Months of anticipation had led to this moment.
When she met him, she had been taken in by his easy charm and careless smile. They both flirted as easily as they breathed and so each and every moment they found themselves together, the game began. Sometimes they would be coy, sometimes horribly inappropriate, but always harmless. Or at least, that's how it started.
You see, matters of the heart were always messy when it came to Leigh. And so, as it was bound to happen, the normally smiling girl ended up in the same room as carefree Jimmy after a recent heartbreak. And as is her nature, she did her best to play the game, but Jimmy was unexpectedly observant. He managed to coax the story from her and cheer her up easily enough. This left her with a new impression of the boy she had thought to be just roguishly attractive.
She found herself looking for him, excited for the days they worked together. The joke took on a new element, the occasional bit physical contact, escalating challenges that could only be satisified by a night together. Tempting fate, she made effort to spend time with him. He only once took her up on her offer. A friend of Leigh's spotted them and made the occasion terribly awkward.
After that, Jimmy seemed to want nothing to do with her, so Leigh retreated back into her shell. Working off the assumption that his oppinion of her had been compromised, be it through her actions, Derrin's big mouth, or nasty rumors started by her summer fling, she stopped playing the game. She stopped looking for him, her pride covering hurt with distaste.
But eventually, they worked together and old habits are hard to break. Leigh didn't think too much on it, she thought she had found someone, at least for the moment. Just more of the game, quite certain Jimmy didn't care at all. Personal space was invaded, looks exchanged, and while she was undeniably attracted, she had her plans with the drummer to excite her.
And then one day, she realized she hadn't heard from her drummer in a while. They had haphazardly made plans, but her shift was ending, and he never bothered contacting her. Disappointed, she clocked out with every intention of going home and getting wasted.
Jimmy was outside, sitting in his car, loitering about after his shift. More people showed up and next thing she knew, it was five in the morning, she was sober, and she had barely left Jimmy's side. Being close to him like that, she had forgotten that she had been stood up and hurt yet again.
Even after everyone had left, they sat in his car for another hour and a half, both of them opening up more than they had intended. Leigh valued every moment of that evening, knowing she was seeing a side of him kept under lock and key. She found out that his sudden distance may have been nothing more than a reaction of guilt. Jimmy blamed himself for her heartbreak, that her summer fling has tossed her aside like so much garbage as he had been friends with the boy and recommended he persue another, not knowing about his involvement with Leigh.
When she left, it seemed she left him stunned by a kiss pressed to the corner of his mouth and she went home contented that she had contained some more drastic impulses. Something about him made Leigh want to be more than a poorly respected, easy hookup. She wanted friendship, a chance to get to know Jimmy better, to be something special.
For weeks after that, they saw each other around, kept in touch better than they had before, but still not very well. Leigh would get nervous and clam up, instead of asking him to spend time with her.
But today, she wants to change that. The ringing is intimidating, but it's too late to back out now. "Hello?" he answers.
"Hey Jimmy, it's Leigh. Would you like to hang out sometime next week?"
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Something writen a while back, I'm just copying a thing or two out of my notebook and thought I'd post this one here.
It's very me, you know.