Confessions of a Teenage Caffeine Addict

31 // 6:34

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just a reminder, this is present day. Jake has had Emma. Jules is gone (though Katie doesn't know that yet). Katie lives with her dad and is dating Derek.

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You said you'd keep me honest

But I won't call you on it

I don't blame you for being you

But you can't blame me for hating it

—Fall Out Boy, A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More "Touch Me"

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KATIE

FEBRUARY

There are things in life that every person wishes for. Things they want. Things they believe should happen, or are supposed to happen. Having Jake Roswell kiss me in the middle of the hallway, after third period was not something that should have happened. I don't even think it was supposed to happen. But I can't say that I didn't want it. Because I did. And I was never really the same after his lips touched mine.

"So, dinner after practice?" Derek asked me as we were leaning against the lockers.

"Like, you're gonna put on nice clothes and shower?" I asked as I played with his fingers

"I'll even comb my hair," he said and I raised my eyebrows just to tease him.

"Oh, I can't resist a guy who combs their hair." I laughed

"You can't resist me. Period." Derek tucked a few loose strands of hair behind my ear. "I'll pick you up at 7."

"No, you won't," Calum said as he strolled by. "I'm picking Ava up at 7. Hi, Katie." He said as he kept walking, not leaving anything open to discussion.

"Hi, Calum!" I called out after him.

"Fine," Derek held his hands up. "I'll see you at 7:01," Derek rolled his eyes.

I grabbed the bottom of Derek's sweatshirt. "Why don't you make it 7:02, give them an extra minute to make out."

"Oh boy, a whole minute." He let me tug him closer. I stood up on my tippy toes and placed a soft, kiss on Derek's lips. And then another kiss on his nose. He had a goofy smile on his face after I pulled away. "Okay, 7:02 it is."

"Bye, Derek," I said before walking off to English class, readjusting my tote bag.

Jake came around the corner and froze when he saw me. He just kinda stared. And then he marched forward, right up to me, took my face in his hands and kissed me. It was long and sweet, yet fleeting and quick. Like a sunset. How it seems to set ever so slowly, then at the last second, slips behind the cover of the horizon until the next day. And it leaves behind a glow of purples and oranges and pinks that soon fade to just a murky, hazy purple—a reminder of the joy that you just experienced.

In one hand, I was holding my phone, mid-text to Ava. And my other hand was wrapped around the handles of my tote bag, which hung precariously off of my shoulder. Every other part of my body seemed to freeze as he kissed me, except my lips, because I sure as hell kissed him back. Eyes closed. Lips parted. Us kissing.

I thought about the first time Jake had kissed me, in the bathroom at Blackie's, where he had shoved me up against the wall and that was that. A hungry, sad, wanting kiss. But this kiss, was the exact opposite. It was an 'I'm-sorry-I-have-a-girlfriend-and-she's-pregnant-but-we-fucking-belong-together" kiss.