The Right Equation

by Tracy Krimmer

  "Are you okay?"

  Game changer. Will touched his palm to my cheek, turned around his hand and traced the side of my face with his fingertips. Every teenage fantasy ran through my mind as each womanly part of my body perked up. "Now I am."

  I didn't need the lights on to predict what happened next. Even in the darkness, I closed my eyes as I leaned forward. I waited more than fifteen years for his lips to touch mine. This moment acted out in my mind many times before. In my dreams, it was the perfect kiss, usually outside with the sun beating down on us as we lay in the grass overlooking the Mill Pond. He'd crawl on top of me, and our lips would take over, tasting each other. I always assumed the reality would be an unfortunate incident where I would end up using too much tongue, or I'd have food in my teeth, and start giggling. Lucky for me, this fell somewhere in between, but either way, his smooth lips touched mine, only seconds passing before he slid his tongue into my mouth. I inhaled deeply as our tongues danced, and Will placed his hands on my back, pulling me closer to him. I wanted to stay like this forever.

  "Ahhhh!" A shriek from behind me disconnected me from the kiss, sending me into a screaming fit myself. The lights turned on, and four faces stared at me, laughing. My high school reunion just placed me back to the worst times of my life.

  "What the hell is your problem?" Will jumped out of the chair and lunged toward his friends, Keith, Brian, Marshall, and Matt.

  "Dude, we were only trying to scare you. Sorry we interrupted whatever," Brian passed his finger between us, "whatever this is." He joined the other three in a high-five.

  I wanted to crawl under the table, pull my knees into my chest, and rock back and forth until they all left. How humiliating! My bottom lip quivered as a tear fell down my cheek.

  "Penny, I'm sorry about these guys."

  "I'm sorry, too," I said. "I can't believe you would do this to me."

  "What?" Will walked toward me, but I took a step back as well. "What are you talking about? Do what?"

  All five guys stared at me, smirks across Keith, Brian and Marshall's face. Matt moved a string from his makeshift broom costume away from his now embarrassed face. "This." I pointed to each person, including Will. "We're in our thirties, guys. How can you still treat people like this?" I put up with this shit all through high school. I couldn't take a stand toward Mandy, but now I had an opportunity to stand up for myself. "I may not have been the most popular girl in school, but that's not a reason to make fun of me and play pranks on me, too. You're a bunch of jerks." My eyes met Will's, who frowned. "And you of all people. I thought that kiss meant something."

  "It did!"

  I marched toward the library exit now that I could see where to walk. "Save it for someone else, like Mandy."

  "Whoa, man, she went there," I heard Marshall from behind me.

  "Shut up." Fierceness controlled Will's voice. "Penny, stop."

  No. I didn't take orders from anyone, especially someone with the audacity to play with my emotions. God, I was so foolish to hold onto feelings for someone for so long, especially someone I never stood a chance with, and now, I realized, it was better that way. The hallway all lit up again, I turned to my left, keeping my stride, never looking back.

  "The kiss was real."

  Bullshit. Keep going. Walk away.

  "I wanted to kiss you since high school."

  He shouted now, and as I increased my pace, his voice got further away. If he wanted me, he'd come after me. Like in the movies. He'd try harder. He wouldn't only yell down a vacant hall, hoping for me to turn around. I was better than that. Much better. I spent fifteen years getting over this place, yet I came back to my old high school as though I expected anything to change. The lockers were still large and overwhelming, the hallway desolate, the rancid smell of bullies and their better-than-thou attitudes filling the air. I hated this place. Hated. I reached the front doors, pushed on the handle, and stepped into the crisp air, my tears spilling out.

  CHAPTER SIX

  I didn't leave. I took off my jacket, held it in my hands, and rested against the brick wall. I shouldn't have been surprised. Cheers roared from gym, and I pictured the graduating class watching an infrared video that probably was mounted in the library to make fun of me. Some things never change, no matter how you want them to, or try to forget them. The second I hit the Accept button on the reunion Facebook page, my body felt toxic with regret. The time to get over my past, and myself, arrived tonight. Time to move on. Everyone fought demons, from drugs and alcohol to illness, and even self-pity. While I became a success in my own eyes, my past haunted me.

  No. Moving on meant not running away. Face the fear. Hit things head on. That's what I needed to do.

  As I bolted past the registration table, the Polk High chant repeated in unison in the gym. While I didn't exactly participate in anything in high school after my yearbook fiasco, I still contained plenty of school spirit and found myself saying the words while I ran. Upon entering the room, the chanting had subsided and all eyes focused on one person. Will.

  I sneaked behind a zombie statue as I watched him in heated conversation with Mandy. I examined her as she stood in front of him, her hands on her hips, a smile spread across her face as he laid into her, for what I didn't know. The DJ played Somebody's Watching Me by Rockwell, and I think he intended the pun. A smirk painted Mandy's face. No matter what Will said to her, the words didn't phase her. In order to make out anything they said, I needed to get closer.

  To my right, the fog machine began its flow of a dense white cloud across the gym floor. I quickly maneuvered my way over to the machine, but a large humming made it difficult to hear. Tammy and Matt parked themselves next to Will, but considering what happened, I didn't want to be near Matt. Oh well. If I wanted to catch what Will said, I had to suck it up and do it. When I approached them, Tammy started to say something. I pressed my finger to my mouth, listening intently to what Will said to Mandy.

  "Of course I ran after her! You treated her like crap, exactly like you did in high school. We're not seventeen anymore."

  Mandy maintained her smile. "Will, she hasn't changed. She's still a loser. Did you see what she's dressed as? A man? Why would she come dressed as a man? Only some sort of a freak would do that."

  Will shook his head. "You realize why she's dressed like Albert Einstein, right?"

  Mandy glanced at her clique watching the show. "I already told you. She's a freak."

  "You don't have a clue, do you? I used to tutor her in science, and she helped me in math. She's dressed like that for me."

  "What?" Tammy said loud enough for Will to hear. He turned and made eye contact with me as Tammy kept talking. "You dressed like that for Will? I don't understand."

  Will locked his eyes with mine, and, in that moment, I realized he wasn't trying to make fun of me or humiliate me. The kiss between us was real. He came to this reunion for me, just as I did for him. Our time in the library was genuine, those lips upon mine meant to be there. "It doesn't matter," I said to Tammy as I stepped toward Will.

  "Penny," Will took my hands in his. "I'm so glad you came tonight. I didn't come last time because Mandy and I were going through our divorce, but I wanted to. I've wanted to see you since graduation. I never thought you'd be interested in someone like me."

  "Someone like you? What are you talking about?" I was the outcast all those years in school. I didn't fit in.

  "I didn't go to college, I'm not this famous baseball player, and I suck at math." He laughed.

  I laughed, too, and whispered into his ear. "I'm great with numbers." I led his hands around so they rested on my ass. I didn't care who saw. "I need some tutoring in anatomy."

  Will dipped me and planted a kiss on my lips, the gym erupting into cheers. When we finally came up for air, Mandy disappeared, along with her minions.

  "Your mustache tickles."

  I touched my finger to the hair above my lip and laughed, yanking it off. "Sorry."

  "You
were spying on me," Will said as he pulled me into a hug.

  "I actually came in here to give you a piece of my mind."

  "If this is you giving me a piece of your mind, you can do it any time you'd like."

  I planned on giving it to Will, plenty and often. My dreaded reunion turned out to be the best decision I made over the past year, and as Will kissed my forehead, I was certain things were going to change for the better. High school sucked - big time - and fear consumed me as I entered the building hours before. A few hours later, and I realized those four years of my life hadn't been wasted, and although my life moved on, now, it truly was beginning.

  THANK YOU!

  Thank you for reading THE RIGHT EQUATION. I hope you enjoyed this short, sweet romance.

  If you liked this short story, you may enjoy my full length novel, PIECES OF IT ALL, now available on Amazon. http://www.tracykrimmer.com/PiecesAmazon

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