Read The First and Last Kiss Online
Authors: Julius St. Clair
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Fantasy, #Teen & Young Adult, #Love & Romance, #Paranormal & Fantasy
The First and Last Kiss (2 page)
“Erin, answer the door!” Jo yelled from outside. “I just want to talk to you!”
Erin slammed open the door and reached out to slap her friend in the face but a hand caught her wrist just in time. She followed the forearm to t
he source and saw her boyfriend standing there like a mindless statue.
“Nick!” Erin cried out as he let go of her. “Don’t tell me you’re all hers!”
Before Jo could reply, Erin leapt onto him and kissed him with all her might. Nick just accepted it, hands at his side, his eyes looking elsewhere.
“I just wanted to apologize,” Jo said. “I was caught up in the moment.”
“Caught up?” Erin said, walking toward Jo. “Caught up in the moment! That was MY MOMENT, JO! AND YOU TOOK IT FROM ME! Not to mention MY BOYFRIEND!”
“Can you keep your voice down when you’re talking to her?” Nick said and Erin co
uldn’t help but break down in tears.
“Erin, I’m so sorry,” Jo said. “I
just wanted to bring Nick by so you could talk to him.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Nick said, looking to the woman who kissed him.
“It’s okay, Nick,” she said. “Go ahead.”
Nick reached out a hand towards Erin who took it before he changed his mind. Nick began leading her behind the house, to the backyard where they had
spent their first date - a picnic in the summer air.
“I’ll be at my house, Nick,” Jo said. “Just meet me there
when you’re done.”
“Okay,” he called back as Erin gulped down her anxiety. Why was Nick staying at her house? What could they be doing there?
Nick sat down on the grass and motioned for her to sit across from him. She obeyed and sat with her legs crossed; staring at the man who, just a few hours ago, had sung her praises and declared that she was the best girlfriend ever. Now he was barely looking into her way, probably thinking about what he and Jo would be doing at her house. She just wanted to cry for days in her room with the shades drawn.
“I didn’t think that would happen,” Nick said abruptly. “I didn’t expect that…I’m sorry, Erin.”
“No, it’s my fault,” she confessed. “I told Jo about your secret and she took advantage of you.”
“Oh,” Nick said, running his hand through the grass. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. I’m bound to her.”
“Are you?” Erin pleaded. “Can’t you fight it?”
“It’s not that simple,” he said, looking into her eyes for the first time. They were lifeless.
“What do you feel?”
“I can’t sto
p thinking about her, Erin. I get butterflies in my stomach whenever she’s around. Her perfume smells so good and she’s so beautiful. The taste of her lips when…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Erin sobbed. “You’re in love with her now. I get it.”
“But it’s strange,” Nick replied. “My body, my emotions – they all long for her, and the urge is so strong, but my mind…my mind remembers you. It tells me that you’re the one I want to be with.”
“Can’t you listen to your mind?”
“It’s very hard. It’s like someone putting you before beets and a delicious slice of chocolate cake. Your mind tells you that the beets are healthier, the more logical choice. But that cake is just tantalizing all your senses. You crave it. You want to devour it.”
“So I’m beets and Jo is a delicious slice of cake?” Erin cried as Nick went to put an arm around her but then changed his mind and left his hand in the grass.
“I can stay, my love,” he said. “But it wouldn’t be fair to you. We could date and get married, go on a beautiful honeymoon and have kids. But there would be no emotion behind my lips. There would be no love in my touch. The romance would be stale and dry and no matter how hard I would try, I would only think of Jo. Can you bear that? Knowing that on our wedding day, as we vowed our lives to one another, I saw Jo’s face over yours? When we make love? When we walk hand in hand down the beach? Could you bear it when I said her name instead of yours? When I turned our conversations to her? What if she fought to keep me? Could you stand watching me side with her? Believing she’s the sexiest girl I’ve ever seen and you look more plain to me than yellow stained wallpaper? Could you, Erin? Could you bear it?”
He said it so matter-of-factly, so calm that she could tell he was already dwelling on Jo. Though his mind told him who he needed, his very being wanted another.
“I don’t know, Nick,” she said. “Give me a moment to think.”
“What if I left? What if we got married and had kids and I just couldn’t take it anymore? Because my feelings were invested in another? What if I just couldn’t stand the sight of you anymore? What if Jo and I ended up having an affair? Could you bear that? She knows about my secret, Erin. She knows
of the hold she has over me. I am completely hers. No matter how hard we try to make this work, there is no me and you. Could you bear that, Erin?”
“Stop asking that question,” Erin said suddenly, grabbing Nick’s hand with both of hers.
“Nick…I could bear it. Every second. I know words are cheap…and I can’t say I’ll never be jealous or hate her for what she’s done. I can’t say it won’t cut me deeply as we lived our lives together, but, I won’t ask you stay with me. Because I love you, Nick.”
“I don’t understand. If you love me, wouldn’t you want me to be there?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Not at all, because you wouldn’t want to be. I couldn’t be that selfish. See, that’s what Jo did. She heard the way I was talking about you and she couldn’t take it. I don’t care how caught up in the moment she was, she betrayed me and took advantage of you for her. She wanted you all to herself. And she’ll have you. Because that is what you desire.”
“I love you too, Erin,” he said, and though there were no emotions in
his voice, a twinkle of it was in his eyes. That was enough for her.
“And I’ll always remember that,” she said, reaching forward to caress his cheek. “Can I give you one last kiss?”
“Yes,” he said nervously.
She gave him one last kiss, slow and sweet, savoring each second. Nick closed his eyes and did his best to kiss her back, grabbing the back of her hair and pulling her close. He was willing to let her kiss him as long as she wanted, but Erin didn’t want to regret her decision. She pulled away first and giggled a little despite the circumstances.
It would work out. Maybe she had lost him forever. Maybe she would have to settle for less, but at least she could say that at one point in her life, she had met her prince and shared a kiss with him. Not everyone could make this claim, and she would settle with this for now.
“Erin, you’re such an idiot,” she heard Jo say from the back steps, a few yards away from where they sat. Both she and Nick looked towards her. She couldn’t help catching the trembling excitement in Nick’s body.
“I didn’t see you,” Erin said, a little embarrassed. “How long have you been there?”
“Long enough,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I had to see if this was all true for myself.”
“Well it is,” Erin said firmly, standing to her feet.
“That’s really why I brought him over. I didn’t think all that fairytale talk was real.”
“Well, it is, and you’ve taken that away from me.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry, Erin. I really am.”
“It doesn’t change anything. So, you can take him now. Enjoy your fantasy life together.”
“
I think you’re better suited for it actually,” she said, walking toward them.
“Why?’
“Erin, I know you may never forgive me for what I’ve done. But I hope we can be friends again someday. And, I want to give Nick back to you.”
“But that’s impossible.”
“Did you ever ask him that? How to undo the curse?”
“No, but I –“
“Well, I did. And he told me that the one who kissed him can relieve him of his duty. The problem is that most people wouldn’t let something like this go…but we were best friends, and I didn’t mean to take away your dreams. I’ve just been so lonely…but I want you to know that I see this is real now, and I want to make things right.”
“Y
ou don’t have to,” Nick said, and Jo hesitated for a second, stopping her approach. But then she gathered her resolve, went over to Nick, gave him a peck on the lips and whispered in his ears, “I free you.”
Instantly, Erin saw a change in her beloved as his eyes bright
ened, and he looked at his hands like he forgotten they were there. Erin couldn’t believe her eyes and laughed as soon as she saw the transformation, but Nick wasted no time.
He captured Erin into his arms and gave her the kiss of her life, making sure she felt every ounce of his love. She kissed him back with just as much intensity, and Jo just crept away into the background, leaving the happy couple alone.
“I can’t believe it,” Nick laughed. “We get a second chance!”
“And I’m never letting you go,” Erin said, hugging him as hard as she could.
“Are you sure?” Nick asked mischievously. “You can relieve me at any time.”
“Not now,” Erin said, looking up into his wonderful, hazel eyes. “This time, I’m going to be selfish.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.
T
hey kissed once again.
And it was the first kiss of many
to come…
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Novels by Julius St. Clair:
The Dark Kingdom (Sage Trilogy, Book 2)
Hail to the Queen (Sage Trilogy, Book 3)
End of Angels (Angel Story, Book 1)
Angels of Eden (Angel Story, Book 2)
A Dawn of Heroes (Obsidian Saga, Book 1)
Rise of the Androids (The End Trilogy, Book 1)
Short Stories:
Sanctuary (A Short Love Story)
Reluctant Hero: A Superhero Story (Champion # 1)
Brothers of Fire and Rain (The Weather Brothers # 1)
The First and Last Kiss (A Modern Day Fairytale)
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An excerpt from Julius St. Clair’s latest novel:
A Dawn of Heroes (Book #1 of the Obsidian Saga)
Chapter 1 – The Day the World Ended
The one-room schoolhouse was painfully tiny, and even more so now that nearly half of the village of Lowsunn was beginning to crowd in, each individual clamoring for a coveted seat on one of the few oak pews in the center. Consequently, anyone that was late was forced to stand upon their aching feet. The stampede of villagers kicked up a cloud of dust that eventually settled on the floorboards, which creaked under the collective weight. Though there were nearly two hundred villagers in attendance, no one said a word, the only sound being the groaning of the structure itself.
All of the extra desks and chairs had been removed. All unnecessary equipment had been locked away, and even the Elders of Lowsunn were surprised to see just how many students were able to fit into the boxy room. Within minutes, the only part of the floor not occupied by a pair of weary shoes was a meager five foot square space in the front. There the science/history teacher stood with a maniacal smile, causing a few of his colleagues nearby to wince in disgust. Not one member of the excited audience, young or old, cared for teacher politics, and so they did their best to ignore the exchange. And really, it didn’t matter how much the other teachers hated Mr. Young. Nothing short of a fire was going to make them disperse. For the only time in the entire year, he had the spotlight, he had the goods, and everyone in attendance was there to make sure they were expediently delivered.
Mr. Young surveyed his audience with glee, rubbing his sweaty hands onto his custom red silk shirt as he silently hoped the ancient pews, brought in by his teacher aides, would be able to bear the weight. As the last of the villagers, a few of the elderly, squeezed in just beyond the double doors in the back, he cleared his throat and surveyed the room. They all waited for him to begin, giving their undivided attention and awe. Since the building only had six windows, three on each side, there was already little light in the room. Faceless bodies now blocked the meager sunlight that fought to enter, and the room was soon cast under a cloak of unsettling shadow. As unidentifiable eyes blinked off rapidly in Mr. Young’s direction, he closed his in satisfaction.
He concentrated.
And then beams of light shot through each of the windows, through the barrier of bodies, and into the room like a flood of water, filling every space in a matter of seconds. After it had maximized its presence in the room, most of it suddenly disappeared, and all that remained was a spotlight over Mr. Young, the source appearing to come from the windowless and moldy flat ceiling above. It was impossible for light to originate from that point, yet it did. The audience gasped in delight. Many had seen this presentation several times, but the moment never ceased to amaze. How Mr. Young was able to call forth the sun to magnify him, even through the solid blockades of both body and object, was a subject of much debate. It had to be magic.
He cleared his throat once more, and a blanket of silence descended upon the audience.
“Ten years ago,” he began. “The Advent came.”
As his sentence ended, both the room and Mr. Young were suddenly cast into utter darkness. The bare wall behind the history teacher came alive, and an animated display of the universe came into view. It spread across the room like an oceanic wave, lapping against the shore, except it never retracted once it splashed against the other side. It trapped the audience in its holographic projection and held them there. Stars twinkled like diamonds, moons orbited around foreign planets and colorful nebulas shot out at the students in 3-D fashion. The audience gasped and awed at the spectacle as space danced around them gracefully, performing a waltz that even the best of them could not imitate. Mr. Young continued.
“We call it Advent because the definition says it all: it was the beginning of something already anticipated…it was the end of the world. We all knew the day would come. We just weren’t sure how. Ten years ago, we received our answer.” The audience gasped in horror.
Mr. Young grinned and scanned the room once more before he proceeded, watching them all witness his power, each one falling under his spell…well, there was one who was uninterested, but there was good reason for that, he supposed.
“Aidan, pay attention,” Mr. Young called out to the young man in the far left corner. Only his short spiked black hair and half of his bored eyes were visible amongst the sea of silhouetted faces and little lighting.
“Sure,” Aidan replied easily, refocusing his attention on the holographic stars. Satisfied, Mr. Young resumed his presentation. The animation of the universe changed in an instant, and zoomed in on a planet that was familiar to everyone. Amassed by a collection of six large continents and very few bodies of water, they stared at their brown, green and red planet as if it were an old acquaintance. At the other end of the universal map was a comet, half their world’s size, streaking across the black expanse with a red-hot tail, its trajectory directly in line with their home world.
“We don’t know where it came from,” Mr. Young said, stooping down behind their planet. “Or its exact composition. Whether it was a hunk of rock, a ship, or a massive, sentient being. All we know for sure…is how it changed our way of life forever.”
The display flickered and suddenly the comet smashed mercilessly into the side of the planet, creating an explosion that splashed the room in a light so intense, everyone, including Mr. Young, had to avert their eyes for fear of going blind. He kept speaking as the light began to subside.
“The comet impacted the eastern hemisphere with a force that could be heard and felt all over the world, changing the terrain and taking half of our population with it. Millions…died instantly…” He paused to wipe a hand across his sweating forehead. “We all thought it was the end – the apocalypse, and in a sense, one could say that it was. That era had been eradicated in an instant…but it appeared that the survivors were destined for a greater purpose. The World of Obsidian had been altered, not just physically, but also spiritually. The population that had not been annihilated were transformed.”
The universe display vanished and the room was cast back into its natural dim light for a moment. It then dimmed into a purple hue. White hot tattoos were revealed from underneath the villagers’ long sleeve shirts. Branded deep into their right forearms, each tattoo depicted a picture of six organ pipes with a long sword in the middle. Most of the villagers had only one tattoo of the image on their right arm, some had two of the same picture, and even fewer had three.
Aidan pushed his sleeve down further though it made no difference. Even through the fabric, the tattoo burned bright as if it had just been seared into his flesh, as if he had been branded with the signature of the sun.
“Everyone was marked with these seals,” Mr. Young said, one of his own shining beneath the silk of his shirt. “Most were only given one, but others were blessed with two or even three. Each seal…granted the bearer a wish. A wish with no strings attached whatsoever, as long as the Judge approved it. It’s the only reason we were able to rebuild society so quickly…no one regrets being given these gifts, but we must still never forget the lives that were lost. These wishes came at a price, and that makes each of them a beautiful, wonderful curse.”
He paused as the room reposed in silence. The purple hue was lifted and the lighting returned to normal. The seals on their right arms faded until they were no longer visible from underneath the fabric of their clothes. Aidan sighed wearily as Mr. Young bowed his head.
“I perform this presentation once a year to not only remind you of what happened, but more importantly, to stress how much we need you here in Lowsunn. I know there’s a temptation to use your wishes for your own pleasure, but we ask you to suppress those selfish inclinations. In order to continue restoring our world to its former glory, we hope that all of you will stay patient until it is your time.”
Most nodded at his words. A hand shot up from the left hand corner. Mr. Young took a deep breath and pointed at his young pupil.
“Yes, Isaac? You have a question?”
“How long do you think it will be until the world is restored completely?”
“It’s hard to say,” Mr. Young admitted. “Significant damage was done to our way of life. Many wishes were used in the beginning of the 2
nd
Era to restore the atmosphere, the wildlife and what not.”
“Yet no one has wished for the half of the world that was destroyed to go back to its previous state, or to bring back the countless lives that –”
“We’ve had this discussion before in class,” the middle-aged teacher sighed. “As I’ve explained, we don’t know what happened on that day.”
“So it’s best to leave a hole in our planet?”
“A contained, harmless hole. It’s been handled.”
“There’s no way you could know that.”
“That is the point of our scouting missions, or have you forgotten?”
“Someone from Lowsunn has been there? At the edge of the planet?”
“That will be enough questions from you,” Mr. Young snapped, his eyes darting amongst the other faces for their reactions. Though they appeared squeamish, they kept their focus on him. Isaac raised his hand again.
“I said no more questions.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Then what is it?”
Isaac smiled through his mesmerizing blue eyes and ice-breaking smile. “Aidan has one.”
“Can’t Aidan speak for himself?”
“He said you wouldn’t call on him if he raised his hand.”
The audience chuckled and a few of the Elders in the far back began shushing. From the crippling glares they unleashed on Mr. Young afterwards, it was obvious that they were going to intervene if he didn’t take control soon. Why he had called on the child in the first place was beyond their comprehension.
“Okay,” Mr. Young said with a scowl, pointing to the young man with the spiky black hair. “Fire away.” It was a risky move, allowing Aidan to speak – but if he was able to maintain order during their exchange, he would have gained respect in the eyes of the Elders. A privilege that few possessed.
“Well, I was thinking,” Aidan began with a sly smile. Many in the audience turned around to watch him complete his sentence. “If we’re supposed to hold off on our Yen –”
“– here in Lowsunn we call them wishes, Mr. Serafino.”
“I don’t understand why. The rest of the world calls them Yen, but that’s not what my question is about. What I want to know is why we don’t get to use these ‘beautiful curses’ the way we want to, while the Elders and even you - gets to go wild.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Take this schoolhouse for example. You used a Yen three years ago to turn it into this major interactive experience, and yet you’re the only one who knows how to control it. It’s impressive, but isn’t it a waste? All it does is help you.”
“It enhances the learning experience and improves the quality of my lessons.”
“Which are still boring, which is why your attendance is low. The only time anyone comes to your sessions is to hear about Advent, otherwise, no one bothers. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“I don’t need to justify myself to you,” Mr. Young huffed, feeling the angry, raised eyebrows of his superiors. “Who are you here with anyways? Does your mentor know where you’re at?”
“Does it matter?” Aidan said. “What you fail to remember is that we are free to choose which courses to attend. This isn’t a school. It’s a simple, scared little town that keeps people in line by dangling small comforts over their head. It does little to prepare us for the outside world. A world that each of us will be forced to encounter whether we like it or not. If it wasn’t for the strike system, no one would even bother getting out of bed.”
“Once you choose a class to attend, however, you are stuck there,” Mr. Young’s face started to redden. “If you’re skipping an evening class to attend this presentation, then you know that I must hand you over for disciplinary action. Given that you already have two strikes against you, you know what that would mean, don’t you?”
“I don’t need to think about it,” Aidan said, his lips in a flat line. “Especially since I’ll be leaving.” He began to worm his way to the door when a shout nearly stopped him cold.
“You stay right there!” Mr. Young barked as the few Elders standing in the doorway made sure to form a trembling humin barrier. They looked down at him in disgust but Aidan challenged them silently, one at a time, with no expression on his face. Then he shifted his gaze back to the forefront and gave the science/history teacher a declaration.
“Let me out right now or I’ll burn the entire schoolhouse to the ground.”
He said it with such conviction that Mr. Young nearly fell over in shock. The Elders in the doorway stepped out of his path urgently as the villagers pressed up against each other, sacrificing their comfortable positions to let him step out of the room freely. They dared not even touch his hooded robe. Aidan stopped in the doorway just for a moment, to address the room one last time.
“Keep the Discipline Squad out of my hair for this, and I’ll ensure you all keep yours.”
He didn’t wait for a reply, leaving as fast as he could, and the room burst into scared whispers and murmurs of concern. Isaac sucked his teeth and chased after him, nearly tripping three times before he hit the door and the dense warm air outside. He caught up to Aidan quickly and joined his stride under the canopy of low hanging tree branches and a thick silver haze. The village of Lowsunn was tranquil and actually pleasant now that most of its inhabitants were being held hostage at the presentation. He didn’t care to see the rest – about how chaotic the world had become, how it had been relatively organized before Advent, blah, blah, blah.