Chapter 1: How It Started
It was a few years ago, my sophomore year at Olympia High School in the great state of Washington. I still remember it clearly: a sunny fall afternoon with the leaves turning into vibrantly beautiful colors before lazily falling to the ground. A little chilly, but I didn't need at coat, I was used to it.
I was outside during lunch practicing tennis with one of my friends. Tryouts were next week and I needed to practice my returns.
"How hard do you want me to serve it?" my friend asked.
"Hard as you can, I need to work on my returns."
Big mistake, the serve was perfect. With the ball coming straight at me, I panicked and swung my racket as hard as I could, hoping to nail it. I did, but in the completely wrong direction. The ball went in an upwards arc and right over the fence enclosing the tennis courts.
The ball hit her right on the head. That was my first interaction with Elise. She was also a sophomore, not particularly popular, hung around the smart crowd, and earned good grades. Her stature was similar to mine, 5-8, blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a C-cup. Now that I think about it, she was also very cute and somewhat shy since she didn't say much.
I myself am about 5-7, green eyes, dark brown hair, and a DD-cup. I'd consider myself pretty popular in high school, especially with the boys. It was normal for me to catch them staring at my, assets. During high school, I dated a few boys, but nothing serious.
After graduating high school, I did get serious with one person. I lost my virginity to him, but we had too many arguments. This resulted in a lot of drama and we eventually decided it was best to part ways, but let me get back to the story.
She was sitting down next to a tree near the tennis court reading a book. When the ball hit her head, her face had the most comical expression of pain and confusion. As she scanned the horizon trying to figure out what and who had hit her, I ran towards her to apologize.
"Are you ok? I'm so sorry! I was returning a serve and hit the ball way too hard."
I would later tease her about her reaction, but she glared at me for a bit and said, "please be more careful next time," and went back to reading her book.
"I know, I know, I should more careful. By the way, my name is Sarah, what's your name?"
She glared at me again and said, "Elise, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too Elise, again, sorry for hitting you with the tennis ball, I'll see you around!"
I smiled at her and as I left, she of course, glared at me again.
A few weeks went by before I talked to Elise again, this time asking for help. I'm not the best math person and definitely needed help with the upcoming midterm, but who could I ask? Definitely, not my immediate friends, they were in the same boat as I was.
It was crazy, but how about Elise? I didn't know her, but it was worth a shot. The following day, I talked to her after class.
"Hi Elise, how are you doing?"
She stared at me for a bit, but after remembering the incident a few weeks ago, she looked confused. As if wondering why I was talking to her.
"Oh hi Sarah, I'm doing well, did you need something?"
"Yes, I'm having trouble with a few sections in the book. I asked the teacher for help, but I'm still a little confused. I was wondering if you had some time to go over a few problems with me?"
I expected an incoming glare, but instead, Elise paused for a bit to decide.
"Sure, when did you want to meet?"
"How about after school at my house? I live pretty close, we can walk there."
"Ok, I'll meet you in front of the school after classes."
She actually said yes, I was sure she would say no after "the incident."
After school got out, I met her out front; she was wearing sneakers, jeans, a t-shirt, jacket, and her backpack. During the walk to my house, I wanted to get to know her better, so I asked the usual questions about her hobbies, interests, and family.
Elise didn't give me much to work with. She liked to read, watched a few TV shows, and her mom was a nurse while her dad worked on cars. I don't know if it was her personally, quirks, or cute looks, but I felt unusually attracted to her.
That's how it started.
After that, we progressively spent more time together and eventually became best friends. We did just about everything together. However, my attraction to her became stronger and stronger. This is probably why I never got serious with any boys during high school.
At first, I thought it was just our close friendship. I really enjoyed talking to her and hanging out with her, but I wanted more. I denied my feelings for the longest time, but eventually came to terms and accepted them.
You could say I loved her very much and didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize our friendship. I don't think she ever knew I had feelings for her, but I certainly gave her unintentional clues. When she wasn't looking, I would stare at her while biting my lips and grabbing my aching heart. I can't tell her; I won't tell her.
On other occasions, I would stare at her without realizing it and her response would be, "what, is there something on my face?"
My reply: "No there isn't, sorry, was thinking about something else." I'm thinking about you, stupid.
It only got worse as junior and senior year came around. During that time, my hormones went into overdrive; I couldn't stop thinking about her. Even during class, my heart ached, but I somehow managed to keep my feelings bottled up.
And one day, she was gone.
After graduation, Elise moved to Seattle to attend college. I stayed in Olympia and attended community college. My mind was confused during this time; I wasn't sure what I wanted to do so I took general education classes. It was difficult, but I slowly buried my feelings for Elise and moved on.
That's when I met the only guy I was serious with. We had good times, but he suspected there was someone else I wasn't telling him about. He was right, but I never told him and we eventually parted ways because of it.
Chapter 2: Reunion
Over the years, Elise and I grew apart. Our communications progressively decreased until eventually, we stopped talking entirely.
Fast forward to today: I'm currently working the day shift as a cashier at the Olympia Target store. It's the best job I could find considering my limited work experience and the economic environment. At times, it's a bit boring constantly scanning items, but I get by, plus it pays for college.
Today was a bit slow, so I pulled out my phone to check the time and see if I have any messages. Seconds later, I heard someone walk up and put a few items on the counter. As I looked up to greet the customer, she was wearing small heels, a conservative skirt that went down to her knees and, a conservative blouse.
Then I saw her face and I just stared. She looked very familiar.
"Elise, Ohmygosh, I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Sarah? it's so nice to see you again!"
"Same here, we need to catch up, when do you get off?"
"My shift ends at 6, let's grab dinner or something. I think I still have your number, I'll call you."
"Ok, see you then, here's my number just in case."
"Great, but aren't you going to at least glare at me?" I teased.
"Oh shut up!" she responded with a smile.
I couldn't wait. As soon as I clocked out, I called her.
"Hello?"
"Hi, it's Sarah, just got off work. Can you meet me in 15 minutes at Juan's?"
