Desperate for Air

And when that hiccup escapes through my lips, I bury myself into pages and pages of an old, coffee stained novel. I swallow; I breathe in lightly to rid myself of my pink, flushed cheeks. I blink, and then I slowly begin to lower my book. Just one glance, just one -

His eyes.

And then my book is abandoned and I reach for my water because another damn hiccup is making its way up and my cheeks just can’t take another. I string together all incoherent thoughts and ease myself out of my chair, and soon the wind is running through my hair. I’m outside. Through the incoherent thoughts and the wind and the swishing of the door, I hear his laugh.

Calm. I breathe and I breathe. I go back in and my eyes are set on my table but then something distracts me. A water bottle. When I go closer I see that there’s black on the white cap and then my fingers encircle around the plastic and I raise the words towards my eyes and it reads, “Hi, I’m Noah” with a little smile beside his perfect name and when my eyes trail back to where he is, he’s not there.

Then I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder and so I turn around.

And then the hiccup finally escapes.