KarMel Scholarship 2008

 

Personal Story

“The Beginning”

By Esa Sofian

 

 

Desciption of Submission: “My first encounter with a girl worth liking, when I realized that I am indeed bisexual. A true event told through 2nd person point of view.”  - Esa

 

You must think you’re crazy.

 

It’s midnight, with snow falling gently outside the house, and you and Lauren are in her room putting together a jigsaw puzzle (the kind that takes forever to complete). You’re halfway done so far, been working on the damn thing since the beginning of the week. The jigsaw puzzles that she’s finished in the past are everywhere, showcasing her seemingly infinite patience, free time, and fascination with random monuments throughout the world because there’s the Louvre posted on the right wall of her room, the Taj Mahal on the left, and a section of the Great Wall on her door. Besides the puzzles, there’s her numerous track awards and basketball trophies, strewn clothing, random paintball equipment scattered across the speckled carpet, and an absolutely fat tabby cat lounging on the unmade bed.

 

You pick up a piece and try to find its place. You don’t, though; you’ve never liked puzzles, much less do one with a friend. You sigh loudly, theatrically, and she laughs and leans across the brainteaser, her hand reaching for the water bottle at your side. Her hair is a really dark brown in this innocent-looking pixie cut with bangs that fall across her very plain eyes. Her entire family has vivid freckles on their arms, faces, and backs, but it’s funny because she’s the only one that doesn’t. Instead, there’s this light tan that’s evenly spread across her neck, chest, and face (or at least from what you can tell.) And upon closer inspection, her skin looks soft (so soft), and you wonder idly what it would feel like to run your fingers over it, sliding your hand along the bony collarbone into the boundaries of that T-shirt.

 

For a moment, her eyes meet your own, and all you can do is stare back: just you, and her, and the floating, weightless snow outside.

 

But then she takes the water bottle and leans back, the moment broken. She uncaps it and takes a long sip; you sit there, transfixed by the water droplets shining on her neat, white mouth. And as she resumes finishing the puzzle, it suddenly occurs to you that your heartbeat’s quicker than normal, and there’s a flush on your cheeks that wasn’t there before, before she got so close to you.

 

 

 

 

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