Chapter Six---- The Moment I Couldn't Run From
895 Words
By the time the final bell rang, my nerves were shredded.
Every class blurred together. Every clock tick felt too slow. Every hallway seemed louder
that usual, like the whole scool knew Luca had asked to "see me after."
Which, okay, he didn't say it like a dramatic TV confession.
But still.
He asked.
And I agreed.
And now I was offically a person waiting for a boy who made my heartbeat sound like a
drumline.
I grabbed my backpack from my locker and took a steadying breath.
"Don't faint," I told myself. "Don't babble. Don't walk into him again."
"Are you giving yourself a pep talk?" Avan asked, appearing out of nowhere like the chaos
fairy he was.
"You cannot be here right now."
"Oh, I have to be here right now." He leaned against the locker. "Big moment. Life--
changing. Possibly historical."
"Please leave."
"Absolutely not."
I groaned, pushing past him toward the school exit. "You're imposssible."
"I know," he said cheerfully, trailing behind me. "But I'm also right. And you're nervous."
I stopped walking.
Because Luca was standing outside the front doors.
Waiting.
Not casually leaning against the wall. Not scrolling on his phone. Not talking to anyone
else.
Waiting for me.
Oh.
Oh no.
Avan watched my face and whispered, "Yep. Doomed."
"Go away."
"Fine, fine." He shoved his hands in his pockets and backed up, then pointed two fingers at
his eyes and then at me like a creeoy spy. "I'll be within rescuing distance."
I ignored him and stepped outside.
The air was cool, the kind that smelled like cut grass and someone's too-strong aftershave
drifting from the parking lot. My heartbeat was trying to punch out of my chest as I walked
toward Luca.
He noticed me immediately. His shoulders relaxed slightly.
"You made it," he said.
"You asked," I said, trying not to sound like I was being strangled by my own breath.
He smiled---small, but real. "Walk with me?"
Walk with me.
Two harmless words that somehow felt like a plot twist.
I nodded, and we started down the sidewalk toward the edge of the school grounds. My
arms felt weirdly heavy. Too aware. Too close to brushing his.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then, Luca said quietly, "It's been weird, hasn't it?"
I froze. "What do you mean?"
"You avoiding me," he said gently. "Us, not talking."
He stepped over a c***k in the pavement. "We weren't strangers before I left. I didn't want
us to be strangers now."
My throat tightened. "I wasn't avoiding you."
He gave me a look.
"Okay," I admitted. "Maybe I was. A little."
"A little," he repeated, with a soft laugh. "You ran from the cafeteria so fast I thought it
caught on fire."
I covered my face with one hand. "Please stop talking."
"Not a chance."
We walked a few more steps, and something in the air shifted---lighter, but also heavier,
like the moment before a question you're scared to ask.
"So," Luca said, his voice low, "can you tell me why?"
"Why, what?"
"Why you've been avoiding me."
The truth bubbled up too fast.
Because last year, you were my almost.
Because the night before you moved away, I thought you were going to kiss me.
Because I didn't know if you wanted to.
Because I didn't know if I was supposed to.
Because when you left, it felt like a door shutting I hadn't realized was open.
Because seeing you now feels like opening it again---and I'm scared of what's on the other
side.
But I couldn't say any of that.
So I said, "I just... didn't know what to say."
Luca studied my face for a long moment, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.
"You don't have to say anything," he said softly. "I just wanted to see you again. That's all."
My heart stuttered.
Then Luca stopped walking.
I didn't realize he had until I turned and saw him standing there, a little closer than before,
hands in his hoodie pockets, sunlight catching the edge of his hair.
"Honestly?" he said. "I'm glad you didn't disappear today."
He looked at me like he meant it.
Like he was choosing to be here.
With me.
Before I could form a single coherent thought, footsteps thundered behind us.
"HEY!" Avan screeched. "Sorry! Emergency!"
Luca blinked. "Uh---what?"
Avan skidded to a stop beside me, panting. "There's a bee."
I stared at him. "A bee?"
"A BEE," he repeated dramatically. "And it's huge and angry and chasing people. I thought
you needed to know."
Luca's face softened with amusement.
I would've strangled Avan if my heart wasn't still in my throat.
"False alarm," Avan said, waving his hand. "Proceed with your romantic moment."
Luca turned bright red. So did I.
"Avan," I hissed, "GO."
He jogged backward toward the parking lot, shouting, "DON"T DO ANYTHING I
WOULDN"T DO---WHICH IS EVERYTHING!"
Silence settled again once he was gone.
Luca exhaled slowly. "Your friend is... something."
"You have no idea."
But he smiled.
And maybe it was the sunlight.
Maybe it was the way the wind hit my hair.
Maybe it was the fact that Luca had actually waited for me, talked to me, wanted to see
me.
But everything in that moment felt like a beginning.
A beginning I wasn't ready to---
But maybe I wanted anyway.
- Writer
