Reclaiming the Sand

Kara was a talker but it wasn’t overly obnoxious, as I had first thought. Her uncomplicated conversation was nice.

“So you’re going to be some Congressman’s bitch? That sounds like an HBO special waiting to happen,” I said, my lips curling into an awkward semblance of a smile. I didn’t get much practice at making small talk so I hoped I wasn’t rude or aggressive. My personality didn’t lend itself well to polite niceties.

“No way, I’m going to be the one making the laws, darlin’.” I snorted and looked pointedly at her baldhead.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw a female senator without hair and a tattoo up the side of her neck,” I observed.

Kara rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You’ll see. You’ll be voting for me soon enough.”

“You’d better have one hell of a platform if you expect my vote,” I said, looking back at my textbook, hoping to get back to my work. I had to meet my advisor soon.

“Legalization of marijuana and lowered drinking age for all!” she said, pounding her fist on the table.

I chuckled. “Well you’ll definitely get the pot head vote,” I muttered.

Our conversation dwindled after that, both of us getting back to our assignments. But it was cool having her sit there. She’d make random comments about her reading and I’d tell her to shut up. We had established a workable dynamic.

I looked up about halfway through writing my essay, my pencil poised over my paper. There was Fly

He was dressed in his usual uniform of khakis and button down shirt. It didn’t matter how hot it was, he never wore short sleeves.

The girl was smiling at him and batting her eyelashes. Clearly for her, Fly

“Earth to Ellie!” Kara called out, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I scowled at her, a

She looked over her shoulder and gave me a coy grin. “Drooling over the hottie artist I see.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” I growled, pulling my eyes away from Fly

“Don’t be defensive, then. You’re staring at that dude like you want to cut him up and eat him for di

“That’s a wonderful visual there, Kara. Thanks for that.” I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that I only had fifteen minutes until I needed to be at my advisor’s office. I started to pack up my books and shove them into my ancient bag.

Ever mindful of Fly

“I’ve seen him around campus. He keeps to himself. But I’ve heard he’s an amazing artist,” Kara was saying but I barely heard her. I was too busy trying to escape without Fly

“Yeah,” I said, distracted.

“He’s definitely a cutie but he seems a little weird. But I do like me an oddball,” she teased and I felt myself snapping back at her.

“He’s not an oddball!” I said much louder than I intended.

Fuck. I had the attention of everyone in a three-table radius. Including Fly

Kara’s mouth was hanging slightly open, her face flushed red. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole,” she said, her feelings clearly hurt.

Fly

I looked back at Kara and did the only thing I knew to do when I was feeling uncomfortable. I lashed out.

“Well stop being one then,” I bit out, putting my book bag on my shoulder and walked off. So much for our burgeoning friendship. Something told me she wouldn’t be so keen to say hi the next time we saw each other.

And my thawing heart didn’t feel particularly good about that.

“Hi, Fly

“I haven’t seen you lately,” he said, getting straight the point like he always did. The flirty librarian noticed she was being ignored and finally stopped her incessant talking.

“Fly

Fly

“I can’t wait for your workshop next week! I’m coming with a friend of mine. We love your work,” she continued.

Fly

Librarian girl’s mouth hung open for a second in shock at his blatant dismissal and then slunk off as quickly as she was able to.

“You have a workshop next week?” I asked.

Fly

“Thanks,” I muttered, rubbing my nose.

“You’re welcome,” he said, my sarcasm lost on him as always.

“One of my conditions for using the art studio rent free is I have to provide workshops twice a semester. I have one next week. It’s on sculpting with unusual mediums. I’m using scrap metal,” he said as I hurried to keep up with his long strides.

“Wow, you’re going to teach a bunch of people to sculpt with scrap metal? That sounds pretty cool,” I told him, finally falling into step beside him.

“I don’t teach them. I sculpt. They watch. They try to do the same thing I do. I don’t like talking to people. I don’t like them looking at me either. Kevin says it’s a good step for me. So I’m going to try it. He says he might try to come up from Greensboro,” he said. And the long stream of information he had just given me surprised me.

He was doing an art workshop for students. His therapist was in Greensboro. So he must have lived there at some point.

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” I said, though my encouragement felt flat.

Fly

“Kevin is one cool guy,” I smiled.

“Yes. He helps me. He tells me when I do something I shouldn’t. My mom used to do that,” he said swiftly.

“What sort of things do you do that you think you shouldn’t?” I asked him.

“Telling people they’re fat or ugly. Or yelling when they make me mad. He tells me when I should stay quiet and listen instead of talking. He also helps me know when people are happy with me and when they’re mad. But I’ve learned some of that on my own. Like I can tell you’re listening to me because you’re looking at me. You’re not mad because you’re not frowning but you’re not happy either because you smile when you’re happy. I know your face and what it looks like when you feel things.”

I couldn’t help but feel good at his words. I gri

Fly

“Because you know me, Fly

Fly

“I like making you smile. It makes me smile,” he said, his lips stretching into a beautiful grin.

I hesitantly reached out and took his hand, the same way I had done when we were teenagers. I linked our fingers together, pressing my palm against his.