“I’ll be there in 10 minutes”
His text came in. They’ve been texting each other since he landed at the airport.
“I’m on my way there” she texted back.
She told Claire and she was okay about it. Max had called her and texted her non-stop and somehow it made her feel better than before he left.
“Bring the raincoat honey, it looks like it’s going to rain,” Claire shouted from the sofa, still wearing Max’s T-shirt and pants with a cup of hot coffee.
She grabbed the coat from the hanger and ran out the door. She remembered the last time she ran to his house and found him kissing Mischa. This time, she was sure it will be different.
Her heart raced, she had prepared the things she wanted to tell him and was mentally preparing herself to hear what he had to say too. She arrived just in time to find his car pulling up at his driveway and she held her breath to see him came out from the car.
Their eyes met from afar. His sweet smile bloomed across his face. He took out some stuff from the trunk and left them on the porch.
His dad saw Hazel came and waved at her, “Hi Hazel! Long time no see.” He nodded to Lee to go see his favorite girl and leave the suitcases to him.
If things weren’t the way it was, she would’ve jumped at him. But things were different, and it stopped them at their feet a few inches away from each other.
All of the things she had practice in her head for days just disappeared. He got new piercings on his ears, his hair was longer, his jacket was steal-worthy and his boots were new. He’s got both hands in the pockets of his ripped jeans and he was wearing that T-shirt.
She gasped, “You found the T-shirt … your ears …” her eyes twinkled at the sight of him and he too was enchanted by her presence.
He looked down at his shirt and pinched it, “Yeah … I bought half a dozen of this … just in case,” he chuckled.
They looked at each other in silence for a moment and savor the feeling they’ve longed for ever since that night after Mischa’s party. They have left things unspoken and now it was going to blurt out of them waiting for the right moment.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you for weeks,” Hazel started. “When I saw you kissed her … I thought …”
He shook his head and held her arms, “No … please … I’m sorry you had to see that, it was … can we get past that? She asked me to kiss her one last time because …”
She waited for the rest of his sentence.
“Because it’s always been you, Hazel … I should’ve made it clear a long time ago, but I didn’t, I was afraid it would break up our friendship or something … I love being friends with you, I didn’t want to lose that … but I’ve always wanted to be more than just your friend.”
His words echoed in her mind and send shivers down her spine. No one had ever said that to her before. It was really happening, it was that moment she had pictured in her mind thousands of times, that initial moment when her friendship was turning into something more.
“Me too …” she said, “I wasn’t sure before, but I should’ve known from the first time I saw you at the sports hall … I don’t want to be just your friend either.”
She bit her lower lip and smiled shyly, it wasn’t so hard to say it when she knew he was feeling the same way. And now they were looking at each other not knowing what to do next.
“Really? From the first time we met?” he was in disbelief.
She laughed, “I think your dimples got me smitten, and you were so fun to hang out with … I love being around you all the time … then came Mischa.”
He covered her mouth with his palm and laughed, “Okay, we need to stop with Mischa.”
They felt water sprinkled on their face followed by a rumble of thunder. She was laughing with his hand covering her mouth.
“What about Theo?” he asked.
She pulled his hand away from her mouth, “We need to stop about Theo too, it’s going to rain … let’s go inside.”
He glanced back at his house and saw no one was around, he turned to her again. His eyes were pinned on her now and the rain started to pour.
“Let’s go inside,” she tugged his jacket sleeve with one hand sheltering her eyes.
“Not yet … just one more thing,” he said.
Their eyes could barely open, their clothes were getting wet. He pulled her raincoat over their heads and she was laughing nervously.
“What?” she asked.
“Can I kiss you yet?”
She thought he’d never asked. She cupped her hands on his face and pulled him closer to her. She caught his lips with hers and tasted rainwater upon their kiss. She felt his hands around her waist and the raincoat had fallen to the ground.
In the midst of a downpour, the only thing they felt was each other’s lips tangled in their first kiss.
It was different. How could a kiss felt different from one person to another? It was intoxicating, to say the least. She was carried away in a feeling she never felt before. She felt the warmth of his touch, his breath inside her, and the invisible notion that this was the start of something monumental in her life.
They were in love and that gave the kiss an extra spark that they didn’t get from their other kisses. All that butterfly in the stomach, the fireworks, and their heart were pulsing like crazy, but it felt right.
She laughed when they broke away, it was the kind of kiss she had always imagined. He was smiling too, he had played it over and over in his head but the real thing was better than he could ever imagine.
“Now can we go inside?” she asked.
They were dripping wet. They could hardly see 10 meters in front of them. He just smiled with his hands rested on his waist.
“No … I think I’d like to kiss you again,” he grabbed her by the waist and the world was quiet.
**********
She jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed her face against the side of his face. He carried her to the house all wet from the pouring rain.
Her laughter was like music to his ear. He’s got his girl and the glow on his face showed how proud he felt about it. She was the best thing he ever had since the day he found dancing.
“Let’s get dried up … and do it again inside,” she giggled in his ear.
“Oh? No video games today?” he joked.
“Well, maybe later … after lunch, your mom’s cooking, right? I’m famished.”
“You’re gonna need to borrow her clothes and shower in the guest room,” he said still carrying her on his back.
“Okay … no peeking … why can’t I just borrow your clothes? ” she poked his cheek.
He laughed lightly, “You can wear my clothes, but you have to return them… and not my Ramones T-shirt, that’s vintage,” Hazel always raided his closet and asked to borrow his stuff then forgets to return them, “… are we telling our parents about this? They won’t let us have sleepovers if they know.”
She laughed out loud, “Since when did my mom ever let me have sleepovers with boys? We might as well tell them … later … after we kiss again in your room?”
He put her down on his porch and faced her. He kissed her again. They already starting to get used to it, although it still feels weird when she really thought about it. She was kissing her best friend who is now her boyfriend but still her best friend and her boyfriend. She giggled.
“But we can share clothes now … right? It’s not weird to share clothes now?” she tried.
He thought about it for a moment, “I guess I can use some of those Harry Styles-inspired sweaters.” His dimples carved deep in his cheeks as he smiled. “You know we have to strip now ’cause my mom will freak out if we make her floor wet.”
She covered her mouth and held her laugh, “Are you serious? How is that …? Can’t we just stay here until they look for us? And we can do this some more,” she kissed him again.
“Okay,” he said between their breaths.