Sitting On A LilyPad

That's what I was thinking about right then. Sitting on a lilypad. Being a frog. Don't ask why I was thinking about this. So much crap was going on around me, I didn't know WHAT to think. So, I focused on a frog sitting on a lilypad. I wondered how long the frog could keep the balance for, and how frogs could keep balance.

My mind wasn't on the fact that my parents were getting a divorce, my bestfriend told me she was deeply in love with my older brother, who by the way cheated on his girlfriend and wanted me to help get her back, or the fact that I realized I was in love with my best guy friend.

My mind was stuck on the frog and the lilypad. Then, the frog hopped off and dove into the water. I jumped, the motion and noise scared me. Suddenly, I saw the frog's head peeking above the shore of the water. I smiled and it hopped out, towards me. I was suddenly thinking about how if you kiss a frog, it turns into your prince charming. And that's when I heard the crunching noise behind me. I froze, staring at the frog. Silence. That's all I heard. Nothing. The frog hopped again, towards me. Nothing. It hopped again. Then, it hopped until it was at my side. Without thinking, I picked it up. I looked at it, expecting it to hop again. It didn't. It just stared at me. I don't know what I was thinking. Did I think I could kiss the frog and he'd just show up? Another crunch. Okay, I forgot about that sound. I slowly turned my head around and saw him. He just stood there, looking down, his face completely red, and hands in his pockets. I blinked and saw that his hat was tilted slightly to the right. See, I had realized I'd loved him, ran out without a word, and have been trying to NOT think about him. But he looked up, his eyes holding mine.

He glanced at the frog, whom I secretly named Record, his favourite band. It was a local band, small, and to the point. Anyways, I glanced at Record, the frog, and smiled to myself. His voice, gruff, came from behind me, he said, "So, wanting to kiss that frog and see if your prince will show up?"

SEE? That's how well he knew me. I smiled, almost laughed. I set Record down and looked up at him, and whispered, thinking he couldn't hear me, "Don't have to, I've got you."

But he heard me, I just didn't know it at the time. He just sat down beside me, opposite side of Record and said, "I'm here for you. I know everything all, well, confusing. I mean, with the divorce, the Ashley situation and your brother and all."

I looked at him. See, we were best friends. That was it for him. His face was expressionless, but I was used to it. I leaned my head against his shoulder, and he jumped. I don't know why either. I used to always do this. I watched Record jump away from me. I sighed and I whispered, "How'd you find me?"

"I know where you go with things get tough." he said, and I guess, he did. This was my family's private cottage, and this was our lake. He knew everything about me and I knew everything about him. Except, I hadn't been able to figure out what he was thinking the way he could read my thoughts.

"I know." I sighed, and looked across the lake. I continued to rest my head against his shoulder. He shifted, away from me. I blinked and looked at him.

"What are you..." I asked, looking at him. Somewhere in the faint distance, I heard a splash. Record, the frog, apparently had gone back into the lake. He looked at me, his eyes cold. I moved away from him and finally said, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing. Becky, it's nothing." he said, moving closer to me, "You can put your head on my shoulder."

"No. No. No." I said, getting up off the ground. I shook my head, "I need to go." without thinking, I added, "I promised I'd be home by now. I have to...I just have to."

"But..." he said, but I shook my head, running backwards.

"Bye, I'll talk to you later." I yelled, racing for my car. I flipped my hand up as I ran and waved. I pulled my car door opened and realized I had left my purse in the cottage. I raced in, noticing he was still sitting there. I pushed the door open and grabbed my purse. I raced back out, locking the door before I left, and I got into my car. I didn't look back as I pulled out. It was unfair. What did I do to him? I was just looking for something sturdy.

About a half-hour later, I pulled up into my driveway. I had barely stepped in to the house, when I heard my parents yelling at each other. I was so tired of them yelling, that's all they'd done for the past two days. I walked into the kitchen, seeing my older brother, Mike sitting there looking bored. I slammed the kitchen door shut. The door which my father had been planning to tear down. No one moved and everyone looked at me. My mother had tears in her eyes, and my father looked pained.

"Shut up!" I yelled, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut UP!" No one moved. I continued to yell, "Get over yourseleves. One of you just MOVE out! Go to a hotel or a friend's house, or SOMEWHERE! Just get away from each other and leave Mike and I out of it!" I turned to Mike when I said his name, and said, "And you! You want to get back together with that skank?" he was too stunned to say anything, "Open your eyes. It's Ashley who's always loved you and will until forever decides to end."

I looked at them all, staring at me like I was insane, and I simply said, "God, you guys need to grow up." And I turned on my heel, whipped the door open and slammed it shut when I walked through. I stormed up into my room and slammed my door.

That night, I didn't talk to anyone and no one bugged me. When I woke up in the morning, I found out that my father had decided to go to the hotel, my brother had decided to call Ashley, and my mother was going to a friend's house for the weekend. I never did find out what happened with Mike and Ashley until a couple days later. Because I had gone back to the cottage. This time, it wasn't him coming up and sitting beside me. It was me coming up to him. He was already there, in the same spot as the day before. I walked slowly over to him, and noticed he held that frog as I had. Talk about perfect, right?

"You don't have to kiss it." I said, my voice shaking a bit. He turned around, looking at me and I said, "I'm right here."

For the frist time, well, ever, he smiled at me. Then he started to chuckle. He put the frog down and stood up, brushing any grass that might be on his pants. He looked up at me and said, "Are you really?"

"I really am." I replied, and without thinking, I took a couple steps forward, wrapped my arms around him and planted a deep kiss on him. It was odd, because we'd been best friends forever. And here I was kissing him. But as I thought about it, it didn't matter. It didn't matter what we had been. What mattered was we were here, right now.

"How long?" he breathed after we parted.

"Too long." I murmered. I gathered he was asking how long I'd wanted to do that. He smiled again.

"Okay, we can help make that up." he told me, kissing me again. Sparks flew.

I heard a splash and broke the kiss to see that frog, Record, sitting on a lilypad again. I smiled. What an odd thing to think at a time like this.

"Record." I whispered, "Meet my frog. And my prince."

"He's your prince?" he asked, his voice almost sounded like he was teasing. And I realized he was.

"Mhm. He kisses really well too." I told him, kissing him again.

"Really now? Like a frog?" he asked, between kisses.

"Mmm...so much better." I murmered, and then looked at him. "I think, I think, I think," JUST SAY IT, I scolded myself, "I think I'm in love with you."

"Well, I know that I'm in love with you." he told me, kissing me again.

So yeah, it's a year later, and I'm sitting on the wet grass, my hand being held by his-still, and I saw a frog sitting on a lilypad. I smiled.

I pointed it out and said, "I believe that's someone's prince."

"Or princess." he added. I laughed and nodded.

"Yeah." I said, thinking, everything's alright.

There was the fact that my parents couldn't stand to be away from each other for that long, so they're together again. And even though I still didn't approve one-hundred-percent, Mike and Ashley had managed to last as long as we did. I smiled.

"Hey." he said, "Want to go inside?"

I smiled. "Sure. We can roast marshmellows over the fire."

"Okay," he said, his eyes sparkling.