“Hey
there,” she said smoothly. “Surprise?” Her voice turned up at the last second
like an uncertain question.
She wore a
casual hoodie and black leggings; the combination of baggy top and skin-tight
bottoms was admittedly cute, and appealing.
It took you
a moment to reach for her name. Noticing your hesitation, she gave your sneaker
a playful kick.
“It’s Courtney,”
she laughed. “Remember?” Her laugh was subtly questioning.
Courtney. Will’s
twin sister. You hadn’t realized how cute she was up close.
She looked
past you briefly.
“Where’s Will?”
“He’s just
meeting with someone,” you said. “He’ll be back really soon.”
“Oh,” she
said mildly. “Well, least I found you. This is totally the wrong way, though. I
know this cool place we can do dinner. Come on—”
She noticed
your confusion and gave you an inquisitive look.
“He didn’t
tell you I was here?”
“He did,”
you murmured, “he just…”
“Tried to
keep it a surprise…” she finished, with a small presumptive smirk. Then she
said: “Has he said anything about me?”
“No,” you
said slowly. “Like what?”
“Oh,
nothing. I mean, I’ll tell you later. Maybe. Anyway,” she tapped your shoulder
and swished around. “This way.”
Suddenly you
recalled the first time meeting her, many years ago. It was Will’s birthday
party, and so it was also her birthday. It was the only party they had together
since Will hated sharing his birthday party with her, and probably Courtney
felt the same.
They were
turning twelve and it was a costume party. You mom promised to arrange a really
cool costume for you. But when you got home from school, the costume was a frog.
She thought it was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. It mortified you but it was
too late, so you thanked your mom and put it on, even though you felt like a
dork.
Unfortunately,
you had already bragged to Will how cool your costume was going to be, so when
he saw you, he burst into laughter, and called you ‘Kermit’ the entire time. His
costume was very cool. Meanwhile Will’s
parents thought you were so damn cute, Will’s mother practically pinched your
cheek and patted you on the head.
When the
birthday cake was brought out, Will’s sister appeared, dressed up as a
princess. It should have been cute until one of the kids made the obvious
observation that, you were a frog and she was a princess, and what should
happen next was so obvious it didn’t require the other kids to laugh and spell
it out, in chorus:
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”
Then one of
the kids broke out with ‘Kiss the girl’
from the Little Mermaid in a terrible Jamaican accent. You went a burning shade
of pink.
Courtney
didn’t react – except for the kind of glazed over expression girls got when
they wisely pretended to not have heard a dumb comment. You guessed she was as
embarrassed as you, if not more.
One of the
party games was truth or dare. Most of the kids chose ‘truth’ and Will called
them out for being ‘pussy’ which caused his mother to grumble at him. So, when
it was your turn, you proudly chose ‘dare’. Next second you were being dared to
kiss Courtney. That one kid started up
‘Kiss the girl’ again.
Your face burned again and you tried to prevent your legs from shaking as you
mildly shuffled over to where Courtney was sitting. Beneath your webbed green
mitts, your palms were sweating.
You told
yourself if you did it quickly and casually, it wouldn’t be so bad. Just like
ripping off a band-aid.
Courtney sat
stiffly in her big puffy gown and tiara and didn’t move an inch, she just
stared at you the entire time, which made it ten times worse. She was blinking
slightly too much and you couldn’t tell if her blinks were dumbfounded, grossed
out or petrified. You wished she would at least turn her cheek for you or lean
forward and close her eyes or do
something. You shuffled closer, legs leaden and the webbed green slippers
on your feet were like pool flippers.
Someone
pushed your shoulder and you practically jumped. Suddenly you were on
Courtney’s lap and the cheek peck had magically transformed into an accidental
lip lock. A magic spell of amnesia was placed over your traumatized memory so
you would not clearly remember any of this ever happening.
Now, in the
presence of this young woman, much older than last time, you felt warmth in
your cheeks once again, but for a different reason. It was a mile away from the
birthday party. You were forced to look her in the eye, and she wasn’t a twelve
year old girl anymore. She had a driver’s licence now and was even taller than
you.
“You okay?”
she said. “I said, guess who transferred to your college? You’re supposed to
say, ‘Who?’”
“You?” you
said.
She smiled.
“I’m
starting next year. Maybe Will didn’t tell you that either.” She inched
forward, with the ghost of her perfume brushing your awareness. “Will you still
be there?”
“Yeah,” you
said. “It’s my final year next year.”
She beamed.
“So
awesome! You can show me around.”
“Well, I
only just moved closer to campus a few weeks ago,” you admitted. “I’m basically
new in the city, as well.”
She took
this in appreciatively.
“Nice. So,
we’ll both be figuring it out together.”
As weird as
it felt seeing her here, you realized that if she was going to your college,
you would have met her eventually. And it could have been virtually anywhere, the
library, the college bar, the mall at the college’s own shopping precinct, or
just passing in the hallways. That
wasn’t so weird, though.
What was
weird was that, Will had mentioned earlier, that his sister seemed off when
he’d met with her before the race, and conjectured it was probably because she
said she’d recently gone to a fancy speed dating event held in an upmarket area
of the city, and she reported that it was “mostly a waste of time”.
This gave
you a weird sensation since it was the same event you had almost attended, but
dropped out of last second because of car problems on route to the venue. If
you had gone, you would have found yourself dropped onto a table with her
staring back at you. The thought of your best friend’s twin sister, now a young
woman wearing slinky dress and heels, sizing you up across a table for
compatibility and potential sexual chemistry, and consciously knowing that you
were supposed to do the same, was very strange. You didn’t know how to feel
about that. She was the closest relative to your friend, thinking of her in a
sexual light was not a backflip your brain could not easily perform.
Courtney’s
touch casually brushed your arm to reel your attention back. You must have
mentally zoned out again.
Your eyes
had dropped to her admirably muscled set of thighs. While trying to come to, your
eyes accidentally ran up her body and you noticed a very faint set of abs, and
were even more impressed. It looked like she’d been training for the run in
advance.
Maybe she
was concerned your attention was going to wander again, because she said in a
conspiratorial kind of way:
“Will can
do his thing. Let’s catch up.”
She nodded
you to follow her across the road, and down a block to an area called Fountain Park.
It had an open field with benches and, further, was heavily shaded with trees.
Courtney
stretched out on the trimmed lawn and your eyes again ran up her muscled
thighs. Only then you noticed her running shorts were so tight they gave her a
camel toe. Your stomach pulled tight and you tried not to stare, but the
suggestive fold taunted you, pulling your focus like you were a fish on a line.
You were trying so hard not to be a perv, it was mentally draining.
“I didn’t
know you ran marathons,” she said, leaning back to survey you. You drove your
eyes to her face, and locked them there.
“That was barely
a marathon,” you said, “and I just came for the view,” you said before you
could help it. “Of the city,” you added.
She finally
looked away from you, groaning quietly.
“My legs
are kind of tight. Mind if I stretch them?”
She was
busy carrying out a stretch that seemed determined to split her legs to the
fullest extent, and this actually caused her camel toe to shift around. You
swore it opened a little, like a small mouth. It looked very tight and smooth. You
could hear your pulse firing in your head. The level of discomfort blooming
inside you was more acute than if someone threw a glass of chilled water down
your back.
She noticed
your eyes darting around – from her face and away, and back again. Mid-stretch
she paused. Her eyebrow quirked and she smiled.
“What?” she
said.
The words
spilled out:
“Just, uh, noticed
you have a pretty nice tan,” you said.
She gave
you a puzzled look. She didn’t have a tan, any more than Will did.
Your eyes
settled on a tiny beetle creeping through the razored grass, about the size of
a passionfruit seed. You tried to fixate on its winding path, and channel the
way the beetle care about anything, including its giant surroundings. Then Courtney
repositioned herself to stretch her other leg, unknowingly capturing the tiny
beetle squarely beneath one padded lip of her camel toe and neatly pressing it
flat.
Judging
from the pleasing sinew of her arms and legs, her camel toe was possibly one
the softer parts of her, and the delicate beetle could not even tolerate that.
When she shifted again, you noticed with a pang of regret, the beetle was still
on its blade of grass, but now had acquired resemblance to a beetle shaped
postage stamp.
As you
squirmed, she stopped stretching and skewered you with another look.
“So…who are
you dating now?”
She smiled
a sly – very Will-like – smile, with complete awareness of her audacity.
Before you
could help yourself, you answered candidly, practically regurgitating your
dating history to her, even the bleak parts. Especially the bleak parts.
Courtney
said nothing, but her eyes seemed to shine into your soul. And it felt
good. Cleansing. Finally, she gave
another audacious smile and remarked conversationally.
“Well, you
have an adorable little personality, Fuzz. A girl who really likes you will see
that.”
You weren’t
sure if this was a compliment, but just in case it was, you smiled gratefully.
Her eyes lingered
on you, continuing to appraise you calmly. As you talked about your dating
life, she’d been giving you several of these appraising looks. Then looking
away. It made your heart flutter a little.
You were
both silent for a moment. When you looked back at Courtney, she was looking at
you. She tilted her head, coy, and then stretched her leg out and pointed the
toe of her trainer in at a soft part of your stomach, giving you a meaningful dig
beneath your ribcage. Then she leaned back on one elbow.
“You want
to know about me?” she said, not looking up. And said before you asked: “I just
got out of a relationship.”
“Oh,” you
murmured. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m definitely
not.”
Her legs
were pressed together and straightened. She dipped, pressing her chest to her
thighs, showing off how toned her shoulders were. You wondered if she’d started
lifting.
She wasn’t
shy about her athletic prowess. She started to slowly do a kind of handstand,
and gracefully spread her legs apart, trying to pull off the splits. Her camel
toe became more and more obvious until you had to avert your eyes. There was
also now a tiny blotch on her the fork of her tight pants where the beetle had
been squished. As she stretched, the camel toe tightened and the tiny mouth
looked like it was sucking on the beetle’s remains. Your stomach felt like a
hurricane of butterflies.
Sitting
again, she bristled.
“When did
it get cold?” she asked suddenly, to no one. Then she rose onto her shins, and
looked right at you:
“I think I
need to warm up again. Jog with me?”
She made
good speed. You ran until the end of twilight, dark enough to struggle to see
where you were going, and had to slow when your back and legs began to groan.
Your calves were tight and your stomach was cramping from water you drank
earlier, post-race.
Clouds were
stretching across the night sky, draining the warmth of the day.
Only now
you realized Courtney wasn’t racing you anymore. She seemed to be leading you,
deeper into the park, away from the crowd. She’d double back to check where you
were.
“It’s
getting cold,” you pointed out. She didn’t buy it, her eyes hung on your slight
limp.
She leaned
into your side, and her palm brushed your chest.
“I’m okay,”
she said. Then she eyed you sidewise. “What about you?”
Your eyes
dropped from her face. She noticed you staring at her hoodie and her voice
became teasing again. She muttered something under her breath that made you
blush. She was out and out wild. You just stared, not sure if you heard her
correctly. Whatever you were thinking it wasn’t that.
You finally
looked away, and in spite of yourself, smiled in surprise. She looked away,
smiling also, as if you had just admitted her remark was absolutely correct.
She was
teasing you. When you were with Will you felt tough and confident, but
Courtney’s teasing made you feel soft and harmless.
Suddenly
her hand curled inconspicuously around your own, and she wordlessly slipped
your hand into her hoodie front pocket. It was warm.
The two of
you kept moving through the park, leaving the roadside behind you. The ground
began to turn to slush beneath your trainers. The earth was checkered with
puddles and patches of longer grass.
Courtney
turned suddenly and her palm brushed your chest to get your attention. She
showed you a group of small frogs trilling on the wet dirt. They stopped silent
as you drew closer but amazingly the frogs didn’t bound away. They must have
been young or very tame.
“Maybe they
used to be pets,” Courtney suggested, leaving your side to knee over them. She
softly tapped the head of each frog with
soft finger, enjoying their docility. “You think they were dumped out here?”
Out of
nowhere you recalled Will's birthday party, how his mother kept patting you on
the head. You looked at the startled frog in sympathy. Courtney was very gentle
though. She delicately scooped up one of the frogs and softly rubbed its moist
body between her fingertips. The frog’s barrel-shaped torso squished agreeably
between her finger and thumb. The frog didn’t look alarmed.
Courtney
turned to look up at you.
“Remember
my birthday?” She said. “It was a costume party.”
“Uh,” you
said reflexively.
“I remember
it.” Her voice turned up in a strange way. “You dressed up like a frog.” She
smiled at your discomfort. “It was so cute,” she reassured you. “And all the
kids said I had to kiss you.”
“That was,
like, ten years ago,” you mumbled.
As if she
hadn’t heard you, she continued:
“I was so
young I thought, I would never actually do that,” she grinned, “I’d just keep
you as a frog forever. You’d be my pet.”
“Hmm,” you
said.
“I was young,”
she declared. “Boys were gross, but frogs were cute. They still are.”
She put the
frog in her hand back down amidst its buddies.
“Which one?”
you said jokingly.
She stood
back up, turning towards you. Her face was very close now. Her eyes and her
lips were reeling you, that fish on a line feeling.
“Frogs.”
“And boys?”
“I’m not
sure,” she said distractedly. “Maybe.”
She paused
on your face with anticipation, trying to figure out specifically where your
eyes were looking, and without realizing, bit her lip. You searched for a witty
retort. Then your voice gave up as it—finally—occurred to you, that she might
be—possibly—just waiting for you to kiss her. Hadn’t you already done this on
her birthday? Why was it so hard now?
She leaned
back on her hand, trying to dispassionately analyze your silence.
Finally,
she decided aloud:
“You
bonehead.”
In one bold
move, she reached forward and squished your nose, a little painfully. You
jumped. She laughed.
Someone then
passed through the trees and came upon the two of you. It was Will. Your
insides went shimmery like eels.
“Oh, you weren’t talking about me for once?” he
said to Courtney. Then he looked at you.
“I wondered
where you went,” he said.
You didn’t
– couldn’t—say anything, as you had completely forgot what you were just
talking about.
Even in the
dark, you noticed the eye roll pass fleetingly over Courtney’s face before she
turned her head to face her brother. He examined the two of you cautiously but
said nothing else.
She told
him nothing, getting to her feet gracefully and brushing down her leggings,
smoothing the dirt off.
You also
got to your feet, feeling small like you were twelve again.
Will
suddenly broke the silence:
“Just
checking out if you want to get some dinner at this great place in town.” He threw
a quick glance at his sister. “You’re invited too, sis. If you want, or
whatever.”
“Sure!” Courtney
gave a dispassionate shrug.
“Cool,” you
said.
“Cool!” Will
agreed quickly, and said to his sister, “Better get running, Court. It’s down
the street. Free tip: cut across the park. It’s faster. Laters. Fuzz and I are
taking my car. Catch you there.” He kept going on towards the heavily shaded
area, looking back at you. This way, dude.”
Courtney
walked calmly behind the two of you, staring into the back of Will’s head. The
three of you went back under the trees, heading towards the streets like
electric stars twinkling through the trees. But your tendons ached and you were
starting to lag. Suddenly, Courtney said from over your shoulder:
“Hey, tiny
favor, Will.”
“What?”
“Take my car over there.” She quickly rummaged
in her bag for her keys. “I’m going to walk Fuzz there,” she jumped into step
with you, and at a glance, murmured: “Will can go back for his car later. It’s
not going anywhere.”
“Problem?”
said Will lightly, “You can’t drive yourself?”
“Well,
let’s see, Fuzz and I were just in the middle of a conversation that you walked
right in on.”
“My car’s
closer,” Will replied.
Courtney
paused, unwilling to elaborate.
“Guess I’ll
just go,” she finally huffed aloud. “Don’t leave me waiting,” she said, but and
throwing you a sly glance with added meaning.
Bonehead.
In her
presence you weren’t sure of yourself. Still, you loved the devilish glances
she gave you. Her eyes were a secret just for you, and reached into your
inside. In a blink, she captured you, weighed you, and measured you for
potential value. Her looks went deep, into you balls.
After this
one last look, Courtney was gone through the trees. You wondered when you’d
earn yourself another of her special glances.
Never
knowing what a long time that would truly be.
Will and
you strode through the park in the direction of his car, but little further on,
your stride shortened from tightened muscles. The backs of your thighs started
to feel like slabs of concrete. Soon you were limping a little and had to stop
to massage your legs. Will paused.
“You okay?”
he said.
“Yeah, I
just…” you mumbled, then straightened “…it’ll pass.”
You pushed
yourself too hard on the run, and now it was catching up with you. For an
instant you wished you could shrug off the dinner invitation. But you couldn’t.
You couldn’t in a million years, because of the look Courtney would have when
she realized you had gone MIA. All the secret light in her eyes would be gone.
No more little glances for you ever again. That hurt you in the heart.
You had
never met a girl like Courtney, because Courtney was, was…well…
Courtney
was perfect.
Courtney
was your bestest friend, if your bestest friend was a hot girl.
Literally.
You stopped
and gasped:
“The ground
is shaking.”
You barely
even believed yourself. But when you looked ahead at Will, he was still, just
staring into the night. He felt it too.
Will clicked
back into action:
“Keep going,
okay?”
“Which way
is the parking lot?” you said.
“I’ve been
following that light,” he said, nodding up ahead, to a white light between the
trees. “That’s it.”
“I don’t
think so,” you said. “We should be there now.”
“Is that
light moving?” Will said.
You looked
at the light and it was true; it was weaving through the trees like a drunk
snake.
There were
a couple of cracking sounds like a whip.
You jaw
dropped. Suddenly there was a stick poking out of Will shoulder. He’d been shot
by some kind of dart or needle. It was like a pencil sticking out of his back.
Then your
back began to sting.
Ahead, Will’s
legs gave way and he crumpled to the ground. You wanted to run to him. Then
your body lost its tension, and you went sprawling forward, too. The ground
pressed against your cheek and you couldn’t move. You could barely open your
eyes. A wave of undeniable fatigue crashed over you.
Then it got
very bright, and very cold.