In the Break Room...

I think I needed it so badly that I didn’t even realize how much until it was happening. My next door neighbor, Sarah, she’s in her late twenties and has been living there for a few years now. We always had this friendly rapport... but nothing more than nodding at each other in the hallway or grabbing our mail together. One day, though, we ended up alone in the break room where I teach after school hours, both of us staying late to finish some paperwork. The lights were dim and the silence was thick. And then she just... looked at me differently. She leaned in close and before I knew it, our lips met... It didn’t feel wrong, exactly. More like it felt right, right because we’d never spoken about this, but it’s been there, under the surface for so long... Maybe that’s why I let it happen? Or maybe it was just the silence in the room and how safe everything seemed? We went slow... or at least as slowly as you can when your heart is racing and your nerves are buzzing. And then before I knew it, we were moving faster, more urgently... I don’t know if I’ll ever speak to her again normally after this, but even thinking back now, I’m not sure how to go back to things being just friendly nods in the hallway either. ...it’s funny how one moment can change everything so suddenly. Or maybe it’s less sudden and more the culmination of a lot of building up over time? Maybe that’s why I did it, because all those little glances and shy smiles weren’t really about just being friends at all? ...