"Us" Once Again

The wind was cold-- a cold cutting to the bone, and it was strange weather for California. I was completely unprepared for the wind to blow and for the change to come along with it.

It was a regular day, another day at school. It was another day of the same six classes about an hour long and another day of trying to survive them. Although saying that might be a stretch, sometimes it felt as if all you could was survive the day.

This day was a day unlike that. There was a promise in the new wind that brought a smile to my face. Wind symbolizes change, and, although I was freezing with all the small holes in my knitted black sweater, I had a good feeling that day.

School finally ended, and the last bell rang, which granted us freedom. After getting out from the school, I headed to my car in the school parking lot. As I got into my car, my phone began to ring. It was an unknown caller...

Keep in mind that I nearly never pick up calls from unknown numbers. Yet, this time, I felt the urge to do so. There was that feeling in my gut that told me that I should pick up. Naturally, I followed my instinct, and picked up the phone.

There was silence at first.

"Hello?" I asked.

Still, there was nothing. This was disappointing to me, although I was not sure why it was such a disappointment to me that nobody was saying anything.

I was about to hang up when a voice stopped me. "Wait!" A guy's voice came through, "Please don't hang up just yet. I just needed time to think through what I'm trying to say..."

It was strange... I felt as if I could almost place a finger on the owner of this voice; the answer so close yet so far.

"Who are you?" I asked, tired of trying to guess the unknown caller.

"I'm your old friend, Elijah Fleming."

My eyes widened as I pictured the short boy with glasses and braces that had been my best friend in elementary.

"Elijah?" I asked. "How did you get my number? This was quite the unexpected call."

There was silence on the other end. Then, with a sigh, he said, "To make the long story short, I'm going to transfer to your school and I start next week. I was wondering if we would be able to hang out like we used to?"

"Sure," I said without a second thought. The idea of renewing our relationship was exciting to me. I had definitely missed him over the years, and had wondered about him ceaselessly. But, why would he need to transfer?

He didn't begin to try and explain it to me, and I didn't push him to.

He thanked me before he hung up.

I smiled to myself, humming all the way back home.

The next week, I looked for the Elijah Fleming I remembered. That was a mistake.

It was Elijah who approached me first, which was a very good thing, as I would not have recognized him. He had changed. Before, I had been taller than him. Now, he was 6'1, a good seven inches taller than me. He had cut his hair shorter, and began to use contacts instead of glasses. Now, you could see his blue eyes more clearly.

"You've changed..." I mumbled, stating the obvious.

He let out a laugh at that. "Yes, I've changed from what I was in elementary."

His way of speaking was peculiar, as was mine in regards to most teenagers. Perhaps this was due to our schooling: we went to the same private elementary together. However, we had split in middle school: he began going to a more prestigious private school and I had stayed in the same school. Then, I was sent to a public high school. He had remained in the prestigious private school until that week, when he moved to the same public school I was in.

Though I was dying to know why he ended up transferring schools, I didn't ask.

We ended up in four classes together. It was the two of us together once again.

A week passed by, and the both of us ended up becoming very busy with classes. We began to see less and less of each other as each had their own circumstance and there were situations to be dealt with as well as clubs to attend.

We didn't see each other for a while until Elijah suggested that we study together. I had figured that he meant as a group with others in the same classes we were in, and so it surprised me when I showed up at the designated cafe and he was sitting at a table with two chairs.

"Where are the rest going to sit?" I asked as I took the seat across from him.

"The others?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

I remembered that he used to do that when he was younger too. It was nice to see that something hadn't changed...

"The rest of the study group?"

"It's just the two of us. Is that okay?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Sure."

We spent an hour studying before his phone rang. His face fell when he saw the caller ID, and he ignored the phone.

"Shouldn't you answer that?" I asked.

"No, it's a spam caller," he said. I knew he was lying. When he lied, he would refuse to meet my eyes.

I decided to not call him out of it.

The phone began to ring again, and I glanced at the name: Ariana.

He allowed it to ring again before the phone finally stopped ringing and then remained quiet.

"I think it's time for me to go," I mumbled, getting up from my seat. It was a strange feeling that I had at that moment.

"Okay," he said, getting up too.

He accompanied me to my car, and then we said our goodbyes. I left as fast as I could, still feeling that unknown emotion consume me from the inside.

When I got home, I felt much better.

For a week, Elijah didn't show up for school.

It was on Friday when I decided to text him and ask if everything was okay.

He said everything was.

However, he still didn't show up for half a week even after that. Finally, midweek, he showed up to class and I felt inexplicable joy.

We had lunch, just the two of us together. I was dying to ask him what was going on, but I also didn't want to pry. Elijah knew me well enough to know that I was dying of curiosity.

He let out a sigh. "You're wondering why I've been missing?"

I nodded.

"That's simple," he laughed. "I got sick. Now I'm better."

"Oh..." I mumbled flushing red. I had imagined something terrible had happened.

"Hey," he said.

I turned to him, and was surprised at how close he was. "Elijah?" I asked.

He smiled. "I think I've been in love with you."

I was stunned, but then smiled. He glanced at my lips, a silent request. I pulled him towards me.

That was our first kiss.