Beautiful Souls (10 page)

  
                There was definitely an air to the Fitzgeralds that not only sparked my curiosity and left me fascinated, but also kept me guessing about these new neighbors of ours.

    
              My mom and I finished closing up shop, then headed home for dinner. I had been so distracted by Zoey again, that I’d forgotten to mention to my mom about Leo stopping by our house later tonight.              “Oh, Mom, I don’t think I mentioned yet that Leo is stopping by tonight after dinner to hang out for a while. That’s okay, right?” I asked already knowing my mom would be delighted.

    
              “Of course,” she answered with a wink.    

    
              I rolled my eyes as I turned to watch what remained of the golden cornstalks, that the farmers had recently harvested, flying past me outside the passenger side window.

    
              My dad met us at home just shortly after my mom started dinner. I ran my school bag up to my room, and made the point to finish my homework quickly while dinner was cooking, since Leo would be coming over later.

    
              We all ate at the kitchen table and retired to our regular places which we regularly retreated to after dinner almost every night: my dad in front of the TV, my mom next to my dad indulging herself in whatever mystery novel she’d been currently reading, and I usually escaped to my room either to finish homework or to surf around online while simultaneously texting a couple friends.

    
              Tonight, since I had knocked off my homework intentionally early, and I still had a little time to kill before Leo would be coming over, I took a seat at my desk to mindlessly check in on Facebook and Twitter.

    
              I had just finished perusing Emmy’s page, and her newly updated photos, when I heard my door creak open. I saw Leo’s smiling face appear around the corner.

    
              “Hey, Becca. Your mom sent me up,” he said with obvious nervousness.

    
              It’s not like he had never been in my room before, but this time was different.

    
              “Yeah, come in.”

    
              I closed the window on my laptop screen, then spun around in my chair to face Leo. I just sat there for a moment with a lump in my throat while Leo shut the door most of the way closed behind him. He made his way over to me, easily gliding across the rug on my bedroom floor and looking
‘oh, so good’
in his ball cap, tight t-shirt, and faded jeans.

    
              The tension was back with a vengeance. The same tension that I felt the afternoon Leo asked me to the dance. I eventually stood, then Leo stepped a little closer.

    
              “So, what do you want to do?” he asked, while he fidgeted around with his hands in his pockets. It was so strange to see Leo this way. His usual cockiness and outgoing behavior had been replaced with a very sweet nervousness.

    
              “This was your idea,” I said, totally putting the ball back in his court. I still didn’t know exactly where Leo and I stood, so I wanted him to make the first move --- if there was even a move to be made.              “Oh, no,” he jokingly huffed. “You were the one that invited me over here tonight, Becca,” he said grinning, apparently continuing the same little game I had started.

    
              “All right,” I giggled. “Let’s just hang out up here for a little bit,” not able to think of anything else. I’m not going to lie, the thought of Leo and I alone for a little while made me feel over-heated and had my head spinning.

    
              “That’s good. I wanted to spend some one-on-one time with you anyway.”

   
             
Oh, God. Spinning.

    
              “Any particular reason why?” I asked curiously, choking on my words slightly.

    
              “Actually, there is.” His answer surprised me. “I wanted to talk to you about something,” he paused. “Something about us.”

    
              Oh, my God. Spinning again.

    
             
My mind wondered about the endless possibilities of what Leo wanted to talk
about, and my heart fluttered with the anticipation of a teenage girl who was looking into the eyes of possibly her first, real crush.

    
             
“Really?” I attempted to sound calm and cool, even though my voice cracked a
little when I spoke the words.

    
             
“I wanted to clear something up,” he stated. “The other day out by the woods,
when I asked you if you wanted to go to the dance with me and you told me
‘yes’
, that we would go just as friends, remember that?” he asked, while
keeping his eyes locked on mine the entire time.
                  
“Yeah, I remember,” I responded, hoping I was right as to where this would lead.

    
             
“Becca,” he continued, “I, I really don’t want us to be only friends. I said
that at the time ’cause I thought that’s what you wanted me to say, so I went along with it.”

    
              Spinning. About to lose control.

    
             
Leo continued explaining while my ears grew numb, and I could barely hear his
words over the pounding in my chest. “I feel so much for you, Bec, and I think those feelings are doubling every day. I just wanted you to know the truth before tomorrow night, and if you don’t want to go to the dance with me now, then I’ll completely understand.” His words flowed so quickly as he continued to rattle on.
                  
“Leo.” I spoke quietly, just wanting him to stop.

    
             
“It’s okay. I understand if you don’t feel the same.”

    
             
“Leo, no.” I stopped him. “I do too,” I quietly blurted. “I mean, I feel a lot for
you, too,” I said, as my eyes shifted to different points around my bedroom, too uneasy to actually rest and lock with his.

             
He finally stopped talking, his overall demeanor calmed, and that smile of his,
that could get me to do or say anything, appeared across his gorgeous face while his eyes beamed my direction.

    
             
“Becca,” he said smoothly and softly, his eyes meeting mine. “There’s so much
that we know about each other, and you’ve always been my best friend,” he paused. 

    
              “We’ll always be friends, Leo, no matter what.”

    
              “There’s also still a lot that we don’t know about each other still, but I do know that you’ll always be in my life, Bec. Forever.” As he said this, he reached up with his right hand and brushed his fingers gently across my flushed cheek.

    
              His touch heated every inch of me to my core. I felt that I was losing any ability I once had to simply hold myself upright. It was as if his hand on my cheek was supporting my entire head. I closed my eyes, relishing in the feel of his touch on my now very hot skin, as his face drew nearer to mine. Then, the once unthinkable happened.

    
              He leaned in even closer, his lips playfully grazed against mine. I felt my bottom lip quiver with anticipation, and I sucked in the warmth of his breath. I rubbed my sweaty palms against the legs of my jeans, waiting for him to fully press his lips to mine. Want and need filled my body, and I had to clench every muscle as they ran rampant. His eyes glistened as he observed my reaction to his closeness.

    
              He kissed me.

    
              Then, he kissed me harder; his soft lips working against mine, finding their perfect rhythm. Seconds passed, hell maybe even minutes, as we explored the shivers and tingles we could create in each other with our tongues. The kiss only intensified as it went on.

    
              Everything went black, lit with tiny white stars growing brighter, then bursting with color. I could feel the explosions throughout my body as every single muscle tensed, and I drew in a much needed breath. I held that breath until I couldn’t any longer, finally releasing every ounce of built up tension as my legs turned to jelly, sinking further, giving my entire self in to the kiss.

    
              Our lips continued to match each others' movements, fitting together smoothly and flawlessly. Total relaxation and invigoration took over my body at the same time the intensity grew. Our movements quickened with need for one another. Waves of chills ran down throughout my body, then made their way back up again. I could only think of Leo, the kiss, nothing more. Nothing more mattered.

    
              When we finally broke apart, both desperate for fresh air but still wanting nothing more than to suffocate ourselves with  each other again, a smile grew across Leo’s face. That beautiful smile. I returned it with one of my own. This was all so right. It felt right, so that had to be a good thing.

    
              We spent the rest of the night talking like best friends do. Around ten o’clock my mom knocked gently on my bedroom door and announced that it was getting late, and Leo should probably head home. We said our usual goodbyes, but this time with feelings.
Feelings.
How funny that one word could make all the difference in the world.

    
              I laid in bed later that night waiting to fall asleep. I felt so perfectly happy, and my mind was at peace. Leo and Becca, always and forever, best friends and more, no matter what may come our way. I finally gave in to the sleep, pulling at my heavy eyelids. Replays of our first kiss took center stage in my mind’s dreamland state.

Chapter 4.

The Gift

gift

/gift/

Noun

A thing given willingly to someone without

payment; a present.

Verb

Give (something) as a gift, esp. formally or

as a donation or bequest.

                  The following school day passed quickly enough without anything out of the ordinary taking place. Everyone, however, gossiped with news of the coupling of many of the students for the Homecoming dance that would be taking place later that same night
.
 
 
                I saw Zoey in first period and disappointingly it was just the same as the previous day. No unusual happenings. No visions. The same old nothingness as yesterday. She did, however, double check with me toward the end of class that we were keeping our plans for dinner at the diner Monday evening, and of course I told her that we were.

    
              When the last bell rang and released us for the weekend, I was thrilled that I would finally able to bring my beloved Bug back home. I, once again, was able to enjoy the drive home in my very own car after days of missing my creaking leather seats. I enjoyed the views of plowed cornfields dotted with the gleaming white farmhouses that I loved so much. The rows of baring autumn trees flew past in blurs as I drove.

    
              I arrived home several minutes later, grabbed a snack from the kitchen, and headed upstairs. My mom knew that I wasn’t going to be able to help her at the shop that day, because I needed the extra time to prepare and primp for the dance that night.

    
              I had previously invited Emmy to come over to my house so that we could get ready together, and she was due to arrive anytime.  

             
I walked across the hall to the upstairs bathroom and plugged in two different types of curling irons along with a hair straightener. Not knowing how Emmy wanted to fix her hair for this evening, I attempted to cover all the bases.

    
              I’m sure she probably did tell me the exact dress that she was going to wear, the perfect shoes and jewelry to match, and of course the hair style that she had planned, but with the changes and peculiarities going on in my life right now and the relationship between Leo and I progressing, I hadn’t been the best listener.

   
             
Bad, bad friend
, I told myself.

    
              Hopefully, Emmy hadn’t noticed too much and there were no hurt feelings. I needed to set aside some girl time for Emmy and me this weekend. Maybe we could hit a movie and catch up without my mind being so preoccupied ---
hopefully
.