would be the worst.
He read the message. OK. How are you?
Nervous, he typed back, worried she wouldn't keep responding.
The thought barely had time to form before he heard another ding.
Me, too. How is this supposed to work?
He heaved a sigh. Good question, Nina , he thought. He never experienced the kind of angst he was filled with now. All over a teenage girl , he thought to himself. It couldn't work. Could it? What was this anyhow? A relationship, a friendship, a secret?
He sighed and read the text one last time before calling out to Sasha to join him upstairs. Surely sleeping on it would help. But as Kevin drifted off to sleep, the torment followed him into his dreams.
The vision of Nina on an enormous stage with powder blue lights painting her skin seemed more than real. She wore a tight fitting red top and a short Catholic school girl's skirt. He watched her as she opened her mouth to let out a note. Nothing happened. The seats of the venue were empty in front of him. He sat in the back row on the far right side. His eyes frantically squinted to see her as he realized how far he was from her. She was gasping for air, unable to speak, sing or breathe. He tried to stand to help her and suddenly the stage was in front of his class and the students were all in their seats with him at his desk. She glanced at him with a smirk before holding up a book to show the class.
“ I did my book report on Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov,” she giggled, looking at him again. Each student turned to stare at him simultaneously and he felt his face grow red. Nina walked back to her seat in the back row on the far right side and fixed her eyes to him as well, letting the pencil she was holding sit delicately between her lips. Booming laughter came from the gallery of students before him.
Kevin sat straight up, covered in sweat. He glanced at the clock just as it flipped to 6:00 am and his alarm began to buzz horribly. Sasha sat up slowly from her pillow bed on the floor and looked at him sweetly. Kevin swung his legs over the edge of the bed, feeling his body trembling. Drawing in deep breaths, he settled his nerves before throwing on his clothes and heading downstairs to hook Sasha onto her leash for their ritualistic walk.
The breeze was cool and dewy as the pair took a trip around the block, waking them both for the day. Kevin tried to push the memory of his dream out of his head. All he wanted was to see Nina again, no matter what his dream implied.
Chapter Sixteen
After slamming her locker shut, Nina began walking briskly toward her first class. She’d been up too late waiting on a response from Kevin. She’d finally fallen asleep with her math book splayed across her chest and very little of her homework done.
The bell rang as she scooted into room B100 just in the nick of time then she saw him. She held back a laugh as she realized they had matching dark circles under their eyes. Clearly he'd suffered a long night as well. Class started and Nina listened intently to Kevin’s voice as he lectured them on the tools of poetry. Nina felt herself sigh each time his eyes met hers. She was truly a schoolgirl with a crush. When Kevin made a joke the whole class thought was funny, he laughed with a beaming smile and looked right at Nina. For the briefest of moments, neither of them broke the gaze.
“ Here's the list of terms that will be on an upcoming poetry quiz. Keep this paper. You can have the rest of class to work on your assignment for tomorrow,” Kevin said as he began sending around the stack of papers.
The girl who sat in front of Nina took a paper then turned to Nina. “That was the last one. He forgot you,” she said before turning back to the front of the class. Nina caught Kevin’s eye as he finished a soapbox speech to a boy in the front row about the romance of language. She knew he hadn’t forgotten her. In fact, she figured he’d been quite deliberate in his paper count. She slowly raised her hand
He read the message. OK. How are you?
Nervous, he typed back, worried she wouldn't keep responding.
The thought barely had time to form before he heard another ding.
Me, too. How is this supposed to work?
He heaved a sigh. Good question, Nina , he thought. He never experienced the kind of angst he was filled with now. All over a teenage girl , he thought to himself. It couldn't work. Could it? What was this anyhow? A relationship, a friendship, a secret?
He sighed and read the text one last time before calling out to Sasha to join him upstairs. Surely sleeping on it would help. But as Kevin drifted off to sleep, the torment followed him into his dreams.
The vision of Nina on an enormous stage with powder blue lights painting her skin seemed more than real. She wore a tight fitting red top and a short Catholic school girl's skirt. He watched her as she opened her mouth to let out a note. Nothing happened. The seats of the venue were empty in front of him. He sat in the back row on the far right side. His eyes frantically squinted to see her as he realized how far he was from her. She was gasping for air, unable to speak, sing or breathe. He tried to stand to help her and suddenly the stage was in front of his class and the students were all in their seats with him at his desk. She glanced at him with a smirk before holding up a book to show the class.
“ I did my book report on Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov,” she giggled, looking at him again. Each student turned to stare at him simultaneously and he felt his face grow red. Nina walked back to her seat in the back row on the far right side and fixed her eyes to him as well, letting the pencil she was holding sit delicately between her lips. Booming laughter came from the gallery of students before him.
Kevin sat straight up, covered in sweat. He glanced at the clock just as it flipped to 6:00 am and his alarm began to buzz horribly. Sasha sat up slowly from her pillow bed on the floor and looked at him sweetly. Kevin swung his legs over the edge of the bed, feeling his body trembling. Drawing in deep breaths, he settled his nerves before throwing on his clothes and heading downstairs to hook Sasha onto her leash for their ritualistic walk.
The breeze was cool and dewy as the pair took a trip around the block, waking them both for the day. Kevin tried to push the memory of his dream out of his head. All he wanted was to see Nina again, no matter what his dream implied.
Chapter Sixteen
After slamming her locker shut, Nina began walking briskly toward her first class. She’d been up too late waiting on a response from Kevin. She’d finally fallen asleep with her math book splayed across her chest and very little of her homework done.
The bell rang as she scooted into room B100 just in the nick of time then she saw him. She held back a laugh as she realized they had matching dark circles under their eyes. Clearly he'd suffered a long night as well. Class started and Nina listened intently to Kevin’s voice as he lectured them on the tools of poetry. Nina felt herself sigh each time his eyes met hers. She was truly a schoolgirl with a crush. When Kevin made a joke the whole class thought was funny, he laughed with a beaming smile and looked right at Nina. For the briefest of moments, neither of them broke the gaze.
“ Here's the list of terms that will be on an upcoming poetry quiz. Keep this paper. You can have the rest of class to work on your assignment for tomorrow,” Kevin said as he began sending around the stack of papers.
The girl who sat in front of Nina took a paper then turned to Nina. “That was the last one. He forgot you,” she said before turning back to the front of the class. Nina caught Kevin’s eye as he finished a soapbox speech to a boy in the front row about the romance of language. She knew he hadn’t forgotten her. In fact, she figured he’d been quite deliberate in his paper count. She slowly raised her hand
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