Free Messed Up by Molly Owens

snakes?” I clarified.
    “Sure.”
    “Well, I have terrible claustrophobia. So I guess my worst fear would be to be stuck in a small space, where I couldn’t move.” I could feel my heart race a little at the thought. “When I was a kid I saw this episode of the Twilight Zone, I think it gave me a serious mental scar.”
    “Must’ve been a good episode. What was it about?” he asked.
    “There was this lady who was in prison for killing somebody. She made friends with the caretaker guy who made the coffins for the prison,”
    “Sound plausible,” Levi smiled.
    “Anyway... They made a plan that she would get in the coffin the next time someone died and then the caretaker would dig her up once she’d been buried in the graveyard outside of the prison’s walls. So she’s in the coffin with a dead body, thinking she’s made a great escape, and after a while her curiosity gets the best of her. She lights a match to see who’s in the coffin with her…”
    “And it’s the caretaker,” Levi guessed.
    “Hey, I know it may sound predictable, but isn’t that freaky?”
    “I don’t know. I guess I’d have to be scared of dying for that to freak me out,” he said seriously.
    “You're not afraid to die?” I asked skeptically.
    “Nope.”
    “Liar.”
    “Believe what you want, but I have no fears, including death”
    “That is bullshit, everyone is scared of something,” I said incredulously.
    “Think about it, if I’m not scared of dying how can any fear be rational? Everything people are scared of boils down to fear of death. I’m not scared of that, so there you have it.”
    I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn’t quite get my mind around a counter argument. Finally I said, “Fine, but I’m gonna think of something.”
    “I’m confident you’ll try,” he grinned.
    I took Levi’s hand, feeling suddenly brave, and began to trace it with my finger, thinking. I could feel his eyes on my face. He used his free hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I looked up suddenly, “Terrorists?”
    “Nope.”
    “Natural disasters, like a tsunami that wipes out your whole family?”
    “You give my family too much credit. No.”
    “Serial killers? Vampires? Bad hair days?”
    “Not even. Fictional. And impossible, my hair is always perfect,” he winked.
    “Well that is true,” I conceded, smiling.
    “Chelsea,” Levi said now serious, “Can I kiss you?” Before I had the chance to respond, he put one finger in front of my lips, “Yes or no? No witty or sarcastic remarks for once,” he smiled.
    I nodded my head, yes, and slowly Levi leaded toward me. He stopped for just a split second, about an inch from my face to look into my eyes, his hand moving to cup my face. Then, his soft lips pressed against mine. I could feel the blood in my body surge and the butterflies do their interpretive dance as he carefully kissed me. First quickly and then longer, as he let his tongue delicately touch my bottom lip. Soft, simple kisses, on my lips, face and then to my ear, where he whispered my name.

 
    8
     
    I lay in my bed that night listening to my new iPod and fantasizing about the most heavenly kiss of my life. I wished that I could press the replay button on the whole night and do it again and again, in just the same way. I thought about how impossible it was going to be to pass each minute without him, wondering when he would call. I forced myself not to dwell on the possibility that he wouldn’t.
    I finally fell asleep and had my first, in what would become a long series of disturbing nightmares. The dream began as I scrambled up an impossibly steep hill. As I struggled to take a few steps forward, I would invariably fall back down the incline. I could sense the presence of someone behind me, following me. When I turned back, all I could see was blackness, but I knew he was there. I could hear him at my back. As I struggled, my feet began to dig into the side of the hill, ripping it with