Kite In The Snow by Karla Lopez
I watch Eli talk to the pretty girl on the bench while I stand behind the coffee machines. Every now and then they turn over and look at me. I stop myself from ducking down again.
James laughs behind me. “You’re like a little kid, you know that?”
I scowl at him, and it only makes him laugh even harder.
“I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, okay.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet, Wyatt.” Camila swoons next to me, making me chuckle and James shakes his head.
“You should take some notes from his book,” she tells James while pointing at me.
He scrunches up his face. “Oh, please. I at least get laid, and he doesn’t. When’s the last time you actually fucked?”
I watch how Camila’s eyes become sad and she turns away from us. James is a clueless dick.
“Stop cursing while there’re customers here. And I don’t talk about my sex life to anyone.”
“I clearly remember you yelled ‘fuck’ just the other day.”
I sigh. “That was an accident. Anything that comes out of your mouth isn’t by accident.” He gives me a shit-eating grin, and I roll my eyes at him.
“No, but seriously, when’s the last time you’ve gotten down and dirty?” I shrug, not giving it much thought, even though I do know how long it’s been.
I haven’t had sex since my last relationship that ended right before high school graduation. I’m nineteen now, and in a couple of months, I will be turning twenty. It sounds pathetic, but I can’t have sex unless I’m emotionally invested, and I haven’t been since then.
I’ve been too busy making sure the rug under my feet doesn’t get pulled with only owning the shop for almost two years. It’s hard and it takes up a lot of time. I can’t deny that I miss being with someone.
My last girlfriend was great, but we both knew that our relationship wasn’t going to go anywhere beyond high school, and I was okay with that. I did care for her, but I’m not sure I would call it love.
Not the earth shattering, bring you to your knees kind of love. I hope to have that one day.
“So, how long has it been?” he asks.
“I can’t remember.” He gives me a look, calling me on my bullshit.
“What? I don’t.”
He shakes his head. “Knowing you, you can count how many girls you’ve slept with on one hand.”
“And?” I challenge him.
“And that means you know when you last had sex. Come on, is it a few months? We’ve all been there.” I stay quiet, and his eyes widen.
“Wait? Longer?” His face is in disbelief, making Camila chuckle. “Please, don’t tell me that your last girlfriend was your last lay.”
I scowl at him while he watches me with such disbelief. “I’m so getting you laid.”
“No, you’re not. I’m not even trying. It’ll happen when I find a girl I really connect with.”
“Dude, it’s sex.” I roll my eyes at his typical guy answer. I guess I’m not like many guys.
“Not to me.” He shakes his head like I betrayed him, making me laugh.
Before either of us can get a word out, Eli comes back inside, and I go to her. I pick her up and sit her on the counter. “Okay, spill, kid.”
She rolls her eyes, giving me a sassy attitude. “Her name is Mae, like the month.” She giggles at the fact.
I turn toward the window and watch Mae out there in the cold. One earphone in and the other tugged away like before.
I grin like a fool because she’s perfect, even her name. I high five Eli and give her a chocolate doughnut, the way I bribed her into going to ask Mae for her name.
I can’t help but to watch her come and go for the rest of the evening, while I wait for all my kids that I coach to be picked up.
When I close up shop, I look outside one more time to see if Mae is out there. The night is the worst for the cold, so I want to make sure she’s not still sitting out there.
She isn’t and I make my way upstairs to my cozy, one bedroom apartment that I converted when my grandpa died. It used to be a storage room for my grandpas and my parents’ stuff, but I thought it’d be a cheaper way to live.
I flick on one lamp and make my way to my cassette player. My greatest possession is my cassette collection. I’m obsessed with coffee house/poetic music. And adding the cassette player into the mix gives a wholesome experience.
The cassette player used to be my dad’s. Apparently, he had an epic collection too. I got my love for music from him, and I wear it proudly. My dad was more into rock music, not my taste, but I respect it.
I play my favorite record of all time—Parachutes by Coldplay. This band is brilliant, and I’m obsessed with them. I wait for the first few lyrics of Yellow to hit my ears as I sit back against my small couch and stare at the ceiling.
While listening to Chris Martin sing all about his Yellow, I can’t help thinking about Mae. She’s so fragile, yet beautiful. The way it felt to look at her for those few seconds felt so much like a privilege.
One I didn’t know I was lucky to have. She was a ray of sunshine even if her eyes were lacking a little of that light. The stars here in Alaska are one of the most breathtaking things to see, but they don’t compare to her beauty.
I would give anything to be able to share another moment with her.
The song ends and the next one plays. I lie back on the couch and grab my worn-out copy of Love Poems by Pablo Neruda. His poetry makes me want to curl up with the one I love and cherish them forever.
But I can only imagine a love like that.