12

I was lying on the couch when I heard the doorbell ring and my mother curse however was on the other side.

I didn't see who it was and I didn't really care.

"Cam," I heard my mom calling after a while and saw her appear at the living room's door, "do you have something to tell me?"

I feigned ignorance, not that I knew what she was talking about anyway. "No?" I replied.

"Then why was our neighbor looking for you, of all people, to fix her TV?"

If I was drinking I would have probably spat out my drink at the mention of Ann. But since I wasn't, it probably looked like I'd just seen a ghost. "Why," I asked, "don't you think I'd be able to do it?"

"Well, she said you should go over and see what's wrong." She replied dismissively and left.

My stomach felt like it was tied in knots and I suddenly sat up from my lying position. I haven't seen Ann in a week, a very long week. A week I'd passed thinking about my neighbor and Ann and why I could not concentrate when trying to study.

The last thing I expected was for her to come looking for me. Of course she'd said her TV was broken and maybe that was the reason.

Or. It was an excuse to see me.

And if it was, what would she say? Would she pretend that nothing's happened, as she'd asked me to do? Or would she want to talk about it? And what if she said that she never wanted to see me again?

Shit.

Did I really have to go? I wasn't sure I could face her without feeling extremely embarassed.

Fuck it. I had to.

I changed my shirt and breathed slowly in and out before finding myself in front of her door.

I contemplated ringing the doorbell but decided to just knock and I silently prayed that she wouldn't hear it.

I realized luck wasn't on my side though, when I saw the door opening and I found myself in front of Ann, looking exceptionally beautiful in her shorts and black tank top. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out, I just stared like I'd just seen a ghost.

She offered a tentative smile. "Hi, I'm glad you could come."

I muttered a "hi" in return and followed her inside.

She stopped in front of the couch, turning to face me. "I have a problem with the TV, I guess your mom told you?"

Oh, so that really was the reason. I remembered her request from the last time we saw each other. Nothing happened. Right. Everything was back to normal, the usual.

Except it wasn't.

There was a tense atmosphere between us. We could pretend, sure, but we couldn't forget. At least I couldn't.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" I asked, turning my attention to the TV.

"I can't seem to turn it on. Look," she said and tried pressing the switch on button on the remote control. "It doesn't work."

I sighed and extended my hand to take the remote, but in doing so our fingers brushed against each other and I immediately pulled back as if I'd just got a shock. "Sorry." I said and waited for her to hand it to me.

"Have you tried changing the batteries?"

When she didn't reply, I looked up from the remote I now had in my hand to see her flushing from embarrassment. "Uh..."

I chuckled. Of course she didn't realize that she had to change the batteries.

"Don't laugh! It just didn't cross my mind!" She complained and for a moment it seemed like the awkwardness between us had evaporated.

"Do you have any new ones?" I asked.

"Uhm, I think so. Wait here."

As she went in search of new batteries, I sat down on the couch and took out the old ones, trying to distract myself with something to do instead of letting nerves get a hold of me.

She came back with two new batteries and handed them to me. "It should work now." I said and tried switching on the TV. As expected, it did turn on.

I turned towards her and smiled.

"Thank you, I feel so stupid to not have thought of that."

"No problem." I said and got up from the couch, feeling as if I'd solved the problem and could now go back to hiding in my room, as far away from her as possible.

"Wait," she grabbed my arm, "uh... Do you have somewhere to be right now?"

I looked at her curiously and wondered what she was thinking about. "No, why?" I glanced down at her hand still holding my arm.

She sensed me looking and let go, taking a step back. "Would you keep me company?" She asked. "For awhile, well, if you want of course."

This was a bad idea, wasn't it. I couldn't just spend time with her, barely saying anything because of a stupid kiss that ruined everything between us. And I couldn't pretend it didn't happen either because it was not working as we just witnessed.

"Okay." I replied and saw her breathe a sigh of relief. I could see what she was trying to do though. She wanted us to go back to before the kiss, the kiss that I'm sure she's completely removed from her mind. And lI had to do the same, I tried reminding myself, if anything, for my own sanity.

"Are you hungry? I bought ice-cream today." she asked, trying to sound cheerful.

"Uh, yeah sure."

I plopped down on the couch again and waited for her to get the ice-cream.

As she came back and sat down next to me, we started eating all the while watching a rerun of Wipeout in awkward silence interrupted by awkward laughing when the contestants fell pretty badly.

This wasn't working, if even ice-cream couldn't save the situation there was no turning back. If we weren't going to talk about it, I couldn't see how we could go back to being comfortable with each other again.

"So, how has your week been?" She asked as we set down the ice-cream and settled back on the couch.

I couldn't meet her eyes. "Fine. I've been very busy with school." I said still looking straight ahead, feeling her stare on me. "And yours?"

"I've done nothing much this week. Just working and sleeping." She yawned and stretched her arms over her head.

"Well, since you're sleepy, I should probably go." I said hurriedly, impatient to get away from here.

She looked at me with a serious expression that pinned me to my spot.

"Cam."

I froze in my place and sat in silence, waiting for her to speak all the while feeling my heart beating faster.

"We need to talk."

Shit. Here it goes.

Isn't this what I wanted?

"Yeah, we do." I said lamely and looked up at her, forcing myself to meet her eyes.

She sighed and looked down to her lap, seemingly to think for a moment about what she wanted to say.

"About last week, I..."

"I'm sorry." I interrupted her. "I'm seriously seriously sorry, I know I was way out of line and-"

"No wait. You don't have to apologize," she touched my shoulder with her hand and leaned closer, "if anything, it was my fault."

How could it be her fault if I was the one who kissed her? How could it be her fault if I still wanted to kiss her right at this moment? How could it be her fault that she was straight and older and so out of my league anyway?

Her eyes drew me in and I saw confusion and fear in them.

"Why would it be your fault?" I asked softly.

"I'm the adult here, I shouldn't have reacted that way. I-" she paused, "I probably overreacted." She sighed and ran a hand through her messy hair.

"Stop with the adult talk, it doesn't have anything to do with what happened." I said, getting kind of annoyed that she had to use the age excuse everytime, especially now when it didn't matter at all. "I was the one who started it, I got caught up in the moment and didn't think at all." I held her gaze, making sure she was listening. "It wasn't anything serious and I don't want that to change things between us, okay? I'm sorry if it made you uncomfortable and I completely understand your reaction." I finished and tried thinking about something else I could say to amend things between us.

"Can you forgive me?" I asked hopeful, holding my breath.

She didn't speak for a few moments, she just sat there staring at me with those beautiful eyes and then suddenly pulled me in for the longest hug.

I don't know how much time passed, but I could feel her warmth, her perfume, her softness as I rested my head on her shoulder and had my arms wrapped around her small frame.

She sighed in my arms and pulled us even closer together, almost strangling me.

I cleared my throath. "Annie?"

I felt her stiffen in my arms, probably feeling annoyed at the way I called her. "Yes?"

"I can't breathe."

She let go immediately and glared at me. "Oh, so you got back to being annoying again, huh?" I could see a hint of a smile on her face.

I grinned. "Didn't want to bore you too much."