying.”
“Darn.” He started to type, but then stopped. I set my phone aside, pulling out my programming textbook and notes. I heard a ding. “Maybe Sunday?”
“We’ll see. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Cool beans.”
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(i hope all of you are having a lovely day; i'm really sorry i'm not a good blogger any more. life changes and it's really hard for me to accept but i've just kind of lost my desire to be on here. i'll keep posting sudden connection but they'll probably be few and far between. i love you all <3)
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