The Space Between Us(16)

“Of what?”

“That something will happen to ruin our friendship.”

Her face softened and she placed a warm hand on my shoulder. “Asher would never do anything to hurt you, Charlie. Do you like him? You know, like, more than the boy who is your friend?”

“What does that even mean?” I laughed nervously, trying to avoid answering the question.

“You know what it means. Do you have feelings for him?”

“I have lots of feelings for him,” I answered, hoping the obviousness of my answer would be overlooked.

“No, I mean, do you have romantic feelings for him.” Reeve looked annoyed at my dodging of her questions.

“I don't know, Reeve. He's Asher.” I lied, to Reeve and myself.

“Well, I think you should go over there and just see what happens. I know he's looking forward to seeing you.” I took in a deep breath and let it out loudly, knowing the thumping of the bass from the music would hide my nervousness.

“Ok, let's go.” I'm not sure there would be anything I could do to prepare myself to talk to him right now, so I might as well just go over there. It was only Asher, after all. Reeve grabbed my hand and resumed pulling me through the crowd again. As we inched closer to him, I saw the moment when he realized I was near. His shoulders moved back, he stood up straighter and turned his head in our direction. I could no longer hear the loud beat of the music or the laughter ringing through the gym; all I could hear was my own heartbeat and it was racing. His eyes locked on mine and I saw the corners of them wrinkle a little, knowing he was smiling but too lost in his eyes to look away. When his eyes moved from mine it was to look slowly down my body, taking in my dress. The thump-thump of my heart sped up knowing that he was looking at me – really looking. My mouth was dry, my palms were sweaty, and my stomach was somewhere in the parking lot.

Then, all of a sudden, I was right in front of him. I could not remember walking up to him, but here I was, staring at him.

“Hi,” I squeaked out at him.

“Hey, Bit.” I couldn't help but smile at his nickname for me. It calmed me a little. I tried to remind myself that no matter what, Asher was my best friend. “Uh,” he stammered, running his hand through his short hair. “You look amazing.” He looked at my body again. My dress, he was looking at my dress.

“Thanks. You look really good in your suit too.” I replied, proud of myself for getting out an entire sentence. Then I noticed the color of his tie: peach. I looked at him quizzically. “Your tie,” I said pointing to his chest. He looked down and touched it lightly. Then he nearly killed me by touching my arm and leaning into me to speak into my ear. My eyes closed involuntarily. His nearness and his breath on my skin sent chill bumps spreading like wildfire.

“Reeve told me what color your dress was. I hope you don't mind.” I shook my head and I'm sure my expression was that of shock. “I know you couldn't have an official date,” he said into my ear again, making everything turn to jello again. “But I didn't want anyone thinking that you were available.”

“Available?” I stammered.

He smiled at me and then walked towards a large round table, pulling me with him. He picked up a box from the table and pulled out from it a beautiful corsage made with one peach colored rose surrounded with baby's breath.

“Here,” he said as he slipped it over my wrist. “Every girl needs a corsage at a dance.” I looked from him, down to the flower, and back up to him numerous times. My mouth was broken and I couldn't even find the words appropriate at that moment. Eventually I was able to shake off my surprise as his thoughtfulness, but still not able to form words. I mouthed 'thank you' to him. He winked at me and I nearly fainted.

We turned back around and joined our group of friends closer to the dance floor. Reeve shot me a smile and I glared at her playfully, knowing she was in on the surprises that Asher had planned for me. For the next hour or so we all stood in a group, talking loudly over the music, dancing in place, taking breaks for punch and generally having an awesome time.

I tried not to focus too hard on the fact that Asher seemed to always find a way to touch me. Sometimes his arm was around my shoulders in a friendly way. Sometimes he wrapped it around my waist in a more personal way which made my heart jack-hammer in my chest. At one point, he took his hand and slid it into mine, gripping it gently. I looked up at him and he gave me a shy smile. We never held hands before. I never held hands with anyone. I was instantly concerned with how hand-holding worked. Should I link my fingers with his? Was he holding my hand because we were friends? Did other people think we were holding hands because we were dating? Were we dating? If I had to let go for some reason, was I allowed to wrap my hand around his again? Did I have to let go?

I felt him give my hand a squeeze, pulling me from my hand-holding freak out. I looked up at him and he was smiling.

“You ok?”

I nodded my head, trying to smile, but I'm sure I looked like I was going to be sick.

“Are you ok with this?” He asked as he squeezed my hand again, indicating he was asking about us holding hands.

I nodded my head again.

“Can you say something? It would make me feel better about all of this.” I swallowed hard, trying to push down my nerves.

“I'm ok with this,” was all I could manage, but it satisfied him enough that he gave me another wink. This time I really smiled.