Marcus looked down at me, smirking at my desperate plea.
�Nu uh, man. I�m supposed to take you to get some decent clothes before rehearsals tonight.�
I groaned, looking down at my clothes - jeans and a sweatshirt. It was dreary and cold - it was January! - so what�s wrong with wearing that? Granted, I�d been wearing the same pair of pants for the past two weeks�
�My clothes are fine. I want to find her. I really, really need to find her.�
Marcus shook his head, rolling his eyes as my voice raised an octave.
�How come you think she�ll even remember you? That was over six months ago! Where do you get the damn idea that you could find her anyway? You know her name� wow.�
Ugh� Didn�t I just explain all this?
�I know she lives here. I know her name. I can search for her. It can�t be that hard! Hell! I know she has a friend, a local musician� I can track��
So I happen to talk with - not my hands - my arms. And we happened to be walking down the sidewalk. Up until this particular moment, the streets had been pretty deserted since it was a late Friday morning. In short, I hadn�t really been paying much attention to where I�d been flinging my arms�
I felt it when it happened�
�Uh!�
�but I didn�t realize what �it� was until I looked down to see the little red-headed woman I had hit sprawled on the slick sidewalk, her bags spilling onto the asphalt.
�Oh jeez, I�m so sorry.�
Marcus stood out of the way, laughing at my klutziness, while I kneeled down to help the stunned girl from the ground, kicking myself when I noticed that she was cute.
�It� it�s alright. I wasn�t really paying attention to where I was going, so��
�No, really. It was my fault. I should pay attention to where I fling my arms.�
Mystery girl stole a glance at her watch, breathed a slight curse, and looked up at me for the first time. Her head snapped back down, barely giving me a moment to focus on her face, before she stuffed the articles of male clothing back into their bags.
Male clothing?
Damn it. There�s a boyfriend.
Whoa.
Since when had I had a thought like that? Oh yeah� July. With Kara. She�d ruined me. I knew it was happening when it happened. I hadn�t even bothered to take a second glance at a girl since her.
�I�m late for my friend�s show. I�m sorry��
With that, she quickly stood before I could offer her a hand, smoothing out the short black skirt across her thighs before grabbing her bags and rushing down the street. A few yards away, she turned around, a smile on her face.
�You should come check Ryan out!�
And then she turned the corner and disappeared. I stood there, trying to place the words in relation to the chills that began to run down my spine.
�Dude, come on. Let�s hurry up so we can get some food.�
But, wait. Why did that girl seem familiar?
I allowed Marcus to pull me along in the opposite direction from which the girl had rushed off in, processing the few moments she had appeared.
�Hey, Marcus� did that girl look fam��
All the gears snapped into place. My feet turned into stone blocks, cemented to the sidewalk, and after a few steps, Marcus turned to look back at me.
�Uh� Nick?�
Oh my god.
�Oh. My. God.�
I turned around and began sprinting down the street in the direction she had gone, turning the corner fast enough that my sneakers slid across the wet sidewalk. Regaining my balance, I rushed down the side street, searching in vain for the redheaded girl.
Marcus, panting from the exertion from chasing after me, came up behind me. My own breath, thanks to way too much dancing, didn�t come out in gasps. It just didn�t come out at all.
Grabbing a hold of my shirt in one fist, he stopped my desperate search.
How could she have disappeared like that? I saw her go down this street!
�What the hell are you doing retard?�
I closed my eyes, trying to stop my spinning head and regain normal breathing control.
�That was her.�
I felt my throat close. Ryan had a show. Today. Ryan� the guy from the races.
�That was who?�
Her hair was red, fiery red, now. And short, barely to her chin. She�d been dressed in a short black skirt and a jacket that fell to her ankles. And she had on black-rimmed glasses. But it was her. It was definitely her. Even from a distance, her smile was the most beautiful thing I�d ever seen. And her voice� it was more melodic than I remembered, but it was her.
�Kara.�
One