CHAPTER 15

As we kissed, her tongue ran over my lips, and my mouth opened, allowing her access. She explored my mouth with her own tongue then darted away from my mouth, hinting that I should do the same. My tongue followed suit, and as it entered her mouth she moaned softly. Our tongues re-enacted the Battle of Waterloo, and apparently I was Napoleon. As she expertly played with and teased my tongue I slowly retreated, and our mouths parted. She stared into my eyes for a few seconds before nuzzling into my shoulder, both of us still naked.

She took her head away from my shoulder after a few seconds, a look of disgust on her face.

"What's that thing I taste?" she asked me.

I laughed. "Look down." I told her. She looked down between her legs and her expression softened. "Huh." she remarked. She retrieved the water bottle from beside her bed and swished around some more. Afterwards, she offered me the bottle.

"No thanks." I softly declined. "I didn't mind it at all."

She gave me a shy kind of smile as she put the bottle back. It was weird, before she was all gutsy and confident. Here, she seemed nervous, vulnerable and a little shy. After she placed the bottle beside the bed again, she resumed the nuzzling of her head into my shoulder.

"Hey Adam?" She softly asked after a few minutes of precious silence. She had a tone to her voice that I couldn't quite detect.

"Yes, Nicole?" I answered her.

"Do you…" she trailed off, but laughed to herself as she seemingly dismissed the thought. Her tone changed when she asked, "Do you have to get home immediately? It would be cool if we could hang out."

"Uh, yeah, sure!" I answered lamely. "I'd need to text my mom, plus I have a bit of homework…"

"Don't worry, I can help you with that." She said, looking up from my shoulder.

"And what makes you so sure I need help?" I asked, smirking at her.

"Oh, go put some pants on." she retaliated, laughing at me.

"Look who's talking." I joked as I got off the bed to retrieve my boxers. I slowly slid them on, then did the same with my pants. When I looked back, Nicole was in the same position on the bed, fully clothed like nothing happened.

"Now look who's talking." she giggled.

"How'd you do that?!" I asked. At this point, I almost had no right to be shocked at anything Nicole did.

"Grade 11, squirt." She winked.

"Okay, that one doesn't even apply to this situation."

"You'd be surprised!" she replied with a smile. I smiled back. Nicole was a really special girl, I had to admit. I was really glad I met her. And it seemed like with the way her smile looked after tonight, something changed. I think she was really glad to have met me too.

In hindsight, my life had to be a really boring thing. One month into high school I got to second base and got voted into student council because I acted like a spineless wimp onstage, and it feels like it's been the most important week of my entire life. Not that I was complaining. Even though I had a crush in May, this past week brought me Nicole, who was more than an easy tomboy as someone would see her on the outside – she was a friend."So, what do ya wanna do?" Nicole asked as she stretched once I had pants on.

"I dunno, you pick." I said absent-mindedly as I texted my mom. Hey! Hope you don't mind, I'm spending the afternoon at a friend's house. When do you want me home?

"Well, what do you normally like doing after school when there's nothing to do?" she asked me, though her tone made it sound more like a test than a serious question.

"…Um…" I responded, not sure how to proceed.

"C'mon, dude. You're a guy. You should know the answer is video games." she said, almost annoyed with me. She hopped up from her position and walked over to her computer, booting it up. I turned my attention back to my phone, and remembered I hadn't texted May back.

I checked the message. Hey, this is Adam rite?

I typed back, Yup! This is May, I bet.

I looked back up to see Nicole, arms akimbo, facing me. "I get that you got a thing for her and all, but last time I checked you were hanging out with me."

"I thought you said you weren't the jealous type." I replied, winking at her.

She smiled menacingly. "Ooh, watch it you. I'm not jealous of another girl, but don't be rude. I could be texting someone right now too."

"Alright, sorry." I said, putting my phone back into my pocket.

"Great." she beamed, as if nothing happened. "So, what should we play?" she asked, turning towards the computer and firing up some program.

"Um, I dunno." I replied. "I don't really play video games."

"You what?" She turned back and stared at me. "Wow, someone here is totally missing out." she clicked a few times, evidently browsing her library of games, and added, "Well, let's start with a few favorites of mine."

"What do you like?" I asked, trying to keep up the conversation. "Call of Duty, or…"

"I said I play games, squirt. Not shit." she retaliated.

"I'm sure an opinion like that doesn't score many points with the guys."

"Well, I don't wanna play with those guys anyway." she said, using 'play' as a double entendre, I'm sure.

"So what if I started playing it?" I challenged her, smiling. She smiled back.

"I guess I'd just have to keep you too occupied to play it, wouldn't I?" she asked playfully. She reached forward and expertly rubbed at my jeans with her palm, right between the legs.

"I'd rather play with you any day." I said without thinking.I'm not sure what my tone sounded like, but her eyebrows quickly shot up a little, then went back down as quickly as they came up.

"Mhm." she agreed flatly. "Here, let's try this one. Battleblock Theater. Mitch said it's really good."

"Who's Mitch?" I asked.

"Brother." she replied. I noticed her mood visibly shifted. She was sadder. I put my hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

She turned and smiled at me. "What, am I thirteen?" Her smile seemed fake.

After a few rounds of the game spent in complete silence apart from slight laughter and explanations as to how the game worked, with a few choice expletives from Nicole whenever I screwed up, she suddenly pulled a bomb on me. "What would you do if I had sex with another guy?"

My eyes went straight from the game to her, my mouth slightly open in shock. "Wow, that came completely out of nowhere."

"What, can I say, I'm unpredictable." she replied. "So, what would you do if I had sex with another guy? After all, if you're going to get your panties in a knot if I kiss another person, we need to lay down some ground rules."

"Oh, shut up." I laughed, and attempted to playfully shove her. She saw me coming and hooked my arm in hers. She pulled my arm behind my back, immobilizing me, and, being Nicole, kissed me on my neck. I think I let out an involuntary moan.

"Nice try, squirt. You're gonna have to be quicker than that." she replied triumphantly, going back to her seat.

"Alright, I'll bite. How did you know that one?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

"Nuh-uh. I asked a question too. You first." she replied with a wink.

"I guess I wouldn't mind… It would be kinda unfair if I did."

She nodded. "Since you want May's pants."

"Thank you, Nicole." I replied bitterly. "Your turn."

"Karate. Been doing it for about ten years now." She gave me a small smile.

"Wow, that's really cool." I said, legitimately impressed.

She seemed happy that I was. "Oh yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah!" I replied enthusiastically. "I would love to do something like that someday."

"Why don't you join them?" she asked me. "The club has room for more. Plus it would be kinda cool to see you doing more stuff. Let me guess, you wanted to impress your parents with this whole student council thing?"

Yup, bingo. "I shouldn't even be surprised, but how did you know that?" I asked.

She scoffed. "Do you honestly think you look like student council material? You look like the womb spat you out yesterday. No offense."

Amazingly, I didn't take any. I guess I was just used to it from middle school.

She stood up. "C'mon." she started. "If you wanna learn stuff, why not now?" She walked to the center of the room. I followed.

"Learn what?" I asked.

"Well, karate." She answered. She assumed a position where her knees were bent and she was leaning slightly forward. "See this position I'm making? Try to recreate it."

I smiled slightly, and shrugged. Why not? I did want to learn, after all.