Kissed (4 page)

Her
heart did the Snoopy dance over him still being a virgin.
 
It shouldn’t matter, except it did.
 
“But you date a lot.”

“
So.”

“So, why not?
Isn’t that what a seventeen-year-old boy
does?”

“Haven’t met the right girl, yet.”

“What
makes her ‘the right girl’?”

“I
don’t know… She just will be.”

“But
I heard—”

“Beth,
I’m gonna die if you don’t quit
yammerin
’.”
 
He meant the game, of course.

 
“Sorry.”

He
was two years ahead of her and his own person, but it was bad enough he’d be
going off to college without her, you know?
 
She didn’t want to be left in the dust for
every
milestone.

And…
 
She loved
him.
 
She still hoped he’d see her before
the year was over.
 

Feel free to mock my delusion
.

Bethie
was giving him guilt trips whether she meant to or not.
 
She looked so sad every time he told her he
was busy, like she didn’t expect him to come home one day.
 
She tried to hide it, but he wasn’t as
oblivious as people thought.

Mum
wasn’t much better.
 
He’d spot her
dabbing at her eyes sometimes, like when a university letter came in or he
passed another high school milestone for the last time.
 
She took so many pictures the night of Winter
Formal he was blind leaving the house.

So,
he tried to balance them all—his mother, friends, dates, studies—and hoped no
one would be too mad with him in the end for being human.

That
winter was pretty rainy, so Jacob wasn’t away from home as much.
 
When the semester ended, Beth hoped to hang
out for another three-day weekend, but Mrs. Lindsey took him to visit some
university.
 
Unfortunately, only one of
the schools on his list was in L.A.

Dad
went away for Spring Break on business and Mom left to visit Beth’s
brother.
 
Dad and Andrew butted heads if
they were in the same room and both of them were too stubborn to get over
it.
 
Since Andrew wouldn’t come home, Mom
went to him when she could.

It
was the first time they’d left her home alone for a weekend.

She
climbed in through Jacob’s window that night.
 
He offered half of his bed.
 
After
making him promise to be a gentleman, she got under the covers, back to him,
and sighed in relief.

She
woke up in the morning feeling a weight across the middle of her.
 
His arm was draped over her ribs, his fingers
laced with hers, and he was breathing on her neck.

One
part of her wanted to stay being held.
 
The other fifteen-year-old part was freaking out and thought flight was
in order.
 
She carefully slid out from
under his arm, stood, and snatched her pillow.
 
He mumbled in his sleep and stretched his arm out where she’d been.

He
looked so cute dead asleep, his
face like
an
angel’s.
 
Sighing, she turned for the
window, carefully slid it open, and went home.

Why
did she have to fall for the unattainable boy?

****

Beth’s
parents were away for the weekend for some such thing and she snuck into his
room in the middle of the night, carrying her pillow.

“Hey.
Can I take your floor?”
 
She climbed in
through the window.

Jacob
paused
the Nintendo game.
 
“Beth? What are you doing here at this
hour?”
 
She was never outside past curfew
and even preferred getting to bed by ten.

“The
house makes weird noises. Do you mind?”

He
shrugged.
 
“Whatever.”

Bethie
was the only girl allowed in his room because she respected boundaries.
 
She stretched out on the hardwood floor and
placed her pillow under her head.
  
“Don’t tell anybody on Monday.”

He
rolled his eyes.
 
“I wouldn’t do that.
Just go to sleep.”
 
He waited for her to
complain about the game noise.
 
Three.
 
Two.
 
One.

“Can
you mute that?”

Sighing,
he shut it off,
then
stretched out on the bed,
propping his bleached head up with his hand.

“There’s
enough room, you know.”
 
No motive behind
the offer—it was just the hospitable thing to say.

Her
eyes bugged out of their sockets.
 
“Share
a BED? I-I…”

“Bethie,
it’s not a big deal, pet. I’ll even sleep on top o’ the covers, if you like.”

She
thought about it, squirming all the while because his floor was hard as a
brick.
 
“Fine…”
 
She stood and waited for him to scoot
over.
 
“No monkey business.”

He
made a crossing motion on his bare chest.
 
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

She
got under the covers, her back to him, and sighed.
 
The mattress was a double, so there was
plenty of room.

“Better?”

“Thank
you.”

He
played the game a while longer, being a natural night owl.

When
the sun shone through his window in the morning, he awakened before she
did.
 
He was still on top of the covers
with his arm wrapped around her, their heads sharing her pillow.
 
Their fingers were laced together.
 
He inhaled the sweet smell of her soft hair
and went back to sleep.

The
next time he woke, she was gone.

It
was the first time he wondered what it would be like to wake up next to a girl
every day.

****

In
May, Beth helped him get ready for Prom.
 
Black suit, white shirt, straight black tie…and a single rose for his
date.

The bitch.

Aw,
that wasn’t fair.
 
It was a girl he spoke
well of from drama class, with good grades and a clean rep.
 
He didn’t go last year, calling it “cheesy
and too American”, but his mother was on the
experience every part of your last year
kick, so…Prom.

“It’s
too tight.”
 
He tugged on his collar.

She
centered the tie again.
 
“It’s fine.”

“Hate
these things.
Can’t breathe.”

“You
look great.”
 
She turned him toward the
mirror.

He
smirked at his reflection.
 
“I do, don’t
I?”

She
rolled her eyes.
 
“Don’t let it go to
your head.”

The
bathroom smelled like Obsession.
 
She
needed air before she did something insane like kiss him.

“Jacob,
the limo’s here, darling,” Mrs. Lindsey called.

“Time to go, kid.”
 
He
left ahead of her.
 
His mother snapped a
picture when they reached the foyer.
 
“Mum, a little warning?”

“Smile, kids.”

He
draped his arm around Beth’s shoulders and mugged for the camera.
 
Her eyes were on the floor, cheeks blushing
whenever a flash was pointed her way.
 
He
took the rose from her hand, kissed his mother on the cheek, and walked out the
door.

Jenny
what’s-her-name was a lucky girl.

“Didn’t
feel like dancing, dear?”

“Not
my scene, Mrs. Lindsey. I work at Sadie Hawkins, but that’s it. You know…the
music’s too loud and all sounds the same, the food is terrible and the punch is
watered down…”

She
nodded.
 
“Of course.
Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

“’Night.”

Mom
had “sympathy face” when Beth walked back in the house.
 
She finally confronted her about her crush a
few months ago and knew how hard it was for her to see him go off with other
girls.
 
“Chocolate Fudge Brownie?” she
offered, extending the pint.

Beth
took it and stuck a big spoonful in her mouth.
 
“You’re a lifesaver, Mom.”

Ice
cream in hand, she went back to her room to put more photos in her album and
try not to cry.

Bethie
turned sixteen on the twenty-fifth.
 
Shopping for girls had never been his forte, so he looked for clues,
watching for some sign of something she wanted that wouldn’t be weird for him
to buy.
 
Books were a good bet, but he
didn’t want to get one she already had.
 
Knew she liked classical music, and chocolate ice cream, and flowers…but
flowers were for mothers and girlfriends and the sick and those categories
didn’t fit.
 
Could’ve played her party,
but she refused to have one.

So,
he treated her to a meal at their favorite burger joint.

“You
picked up the check last time,” she complained.

“Bethie,
it’s your birthday. Enjoy my generosity.”

She
sighed and sat back on her side of the booth.
 
“It’s just another day.”

“Why
do you dislike your birthday so much?”

She
shrugged.
 
“I don’t…I just don’t think
it’s special.”

“Well,
accept that other people do and milk it.”

“That
what you’re doing?”

“Haven’t had to lift a finger.
Wouldn’t
believe all the dosh comin’ in for my birthday or graduation.
I’ve never
been so happy to see the mailman as this week.”

She
rolled her eyes.
 
“Of course everyone
loves
you
. You’re charmed.”

“Seriously.
Just wait for it. I’ve gotten congratulations
from folk I don’t even know, just ‘cause Mum does. People like your parents, so
it’ll happen to you, too.”

She
didn’t look convinced.
 
“S’pose it’ll
help you move to London.”
 
He’d accepted the enrollment offer and would
be leaving this summer to find a job before school started.
 
“What happens to your car?”

“Dunno.
Probably sell it. Mum doesn’t need two. Gonna get your license now?”

“Eventually.”
 
She
stirred her milkshake.
 
“Thanks for
taking me to the parking lot before I got in with Dad. I needed the practice.”

“Still
drivin
’ your mum around?”

“Yep.
Think she likes having a chauffeur. But Dad’s the one
to declare me ready.”
 
She slurped up the
last drops in her glass.
 
“I’m done, so
we can go. You probably need to be somewhere.”

He
stood.
 
“Yep.”
 
He draped an arm across her shoulders once
she slid out of the booth and joined him.
 
“With you.
It’s your birthday, dummy. I’m
takin
’ you to the mall.”

“Eww, why?”

“So
you can pick out what you want. And I thought you were the brainy one.”

Beth
socked him in the ribs.
 
“Shut up.”
 
She hit hard for such a petite little thing.

Going
into a Barnes and Noble with her was a lesson in patience.
 
Normally, she didn’t like shopping and went
straight for what she wanted and left—
if
you got her in the mall in the first place.
 
But take her to a bookstore and you might as well kiss your afternoon
goodbye, especially if she was allowed to buy.
 
She flitted from this possibility to that, taking forever to decide
which book was the one.
 
Made him happy
to see her smile, though, so he followed along and didn’t complain.

If
Bethie’s
birthday was quiet, Jacob’s birthday a week
later was in stark contrast.
 
His house
was filled with friends, food, and loud music, and that was
after
coming back from the rented movie
theatre.
 
The actual date of his birth
was a Thursday, so the party was two days later and he hoped it lasted all
night.
 
Never felt so alive, being the
center of adoration for so many people.
 
It inspired him to grab his electric and accompany the stereo.

Too
bad his best friend had bailed earlier, but he couldn’t make her stay in a
crowd.

With
prom behind them, only one event remained—Graduation Day.
 

Saddest day of Beth’s life up to that moment.
 
Their moms sat in the bleachers holding
roses.
 
She had a wrapped gift she felt
he’d appreciate more.

“Congratulations
Class of 2000!”

After
the ceremony, she found him first over by the booth to turn in his cap and
gown.
 
They
hugged,
the pat-the-back type between friends.
 
“You
made it, amazingly,” she teased.

“Quiet, you.
Pressie
for me?”
 
He reached
for it and she held it behind her back.

“Yup.
But pick up your diploma first. The moms are about to
reach us.”