15-Minute Wait for the Results | Teen Ink

15-Minute Wait for the Results MAG

By Anonymous

Skinny bird legs lying next to mine.
The one rubbing my thigh is tapping
up and down and up and down
because you are nervous about something.
Your finger, the one with the big red plastic ring,
is tapping on the peeling dark veneer rhythmically.
Tap-a-tap-a-tap-tap-tap-tap-a-tap
Your other hand is so clammy.
Like a turtleneck on a hot day,
like a wet turtleneck on a humid day.
The salmon-colored plastic sticks to my upper arm
in the small space between us on this love seat,
peeling away from my skin when I shift
with a sticky sound. Ouch.
There’s a rip, all jagged with
school bus-colored foam poking out.
Your nails are digging in,
as short as they are.
You are so afraid.
My nails are digging into your hand as well –
I can see the red-lined moons standing out plain as sight.
What was that old saying?
Red sky at night, sailor’s delight?
Or was it take warning?
Does a moon make the night red?
I ask you out loud, you laugh,
this queer little laugh
that isn’t a laugh at all.
Not really.
And you say it’s the first.
So we should delight and dance together like
we were doing just last week under that
tacky disco ball.
The door opens with a creak that reminds me
of an old haunted house. It’s all meant to scare.
The doctor walks in – shuffles really – lab coat knocking against his knees.
He’s kind-looking and old. Like a grandfather. Or uncle. Or something.
He moves past us.
Sits at his desk.
Pulls on his glasses – his eyes look so big.
Pulls out a manila folder.
Opens it.
Turns the page. Again. Again.
Licks his lips.
Takes glasses off – his eyes are small once more.
His chin rests on his folded hands.
Pensive.
“The test was positive.”
Your grip tightens, my grip tightens.
Many red moons across our hands.



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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 205 comments.


on May. 12 2010 at 2:50 pm
Alternatively BRONZE, Sorry, California
2 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
“I've never been lonely. I've been in a room -- I've felt suicidal. I've been depressed. I've felt awful -- awful beyond all -- but I never felt that one other person could enter that room and cure what was bothering me...or that any number of people could enter that room. In other words, loneliness is something I've never been bothered with because I've always had this terrible itch for solitude.

It's REALLY AMAZING! love all the little details and dashes of foreshadowing....never stop writing:)

on May. 12 2010 at 1:55 pm
makemeflypeter BRONZE, Groveport, Ohio
2 articles 3 photos 1 comment
that was good [:

shaniab SILVER said...
on May. 12 2010 at 1:43 pm
shaniab SILVER, Hawthorne, California
9 articles 0 photos 13 comments
Wow, that was really interesting. I really was wondering what exactly was positive. I wish I could've known but Im guessing as well. Something, like Pregnancy or HIV.

teenink12345 said...
on May. 12 2010 at 10:19 am
teenink12345, New York, New York
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Interesting

 


on Apr. 20 2010 at 9:55 pm
Kristy_loves_Keats PLATINUM, Arvada, Colorado
23 articles 0 photos 99 comments
this is GREAT! i have a feeling it could be pregnace or hiv something like that...great how you left us wanting more!

on Apr. 20 2010 at 8:59 pm
HeyAmanda SILVER, Rancho Cucamonga, California
8 articles 0 photos 47 comments
i think it was a pregnancy test? that is what i get the impression of

Emmy13329 GOLD said...
on Apr. 20 2010 at 5:00 pm
Emmy13329 GOLD, Middletown, Delaware
10 articles 0 photos 26 comments
yea seriously if u thought it was bad you shouldn't have said anything or u could of gave her advice :(

Emmy13329 GOLD said...
on Apr. 20 2010 at 4:58 pm
Emmy13329 GOLD, Middletown, Delaware
10 articles 0 photos 26 comments
I love it it's really good ,keep writting u truely have a talent :D:):P8)

on Apr. 20 2010 at 2:59 pm
MemorialMustangs GOLD, McAllen, Texas
10 articles 1 photo 12 comments
Well I know I'm not the author of it but while I was reading this I had thought that it was a pregnancy test

on Apr. 20 2010 at 2:58 pm
MemorialMustangs GOLD, McAllen, Texas
10 articles 1 photo 12 comments
Wow this was simply amazing! I honestly did love it!

on Apr. 20 2010 at 2:32 pm
AndTheVinesSpin GOLD, Romulus, Michigan
11 articles 1 photo 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Love is the Movement" -TWLOHA
"Love is our weapon." -Christofer Drew
"I'ma get me a High School Diploma, even if I gotta steal one!" -ThisKidInMyMathClassLol

This is amazing.

on Apr. 20 2010 at 10:18 am
fireeyedgirl SILVER, Dulles, Virginia
7 articles 0 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth: the mythic truth about human nature in general, the particular truth about those life-communities that define our own identity, and the most specific truth of all: our own self-story. Fiction, because it is not about someone who lived in the real world, always has the possibility of being about oneself. "
— Orson Scott Card

It was a pregnancy test

on Apr. 20 2010 at 9:24 am
CanYouSeeTheCrazy PLATINUM, Cle Elum, Washington
21 articles 0 photos 125 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I know why everyone in this world is so desperate to find love."
"Oh yeah? Why then?"
"Because, it's the closest thing we have to magic."

pregnancy. idk how i figured that out, i just kinda got the feeling... but i kno it was for pregnancy.

on Apr. 20 2010 at 5:52 am
IsobelFree DIAMOND, Hamilton, Other
71 articles 20 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"As long as there is open road, the familiar has the most formidable competitor." - Anonymous

This is amazing! Very descriptive. Personally, I don't think it's a pregnancy test - people generally don't go to the doctor's to see if they're pregnant or not. Also, the doctor wouldn't say gravely, "You test was positive" - he'd be happier than that.

on Apr. 1 2010 at 10:13 pm
fictionlover10 SILVER, Scottsdale, Arizona
6 articles 0 photos 59 comments
This was a wonderful piece, very descriptive. Forigve me, though, but what was the test for?

wolveseye GOLD said...
on Mar. 30 2010 at 1:11 pm
wolveseye GOLD, Tok, Alaska
17 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Which would be worse: To live as a monster, or to die as a good man?

loved it! so discriptive.

Katrselyn said...
on Mar. 29 2010 at 7:26 pm
Katrselyn, Kankakee, Illinois
0 articles 0 photos 142 comments
Good Loved it.. What happened after? read mine! Kepp it up

on Mar. 29 2010 at 5:17 pm
thoughtfulsoul PLATINUM, El Cajon, California
25 articles 0 photos 48 comments
This is amazing!! I love how descriptive it is and left the reader to imply what was happening. to me that makes it more powerful when you don't need to come right out and say what is going on. very well written :)

on Mar. 29 2010 at 4:04 pm
GreenGirl13 SILVER, Groveland, Florida
6 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is our choices that made us who we are, far beyond our abilities.

That was supprisingly mean. You should offer constructive critisism.

on Mar. 29 2010 at 8:56 am
bahbahbahrooooke. SILVER, Lumberton, Texas
5 articles 2 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

This was really good (: