Some Chances are Worth Taken

I tossed my caramel-colored hair behind my shoulders and stood up straight, studying myself in the mirror. Today is the day, remember, it’s the first day of spring. I told myself. Today is the day you’re going to ask Will out. 

I began devising my master plan as I opened the top of my foundation. I  began my makeup by expertly layering my foundation onto my face as I thought about what I would say to him. He was my best friend after all. These things take planning. I finished the rest of my face makeup with haste. 

I put gold eyeshadow on my eyelids while I pondered what I should wear. His favorite color was green. I reminded myself as I brushed the pigment onto my eyelids, almost finishing the look. I topped it all off with mascara. I looked into my deep brown eyes. How could he say no?

Realizing how late it was by glancing at the clock, I ran to my closet and began fumbling through my dresses. I grabbed a random green one clean off the hanger. I took off the oversized t-shirt I had worn to bed and slipped the soft polyester material on over my undergarments. Smoothing out the skirt, I looked at myself in my full body mirror. 

Not too bad, I reassured myself. My heart was beginning to pound uncontrollably filling my ears. The dress was one of the nicest dresses in my entire closet. It had a light green floral pattern that was on a deeper background. It was a wrap dress that tied together with a bow on the side.

Going back to the bathroom in which I had done my makeup, I opened up my phone. 

No messages, I told myself, feeling a little lonely from the lack of texts from my friends. I swiped through last night’s messages until I found the name I was looking for. 

Will Davis. With a yellow heart next to his name, of course. I began typing, biting my bottom lip out of sheer nervousness. 

Hey! I typed. Happy birthday. I hope your day is amazing! I deleted all of that. 

“Let’s just start over,” I reassured myself. 

Hey! Do you want to go grab some food today? I closed my eyes and hit send, letting out air that I didn’t know I was holding in. 

I turned off my phone and placed it face down on the sink, too nervous to look at anything that is on it. I was so scared of being rejected by my best friend. 

My phone vibrated abruptly, drawing me away from my irrational thoughts. The notification was a text from Will. 

Is THE Anna O’Brien asking me on a date? I could sense the sarcasm through the text. 

There was no backing down now. Maybe???  I texted him back, countless things racing through my mind at the speed of light. My heart pounded out of my chest as I pressed the send button. 

I ran a hand through my hair. Could things get any worse? Three dots popped up on my screen. I anxiously awaited the message. 

The three dots reappeared. 

Then disappeared again. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Will.” I drew in a shaky breath. 

I must’ve stared at the phone for over ten minutes without seeing any more dots popping up on the screen. 

I really screwed this up, didn’t I? I looked into the mirror and saw my watery eyes. I really didn’t take that rejection well. I wiped my tears and looked at the clock once more. 9:30, it read. I left my bathroom and walked through my vacant house. 

Neither of my mom or my dad’s cars was in the driveway. My bare feet made barely any sound on the hardwood floor. 

I jumped at the ringing of the landline. I waited out the ringing until the message played. “A reminder that all George Washington County Schools will be closed today due to parent-teacher conferences.” 

Rolling my eyes, I opened my fridge and pulled out my leftover pizza from last night. I ate the cold pizza as my mind replayed everything that happened leading up to that moment. 

I looked at my phone once again and upon seeing no response from Will, I turned it back off and faced the screen down onto the marble counter. 

I was so in love with Will for the longest time, but I thought that if I were to ask him out it would completely mess up our friendship. 

I was helplessly in love with how his blond hair bounced when he laughed, or how his tan skin glowed in the sunshine. I was in love with his deep brown eyes that seemed to hold so many secrets. I was in love with his smile and how contagious it was. I figured he also loved me, but clearly I was wrong. 

He was always there for me, ever since we met in first grade. I couldn’t imagine life without him. 

Realizing what I had done, I put my head in my hands in shame. 

Although it’s bittersweet, I remember what I tried to kiss him last year. We were vacationing together at the beach. My friend dared me to over facetime, and I happily obliged. It was a stupid plan but I had such blind faith that he loved me back. 

We walked along the beach, just the two of us. I continually sneaked glances at him, but his deep brown eyes were fixed ahead. The sun was setting, casting a golden light on him. He looked angelic and radiant. Just looking at him made my heart want to explode.

How do I do this? I asked myself. Do I fall and he catches me? 

In a split second, I decided to pretend to trip in the sand. 

My clumsiness taking control, my foot sank into a deep part of the sand and I fall. I clenched my eyes shut. I didn’t know whether or not he was going to catch me, but the sand wouldn’t be too hard of a surface to land on. My other leg hit something that probably wasn’t sand.

“Woah, Anna!” I heard him say. I opened my eyes to see Will falling right on top of me. I tried to get out of the way, but he caught himself with his arms, so he didn’t fall too hard on top of me. 

He panted as he looked down at me. 

I could’ve sworn that his eyes darted to my lips for a split second.

My eyes flickered to his lips then back to his eyes, trying to signal that I wanted to kiss him. 

He just looked at me with a stupid confused face. He stood up and offered me a hand. I grabbed his hand and he helped me up. 

The dying light of the sun illuminated his features. His hair looked like curls of sunlight. His eyes looked like deep pools of amber. His tanned skin looked radiant. 

I brushed a strand of sunshine out of his face. 

He looked at me with a funny face. “What was that for?” 

“The strand was bothering me.” My hand lingered on his cheek for a little while. I dropped my hand and looked down. 

“You ok? You took quite the fall earlier,” Will asked me. 

“Yeah, I’m alright.” I looked back up at him. 

“We should probably head back, dinner will probably be ready soon,” Will suggested. 

I nodded wordlessly. 

“Race ya!” He challenged me. 

“Of course.” I grinned, preparing to run. 

“Ready, set, go!” We both set off like cheetahs in the direction from which we came. 

A knock on the door drew me away from my thoughts. I stood up reluctantly and walked to the door. 

Forgetting to look through the peephole, I unlocked and opened the door swiftly. My eyes widened when I saw who it was. 

My handsome blond best friend. He smiled awkwardly, holding a bouquet of roses. He had his other hand stuffed in his pocket. 

“Why are you here?” I asked him, leaning against the doorway with my arms folded. My tone was far more threatening than I meant it to be. 

“I needed to say something. In person.” He looked down at his perfect black shoes. 

“If you’re going to reject me in person, get it over with,” I snapped without thinking. 

“You’re really stupid sometimes,” He chuckled, walking closer to me. 

“Gee thanks.” I rolled my eyes. 

“Why would I bring flowers if I was going to reject you?” Will asked rhetorically. “That wouldn’t make any sense.” 

“Then what are you here to do?” 

“To ask my beautiful best friend on a date.” He gave me the flowers and smiled cheekily. 

“Really?” I looked up at him with hope dancing in my eyes. “I thought you didn’t like me because you didn’t respond to my text…” 

“The truth is I really wanted to ask you out myself in person. I’m sorry I made you doubt yourself,” He explained. 

“It’s alright!” I grinned. “So, where are we going?” I asked him. 

“There’s this really good waffle place downtown. I think you’d really like it.” He grinned back. 

“Shall we?” I motioned toward his car, which was parked at the end of my driveway. 

“One thing first…” He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. My heart pumps fast as his lips dance across my own. I put my arms around his neck, still holding onto the flowers. His hands are on my waist and I swoon. 

I guess some chances are worth taking.