“You have to do it Joanne. What are you a prude?” asked Corey H.
Yes.
“No.”
So she stood defiantly, knees wobbling slightly, nine sets of eyes
pasted to her. Grabbing Tim’s arm she yanked him up.
“Oooooh” cooed the thirteen year olds.
“I knew it” whispered Corey R.
Lindsay Snow frowned deeply.
Joanne cleared her throat and smoothed her skirt, marching over to Brianne’s basement closet and opening the door. She desperately wanted to make a run for the stairs and out into the bright setting sun, out of the dank hole into which she had now dug herself.
Whipping Tim in first, she stepped into the closet behind him and shut the door.
“We’ll turn the timer on, don’t you worry Joanne!” shouted Cory H. through the door as everyone giggled.
The closet was dark and small. She could feel Tim’s breath on her face, and it smelled like Pepsi.
“There’s a light” he said, reaching up and pulling on a string.
They were practically nose to nose, his brown eyes staring blankly into hers. Casting her gaze down slightly Joanne could see the stubble beginning to break through on his pimpled chin.
“So…” he said, looking around the closet, shifting his weight.
“So.” she said, following his gaze to a pile of boxes. “Brianne has a lot of board games.”
“Yeah.”
Joanne wondered how many minutes had gone by. It had to be at least ten or twenty.
“You’re pretty strong.” Tim commented, rubbing his arm.
“Oh. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just, I had to pick someone.” She tried to laugh but it came out sounding strangled.
“You didn’t hurt me.” Tim said, and he stopped rubbing his arm.
Silence descended on the closet like smoke. Had they forgotten about them? Should she suggest a round of Scrabble to kill the time?
“So, do you want to switch gum?” Tim asked, reaching into his back pocket. Joanne hesitated.
“Here you can have a piece of mine.” He shoved a piece into his mouth and waited for her to do the same.
She took the Winterfresh from his hand and unwrapped the foil, their knuckles brushing. Pushing the piece of gum past her teeth a rush of saliva filled her cheeks and the cool mint shot up her nose. She chewed slowly, pieces of cheese doodles dislodging from her back molars. Tim shoved the wrappers back into his pocket and leaned in suddenly, pressing his mouth against hers.
Joanne’s eyes shot wide open. She could feel his stubbly skin pushing against her face as his tongue worked at the two pieces of gum between their mouths. And then he pulled away. Tim wiped his lips on his hand. Joanne blinked. She tongued the warm pre-chewed gum in her mouth.
“So you like me.” Tim said factually. “But I like Lindsay Snow.”
Joanne coughed. Her breath tasted like Pepsi.
Tim reached up and pulled the light off, opening the door and walking out.
“Wooooooh!” the group cheered, looking up from their pizza.
Tim plopped down next to Lindsay Snow and put his hand on her leg.
“That was so not seven minutes.” Corey H. said.
“Who cares?” whispered Corey R. The girls laughed.
Joanne zombie walked over to a chair and sat down. She chewed Tim’s gum in her mouth. She looked over and watched as he blew a bubble with her gum. She pushed her teeth together and felt liquid ooze out of the warm mint glob.
Was this what intimacy felt like? They were connected. She felt sick.
She stared at Tim as he fished around in his mouth, stuck the big blue wad onto Lindsay Snow’s plate and took a bite of her pizza. Corey H. stared at the gum with disdain and turned back to the group.
“Who wants to make prank calls?”
————
Gabrielle Sierra is a twenty three year old weight lifting champion from New York City. She uses the term ‘weightlifting champion’ lightly; technically she is about 113 pounds and generally cons other people into lifting things for her. Someday she will be a full time writer and her signature will be worth about a million zillion dollars. Check out her other flash fiction in Opium Magazine, From the Asylum, and Yankee Pot Roast. Her boyfriend makes great films that can be seen on Thewetfloor.com. She is overjoyed to become a part of the Defenestration family, as defenestration has always been one of her favorite words.