Short Pants, Pimples and High School Crushes
Preview:
Finn and I had snuck out of school that day, mainly because I wanted a smoke and it was only Maths. After taking a long drag from it, I blow it into the wind. The wind whipped it straight back into my eyes. As I was caught unawares, I began coughing.
“You okay Puck?” He laughed, clapping a large hand on my back. When my eyes started to water, he began to worry. “I’m fine.” His hand was firm. I wished I’d felt it more often that I had. Not in fights and in games or in high-fives, but in other ways.
I knew, then.
“You’re red.” He frowned, maybe not as perplexed as he made out. “Why are you blushing?”
He was as familiar to me as myself. Probably more so: I’d stared at him more often than my mirror. I knew his shape and size, the flicker in his eyes and the set of his jaw. Yet… I knew nothing. It was like someone new inside me, clambering up through my comfort zones, twisting my emotions, challenging my self-confidence. Changing me. Wanting.
Finn and I had snuck out of school that day, mainly because I wanted a smoke and it was only Maths. After taking a long drag from it, I blow it into the wind. The wind whipped it straight back into my eyes. As I was caught unawares, I began coughing.
“You okay Puck?” He laughed, clapping a large hand on my back. When my eyes started to water, he began to worry. “I’m fine.” His hand was firm. I wished I’d felt it more often that I had. Not in fights and in games or in high-fives, but in other ways.
I knew, then.
“You’re red.” He frowned, maybe not as perplexed as he made out. “Why are you blushing?”
He was as familiar to me as myself. Probably more so: I’d stared at him more often than my mirror. I knew his shape and size, the flicker in his eyes and the set of his jaw. Yet… I knew nothing. It was like someone new inside me, clambering up through my comfort zones, twisting my emotions, challenging my self-confidence. Changing me. Wanting.