Story
Code Red
By: Amanda Weber
“We have a code red over here.”
“What do you mean a code red? Red what?!? We have codes?” My friend Ashley had a tendency to over exaggerate and never really get the point across. So when I got the call from her cell I had no idea what was going on even after he ‘explanation’ as she would call it.
“Well Mike is here.”
“Mike?!? My Mike, the Mike I secretly love and have told no one but you?”
“That’s the one.” Nonchalantly I respond
“Ok, continue.”
“Well he is here at the mall...”
“What is he wearing?”
“Umm… the green jacket and red shirt thing”
“Excuse me for a second while I orgasm … ok continue.”
“You really need to stop interrupting me. So anyway I’m in the food court and he is here… talking to Melissa.”
“Melissa?”
“Melissa… Jones”
“NO!!!” I scream”Anyone but her!! This is horrible! Why me god? Why me?!?”
“Amanda calm down, it’s not that bad.”
“NOT THAT BAD? I’ve lost him forever”
“You are such a drama queen; she’ll drop him in a couple of weeks.” How could she say something like that?
“At which point he’ll have sworn off women forever, or have you forgotten the large herd of ex boyfriends that follow her everywhere?”
“No, but if you would’ve just told him how you feel...”
“TOLD HIM HOW I FEEL? IT’S NOT THAT FUCKING SIMPLE!”
“Stop yelling, I know it’s not but anything would be better than this.” She had a point. “Maybe if you had you would be the lucky girl, and not sitting here and blubbering like a friggen idiot.”
“But…”
“No butts… that is what you should a done but it is too late now.” Oh my god… it was too late. I was never going to be able to feel his embrace or touch those soft lips. I zoned out lost in a pool of my drowning thoughts. “Are you still there… hello Amanda?” I snapped out of it.
“I’ll call you back Ashley I need too… I just want to be alone.”
“Ok, but call me if you want to talk, I’m here for you and…” I hung up. Mike was gone… and no amount of comfort from my best friend was going to change that. My dream guy had a girlfriend and I would never ever be able to tell him how I feel. The heartbreak I felt was beyond what words can describe. I spent the night in a fitful sleep, tossing and turning, dreaming unpleasant dreams where Mike and Melissa were making out in the hallway. And what-ifs filled my mind… what if I had told him? What would he have done? What would I have done? My mind focused on the possible rejection and humiliation. I was a wreck. I’m pretty sure I cried at sometime during the night because when my alarm went off, a time too early in the morning, my pillow was soaked.
When I arrived at school Ashley saw me and immediately pulled me into a big hug. At least I had her.
“Are you ok sweetheart, you look like you’ve been to hell and back.”
“I think I have.” And to myself I murmured, “I’m still there.” She pulled me into another hug. I spent the next few hours in a state of semi-exsistance. Like a zombie, I had no thoughts except for him, and before the last hour of the day as I trudged along to my next class I saw him. Ashley tried to block him from my view but I saw him walking down the hall. The look of him almost sent me into tears again I tried to make a dash for the bathroom but he must have noticed me in my unstable state. Because it was then that he talked to me.
“Hey Amanda, are you ok? You look…” I don’t know where I got the nerve I didn’t even notice what I was saying until it was out.
“Can I talk to you, alone.” I blurted out. He was barely able to mutter what I hoped was an affirmative response before I pulled him into the nearest and thankfully empty classroom. He may have started talking then, I’m pretty sure he was because his mouth was moving. But I didn’t hear a word. All of my focus was on his lips and the way they moved. It was when they formed to ‘o’ that I lost control. Without thought I took his face in my hands and did what I had longed to do for so long. That’s right I kissed him, a full on the lips nothing-platonic-about-it-kiss. I think I caught him by surprise. Then he realized what was going on. It was at that point that I realized what was going on too. I pulled quickly away my face a shade of red so fierce that it had yet to be named. I then ran, I ran out of the school and I didn’t stop running until I was home. Thankfully no one was home and my parents were working. I thought I was crying before, now I was bawling. And the sky sympathetic to my feelings cried too. The phone rang, and rang again. It wouldn’t stop ringing, but I had vowed never again to leave the comfort of my bed. That was until the doorbell rang. I lifted myself off the bed and shuffled to the door. I expected the pizza boy to deliver my greasy goodness I ordered to help ease the pain. I opened it. “How much is the pi….” And before I could finish the sentence I was drawn up into most passionate kiss I had ever had. A kiss of a romantic- that breath-taking, leg-lifting, knee hindering all enchanting sweep you off your feet, always remembered kiss that defies all logic and leaves you in a state of nirvana for the remainder of the day I pulled away and tried to see who it was when a flash of lightning struck the sky. And in my hands was Mike. Water dripping from his hair.
“I t-tried to catch you then I tried to call I…” and I cut him off with another kiss. So this is what it feels like I thought to myself. This is love.
The End