Jeff
By _Hayley_
- 1625 reads
Jeff and I lay under the moon, hands entwined, staring at the stars. Moments like these, I thought, are like gems. I will never let them go. Ever.
The truth was, the boy lying next to me had become so much more than my best friend to me. Not that he knew it. He was so carefree and wild he probably wouldn’t notice how I felt if I shouted it in his face. He was so spontaneous, he just took life as it came, and I didn’t want to hold him back.
But that night, the night before my birthday, he threw pebbles at my window, calling my name softly and I couldn’t resist his charm. I opened the window and called down to him.
“What the hell are you doing, you idiot?” I moaned, wiping sleep out of my eyes. He grinned, his yellow-green eyes shining mischievously. He got down on his knees and threw his arms in the air.
“Tis Juliet! She speaks! O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art as glorious to this night…” he cried, clutching at his heart. I rolled my eyes and laughed. Trust Jeff to know the whole of Romeo and Juliet off by heart.
“Come on, Lily, play along,” he teased. I grinned and waved my arms around dramatically.
“Oh Romeo, Romeo! Where is my fart, Romeo?”
“Stop ruining it!” Jeff moaned, “It was so romantic!”
“What are you doing here, Jeff?” I asked.
“I have come to take you on a moonlit stroll. We can have a picnic and kiss under the stars,” Jeff joked. I knew he was only joking, I did, but I smiled to myself, even so.
“Alright. Give me two minutes.”
So that is how I ended up holding hands with him under the moon, in a park just down my road. The picnic had turned out to be chocolate cake and crisps, and a bottle of cheap pink lemonade to wash it down. Jeff pointed at the black blanket of sky, his hand lit in the starlight.
“See that really bright star, just there? That’s Jupiter,” he whispered, “And the one above it, that is Venus.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yeah. How cool is that?”
Pretty cool, I thought to myself. I looked at his face, his beautiful face, half in shadow, and half in light. He ran a hand through his curly brown hair and a ripple of laughter escaped his lips. The corners of his lips were turned up in a smile, the smile that made me want to cry with happiness. I felt a huge burst of warmth for him, and he pulled me close to him, so close that I could hear his heartbeat through his shirt.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered to me, and I obeyed. I heard him stand up and he took my hands, pulling me up too.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“No,” I giggled. Though I couldn’t see him, I knew he was smiling.
“Do you trust me?” he repeated. This time, I told him the truth.
“With my life.”
“Okay. Let me steer you.”
He put his hands on my shoulders and we began to walk. Every now and then, he would veer me to the right or left. A couple of times I tripped, but I knew Jeff would never let me fall. I was safe with him.
A while later we stopped. I had no idea where I was. But still I kept my eyes closed. I felt Jeff’s breath on my neck, and a tingling sensation filled me.
“Open your eyes.”
I reopened them slowly, and smiled at what I saw. It was the lake where in the summer, kids and adults alike go to swim. Every year since we were kids, Jeff and I would swim in the lake, but I once told him I would love to have it to myself. No crazy kids splashing around. Just me and Jeff. Jeff hugged me from behind.
“We have it all to ourselves,” he breathed. Then, before I could react, he had taken a running jump and leaped gracefully, a figure of beauty, into the water. I chuckled at him and ran in after him. The shock of the cold water made me squeal, but Jeff swam over and held me to him, rubbing warmth back into my arms. The stars smiled down on us and reflected off the water like diamonds. It felt like perfection, until Jeff kissed my lips, and I knew the true meaning of perfection. I could have honestly stayed there forever.
“Happy Birthday, Lily.”
Four years later…
“And that,” I said to the sea of watching eyes at the wedding, “Is how I met my husband.”
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Comments
Touching love story that is
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Yes, I am an oldie, but it
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Wow - a very confident piece
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Your writing is so
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Nice post as usual -Hayley-
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