“Nicole! Get over here!” I hear a cry from the other side of the park.
“Yes Micky?” I reply, sauntering over slowly to my best friend.
“I’m sorta…stuck.” He points down at his trapped leg. Somehow he has managed to get himself trapped on the playground equipment, making for an awkward standing position.
“Oh wow, you know what? Maybe I’ll just leave you here, for comedic value,” I poke my tongue out at him, taking my phone out to snap a picture.
“Oh my days. You’re so gonna get it when I get myself out of here!” Micky exclaims, frantically trying to free himself.
“Only if you can catch me!” I start to make a dash for it.
“I hide behind the trunk of a big tree, and start to marvel at the clouds up ahead, knowing he can’t find me this quickly.
Caught off guard, two hands grab me from behind.
“Gotcha! Now hand that phone over!” Micky shouts loudly.
I clasp onto my phone tighter, laughing and squealing while trying to wrestle out of his strong arms. One sudden move and we stumble to the ground.
I find myself pinned down by Micky’s weight, our faces only a few inches apart.
I look into his familiar brown eyes, the same ones I’ve known for years. I have more and more in love with him over the last year or so, but haven’t said a word about it, worried he doesn’t feel the same, meaning it may jeopardize our friendship.
We enter into some trance, as our eyes lock into each other. I use this opportunity, shifting my eyesight to study every little detail of his face.
All of a sudden, I snap out of it; feeling him jerk my phone out of my hands, doing a swift roll onto the soft grass beside me, so his back was towards me.
By the time I lean over to wrench the phone out of his hands, he had already deleted the picture.
“Noo!” I slap him playfully in the arm. “Oh wait, I’m sure you’ll do something equally as embarrassing again soon, I’ll be sure to record that one!” I tease him, as we both laugh.
Once our laughing dies down, we lay side by side on the soft grass, cloud watching, the autumn breeze softly blowing over us. I close my eyes, sighing at the serenity of the surroundings; while a million different thoughts circle my head.
Here I am with my best friend, who I’ve fallen madly in love with. I think this is the right time to finally tell him.
“Micky?”
“Yeah Nicole?” I see him turning to look at me from the corner of my eye.
I like you a lot. I rehearse in my mind…Wait, no. That was too straight to the point…Damn, how do I tell him!
I open my mouth, looking for an excuse to buy myself some more time, but I’m interrupted.
“Nicole, I want to tell you something,” Micky says with a cautious tone. I know him too well; this tone of his usually means there’s something wrong.
He takes a deep breath, and mumbled something under his breath.
“Wait what? I didn’t quite catch that sorry,” I ask, turning on my side to look at him.
“I sorta, kinda like you Nicole. Will you go out with me?”
Right, I definitely heard it this time. I feel the blood rush to my face, as I smile widely, and nodding my head frantically, too overwhelmed to speak.
I see a grin creep across his face, so I interlock my hands into his, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Caught by surprise, he leans forwards, crashing his soft lips onto mine.
What an amazing start to something new.