Even If The Sky Was Falling

Even the highly crowded school hallways couldn’t hide him from her. She walked slowly but steadily among her classmates, but her attention was obviously elsewhere. Following his usual route, she periodically got glimpses of his shoulder or his backpack through the gaps in the crowd. Thus, reassuring herself that he was still there in front of her. She effortlessly followed him out to the bus stop, weaving through the people in order not to lose sight of him. It was Friday, which meant that he didn’t have practice or work and went straight home. It meant that he would ride the same bus as her today.

The bus stop was a small stone platform that smelled strongly of urine. This wasn’t the best bus stop around, but if you got on here you had a greater chance of getting a seat. She sat down at a bench and, fighting the stench, opened her book. After reading the same sentence five times and still not knowing what it was about, she gave up on the book. Instead, out of the corner of her eye, she looked at him.

Ben Mortwood. He was wearing blue jeans that were in danger of slipping off his hips and a large grey sweatshirt with the school’s fencing team logo. He was rocking side to side, listening to his music. Though the motion would likely go undetectable if you weren’t staring as hard as she was.

You, Caroline Hunter, have gone mental. Stalking people. She shook her head.

The bus came. It crept slowly around the corner, already more than half full. A sigh was quickly followed by a groan as she slammed the book shut and got up from the bench. He got on first and moved to the very back while she got stuck in front behind a lady with an orange bird’s nest for hair and her three kids. She couldn’t even see him, so she just opened her book and tried to read while clinging to the bar. The words came together this time with just one read, even though she was falling from side to side as the bus rumbled on. A few minutes later, she briefly looked up to realize that they passed his stop a while ago. She missed him get off. What a waste of a Friday. She thought and went back to her book.

A few stops later, she felt nauseous and looking up was extremely glad that they were just about at the park. She decided to get off and wander around the alleys. It would help calm her stomach and delay her arrival at home. Let’s just say that this was the wrong time of the month to try and be civil around her mom. She stepped off the bus and was taken aback when she saw a guy wearing the same clothes as Ben jump out through the back door. She twisted around to look to the left, and there was no doubt about it – it was him. He decided to get off at the park as well? Well, this was only to her own advantage.

He started walking down the main alley, and she followed not too far behind, pretending to read her book. Over its top, she kept track of where his ankles were headed. A few minutes, and a few turns later, he spun around and looked in her direction. Feeling the color rush to her face, she tried to stare harder at the book. She passed him, and continued to walk down the narrow path. She walked slowly, embarrassed. After a while, a short while, she turned back, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Stood at the side of the path, near the trees, thinking what to do now. Should she go back, supposedly she remembered how she got to where she was? Or maybe continue walking and read a few more chapters before finally facing her parents? Her thoughts snapped back into reality when she heard steps behind her. Her stomach did a somersault, there were many maniacs wondering through the park preying on young girls nowadays. However, it wasn’t a pedophile. Rather far from it, actually.

He came up to her, fairly fast. Stopping only inches away from her, he frowned and looked down. He shook his head and brought it back up to look at her, the frown still firmly in place. He looked as if he was about to speak. Less than a second later, he caught her chin with his hand at the same time as he leaned down and kissed her. His lips were warm, gentle. He stepped closer and raised his hand to push a stray tendril of her hair behind her ear. She dropped her book and kissed him back. She hoped that she wasn’t dreaming.

Standing in the middle of the park, she didn’t have a care in the world about anything else, even if the sky was falling.