Guardians and Angels | Chapter Two (Part 7)

Vanilla, and watermelon, that’s his scent… vanilla soap & watermelon bubblegum (and something else… something all his own)

With my eyes still closed, his essence floated before me, his energy sparking against mine, an electric field buzzing and cackling against the razor-wire defenses I wrapped around myself so no one could notice me… but he noticed me. He noticed my armor wasn’t dull chainmail. No, my armor was iridescent fish scales protecting a fire opal heart glistening within me, silver and pink and blue swirls.

My favorite song “I Need Love” was the soundtrack for this scene. We were the main characters, his bedroom the stage, a California sunbeam our spotlight, and the poetic words of LL Cool J our script. We didn’t need to speak because we didn’t have the words even if we would admit what we were thinking, but we both knew that he was speaking for us. The beat was beating for us. Our heartbeats were synchronized with the song and with my eyes still closed he placed his closed fist on my chest and slowly knocked.

BOOM….KICK

BOOM BOOM, KICK

His fist matched the steady throbbing bassline perfectly, landing upon my chest with soft thuds…. Knock, knock, can I please come in?

BOOM….KICK

BOOM BOOM, KICK

I couldn’t tell if it was my heart beating, his fist pounding, or the gargoyle boombox throbbing. I lowered my chin and opened my eyes, his hand now on my hip pulling me a bit closer, our gazes touching their invisible fingertips and wishing they were our lips.

His eyes were green to me, the kind of green some people call hazel. I saw crisp pale autumn leaves and sandy beaches with moss covered pebbles when I got lost in his eyes. They were nebulas outstretching toward me, dragonfly wings covered in speckles. Through the explosions that ruptured inside them I could see landslides cascading inward, Sahara sand sliding into his soul. Sandy green eyes.

“Why is this your favorite song?” he said with a longing in his voice. A curiosity that sounded sweet coming from him.

“I like the lyrics” I said, mumbling a bit, shy now that his eyes had captured mine in a headlock.

Pause.

He smirked a little and pulled me closer, our hips now touching, one hand on my shoulder, the other matching the beat of the song, a fist steadily thumping on my chest above my heartbeat.

“Who do you think of when you listen to it?”

Pause.

We swayed back and forth within the bassline. Circling slowly in the center of his room, our magnetism wrapping us together and causing us to pull in the light from around us only to shoot it out like pulsars. We were our own mirrorball, the two of us spinning in the middle-ground of the universe, the sunlight reflecting off us and shooting laser beams in all directions. I breathed in deeply, a lump now in my throat, tears coming to my eyes; I was cornered by his curiosity, trapped by his charm, unable to lie even if I wanted to. Tearful because I didn't want to lie to him ever for the rest of my life

“You” I said.

A single tear falling down my cheek, I wiped it away as it tickled its trail downward. I felt so safe and yet so vulnerable in that moment. I was admitting a thousand secret stares upon him. Unlocking my locked cage for the first time and hearing its hinges squeak. I was beginning to overflow, my longing spilling out for him to inspect.

His fist pounding slowly upon my chest, our feet turning us like a carousel, the song slowly came to an end. The bass which matched my heartbeat throbbed to a close, the reverberating piano chords fell into a slumber.

“Close your eyes” he said.

I closed my eyes. An astronaut in space, silence settling around me while his electrical field cackled and pulsed over my soul. His lips neared mine, sensed but not quite felt. Dragonfly wings covered in speckles is how they would feel. I anticipated his lips would tickle the edges of mine with the ever slightest touch, almost undetectable, sliding across mine, skimming the surface. Not a kiss technically, unless our radiant auras sliding upon one another counted. An almost kiss.

A maybe kiss.

From behind us a voice shattered the stillness, his father’s voice, low and deep, a menacing growl.

“What in the hell are you two doing?”