Page 149 of One More Kiss
Tori
THINKING BACK,I REALIZED THAT it was one of the best nights of my life. Phoenix was the perfect gentlemen. Not once did he tease me or make me feel insecure any more than I already was. If anything, he boosted about how cute I was and continued to sneak touches along my arm every now and then. Each time, I tried to hide away knowing I didn’t want him to see the abnormally long hair that was there. He never complained. If anything, it seemed like he wanted to continue hanging out with me the entire night. We connected on a level that I wasn’t sure could ever happen. He got me and it was refreshing.
No one had given me the time of day, especially not a guy. Mostly, I’d get teased and the boyfriends I did have didn’t treat me the way I should’ve been treated. I never realized it then, but I did now.
Then it happened. The moment I dreaded, the night had ended, and we were to go our separate ways. Cory sought out Phoenix, and I knew I had to go back to the tent and seek out Clarissa because I was spending the night at her house.
But before he left, he bent close to my ear, trailed a soft kiss, and whispered, “you’re perfectly imperfect. Don’t ever change the way you are.”
He pulled me into a warm hug. His scent all around me, musky with a hint of some sort of cologne I couldn’t place. Then, he left. He was the perfect gentleman, not pushy or creepy and asked numerous questions. He seemed to genuinely want to know who I was.
Numbers weren’t exchanged, not that my family had a phone. I knew the school he attended because I was the creepy stalker girl who always seemed to find him in the hallway. But I didn’t think I had the nerve to ever walk up to him. I knew I could get more information out of Samantha but left it alone. It was the best night of my life, and one I didn’t want to mess up by keeping in contact with him. To me, it wasn’t meant to be. Or so I thought.
The rest of the weekend flew by. Clarissa and I spent the whole time at her house though I did walk over and let my mother know where I was. Even though Clarissa kept me busy, the entire time I couldn’t help but think of the guy I’d met at the fair. The same one who attended my school. He took over my thoughts and deep down I wanted to see him again. But then a sliver of doubt would cross my mind.
Would he feel the same way if we saw each other again? Things like that didn’t happen to me, they only happened in fairy tales. The Knight in Shining Armor who rescues the damsel in distress. A girl could only wish. That’s eventually what happened to me, a wish had come true.
Monday rolled around and I had a hard time getting out of bed, wanting to stay in my dream world. My parents wouldn’t have it because school was one of the most important things to them. Then, I didn’t think it was but now I realize how important school really was. I boarded the school bus, lost in my thoughts. My siblings who stood at the bus stop with me didn’t notice I was zoned out. My mind was once again on the mysterious and amazing guy at the fair. Finally, we exited the bus, but we were still early. The bell hadn’t rung yet, so I decided to stand in the hallway and lean on the wall inside of the building.
There were other students milling around, just waiting on the bell to indicate that school was about to start. I glanced up and closed my eyes, drowning out the hype of the morning. Usually this much noise would cause my anxiety to flare, but today I used a calming technique to keep me grounded.
I always dreamed of seeing the world, but knew I’d be stuck here because I lacked the necessary means to escape. When I looked back down, I saw movement to my right. My breath hitched. It was him. The guy from the fair. The same person I spent all night with, who told me how perfectly imperfect I was and to never change.
Did he see me? If I strolled up to him, would he recognize me from the other night? I was so terrified he’d shun me as if he didn’t know me. Those fears took hold and almost made me turn around, but I knew if I didn’t make myself known, I would never do it in the future. You got this! I chanted to myself, but my legs wouldn’t move.
It was as if I were cemented to the school’s tiled flooring. My mouth tasted of lead as the anxiety took hold. Was I strong enough to do this? God, if there was one thing I needed to do, it was to go up to Phoenix and make myself known. Finally, my foot twitched and I managed to drag them toward the direction I aimed for.
Phoenix was looking at another person. It was a guy with long brown hair. He had the locks secured tightly at the nape of his neck. He had brown eyes and large teeth. When he smiled, it was all teeth and almost eerie. I felt confident for a moment that I wasn’t the only person who suffered from body issues. It seemed he was comfortable with the way he looked, and he exuded the confidence. I felt I should follow suit.
I stood behind Phoenix just waiting for the unknown guy to finish saying what he had to say, but he didn’t. Instead, he leaned sideways and looked smack dab at me. That caused Phoenix to turn around. I stared right into the hazel globes of the boy who I’d thought about since school began. I was in deep and couldn’t seem to swim my way out of this problem.
“Can I help you?” Phoenix asked.
He stood there; brows drawn down as if confused. In turn, it confused me. Did he recognize me? I cleared my throat. For some reason, it felt like my tongue was lodged in the back of my throat and all I could do was squeak out a sound.
Finally, working up the nerve to speak, I said, “I just wanted to say hey. I’m sorry if I interrupted y’all conversation. I didn’t mean to be a burden.”
The unknown guy said, “don’t sweat it. Who’re you? I don’t remember seeing you around this school.”
It was no surprise he didn’t know me. I wasn’t a person to be noticeable, so I wasn’t upset by the response.
“I’m Tori. I met Phoenix at the fair last weekend.
My voice was low and shaky. These two boys seemed confident and mature, and I seemed like a shaky schoolgirl who didn’t know what to do next. In that instance, I wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole, from feet to head. My face flamed with embarrassment for putting myself in the line of fire like I did.
“I’m sorry,” I rambled once again, “I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I’ll just leave.”
Phoenix seemed to snap out of his trance because he grabbed my wrist the second I spun around to leave. It seemed as if he didn’t want me to walk away. For a slight moment, my hopes rose.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Phoenix said, “I should be sorry. I didn’t even greet you properly. Tori, this is Trey. He’s a friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you, Tori,” Trey said.
He lifted his palm and did this slight wave from left to right. It was weird and something I’d never seen anyone do before. I mimicked the action and he laughed. Phoenix seemed to stiffen and move me a little closer to him.
“I’m going to walk Tori to her class. See you at lunch?” Phoenix questioned.
Although he spoke to Trey, his eyes were on me as if he were asking me to lunch. I didn’t say a word, waiting for Trey to answer.
