“Of course.”
“Do you trust that I’ll protect you from all of this?”
“As much as you can, yes.” He pulls me in for a hug and presses a kiss to my lips. “I love you.”
His face lights up, and I love the grin that flashes across it, carefree and happy. It’s my favorite of all his smiles, and they were always directed at me. “I love you too.”
After one last kiss, I board the plane, and as soon as I get to my seat, the exhaustion hits me hard.
I don’t think the plane is even done boarding before I’m asleep.
Halle: 14 years old
Sebastian: 15 years old
Oh. My. God.
Those are the first words I think when I open my eyes the following morning.
I kissed Sebastian last night.
No, I made out with Sebastian last night.
A lot.
For multiple hours.
I rub my fingers over my very chapped lips and spot a full glass of water and one of my lip balms sitting on my nightstand that was not there when I finally went to sleep. Or when Wild snuck out of my room a few hours ago. I take a long gulp of the water as I recall the events of last night.
I can’t believe that happened.
What does this mean?
Well, he did say that he couldn’t stop thinking about me.
Does that mean… he’s my boyfriend?
Of all the times I imagined kissing a boy, I had no idea it would be like that. His lips were so soft but firm and guided my timid ones until we found the perfect rhythm. He stroked my face and rubbed my back, all while whispering how long he’d wanted to do this.
It’s never felt like this before.I remember him whispering against my neck just before he dragged his lips over my cheek back to my lips.
I’m out of bed and rush into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, anxious to talk to Wild and figure out what all of this means. I’ve been sleeping with my hair in two braids lately to give it some natural wave and stop me from using my flat iron so much, but Wild spent most of the night with his hands in it, so it’s definitely more messy than usual. I take them out and brush it a few times before pulling it into a low ponytail. I contemplate putting on some makeup because I am suddenly very aware that I live with the boy I kissed last night, and he’s down-freaking-stairs. But I just put on some lip balm because my lips are still very chapped, and I don’t want Sara asking why I have makeup on at nine in the morning.
I hear voices in the kitchen, meaning that Sara and Wild are both awake. It’s Saturday, so Sara has a morning Pilates class, and then will probably have lunch with Elana. Feelings of excitement move through me like fireworks, knowing that Sebastian and I will be alone today.
I make my way downstairs, and sure enough, I see Sara dressed for her workout class, filling up her water bottle. Wild sits at the table eating a bowl of cereal, and his eyes immediatelyfind mine when I enter the room. A smirk pulls at his lips just for a moment before he turns back to eating.
“Morning!” Sara chirps as she tightens the lid on her bottle. “Sleep okay?”
“Yeah, really good.” I glance over at Wild, and though he’s staring down at his food, I can see the smile still playing on his lips.
“Oh, good. So I’m headed out for my class. What are you doing today?”
Visions of what I want to do move across my mind, and for a second, I panic, like Sara could possibly read my thoughts. “I have to study. I have a geometry test on Monday.” I don’t know why I say that. It’s true, I do have a test, but I’m really good at geometry and probably don’t even need to crack my textbook to get an A.
“Well, I’ll be back in a bit. Sebastian,” she points at him, “rake the leaves, please,” she says before dragging her gaze toward the outside window.
“I got it,” he says through a mouthful of Cheerios, my favorite cereal that he used to complain about when Sara started buying that over the pure sugar cereal he used to eat. But now, it’s obvious that he secretly loves it too.
