We had never been on the hill before that day. It was a hot weekday afternoon and we knew we needed to be back by 2:15 because that's when 7th period began. He and I were sitting in the backseat of Tara's bright yellow jeep, with the hot wind blowing our hair all over our face. His hair was long, but his odd hair cut left him with only a small section of bangs blowing around his shaved head. He laughed at the way I kept trying to keep my hair from flying up with the wind. Once we got to the hill it wasn't as spectacular as she promised. It was one of the highest points in the little town. Granted, you could see the entire town, still, you were left feeling as if you had an aerial view of, well, nothing.

We took turns lifting ourselves out of the back side of the jeep and when it was my turn he moved his hand to help me and then quickly retrieved it. I thought it was a nice gesture; I mean, that he at least thought of helping me out of the jeep. I acted like I hadn't noticed his hand come to my aide.  Kim was shuffling through her bag looking for trouble. Tara was walking, one foot in front of the other, along the middle of the road, with her arms spread out and her head cast up looking into the sky. There wasn't much to look at nearby. The hills were overwhelmed with the oatmeal color of dead brush, save for the unaware wild flower peaking out here and there. 

I leaned my back against the rear-end of the jeep and tried to make out the town's auditorium. He came to the side, near me and seemed to be looking for something as well. I wanted him to come and sit next to me, lean with me on the jeep, maybe touch my hand, brush his knuckle against mine, make eye contact with me, something... anything that would tell me that I wasn't the only one looking for something. That I wasn't alone.