Flustered

Tyler sat on top of the picnic table, head down, deep in thought. He was agitated, every muscle in his body tensed and ready to snap. His head was spinning and consumed with the terrifying sounds of his own screams. A full moon was approaching. His second transformation. Just thinking about the pain he would have to go through again made him angry and scared and-

“Tyler?”

His head snapped up so fast it was surprising his neck didn’t snap. Standing before him was the object of his affection, who had jumped from his sudden movement.

“I was going to ask for my book back, but if you’re busy...” Sierra trailed off and smiled nervously before turning to walk away. Tyler quickly, shaking his head, and she paused before turning back around.

“No! No, it’s fine, here.” He reached into his backpack and passed the borrowed book to her. He had lost his a week ago and had been using hers since.

“Thanks.” There was an awkward pause and the girl seemed to be deep in thought. Tyler was about to say something or leave when her soft voice reached his ears.

“Are you okay?”

Tyler opened his mouth before closing it and shrugging her question off.

“Yeah, you know. Just tired from practice and stuff.”

She stared at him for a moment, searching his eyes. Her pink lips turned into a frown and she furrowed her brow.

“Are you sure?”

Tyler just looked at her for a moment and shifted his backpack to a more secure location on his shoulder. He was used to people always asking how he was since his dad died and had gotten good at telling who actually cared and who didn’t. The amount of concern in her honey-brown eyes was enough to make him want to tell her everything. He wanted to break, he wanted to talk to her, he wanted to explode and rant and rave, but he simply couldn’t. She was Sierra and he was Tyler and they weren’t meant to be-

“I’m fine.”

His thoughts involving said girl were becoming more and more serious as of late. His little game of making her embarrassed and blushing had turned into him actually seeking out her company. He was quickly finding out that he liked the brunette and wasn’t sure what to do about it. He couldn’t exactly ignore his feelings for her, but he certainly couldn’t do anything about them.

“Okay, but if you ever need anyone to talk to...” Sierra had trailed off and Tyler nodded in understanding.

“I know. Thanks.” His eyes locked with hers once again and noticed, not for the first time, how bright and glassy they were. His gazed fell down to her cheeks, which were dusted with freckles and tinged pink, before trailing all the way down to her lips. They were rosy and he could make out tiny spots of glitter on them from her lipgloss.

The impulse to just kiss her was tugging at Tyler’s core. He had been getting that same impulse more frequently for a few weeks now. All he had to do was just lean in and place his lips on hers. Just one simple move and he could finally know how her lips felt. Just one. Simple. Move.

The intense moment was broken when said girl sneezed. She had covered her face prior and it snapped Tyler out of his trance. He blinked and shook his head as she rubbed her nose.

“Well, I better go find Sam. I’ll see you later.” The brown-haired girl smiled at him, before walking off rather quickly and Tyler groaned. He was such an idiot. Hadn’t he decided that she was off-limits? That he wasn’t going to go there? Tightening his grip on his backpack, he began walking towards the school, all while mentally kicking himself for being such a dumb ass.



“He was so going to kiss you!” screeched Sam and Sierra shushed her quickly. They were at the Mystic Grill and, though it was pretty loud, she still didn’t want anyone to overhear.

“We don’t know that.” argued Sierra and Sam just groaned.

“We do so! But you just had to sneeze.”

Sierra looked down at her almost empty plate and sighed. Sam had demanded that she tell the “Almost Kiss Story” one more time so she could analyze it. It had been on Tuesday and it was currently Saturday. Since then, Tyler had been extremely distant. The past month the dark haired male had been getting closer and closer to her and she had even built up some hope that he liked her. But suddenly, it ceased. There were no more purposeful touches in English, no more hallway meetings. He had even began stopping by their lunch table in the cafeteria, which stopped abruptly as well.

“It doesn’t matter.” Sierra muttered and Sam narrowed her eyes.

“Oh yes it does! Don’t look so sad, guys do this shit all the time. He’s just, like, afraid of his feelings for you. That’s what my mom tells me anyway. But I mean, c’mon, it makes sense!”

Sierra couldn’t help but roll her eyes and smile at her best friend.

“It’s whatever. Let’s just talk about something else.”

Sam sighed, defeated, but complied nonetheless.

“Fine, fine. Let’s discuss how utterly delectable Damon looks in all black.”

Both girls were overcome with giggling and began talking about random subjects. Neither of them noticed Tyler walking into the grill and over to his usual spot near the pool table. He, of course, noticed Sierra and decided to just ignore her and the knots in his stomach.

“So, tell me, what do you plan to do about this creepy thing you have going on with Damon?” Sierra asked while tying her hair up. Sam snorted.

“Absolutely nothing. I just like watching him. I am, however, currently planning on different way to get my hands on Derrick the Linebacker.”

“And by ‘get my hands on’ you mean ‘ravish on the pool table’ right?”

Sam scoffed and threw her dirty napkin at Sierra who dodged it, giggling. Suddenly, Sam’s phone began to ring and both girls quieted down.

“It’s my mom. Give me a second.”

As Sam got up, she answered her phone and Sierra could hear her talking as she left to find a quieter spot. Sierra looked around the bar while twirling her straw around in her Coke. Her eyes landed on random families and kids from school. She froze when she saw Tyler sitting at a table not too far from her. It was then he chose to look up and their eyes met.

Sierra glanced away quickly, as if looking at him burned her, and frowned. Why was he being so awkward? So what if they almost kissed? Was he even going to kiss her? Was the thought of kissing her disgusting? Feeling rather confused and low, Sierra sighed and rested her chin on her hand.

“Hey.”

Sierra’s head snapped up to see a boy standing by her booth. He looked to be a bit older than her and was grinning. She looked around for a moment and blinked.

“Uh, hello.”

The boy’s grin grew.

“I’m sorry, this must seem really creepy, but I just saw you and well, you’re really pretty, and well - here I am!” He laughed nervously and Sierra smiled a little.

“Here you are.”

The boy scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“My name’s Zach. And yours is?”

“I’m Sierra.” She took the hand he was offering and was shocked when he held hers a little longer than normal. She felt a bit nervous, it wasn’t everyday a random boy decided to just talk to her.

“Sierra. That’s cute.”

She blushed a bit and bit her lip.

“Thank you. I like your name too.” They both laughed at her awkwardness before Zach spoke again.

“Say, do you mind if I sit down with you...?”

Sierra was about to answer when someone else interrupted her.

“I mind.”

Sierra’s heart stopped when Tyler suddenly appeared next to her, arms crossed and eyes fixed on the boy talking to her. He seemed tense, like a mouse trap, ready to snap anything in half that got too close.

The boy blinked and scratched his ear.

“Sorry dude, didn’t know this was your girlfriend.”

Sierra couldn’t help but interject.

“No, I’m not his-”

“You should go. Now.” Tyler nodded his head, dismissing the boy, who held his hands up in a casual defense.

“Sorry man. See ya.” With that, Zach left and Tyler uncrossed his arms. Sierra, who was kind of irked and battling the butterflies in her stomach, stood.

“What was that?”

Tyler looked down at her for a moment before looking away. He seemed to be struggling to say something, but decided against it and took a deep breath.

“Nothing.” His eyes met hers and there was a serious glint to them. She assumed that was his ways of trying to get her to drop it and instead, crossed her arms in defiance.

“That was too something! You don’t just come over here and, well, do that!”

The sudden change in Tyler’s dark eyes made her clamp her mouth shut and suddenly it was hard to breathe. He searched her eyes intently for a moment before looking down.

“I -” He paused and shook his head, a somewhat sad smile on his face. “I gotta go.”

He turned and left Sierra standing there, completely flabbergasted. Without thinking, she followed him and stopped him at his table where he was retrieving his jacket.

“Don’t walk away from me.” Sierra literally had no idea where she was getting her current attitude, but she didn’t really care. Tyler turned to look at her and sighed.

“Look, I’m sorry. If you want to go talk to that dude, go ahead.” He sounded defeated and angry. Sierra almost stomped her foot in frustration.

“No! I want to talk to you.” The words left her mouth before she could stop them and a blush quickly painted her face. Tyler froze her at statement and blinked.

“Just talk to me.” Her voice came out soft and she looked down in embarrassment. Great. Now she was practically begging Tyler Lockwood to talk to her. How pathetic.

“About what?” His words were harsh and she closed her eyes, trying to gather up more courage.

“About how you’ve been,” she swallowed and her hands began shaking, “avoiding me lately. I thought we were friends, but...” she trailed off and quickly lost her confidence. Tyler sighed and looked at her before looking away.

“Look, I -” He took another deep breath and stepped back. “- I have to go.”

With that, he turned his back to her and walked off. Sierra’s jaw dropped and she almost screamed. Sam, who had just walked in and saw the last couple seconds of their exchange, watched Tyler leave. She turned to look at her distraught best friend and began wildly making motions towards the exit of the grill.

Sierra looked up and was surprised to see Sam, who was mouthing ‘Go!’ and waving her arms around. Sierra shook her head and Sam stomped her foot and pointed to the door, giving her a ‘If You Don’t I’ll Kill You’ look. Sierra, defeated and quite irritated, stormed out of the bar and into the chill of the night. It took her a total of three seconds to spot Tyler making his way to his car.

“Tyler!” She called out, but he didn’t stop. Sierra grumbled under her breath and chased after him, determined to get something out of him.

He was about to unlock his car when she grabbed his arm.

“Tyler.”

He stiffened at her touch and turned his whole body around to glare at her. She swallowed thickly and held on to his arm, afraid he’d leave if she left go. His glare melted away and he stood perfectly still, staring at her. Sierra bit her lip nervously as her heart thudded against her chest. All rational thought left her mind and she was beginning to panic. Before she could even think of something to say, his head was moving and his lips crashed into hers.