Short Story by Mia

I woke up with a jolt, hot wet running steadily down my lips, salty and slow. My room was full of shadows, tucked in the corners of my book shelf and desk, the walls were pearly white. Something thrummed on the ceiling. Rain, I suppose. I crawled out of the sea of blankets, as the cool air was disturbed by my movements, goosebumps erupted on my bare legs.
The blinds rustled as I pulled them up and opened the rusting latch on the window. I was greeted with with a spicy smelling breeze, saturated with the smell of early morning.
As the tears on my face froze, I remembered why I was crying. My dream. Or, rather, a dream of my reality.
I had been running. Running from him. Someone I had loved. Someone I had trusted. I closed my eyes again, still heavy with sleep and irrepressible sadness. I reminded myself I was not in the dark corners and shadows of a street, but in the warm, blue darkness of my room.
To my right, my alarm clock beeped lethargically. It was old and tired, yet it still preformed its duty of ringing at 6:30 am each and every day. I clicked the button softly, and it fell silent. I lived alone. In a sense, I had always lived alone.
I walked to the kitchen, the floor creaking in loneliness. I flipped the switch of my coffee machine, and wrapped my arms around my head. Flashbacks of David were playing in my mind.
The window was streaked with rain, distorting the view of my pathetic, dying back yard. It had been neglected too long. The calender on the wall read August 29th.
Only three weeks ago it had happened.
"Gray, I'm so sorry."
Gray. That had been my nickname. My eyes were gray, lined with thick black lashes that needed no mascara. I used to love my nickname, now it only brought back figments of better times. Now, I was only called Jessica. Jessica Brown. The eighteen year old who feel in love with her high school boyfriend. The girl who got pregnant. The lonely artist who got an abortion with David holding her hand.
I had picked him out the first day of high school. The first day I had become a freshman. I had walked up a flight of stairs outside, mingled with with fear and anticipation. He was leaning up against a wall, sunlight catching his hair, holding it golden. I watch him in wonder, this beautiful being with black eyes. I was drawn to him, as if a rope was strangling my heart and tied to him. David. His head turned to the left, and he saw me. He sauntered, slowly, towards me, flicking glowing ash from the cylinder between his fingers.

"You new?" He asked.
"Yeah." I replied dreamily.
"Listen, cute little freshman like you don't usually get treated very nicely around here. So if anyone gives you any trouble, come and talk to me."
"Um-sure?" I replied questionably.
He smiled at me, held out his hand. "I'm David."
"Jessica."
"Naw, you're no Jessica."
"I'm not?"
"No, you're Gray."
"Gray?"
"Your eyes. They're a really deep, warm gray."
"Oh, thanks." I retreated, stumbling over my own legs. I was totally and utterly infatuated with him.
"I'll see you around, Gray."
I turned to see him blow a kiss to me.

It was the coffee machine that brought me back three years into the present. I quickly poured the dark brown stimulant into a cup on the counter, steam rising in thickets of white. I cradled it, bringing it up against my chest. I let the moist heat seep through my shirt into my skin, loving the burning sensation in my finger tip.

"Gray!"
I had been under a tree, sunlight fingering my exposed legs. The air was soft and sweet, heavy with the scent of freshly mowed grass. The pages on my lap fluttered, creamy and supple in the breeze.
"So, Gray, how's being a freshman?"
"Fine. A sophomore?"
"Not as--amusing as being a freshman."
"But you said it sucked to be a freshman."
"Naw, Gray. I was just trying to make you talk to me, that's all."
"You're very direct, David."
"Sure am. Only way to survive around this place."
"Hmmm. I haven't found that." I replied.
"Want to go out to dinner with me on Friday?"
"Really?"
"As friends, of course."
"Yeah, that would be awesome."

I set down my coffee cup, opened the cabinet to retrieve a blueberry Poptart. The wrapper crinkled loudly as the square pastry slid into my outstretched hand. I bit into it, sinking into the slick, cold frosting and flood of sweet flavor.

"I had a lot of fun with you, Gray."
"Yeah, me too."
"I'll see you on Monday. Maybe sooner."
"Maybe."
His eyes lingered on mine.
"Bye." I reached to unclip my belt buckle and open the door. He caught my hand.
"Wait." His voice was calm, though I could sense nervousness--even excitement. He leaned forward, his hand on my neck. Lips moved softly against mine. I felt a zing go up and down my spine as I kissed him back.
"Bye." He whispered into me.

I switched the light on in my room, and yanked my dresser drawer open. I shed my clothes in favor of new ones. In the bathroom I left two symmetrical trails of black on my eyelids and red gloss on my lips.

"You don't need to wear makeup, Gray. All you need is your gray, gray eyes."
'If you were me, David, you'd understand."
"If I were you, I'd have thrown that makeup away a long time ago."
"Shut up." I smiled at him."
"I'm serious, Gray. You're so beautiful."


I checked my watch. I had to be at work in fifteen minuets. I was employed in a tiny coffee shop owned by an enthusiastic Italian. It was called Guispeppe. My friend's mom had given my the job last year. She also gave me a week off after--after it happened. I usually walked to work, since my car was broken and I had no money what so ever to fix it with. I slid into my rain jacket, the lower portion of my stomach still sore.
As I opened the cold and wet wriggled past me into the small living room. I stepped out, the murky water splashing up my jeans. I grimaced as more cold found its way to my skin. I could never escape it.
I began to walk, perfect spheres hammering the hood on my head. I turned onto Delancio street, close the tiny, bright cafe. Everything was moving rapidly, voices fused together into one, monosyllabic messy tone that filled my head.

"David, I have to tell you something."
"What?"
"I can't believe I'm saying this. I don't know how it happened...." I felt as if an icy knife had been thrust into my chest I felt so much pain. Unfathomable pain. "I'm pregnant."
Silence. Silence as I watched his eyes dilate. Silence as he wrapped me up in his arms. I breathed in the smell of smoke on his clothes.
"What do you want to do?"
"Get an abortion." I whispered into his shoulder. He hugged me hard. I could feel his pain mingle with my own.


I pushed open the door, a bell clinging. Then there he was. Sitting in a deep red, velvet armchair, legs cross. A book in his lap. I stopped abruptly, mouth open, my heart thumping in confusion and joy and fear. Someone I had loved. Someone I had given my life, my time, my dreams. He had taken them. I felt at his mercy.
"Gray." He stood up, lips slightly parted as he took my hand.
"What are you doing here, David?" I choked.
"Will you marry me?"