Shattered Soul by Jennifer Snyder Page B

smile
on her face directed at me. I smiled back, my heart slowly
returning to its normal rhythm again.
    Once we reached the top of the steps we were greeted
by fluffy golden fur and a wagging tail.
    “This is D-O-G,” she said, patting the dog’s
head.
    He came to me and sniffed a few times before planting
himself in front of me, waiting for me to pet him. I scratched
behind his ears and was thanked with a wagging tail and a wet
tongue slapping across my forearm.
    “Hey, boy,” I smirked, remembering his name and what
it meant. I had been judged twice today and both times
prevailed.
    “He likes you,” Ali said stepping around him. I
followed her, knowing exactly where she was taking me, her
room.
    Ali's room was bright and cheery, colorful and
vibrant. It seemed alive somehow, like it was pulsating with her
energy. I walked across the old hardwood floors and sat at the edge
of her bed.
    “Well, this is my room,” she said in a strangled sort
of tone from the doorway.
    “Nice,” I said, shifting my eyes to her. Her cheeks
were flushed slightly, I couldn’t decide from either embarrassment
or the sight of me sitting on her bed.
    Did girls even have thoughts like that? I hoped so,
because instantly my mind became crowded with thoughts of me…and
her…and the bed.
    I saw her chest rise and fall as she took in a deep
breath. She licked her lips and crossed the room. Her arm brushed
against mine as she moved to sit beside me and my heart rate
spiked, returning again to the fast paced pounding from moments
ago. I smoothed my palms against my shorts, erasing the clammy
sensation which had begun to build across them. I shot her a
crooked grin, she smiled shyly in return.
    I leaned in, feeling drawn by my own building desire
for her soft lips pressed against mine.
    “Remember…door open, Ali!” her mom’s voice filled the
room the second our lips made the briefest of contact.
    We pulled apart, creating a four foot gap between us
instantly.
    “I know, mom!” Ali shouted, her cheeks burning
through ten shades of pink in two seconds flat.
    I chuckled. In my experience, parents were always so
naive when it came to the door open rule. Didn’t they realize you
could still do all those things they were so afraid you’d be doing
even with the door open, that all you’d have to do was be quieter
and more cautious?
    But, I wasn’t about to press my luck with Ali’s
parents because Ali was different. Ali was good. And if that was
how I wanted her parents to see me, then that was how I had to be.
Good.
    Hours ticked away. We settled for a few PG rated
make-out sessions and Ali introduced me to her, the real her. The
type of music she listened to, the books she liked to read, her
favorite movies and the one’s she hated, and we talked. We talked
until her dad came to the door telling us dinner was ready.
    I sat across a solid wooden table from Ali, noting
how different eating dinner at their house was than at mine.
    When dinner was over, we went back to Ali’s room,
listened to music and talked some more until Ali’s mom rapped on
the door.
    “It's getting pretty late, Seth. What time do you
have to be home by?” she asked.
    My eyes flickered to the green glowing numbers of the
alarm clock resting on her nightstand. 10:23 p.m. “10:30,” I lied.
“I’d better get going.”
    “I’ll walk you out,” Ali offered.
    “I thought you didn’t have a curfew,” Ali teased once
we were standing outside her front door.
    “I don’t.” I placed my hands on her hips and leaned
in to steal my last kiss for the night.
     
    I walked home that night with an ear to ear grin
plastered on my face, amazed because I’d never known myself to feel
so incredibly happy without it being the effects of some drug
coursing through my system, stimulating those parts of my mind.
Being around Ali had become intoxicating. She had become my new
drug of choice, the one that I preferred above all others. And I
hadn’t even noticed it until