Polar Opposites

t w e n t y - t h r e e : a l m o s t m i n e

TWENTY-THREE: a l m o s t  m i n e

Theresa was officially 6 months pregnant and it was definitely playing with her emotions. Yesterday she even managed to break a whisk. Don't ask me how it happened, I honestly have no idea.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Ben said running in. He had been coming in everyday for the past couple weeks. "Next time please wait for me," he told Theresa giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"You weren't ready to go yet," Theresa said with an indifferent shrug.

"How about you two go flip chairs," Ben said. Which was obviously not so subtle code for get lost.

"So," I wanted to say something but I had no idea what. It's not as if I could blurt out, 'I think your extremely attractive,' or 'I have the biggest crush on you.'

"Do I ever get to see the second half of the letter?" I asked after a painful minute of silence.

"No, the deal was that you got to know who I wrote to, you shouldn't have gotten to read any of it at all," he said as I cleaned the tables with lemon scented wipes while he flipped chairs.

"I need to start paying more attention," I muttered.

"Probably a good idea," he commented and I hit his arm with my empty hand.

"Your not supposed to agree with me!" His eyes narrowed.

"I thought women were supposed to want people to agree with them," he said but we both knew that this wasn't one of those moments.

"Yes, but then there are other instances; like if a woman insulted herself your supposed to disagree," I tried to educate him.

"But you didn't insult yourself," he pointed out. I sighed and then shrugged.

"We are a complicated species."

"Tell me about it," he said running his hand through his hair. We silently worked through two more tables before he spoke again.

"Do you know that you hum when you work?" He asked. I shook my head. I did not. I would know if I was humming, that's just logic.

"You do every morning, and quietly during class sometimes," he told me. I didn't say anything, how did one reply to being told they had a habit they were unaware of? I kept my lips pursed after that, and my eyes trained on the dark wood of the tables.

Suddenly a finger was on my chin tilting my head up to meet Austin's eyes. The finger touched the side of my lips lightly. "I didn't say stop," he said. I found myself smiling after that.

"Ben how about you serve with Austin today?" Theresa asked. He nodded and the two headed out to the front counter.

"Trouble in paradise?" I asked.

"Nah, he's over reacting," she assured me. I rose a questioning eyebrow. "I sort of maybe thought he was taking too long in the shower, so I took the keys and left," she said with a shrug. I now understood why Ben was late. The two of them shared a car, so Ben bussed to work this morning.

"And he still kissed you on the cheek this morning?" I asked surprised. If I had done something like that to Austin- I cut off my train of thought. Did I just think of a future with Austin? Even if it was indirectly.

"Let's talk about real exciting stuff," Theresa said waving off the current topic while setting up ingredients for shortbread cookies. "Like you and Austin," she said.

"There's nothing to tell," I said. I could hear the disappointment in my own voice.

"First of all I would like to say I called it when I first met him. Second, if you want something worth telling; make it happen," Theresa said. She made it sound so easy, but it wouldn't be.

"What if he doesn't want something worth telling?" I asked.

"Believe me, he does," she assured. "And if you want proof make a move."

^^^

Theresa's words swam through my head all day. I would never find the answers I wanted if I didn't take the risk. My classes all seemed boring. In English and physics he was right next to me, and all I could think about was if I made a move would we still be friends if he didn't want me back?

No.

I wouldn't be able to handle it. That was the truth.

"What's been bothering you today?" Austin asked chasing me down after school.

"Nothing."

"Why are you lying?" He asked his eyes narrowed. Why couldn't he be less observant? Finn never would have picked up on it. Actually Finn never did.

In the back of my head I heard Austin's argument about people seeing what they want to see.

"It's stupid you'd laugh," I said trying to walk past him but he easily matched my stride.

"Good I've been craving a good laugh," he said. I panicked and didn't say anything. I couldn't tell him the truth, and I was never any good at coming up lies on the spot. Then we were at our neighboring lockers. I hadn't used mine in forever, but I figured I had no need to keep bringing my gym shoes home so I turned and opened my locker.

As I closed my locker I felt Austin spin me so my back was against the locker. "Are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"

"Why should I? You never told me what was bothering you," I defended as I tried to not enjoy his hand on my waist as much as I did.

"What was bothering me didn't concern you," he told me through tight lips. I internally groaned now I was thinking about his lips.

"Who says what's bothering me concerns you?" I asked him. What gave him the right to assume this had anything to do with him? He was right, but that wasn't the point. Nor was I going to tell him that.

"Because I'm the only person you've avoided all day," I hated that he seemed to be right about everything. "Look we're alone, just tell me," he said. I noticed that the hallway was empty.

I noticed how close he had gotten to me. I let out a breath and glanced from his eyes to his lips and back again. His eyes seemed to grow for a second and then they closed and he was leaning down to kiss me.

My eyes slid shut and I could feel his breath dance across my lips.

"Am I interrupting something?" Finn asked just as Austin's lips touched mine. Austin was suddenly a few steps away and I was glaring daggers at Finn. How was this fair? Had I interrupted Finn whenever he kissed Celia?

"Yes actually you were," I snapped but I knew that he wasn't leaving now, and my mood had went slightly sour so I left.

"Wait Kristy," Austin called after me but I just started walking faster as I left the school.

I was so messed up.

AN

I'm not even sure I like this chapter, but you get what you get sorry guys. Oh and anyone who has read since I first started this might appreciate the title of this chapter :) ILYSM♡