a cig to Andy.
“How long have you been smoking?” he asks after taking his first
puff.
“I don’t know, for as long as I’ve been dating Johnny and then
minus a month.”
“Huh,” he takes another puff. “So he’s the one that got you to
start?”
“Yeah, but I was bound to start.” I take a seat on someone’s front
steps and take off my heels because I feel my toes going numb. “I always
liked the way smoking looked. Especially in movies, I think it looks so
classic.” I cross one arm across my chest and hold my other close to my
face, occasionally taking puffs from the cigarette even though I don’t want
it anymore. But it makes me feel like Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s so I continue to smoke it.
“Wow, you learned nothing from D.A.R.E.” I barely catch what
he says because he’s cracking himself up now. He laughs so hard he breaks
into a coughing fit.
“You good?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” His cough begins to break up and then he stares
at me for a minute. It’s a moment too long and I get nervous that he’ll
kiss me or something. “So why didn’t you head back with Johnny tonight?”
“I don’t know, I just didn’t feel like it.” I really wish that cab
would show up now.
“Was it because you wanted to hang out with me?”
I laugh as soon as he asks me this question, then I realize how
rude that must’ve sounded. Despite the harshness in that scoff, he’s smirking at me, trying to flirt and suddenly I find myself resenting him again.
He was so normal for so long tonight and now he’s back to Awkward
Andy.
“I’m sorry, but no. I just...” I look past Andy and the traffic lights,
trying to find an answer but there’s nothing. So I look farther, past the
littered streets with Halloween decorations that already feel nostalgic and
gloomy. I’m quiet for a while before I notice Andy’s staring at me and
then I remember that I haven’t finished my sentence.
“I just nee FVB'&V