Starry Night

My breathing became heavy and rugged, leaving it almost impossible to say any more. Connor leaned in, his fingers tickling my chin and pushing away the few strands of hair that hung in my face. When we came too close, I took his head into my palms. Our noses touched briefly, and after what seemed like an hour, Connor cradled the nape of my neck with his strong hand. This is what we had been waiting for.

Connor’s lips were warm and soft against mine, and it felt like an explosion had rippled throughout my body, sending shock waves to the tips of my nerves. My hands combed through his messy hair and I could feel him smile as he pulled me closer toward him.
Everything stopped. The wind that had whipped at my hair was being ignored and even the waterfall’s crash had faded away. Connor was the only person there, the only thing I felt.
This boy in my arms right now had driven me crazy for a month. He made me second-guess everything from my old home, and I had almost hated him since day one because of the way he made me think. This moment was something I couldn’t even have dreamed of before I moved, and here I am living it.

Connor pulled away, opening his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Only the slight howl of the wind seemed to break through the winter air, and it reminded me a wolf calling in the night. Finally, Connor’s voice returned and he sighed with one of those pearl-white, crooked smiles. “I guess you do like me.”

When I laughed, it echoed above the bare treetops and throughout every mountain valley. “It might be safe to say that.” I stood up, looking around again and finally up to the sky. The sun was covered by a group of gray clouds, and they seemed out of place in such a bright blue sky, but it was just right at the same time. Geese flew above in a V-shape and gracefully flapped their large wings as they almost slid across the sky.

“So,” Connor said.

My eyes found his bright green ones, and I smiled, “Yeah?”

“What now?” He matted down that messy hair with his hand and pulled me close to him.

“You tell me.” Connor laughed lightly and it was music to my ears. As drops of rain started to fall, I looked toward the dark thunderstorm forming opposite to us. Thunder was audible, and lightening started to make the storm clouds glow.

“We should go.” His voice was comforting, but showed a bit of anxiousness. “That storm is starting to hit and we’re going to get caught in the middle of it.” Connor took my hand and led me quickly toward the truck. My fingers fumbled with the seat belt, and he climbed in close beside me.

“How did the storm come so quickly?”

A crack of thunder ripped through the air and the engine roared underneath us.

“It’s New England,” was the only answer he gave me.

The truck turned sharply down the rocky road, as lightening lit up the sky. More rain drops started to pound on the windshield, and the truck turned again. I felt myself sliding toward the car door and I hit it, hard. A deep, radiating pain began to pulse through my arm.

“Sorry about that,” His voice was light and teasing. A steep dip in the road came into view, and Connor’s expression tensed, his eyebrows creasing together. Another crack of thunder roared through the air.

The truck’s nose fell downward as the road began to plunge, and when it completely aligned with the rockiness beneath us, the force of it threw me back into leather seat. Wind whipped past the windows, blowing dead leaves lightly around in circles. Its howl was more prominent now, ripping the icy air into pieces. Slowly, the dirt started turning into mud, and the wheels stalled once or twice trying to get a good grip on it.

“This worked out well,” I muttered, staring out into the storm.

Connor looked at me for a split second, not daring to take his eyes off the treacherous road any longer. “What?”

“Just the storm and everything.”

“Well I think it makes things more interesting,” he smiled slyly in my direction.

“How so,” I asked leaning slightly closer to him.

“It adds a challenge. And maybe if you get scared—.” I punched his arm playfully, “No way. You’re forgetting that we had hurricanes in Florida.”

“I said maybe, Stacy.”

An hour slowly ticked by as we continued talking. Finally after the center of the storm had passed, the highway came into view and very few cars drove past us. Connor let his hand fall from the steering wheel and he laid his head back. “Where to now?”

I looked from one side of the street to the other and thought for a moment. “No where special, I guess. My mom will be home soon and I have to be there to make sure she thinks I went to school.” He closed his bright eyes and sighed, but opened them again as the truck jerked forward to go home.

The doorknob twisted easily in my palm, and I stepped in. Connor uneasily put his hands in his worn out jean pockets and followed behind me. “Why are you acting like that?”

“I just…don’t feel right here,” he said quietly, staring me dead in the eyes.

I raised my eyebrows in complete surprise. “And why would that be?”

“This is where I begged you to go out for a day with me, the day we got together.”

“That has nothing to do with it.” I started walking toward the kitchen for a snack, but his arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back into him. I could almost feel his heart beat on mine and it grew faster as he continued speaking, “You don’t get it,” he whispered.

“Then help me understand.” His eyes were burning and piercing even in this dim room.

“I feel that this…thing we have is because of a mistake.”

Thunder roared and lightening lit up the windows. “Does this make us a mistake?”

Connor’s breath was hot as he leaned his head down toward me. He thought for a moment as if choosing the right words to say and smiled, “Let’s sure as hell hope not.”

I laughed.

Turning away toward the kitchen again, my fingers flipped at the light switch. Once, twice, three times, nothing happened. The room was darkening as more storm clouds dominated the afternoon sky, covering the sun.

“We might need some candles, looks like the storm knocked out the lights.” Connor peered his head around the kitchen door carrying one of the lit matches used to start the fireplace.

“Looks like a scavenger hunt to me,” he said lightly, motioning me to follow him. With in minutes, we had searched through every cabinet and closet, only to find about three half-burnt, fat candles.

We set them on the coffee table in front of the roaring fireplace, and put the tallest, blue one aflame. I slumped onto the couch, staring at the bright inferno, “What now?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Connor shrug, “Wait until the power comes back on, I guess.” He looked back at me for a moment, “Are you cold?”

Before I could even open my mouth, he gave me a blanket from the couch and rested me on his chest. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“Do you wanna know something,” Connor asked curiously.

“Sure.”

“A few years back, I was in an accident.” I turned around to face him, and his eyes showed pain, but a spark of something else I wasn’t sure of. He continued. “I was having a race down the street with my friends. Near the finish line, a car whipped around the corner. It was so fast I didn’t have time to think. My friend was frozen in the line of it…and I pushed him out of the way.”

I pushed my hair away from my face and moved closer toward him. “Connor, you didn’t need to tell—.”

“Yes I did, Stacy.”

“Why?”

“Because I’d do it all again...for you.”

These words, corny as they may seem, made my heart stop. I leaned in without a second thought, and pressed my lips against his. When I closed my eyes, I could see the candle begin to dim.

Thunder howled somewhere off in the distance.