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I look down at hs "Shit The way you were looking at her I would have guessed a hell of a lot longer Where’d you e and the receipt for our drinks I glance down at the receipt and laugh It actually says, "Chocolate milk--rocks" I fold the receipt and put it in my wallet
"Actually," I say as I turn back to Gavin, "she’s o"
He shakes his head and looks back in her direction "You better hope it works out That could get really aard, you know"
I nod "Yeah, I guess so But I have a good feeling about her"
Before he walks away he points to the front of the room "Eddie and I are over there I’ll try to keep her occupied so you two can have your privacy If she sees you here with a girl, she’ll be over there in a second trying to be her new best friend"
I laugh, because he’s right "Thanks" I grab our drinks and head back to the booth, relieved that I won’t have to deal with introductions tonight I don’t know if I’m ready for that
5
the honeylares at me "What the hell, Will? Gavin knew? He’s known this whole tih "Hey, you and Eddie weren’t the only ones keeping secrets"
She shakes her head in disbelief "Does Eddie know he knew?"
"I don’t think so Unlike some people, Gavin can keep a secret"
She narrows her eyes and rolls back onto her pillow, dumbfounded "I can’t believe he knew," she says "What did he say when I showed up in your poetry class?"
"Well, I could go ahead and tell you all about that day, but that wouldover our first kiss You don’t want to hear about the rest of our date?"
She grins "You know I do"
falling
"WHAT’S THE SAC?" she says when I return with the drinks
"Sacrifice It’s what they use to prepare the judges" I slide back into the booth but make it a point to scoot in closer this ti that isn’t part of the co"
"So they can call on anyone? What if they had called on ht
"Well, I guess you should have had sohs, then puts one of her elbows on the table, turning toward ht scent of vanilla inup to her eyes I love this peaceful look about her right now
We’re sitting so close together I can feel the heat of her body against ainst aze shifts froht, I feel the first kiss pressure There’s so about her lips that makes me want to kiss them when she’s in such close proxiht, I’ve got at least one student who ison us
The quiet moment between us causes her to blush and she looks back to the stage, al with the desire to kiss her I reach over and take her hand inI look down at it as I slowly stroke her fingers I stroke up her wrist and want so bad to keep trailing up her arht to her lipsbut I don’t I circle back down to her fingertips, wishing ht now I don’t knohat it is about her that completely enthralls ets s I would normally beup and over her hand with ertips "I don’t knohat it is about youbut I like you" I interlock her fingers with e so she doesn’t think I expect a response frolass and quickly down her chocolate milk She definitely feels it, too
When the sac walks up to the stage, Lake’s whole deets I’ins her piece and she doesn’t remove her attention from the performer the entire time I’m so drawn to the emotion in Lake’s expression that I can’t take my eyes off her As I watch her, I attempt to decipher the reason behind the intense connection I feel with her It’s not like we’ve spent that ether Hell, I hardly even know her I still don’t even knohat her major is, what her middle name is, much less her birthday Deep down, I know none of it ht now is this moment, and this moment is definitely my sweet for the day
As soon as the sac is finished with her poem, Lake pulls her hand from mine and wipes tears from her eyes I put my arm around her and pull her to ainst my shoulder
"Well?" I ask I restin another wave of vanilla I’ to love the smell of vanilla almost as much as southern accents
"That was unbelievable," she whispers
Unbelievable That was the exact word I used to describe it to e to lift her chin and pull her lips toI should wait until we’re in private The need is so overwhelh; my heart is at ith ainst her forehead and close my eyes It’ll have to do for now
We sit in the sahs, she cries, she sighs, she aches, and she feels every single piece performed By the tie, it’s obvious that it’s too late I was hoping to put everything out in the open between us before things became more serious Little did I knoould happen this fast I’ for this girl now
I keep e, but I can’t help but watch Lake out of the corner of my eye as she watches the perforain as he steps up to thePoehs and leans forward in her seat
This poe, in fact, that your attention span
May be stretched to its very limits
But that’s okay
It’s what’s so special about poetry
See, poetry takes time
We live in a time
Call it our culture or society
It doesn’t matter to me ’cause neither one rhymes
A time where most people don’t want to listen
Our throats wait likeuntil we can speak
No patience to listen
But this poe the time of this poem
You could’ve done any nus
You could’ve called your father
Call your father
You could be writing a postcard right now
Write a postcard
When was the last time you wrote a postcard?
You could be outside
You’re probably not too far away from a sunrise or a sunset
Watch the sun rise
Maybe you could’ve written your own poem
A better poe
You could have hbor
And mehbor