Merry Go 'Round

I had never in my life been to a really big town with the tall towers and cement sidewalks. All that stuff was foreign to me, and one of my biggest ambitions in life was to get out and see the world. This, I knew, would never happen if I were to follow tradition and do what my parent's told me to do like every other girl in this town. Up until I met Tyler I had planned on doing all the things my parent's told me, including marrying the boy my parent's had picked out, but that day had changed everything.

I didn't see Tyler again until the lunch period. I was sitting in a group of girls, they were all giggling and talking about the spring ball that was coming up and how they were all going to go get fitted for new dresses. I just sat there lost in thought, picking at the lace hem of my dress. I hadn't been able to get Tyler out of my head all day. Kale, the boy who I am supposed to marry walked up to me when I was lost and thought and nervously stuttered something. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize he was there. I soon noticed the girls were quiet and everyone at the table was looking at me.

"Sorry, what?" I asked. I glanced to the right and Kale was standing there looking quite awkward. I gave him a small apologetic smile.

"I was asking, um, well... I was asking if you wanted to go to the spring ball with me." I looked at him, quite stunned actually. I hadn't expected him to ask me, I mean it was our last few months as free individuals.

"I wasn't really planning on going, but, Uh I guess I will." I mumbled, unladylike. A light flush covered my cheeks and he nodded, smiling, before walking over to his table looking accomplished.

Excited chatter erupted at my table and I turned back to the girls smiling, but not listening to their meaning less chatter. I just nodded and went back to studying the ripping lace. I decided to head outside and let the chilly breeze blow away some of my confusion. I dumped my untouched food into the trash bin and put my tray on top of the pile, muttering something about the restroom to the girls. I grabbed my bag and hurried out of the jam packed room, through the doubled doors that led out to the quad.

I walked over to the wall of an old classroom and dropped my bag sitting down on the cold cracking blacktop. I covered my face with my hands, squeezing my eyes shut. I sat like this for a while, until I heard the sound of a ball bouncing on the black top. I looked up and Tyler stood a few feet away from me, bouncing a basketball. I gave him a confused look.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him, standing up because I couldn't sit on the ground appropriately in a dress.

"I could ask you the same thing, but I wont. Want to shoot some hoops?" He asked bouncing the ball in my direction. I caught it on impulse, running my fingers over the worn bumpy surface.

"First one to ten wins." I say with a narrowed pair of eyes. I loved playing basketball, but the girls were never accepted into the games with the boys and no other girls would play with me.

Tyler's face broke into a huge grin, "I am not going to play easy just because you are a girl." he told me. I nodded and picked up a slow jog, bouncing the ball over to the middle of the court. He followed me, standing opposite of me. I started, feigning right then taking off to the left. I was very quick and scored the first basket in the first few seconds.

"So I see I am playing a girl that knows what she is doing, good, I wont feel bad when I beat you." Tyler said, taking the ball into his palms. He bounced it once before taking off towards the hoop. I moved to block him and he bumped me. I thought about this move later and realized that he was being gentle, because this move should have knocked me over but I was barely jostled out of the way.

We continued to play until we were tied, both with nine points under our belts. I had the ball and he had a determined look on his face, no longer sporting the demeaning smile.

"You can forfeit now, then you wouldn't have lost against a girl." I taunted him, wearing a grin of my own. Tyler just shook his head,

"Then I will be called a quitter and loosing to a girl is much better then being a quitter. Anyway, you haven't won yet, sweetheart." He jabbed, wiping the grin off my face. I took off with the ball, bouncing it towards the hoop. He tried to block me, but I just zig-zagged around him. As I was about to throw the ball he grabbed me around the waist, attempting to turn me away from the hoop. I tossed the ball in the general direction of the hoop and the ball went in with a satisfying swish. i threw my arms up in the air.

"Woo! Winner" I yelled into the chill fresh air. Tyler still held me around the waist so I was about two feet taller then normally. He set me down on my feet and shook his head, a smile on his face. The wind blew from behind me, pushing my hair into my face. He reached his hand up and lightly pushed it back on one side, his fingers touching my face lightly. I stopped smiling and just looked at him curiously, my eyes drifting from his eyes to his thick well sculpted lips that had turned a red color from the chill of the wind. I wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips, press my own to them and loose my self in the feeling of the kiss.

"Good job." He told me, his voice a little husky. He started to lean into me, but before his lips touched mine the warning bell rang and I jumped back.

"Uh, I have to go." I mumbled, turning and running to grab my bag before running back to the main building to get my stuff from my locker.

I rushed to class sitting down in an empty seat right as the final bell rang. One of the girls that had sat at my table during lunch, her name was Kelsey, turned and started to talk to me about Kale asking me to go to the dance with him.

".. It's so exciting, and now you can come try on new dresses with us! It will be so much fun..." she broke off taking in my appearance, my hair ruffled from the wind and my cheeks flushed from the cold, " What have you been doing?" She asked, reaching into her purse and pulling out a compact mirror so I could see.

My hair was all over the place, no longer parted perfectly like my mother had done this morning. The dampness in the air had made the strands turn from strait to wildly waved, not quite like the curls it normally was, but not strait. My cheeks were flushed a rosy red and my eyes were wild from the adventure.

"Oh, uh nothing. i was just..." The teacher cut me off and Kelsey spun around, snapping the compact mirror shut and placing it in her purse as he called for attention.

I settled into my seat, ready for the class to be over already.