And She Made the Shape of My Heart With Her Hands

Pat Kirch’s last words to me that night rung throughout my head constantly.

‘I deserve you.’

It gave me chills. Pat had never sounded so… so confident, so forceful, so meaningful. He was almost always either silly and goofy, or shy and unsure.

“Are you cold?”

I turned my head to see Pat. I looked down and took notice of the millions of goose bumps covering my bare arms. I looked back up and nodded sheepishly.

Pat cracked a knowing smile, reaching back behind him and retrieving a white hooded sweatshirt with black writing all over it. He handed it to me.

“Thanks,” I smiled.

He beamed back. “No problem,” he said in a lower sort of voice.

Between his glorious smile and tone, I could’ve melted right then and there.

I slipped the soft material up my arms until it was hugging my body warmly.

“Better yet?”

I hesitated for a moment, considering the cold air being blown throughout the moving van and then the chills Pat made on me. I shook my head no a little.

I didn’t think Pat would do it, but he did. He scooted himself closer to me and pulled my body to his. I immediately felt the precious waves of heat flowing from his body to mine.

It was like having sex but using body heat.

This made me chuckle a little.

Pat looked down at me. “What?”

I shook my head a little. “Nothing,” I whispered.

“Well okay then.”

I smiled a little and closed my eyes. I could faintly hear Pat’s wonderful heartbeat. It was faster than a steady heartbeat. The thought that Pat was so nervous or excited that his pulse was racing, made me blush.

I felt his hand rise from my back. His slightly shaky hand started to stroke my hair and down my back, then going back to my hair again.

I sighed in contentment as I softly burrowed my face into his chest. I deeply breathed in and then out, getting a hint of Pat’s sweet aroma.

We soon fell asleep like this.

When I awoke, it was really, really early morning. The young day’s sky was a blue tint of white with no clouds floating about.

I blinked a few times and looked around. Seeing the gray seats in front of me and the sleeping boys lying on them, I wondered what was missing.

Then it hit me.

Where was Pat Kirch?

“Humph.”

I felt the surface beneath me jolt a little as I turned my head towards the tired grunt. It was Pat, still in a deep slumber. I looked down to realize that I was laying on him.

I slowly got up off the boy, careful to not wake him. It was working until Pat flung his arm around my waist and pulled me back down.

I guessed that I was either being used as a teddy bear or a blanket.

I tried again to get up slowly from Pat, this time watching his arms to make sure they wouldn’t attack me again.

I sighed, my little mission finally completed.

“Okay, my little pretties, get up!”

Everybody but myself grunted as they let their drowsy eyes open a little.

“What? Where are we?” Pat mumbled.

I chuckled a little. “I don’t know.”

Suddenly, Kennedy arose quickly from lying down. He looked like a vampire rising from their coffin. He made a grunting sort of noise and his hair was totally messed up and all over the place, random spots sticking up.

I let out a laugh. Kennedy turned to me. “What?”

“Nothing. Your hair’s just a little…”

“Fucked up,” my brother finished for me.

I laughed a little. “Yeah.”

He sighed. “Well sorry that we’re not all perfect like the Nickelsen siblings are.”

Both Garrett and I slightly turned our noses up. In unison, we both responded with, “Ew.”

Everyone let out a laugh. “Ew?”

“Yeah. Ew.”

“Why ‘ew’?”

Garrett blinked. “The Nickelsen siblings? Uh, that’s just so…”

“Retarded and-”

“Messed up,” my brother finished for me. I nodded in agreement.

Trevor laughed. “You two should be twins.”

“What the hell!”

“No, Trevor. We shouldn’t.”

“Well you might as well be,” Tim mumbled.

My brother and I sighed. “Whatever,” we said together.

We turned to each other with frustrated looks.

“Uh, yeah. Twins,” Kennedy agreed.

“No!” I said exasperatedly.

“Okay, okay! Now let’s leave the Nickelsen twins in peace and go eat. I’m freaking starving,” Tim announced.

I let out a girlish groan.

Why’d I have to be lumped in with my brother?