Just as we were finishing lunch, I looked up at the clock.
“Got somewhere else to be?”
“No,” I said, as I looked around the cafeteria. “I’m just not good at this stuff. My sister won’t stop looking at me from across the lunch room, and I feel like she is gossiping about me. It’s annoying,” I just want to disappear, I said quietly.
“Come on, let’s get out of here, we still have 45 minutes left before afternoon classes start,” he said, then we got up from the table, he walked towards me, and threw his arm around my shoulders unexpectedly. My nerves took a nosedive as the room suddenly got quiet, and all eyes were on us. I stared straight ahead until we made it through the glass doors and were in the courtyard. Once we were outside, I finally felt like I could breathe.
“Now they’re all going to be talking about me, thanks a lot!” I barked.
“Follow me,” he said, ignoring me, either fully unaware of how awkward that was or unwilling to let it bother him. As we headed past the library, his arm slid off my shoulder and found my hand to hold, but I pulled it from his grip. My eyes shot to him in surprise at his progression of the bold gestures, but he just smiled back at me.
“What?” he said as he nudged his hand back into mine, and I relaxed my fist to tangle my fingers into his.
“Where are we going?” I asked, and suddenly I saw teachers up ahead, so I pulled my hand from his once more. He looked at me with a silly expression, but he seemed to understand.
“Some place quiet where everyone isn’t staring and you don’t feel like everyone is talking about you,” he said. Even though it felt like he hadn’t listened to anything I’d said so far, he did seem to be paying attention to my insecurities. We were approaching the soccer fields, which were empty except for just a few kids who were kicking a ball to kill time before the next classes started. “Come with me,” he said, as he offered his hand back to me once the teachers passed. I considered the implications of my taking it, knowing that it would mean I was telling him that I liked him. I was just nervous that this wasn’t real, so I looked up at him, down at his hand, and then clasped my fingers into his, hoping for the best. He smiled and then squeezed his fingers around mine as we walked towards the soccer storage building at the back of the field.
“Where are we going?” I asked again, as he led me through the gate of the field, down the end goal line, and around the corner of the building where nobody would see us. “Why are you going to all of this trouble for a little quiet?” I asked.
“To ditch the gossip queens,” he replied.
“Oh yeah? And why is that?” I joked, and all of a sudden, my brain floated ideas of what he might have in mind, and my stomach immediately twisted into knots.
“Maybe it’s easier if I just show you,” he said.
I took a deep breath, not knowing what that might mean.
“Alright, show me then,” I replied softly, looking up into his green eyes.
In one fast motion, he reached a hand around the small of my back, pulled me against his hips, walked me backwards to lean me up against the brick building, and pressed his lips to mine. His lips were warm, he kissed me deeply, and then suddenly, he pulled away.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that. You drive me absolutely crazy,” he said, then he just stared into my eyes, waiting for me to say something. As he waited through my silence, he pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and tilted his head with a look of uncertainty.
Still in shock, I reached up to move the hair out of his eyes as a friendly gesture, but he grabbed my wrist to stop me.
“You can’t just touch me and expect me to do nothing,” he said, in an almost threatening tone.
“What’s in this room?” I asked, turning to look over my shoulder. He quickly grabbed the handle and opened the heavy metal grey door. It was filled with Lacrosse gear, which wouldn’t be practicing until the spring, so I knew we wouldn’t be bothered. The door shut behind us, he flipped on the light, and then moved in close.
Against my better judgment, and forgetting that my only focus should be on scholarships, I finally spoke. ”Don’t do nothing,” I whispered, looking up at him.
Chris inhaled slowly, then his hand loosened its grip on my wrist, and gently cupped my face as he looked me in the eyes.
“You’re incredible,” he said, as he moved his hand from my face, slowly dragging his fingers down the side of my neck. His fingertips were so warm as they made their way down to my collarbone, where he traced them lightly down the V-neck of my navy blue shirt to the top of my cleavage, and I stopped him for a moment, unsure of what he would do next.
“Is this okay?” he asked, and I nodded. I’d never been given this type of attention.
With his other hand, he touched the other side of my face, then leaned in close to pull my earlobe into his teeth and bit down softly. His mouth moved to my cheek, and he kissed his way towards my mouth, where he parted his lips and tangled his tongue with mine.
I couldn’t believe this was really happening. Suddenly, he parted my legs so he could stand closer, then his hand went to my thigh and slowly started to travel up my leg, but I put my hand on his and stopped him when he got to the hem of my skirt. I could tell that he wished I would let him go further, but I distracted him by pulling at his shirt to take it off. In one fast movement, it was untucked and on the floor. His tan abs were just as amazing as I had imagined. I pressed my hands against them and lightly traced the outline of his six-pack as he watched with a slightly open mouth. As I touched his chest, he dove back in to kiss me, and I could feel him hardening against me through his khaki shorts.
“You’re driving me wild, but we don’t have much time,” he said in between kisses.
I pulled my hands away from his chest, and his eyes went wide.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said nervously.
