Two to One

It was just like that saying, “Alone in a crowded room.” Ironic at the least, and pathetic at best. People wrote songs about it, stories, poems, anything you could possibly imagine, trying to capture this idea of feeling completely isolated from the world around them. But no one ever really could understand it until it was them standing all alone, watching as the world passes by, wishing someone would just stop and take them by the hand, and together they’d go anywhere but there. All they wanted was a hand to hold them up, to keep the earth from swallowing them whole. All they ever really needed was someone to come around, and squeeze their hand, letting them know that they’re just right beside them. They’ll always be just right beside them.

And that’s what he was to her. A reassurance, a streak of sunshine breaking through the dark, stormy clouds. Meg had been standing on the edge all her life, toes dangling off, staring down into a pit of darkness, when, suddenly, someone had pulled her away. For the first time in her life, someone had given her a reason not to jump.

They had met the conventional way, at a party. She had been visiting her older sister, Alex, at college, when Alex insisted it was time for her Meg to undergo her first college experience. So she dragged her to some random party at frat house, and instead of enjoying herself like she should have been, all Meg wanted to do was go home.

The place smelled of cheap booze. Beer pong tournaments were being conducted left and right, the loud, drunken shouts of the college students mixing in with the blaring music was more than she was sure most grown-ups could handle, but then again living in college town, they had probably grown to expect it. As Meg walked through one of the hallways, carefully stepping around a guy who had blacked out, she passed a room filled with what looked to be like the entire school’s supply of alcohol. There were more kegs stacked up there than Meg had seen in her entire life, and she had attended some pretty outrageous parties back home.

Shaking her head with a small, knowing smile, she continued walking in search of her sister. With a red cup in hand, the alcohol swishing inside as she walked, Meg didn’t look anything like the sixteen year old she really was. Wearing one of her sisters tight, low cut black tank tops and a denim mini skirt, her face painted with makeup, her long dark blond hair bouncing off her back as she pushed her away through a crowd of people in the kitchen, and with a pair of high pumps adorning her feet, she resembled any other college girl there. No one, unless they were somehow psychic or her sister had told them, would have come to the conclusion that she was only a junior in high school.

But no matter how much she looked like she fitted in, the truth was that she felt more out of place than ever. She cringed in disgust, shutting a bedroom door she had opened, hoping her sister had been inside, but really walking in on a couple going at it. She sighed, wondering where the hell Alex was. She had promised Meg that no matter what she wouldn’t leave her all alone, especially in a place where she knew no one except Alex’s roommate Katie, who also seemed to be conveniently missing also.

Meg chugged the rest of her beer, relishing the feeling of the warm liquid sliding down her throat, before she closed her eyes, her hands flying down to her sides, and rested her head against the wall, with a light groan.

Why had she even agreed to come in the first place? She should have seen that this wasn’t going to be an exciting trip from the start. Meg wasn’t the kind of person who adapted well to new surroundings and new situations. That was Alex, which was probably why she loved it here so much. But North Dakota for God's sake? Why the hell would anybody ever want to go to college in North Dakota? There was nothing to do out there, unless you were the outdoorsy type or a hockey star. You were basically thrown out into the middle of nowhere, left to survive on alcohol and puffy, winter coats. Meg couldn’t imagine how Alex didn’t want to just kill herself here. The place was a total bore. She had no idea about how people kept themselves busy, because drinking honestly only went so far. Alex could have gone to Arizona or at least some place that people actually knew was state, not fucking North Dakota, where the entire state’s population must have been the college and the ten people who lived in the town nearby it.

“Hey,” a voice said, startling her. It was husky, with a hint of some kind of accent in it, although Meg wasn’t quite sure which.

She turned her head to find a guy smiling at her, one hand holding a red cup like her own and the other stuffed into his jean pocket. He didn’t seem that much older than her. He was tall, standing at about the height of 6’2, and extremely good looking, with a chiseled jaw frame and large, brown eyes, bright with youth and mischief. Next, Meg immediately noticed his athletic body. His build was lean, but at the same time, muscular and broad. He wore jeans and a black zip-up sweatshirt with the word SIOUX in big green letters. His brown hair was tucked under a white hat, whose rim rested against the back of his neck.

But what really caught her eye was his smile. It was obvious that the guy was sure of himself, just in his whole presentation, but he didn’t seem to flaunt it like other guys, he wore his humility so openly, that it almost shocked Meg. He smiled at her in a way that through everything she had been feeling, all the anger, irritation, and resentment, mirrored back everything she thought she had been missing that night: comfort, a place of recognition, someone who finally understood.

“You okay?” he asked, his tone soft and soothing, a refreshing contrast to the rest of the party.

“Uh…yeah,” Meg responded with a blush. She lifted herself off the wall, running a hand through her hair, a habit she had developed whenever she became nervous.

“You sure?” he said, leaning his shoulder against the wall and taking a sip of his drink.
“Because you’ve been wandering around this place, looking like a lost a puppy or something.”

Meg raised her eyebrow suspiciously. “Have you been watching me?”

He shrugged casually, staring down at his cup as he rolled his finger around the white edge. “It’s not every day a beautiful girl like you shows up around here. A guy takes notice of things.” He looked up at her with a smile. Meg rolled her eyes, but she knew she was blushing, and she just hoped that by trying to blow off the comment like he was just another stupid guy and she heard it all the time, he wouldn’t notice.

But he did, and he grinned knowingly at the sight of the flushness in her cheeks. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, you know,” he said, taking a step forward so they were barely an inch apart. “It’s true,” he whispered softly, looking down at her, and it only made her blush harder.

Sensing this, his smile only grew, like he knew exactly the effect he was having on her. “I’m Jonathan,” he said, sticking out his hand.

“Megan,” she replied, grabbing onto it. She had almost jumped back, because as soon as their hands had touched each other, something electric ignited, and she could feel it rush through her body, all the way down to her toes. She looked from their hands to him, but he seemed unfazed by the reaction, like nothing had happened at all. But something did happen. She knew it because she had never felt anything like that before. It sounded cheesy, far-fetched even, like the kind of thing you heard about in movies or fairy tales, but never experienced in real life. It just didn’t happen. Yet here she was, heart racing, palms sweating, stomach flip-flopping, feeling something she never even knew was possible. Jonathan was a cute college guy, who out of all the pretty, and older, girls she had seen today, was wasting his time talking to her. She wasn’t anything special, she knew that. But what she didn’t understand was why she was all of a sudden beginning to feel like she was.

“So, really, Megan,” Jonathan began, “what were you doing?”

“Looking for my sister,” she replied, looking down at her red cup, swishing the dark liquid inside of it.

“Who’s your sister?” he asked, taking another swig of his drink.

“Alex Burke.”

He coughed, almost spitting the liquid out of his mouth.

Her head shot up and stared at him, giving him a strange look. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, wiping his mouth the back of his hand. “But did you say your sister was Alex Burke?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh, nothing,” he said quickly. “I just…didn’t realize she had a sister.”

“Well here I am,” Meg replied dryly, again analyzing the inside of her red cup.

“You seem extremely enthusiastic about it,” he teased, flashing that knee-weakening smile of his again, and Meg needed to remind herself to keep breathing and quit acting like some crazed, in love teenager. She didn’t even know this guy.

“Well it’s just that I haven’t seen her in forever,” she admitted, feeling it all begin to flow out of her. “And I came up all the way here from Colorado to hang out with her, and she just ditches me for some stupid party. Like in high school, everything was always about her, you know? Alex this, Alex that. Alex won another trophy. Alex won Prom Queen, again. I mean she got everything, and it’s not like she ever took any time to be a sister to me. God, all I wanted for her was to stop treating me like every other underclassman, and as a sister. She’d ignore me unless she was asking me to do her homework, and she’d walk right past me in the hallways like I didn’t even exist. She was so busy, being the best at everything that she didn’t even really notice me. Just once, I wanted for her to actually care about me, for just a second even, instead of her goddamn self all the time,” she paused, her hand flying to her forehead. “Oh my god. What am I thinking? I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t be throwing this on you. You don’t want to hear about my stupid sister problems.”

He laughed, his eyes friendly and calm. “Don’t be sorry. You look like you really needed to get that off of your chest. Probably feels really good right now, huh?”

Meg nodded with a deep sigh. “You have no idea.”

“Well if it means anything, your sister doesn’t know what she’s missing.”

Their eyes met for a second, and Meg realized he was much closer than he had been before. She swallowed hard, her throat feeling coarse and dry, like she hadn’t had anything to drink for days. Moments like this definitely didn’t happen to girls like her. But it was happening. Jonathan was leaning in towards her slowly, closing the space between them. Then, just as it seemed like he couldn’t come any closer, he kissed her. He was gentle and not forceful, unlike the other guys she had kissed. As it deepened, Meg could feel her knees buckling, and she was sure that if it wasn’t for his hand on the small of her back, holding her up, she would have collapsed to the floor. But she managed to regain her strength, and with her chest pounding and her air supply shortening, she kissed him back hard, feeling her senses come alive.

The sounds of the party: the drunken college kids, the rap music playing in the background, a beer bottle crashing onto the floor, disappeared, and all she could hear was the sound of her heart beating hard against her chest. She could taste him on her tongue, the world slowly dissolving around her. His intoxicating scent, a mix of aftershave and some kind of sports deodorant, burned through her, and all she wanted was more.

He pulled away for a second and looked down at her, because he too was thinking the same thing. “Do you want to go some place quieter?” he asked her softly, his breathing slightly heavy.

She nodded, allowing him to take her by the hand and slip her away to an open bedroom at the end of the hall. As soon as he had closed the door behind them, he pushed her gently up against it, flattening one hand against the wooden door, and resting the other on her hip. It was dark, but he was still close enough for Meg to make out his features. She wove an arm around his neck, pulling him down towards her, and reconnected their lips in a heated kiss. Meanwhile, his hands explored her body, stopping at the hem of her tank top. His fingertips grazed the bare skin of her midsection, scorching it with his touch, as he pulled her off the wall and into his body.

His hands slid up her top, slipping it off in one smooth gesture and tossing it to the floor. Meg sat down on the edge of the bed with him overhead of her. He pulled his hat, sweatshirt, and the white t-shirt that was under it, over his head, revealing his toned torso, and it threw to the floor right beside where Meg’s top was laying. He then leaned into her, positioning his hands on either side of her body to stable him. Breathing heavily into each other, their eyes connected, knowing that they both wanted the same thing. Their mouths once again found their way to one another and they fell back onto to the bed; the rest becoming history.