The Hidden Jewel

She was the hidden jewel of our year at school. Her heart was golden and
her personality sparkled. To be with her as more than a friend would be a
treasure to me but I was always too gutless to do it. All I could do was watch.

"Hey Leo. You ok?" She came up to me as she saw me.
"Yeah. I'm alright Kat. How are you?" I quietly replied back to her.
"I'm ok," she hesitated. She lowered her head in sadness. This was the side of
Kat I had never seen. She was always having a laugh about something, whether it
was about her unorthadox ways of getting people together or the mischief she
gets up to with her close friends. Now she was wrapped in a cover of anxiety.
"What's wrong Kat?" Kat sighed and realised that she couldn't hide away.
"It's my friend Annette. She got attacked last week by her boyfriend's ex and
she's in a coma." Kat explained. Tears begun to develop in her beautiful blue
eyes.
"They don't know whether she's going to wake up. They don't know if she'll be
the same." With that, tears started to trickle gently down her cheeks. I
couldn't just stand back and watch. I held her to me. It felt like nothing else
was around us. It was just me and her holding on to each other's warmth. As time
went on, we looked into each other's eyes. I wiped away the tears that ran down.
It was going to happen - we were about to share a kiss. All of a sudden, the
bell chimed beside us. The atmosphere had been broken. Kat hurriedly made her
way. I was left confused by the events that had clinched us.

For the next couple of weeks, we didn't speak a word to each other. We saw each
other in lessons but never made verbal contact. It agonised me to be seperate
from her but I had no idea what to do. I kept this hidden from my friends until
I confided in Brian.
"It looked as if she wanted a bit of it too, you know what I'm saying?" He
explained to me.
"You think she wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss her?" I
reitterated.
"Yeah. Think about it, Kat is a tough cookie on the subject of romance. She
won't let anyone do anything to her unless she wanted it. I think you're on to a
winner there." Brian convinced me. Although the words made sense to me, I still
couldn't face making a move. There was only one thing for it. I had to ask her
for advice myself.

"Kat, I need some advice."
"Go on. What is it?"
"What would you do if you liked someone so much that you loose yourself a bit?"
"If the girl is anything like Grace O'Farrell then forget about it. If she's
anyone else, then tell her straight. Be honest about your feelings. I'm sure
she'll appreciate it and you never know. The feeling might be mutual." She
advised me after a while of thought. At that moment, I knew what I had to do. I
couldn't keep this from her anymore. I had to tell her.
"If honesty is the way to go, then I'll do it." I started.
"Good. I'm glad." Kat responded before I finished.
"Kat, it's you. You're the one I've been thinking about all this time. I get
butterflies in my stomach just seeing you everyday. When you speak, my heart
feels like it's on fire. I know you probably won't feel the same but I can't
help how I feel." Kat was stunned. There was no way in hell that she was
expecting this. The words she wanted to produce weren't there to be produced.
She needed space to digest everything that was said to her. I started walking
away when she stopped me. I turned to face her. It was happening again: we were
looking into each other's eyes as if we were looking into each other's souls. As
we looked, thoughts were going into hyper drive. What was she going to tell me?
Was she going to reject me or accept me? Was she going to even mention it?

Written 03/09/06 by Jenny Grashoff