Smother Me

I swung the chair, my eyes wandering the deserted park that was filled with enthusiastic children barely an hour ago. Now, the leaves swayed with the wind as fall would soon whisk the summer away. My fingers loosely held the metallic swing. Insipidly, I dangled to and fro as the wind shifted my skirt higher and blew the bangs away from my countenance. Continuously rocking back and forth, my orbs gazed at the muddy ground that the tip of my converse touched. Soon, footsteps approached the swing I had nestled on. Similarly, the shoes were converse but much dustier than mine were. My brown eyes slowly lifted at the body to rest on blue eyes, belonging to someone vaguely familiar. Those eyes belonged to a boy, who stood comfortably staring at me.

“Do I know you?” I asked politely.

“Um, no.” he replied and sat at the rusty swing beside mine. “I’m Bert, by the way.”

“I’m Danielle.” Only fair if I introduced my name, I guess.

“That’s a nice name.” he smiled, not exactly rocking his swing but only stared at my swinging, a smirk never leaving his face.

I stuffed my binder into my locker before shutting and twisting the combination. Placing the red messenger bag on my covered shoulder, I straightened out my fitted black sweater which had a purple outline of a rose at the bottom corner of the shirt. The sweater was worn with light blue jeans and plaid black and white converse. I strutted to the school doors with a sea of other high school scholars. Once I exited my doom, I strayed away from the crowd heading to my car.

My car was the latest grey colored BMW. My family came from a line of rich folks and they bought it for me a month ago for my birthday. Approaching it, beeping to unlock it, I threw my messenger back in the passenger seat and slid the key into the ignition, revving the engine. I closed the car door and fastened the seatbelt over my sweater. I checked my reflection in the mirror above my seat which was left open. Closing it, I noticed someone inches away from the grill of the car. A boy, who wore ripped jeans and a dark fitted hoodie. He smirked, adjusting his book bag on his shoulder. I gestured my head to the right, his smirk growing wider as he skipped to the passenger car door. Opening it, he plopped in the seat placing his bag under his feet.

“Hello Danny,” he greeted cheekily smiling.

“Hello” I said, turning on the radio. Then I looked up at him, blankly staring.

“What?” he asked dumfounded.

“Close the door.” I raised my eyebrows gesturing to the open door.

“Oh,” he chuckled and shut it. “So what’d you wanna do?”

Passing parked cars, I exited the school grounds. “I’d like to drink something warm.” I replied adjusting my thick grey scarf around my neckline.

“Starbucks it is,” he nodded and turned on the radio. A No Doubt song emanated from the speakers and instinctively I began singing as Bert placed his elbow on the car door arm rest, watching me sing the entire journey to the café.

***

I poured a packet of sugar into my cardboard container whilst Bert stirred his concoction and peered over to my features. Abruptly, he set the back of his hand against the wooden table and waited. Blankly, I stared into his empty palm, puzzled.

“Take my hand,” he said simply, my eyes moving from his orbs to his open palm.

“Why?” I asked suspiciously.

“Will you just do it and stop getting all cautious?” he reprimanded, his eyes big and dazzling.

“Fine,” I grumbled and took his hand in my own. Our palms rubbing, he entwined fingers with mine and smiled up at me. I smiled back, chafing my thumb against the back of his hand. I sipped my cappuccino with the other hand, as it entered my taste buds instantly warming my system.

“You wanna take these to go?” he posed, referring to our desired drinks.

“Sure.” Our hands untangled as we stood away from the table. We shouldered our bags with our free hands. Bert held the door open for me and grinned, watching me pass by thanking him with a nod.

***

“Don’t you wish you can stay young forever?” Bert asked, placing his bent elbow on the wooden top of the bench.

“Why would you wanna stay young forever?” I took a large and final gulp of my once warm cappuccino.

“I don’t know. I guess then you wouldn’t have to worry about facing new responsibilities and having new priorities in your life. Like, right now, I’m happy with my life and everything the way it is. And I wish it could stay the same and not get harder or complicated, you know?”

“I suppose you’re right. But still, don’t you wanna find out what college would be like? Don’t you wanna grow and live out of your parents’ house and discover what life will bring you? I certainly want to know and learn about responsibility and looking out for yourself rather than having your parents do that for you.” I added, deeply staring into his blues. “Don’t tell me you wanna remain a teenager for the rest of your life.”

“I guess not. It would be cool to live on your own or with your friends and have a worthwhile job that you love doing.” He countered considerably. I placed the carton container on the bench between us. Our bodies were shifted towards each other, my elbow on the wooden top of the bench and my right leg crossed my left thigh.

For a while, there was a silence and I threw my cup in a trashcan a couple of feet away. A wind blew my jet black hair away from my complexion, causing my cheeks to turn pink from the cold.

Bert coiled his head from where he was looking farther behind him. A cute meek smile stretched onto his flawless features.

“You know what I just realized?” he questioned, smiling widely.

“What?” I looked around expecting to find someone.

“This is the same park where we met three months ago.” He said quiet, his eyes averting away, reminiscing.

Looking around carefully, I noticed it was in fact the exact park where I was swinging and Bert came and introduced himself. I could even picture our figures being where they used to be that moment. I stared fixedly on the swing I was once on and the swing beside it which was occupied by Bert. The memory could easily replay in my mind.

“Yeah,” I softly replied, smiling to myself at the memory.

Bert chuckled, “You know, it’s a nice story.”

“What’s a nice story?” I asked confused.

“How we met. If someone ever asked how we met, we’ll have a cool story to tell.” He smiled cheekily reaching for my palm and engulfing it with his own. He scooted closely to my figure and pressed his full lips against my cheek.

“It is a nice story, indeed.” I agreed, softly smiling. I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling his body contract to his steady breathing. He kissed my forehead and wrapped his arms around my frail body holding it close. Suddenly, heat surged my body as I comfortably lay in Bert’s secure and strong arms.