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Sarah stared at me in disbelief for a moment. I grinned and raised my eyebrows, waiting for her to reply. She gave her response in the form of an amused chortle.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

"That's cute," she said. "Is that like a metaphor or something? Like, you can ... run real fast, right?"

"I'll show you," I replied.

I looked around for another show-and-tell opportunity. Like clockwork, a staff member walked out of the same door that we'd just come out from. He was a deus ex machina for sure.

"How you kids doing?" he casually asked as he walked by.

"Good, thanks," Sarah replied with a smile. I simply watched him as he passed on by us.

Just as he was about to round the corner down to the long sidewalk, I blinked and stopped time. Sarah sensed the gentle breeze come to a silent halt.

"Jeez, what happened to the wind?" she asked as she curiously looked around. I folded my hands across my chest, a playful smirk on my face.

"So, remember how I said I could freeze time?"

"Yeah?" she replied with confusion in her voice.

"I wasn't joking," I replied, casually pointing a thumb to the staff member who was surprise, surprise immobile. Sarah stared at him for a long moment before cautiously approaching him with a confused scoff.

"You're totally pulling a prank on me right now," she remarked before her voice got quieter, "... right?" I shook my head.

"I know that you and Jordan and I have played little pranks on each other before ... but I'm not lying about this, Sarah. I really do have the power to stop and start time at will."

My words played out in her head while she inspected the man with big, curious eyes. I smiled gently as I walked up to her. She was affixed to this guy, waving her hand in front of his face. She then touched his shirt and gasped.

"He's like ... a stone statue or something!"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "That's what happens when someone is bound in time and we're not. It's impossible to move him, even the tiniest bit."

"But ... but-but you're so calm! And he ... and he's ... he ..." she trailed off before losing her balance.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed with a laugh as I quickly caught her in my arms. "You okay?"

"I'm totally gonna ... I'm gonna faint ..."

Blinking time back on at that point was probably not the best idea. So, I carried her over to the grass which I'd remembered to make mobile so as not to spear me - and gently laid her down on it. I calmly plopped down beside her while she stared up at the motionless sky, calming her breathing.

"I can wait for you to relax for a few minutes," I said, "then I can just ...turn time back on."

"I'll be fine. ... I think," she replied, looking at me with a slightly worried expression. "So, ... how long have you been able to do this ... thing?"

"Not that long," I said, glancing over at the school. "It's been about a month now."

"Why'd you wait to ... tell me?"

"I had to build up the nerve," I replied, gazing down at the grass. "You know me, I haven't really opened up too much. I've only just now been able to tell you ... how I felt about you. I kinda just wanted to throw everything out there at once, but I see now that I overloaded you," I said with a slight chuckle.

"It's all right," she quietly said. I looked up at her to see her gentle smile. I always loved the way the sun shone across her golden hair and her delicate face. It brought a smile to my face as well. She gazed to the sky once again. "You know, it's kind of peaceful ... in a way. Nothing to bother you, no one to tell you what you can and can't do."

"No one to interact with," I added. She curiously looked at me. "It's really lonely to just freeze time on a whim ... when you don't have anyone to share it with."

She surprised me when she reached over and took my hand. She just smiled happily.

"You have me," she replied. It did my heart all sorts of good to hear her say that.

After a moment, she calmly sat up. I hopped to my feet, helping her to get to hers.

"Thanks," she sweetly said, flashing me a smile.

"So," I said as we stepped back onto the walkway, "I guess you want me to turn time back on, huh?"

"Yeah," she replied before quickly adding, "wait."

She had an oddly nervous look on her face as she stared at me.

"What's wro…" was all I was able to get out before she suddenly shoved her lips over my own.

Needless to say, I was surprised. Surprised enough that I didn't even put much effort into kissing her back. I just stared at her in disbelief like a stunned carp. She gently pulled away, smiling warmly, seeing my shock as nothing more than adorable.