Life Times

I never thought this would happen, never thought I'd end up here of all places. We still haven't told the others and we're unsure how they'll react. To think that it all started ten months ago but that's a story for another time. I whispered something in her ear and she turned her head and looked at me expectingly. Knowing that the others were watching I locked lips with her.

"Jake!" Lillian screamed at me. "What are you doing?" I'm pretty sure that that was the reaction we expected from her, confused and surprised.

As our lips parted my hand slipped down and embraced her soft hand that lied limp at her side. "Guys..." We said, trying our hardest not to burst out laughing. "We're together! Taa daa!"

Tommy started laughing quietly to himself as Lillian stood there thunderstruck. It's been a while since any of us were in relationships so we assume that the second it happens we'd tell each other. "How long...?" She only got two words out before Kim answered her question.

"It's only been two days Lily. Relax, we're not keeping anything from you. Besides, Jake's a horrible liar." Kim started laughing and Lillian laughed in agreement to the comment made towards me. I find she took it pretty well considering tonight we're all sleeping outside in tents with no adults.

"I'm not that bad!" I said, trying to defend a little bit of my pride.

Maybe I should explain where we are at this point in the story. We're at Lillian's house which is in the middle of nowhere but she has a huge backyard. The reason we're here is for an end of school year celebration. Our whole group is here, Kim the cheerleader, Lillian the anti-social girl, Tommy the religious kid, and me the band geek. Don't you just love stereo-types? We've got the whole night planned out, including (but not limited to) hot dogs, fireworks, good friends, swimming and a bonfire the size of mexico to top it all off.

"Guys..." Lillian said with a creeping smile. "Use protection, I don't want anyone getting pregnant again!" Everyone burst out laughing, she was referring to last year where we all joked that I was pregnant with Tommy's kid. I looked at her and gave her the 'I'll make sure I do.' look.

Love is something that some people don't quite understand too much. I'm a weird guy nowadays because I focus more on that than satisfying my raging hormones. I have no doubt I love Kim. When I'm not around her I think about her non-stop. I can't get her voice out of my ears and I don't want to. I miss her smile when I turn around, sometimes I just don't want to close my eyes because I don't want to miss a thing. She is the most beautiful girl in the world, even when I'm not with her the other girls just blend in to the surroundings and become almost transparent to me. Kim is the only one in my mind.

"Who wants to light the bonfire?" Michael, Lillian's little brother yelled from the pile of dry branches on the other side of the yard.

Eyes shifted from person to person, everyone wanted to light it. An idea lit my mind and a smile stretched across my face as I sent it into motion. "First one to get there gets to light it!"

Suddenly everyone erupted into motion, scrabbling to get up and I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to get another kiss from Kim. Her lips were warm and soft. My cheeks tingled and the butterflies stirred in my stomach, but it was definitely worth it.

"Jake. Bonfire remember?" She reminded me as I pulled away, knowing I already forgot.

"I wanted a challenge!" I yelled to her as I took off after the others at top speed. I've always loved to run, and I've always been fast. Running gives me this thrill and this power over the boundaries of my own body. Sometimes I'm more cat than human, it's great. It was only a second or two before I zoomed right past Tommy and another second before I passed Lillian in a gust of wind.

"Holy shit!" She yelled as I flew by. I guess she's never seen me run before, especially when I'm so happy. Happiness is like a drug, you get addicted and when you have it you're on top of the world. When you're without it, well I'll tell you about that another time.

With the race done we waited for Kim to get to us, she decided she would walk knowing she's no match for me. When she finally joined us, I lit a match and prayed to my gods jokingly. "Oh the great gods of flame and fire, let this fire erupt and burn lively!" I tossed the match on the pile of sticks and dry brush and watched it burst into flames.

Midnight came before we knew it and Kim and I were the only ones still awake. The sky was clear and full of stars. The bonfire was still burning bright and it would be for many more hours. Fireflies circled us as we lied on the soft grass. It was simply amazing to have her in my arms after all those months. She was finally mine.

But of course nothing can be perfect and the endless swarms of mosquitoes made sure of it. While I was loving every second of it anyways I whispered, "If not for the mosquitoes, this would be perfect." in her ear.

She turned her head and smiled at me gently. I don't have words that could describe the look in her eyes that would do it justice. I guess you could call it a sort of fire or passion. You could even call it love, in it's most true of forms. Either way it told me whatever she was about to say she meant with every little bit of her heart. "Jake, even then it's perfect, because you're here."

The problem is with this story is that it's based on something that actually happened so when I woke up the next morning, she was gone.

She was gone and I was alone once more.

-Zero