Anomaly

Your Song

"Don't-" Alora began to say, but it was too late. I already found the thing I was guessing she didn't want me to see.

On the desk was a piece of paper with tiny, dotted square grids and my name on the top.

"What is this?"

"Chords," she answered softly.

I grinned. "You wrote a song for me?"

She snatched the paper away from me. "I wrote a song about you."

Her correction did little to change my mood.

Either way, she's been thinking about me.

"Can I hear it?"

She studied me for a moment, then slowly nodded. I sat down in the chair at her desk while she picked up her guitar and sat down on her mattress. She didn't even look at the chords as she began to play.

The music was beautiful, but somber. The melody I had never heard before, yet it didn't feel unfamiliar.

Then I realized: it was everything I had felt in her kiss. Longing, fear, passion, desperation...I could hear it all in the haunting melody she strummed.

"Wow," I said when she finished.

Her head shot up abruptly, as if she had forgotten I was even there.

"You liked it?"

"Liked it?" I repeated in disbelief. "Al, that was incredible. Why didn't you tell me you played?"

"Why didn't you tell me you did gymnastics?"

"Parkour, not gymnastics," I corrected. "And I guess there's still a lot we don't know about each other."

Alora nodded contemplatively.

"Can I ask you something about the song?" I asked as I moved to sit next to her.

She put the guitar against the wall and nodded again.

"Why do I make you so sad?"

Alora let out a deep sigh. "You don't make me sad. You give me hope. And then I remember how dangerous and painful hope is, so I push you away. You deserve better than that.  That's what makes me sad: knowing that I should let you go because I don't deserve you."

I didn't have any idea where to even start with how insane any of that was. So I kissed her instead.

The kiss I gave her was meant to be sweet, simple, and reassuring.

But the second our lips met, I felt the raging fire within me again. The taste of Alora's lips was possibly the most addictive substance on the planet, and it had the side effect of stripping away all of my self-control.

It was like my brain was on a 5-second delay. By the time I realized I was kissing her again, my hand was rubbing her thigh. By the time I realized what my hand was doing,  I was laying her down on her mattress.

It wasn't until I was straddling her that I realized how far things had escalated.

"Sorry," I apologized hastily, flinging myself off of her.

"I didn't mind," Alora said softly. "But you should know...I've never..."

"Me neither," I said.

A look of surprise, then relief, crossed her face. "Really?"

I nodded. "And I don't want us to rush into it. I want us to both decide in advance when we want to. If we want to."

Alora relaxed instantly. She nodded and smiled.