An Offer

We walked, just as we did every day.  Side by side, shoulders almost touching, swimming through the oncoming bodies, two fish swimming upstream.

We used to talk, laugh, joke about anything at all.  Today, we just walk in silence.

"Is there anything wrong?" I had asked her just minutes before.

"No.  There's nothing wrong."  She flashed her sweetest smile, the one that melted my heart, but it was forced and didn't shine like it usually did.  

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She makes a point of not looking at me.  Actually, she hadn't made eye contact for the whole day.  Not even when she smiled.

My attempts at conversation seemed lame and forced.  I have that problem often, not being able to start a conversation.  So I just gave up.

Now, walking through the hall, I gave it another try.  The noise of the hallway offers more privacy than the quiet of the classroom.

"You don't look very happy.  Is it him again?"  I try my hardest not to put the slightest inflection on the word him.  I don't want her to know that envied and hated him.  I had never met him before.  But she talked about him.  Constantly.  How attractive he was, how musical he was, what a great guy he was.  That was how I knew he was a jerk.  No one can be that "great"  without being a complete narcissist. 

"I am happy."  My second question remains unanswered.

Again, I shut up, and reserve my words for tomorrow.  She obviously doesn't want to talk.

There is a fork in the hallway.  They are the exact same distance, but the left fork is less crowded than the other, so we always went that way.

Not another word is spoken until we get to her locker.  This is where we always part ways to our separate classes.  Usually, just a "goodbye" and a smile.  On good days, a hug.  Not today.

"I got an offer,"  she says.

I am perplexed.  

"What kind of offer?"

"A good one."

And then she is gone, leaving me to mutter a pathetic "goodbye".

The next day, she took the right fork.

I never knew what her offer was.

Reviews

[Natasha]

Agh! I want to know so much more! But I don't know what to ask... because the narrator doesn't know anything else! Well done!

I think there could maybe be a bit more though... what kind of friendship do these two have? Does the narrator have any kind of inclinations about what the offer could have been? What do these two talk about the next day, before they get to the fork? And.or do they see each other again?

Good work on the imagery of the crowded hallway, and trying to walk/talk against the traffic!