The Lost Boys: EXTRA CHAPTERS

Harry's Prize

We were hanging around in my room at the end of the week, trying to relax after a heavy week of exams. Seth was strumming on his guitar, Sam was searching for occult websites on his laptop, sitting at the foot of my bed while I looked over his shoulder. Josh was lying on Tristan's bed, tossing a rubber ball up in the air, while Tristan nudged him with his foot, trying to make him lose his balance and drop the ball.

It was a peaceful, warm afternoon. Right up until the moment Harry busted in, all excited, with a piece of paper clutched tight in his hand. We all turned our heads to see him walking fast to the side of my bed. He held up the paper for everybody in the room to see, like presenting a crime piece of evidence to a jury. 

"Okay, everybody!" he shouted, bustling with cheer. "It's time for me to collect my kiss!"  We all stared at him, dumbfounded.

Josh tossed the rubber ball to Tristan and extended his arms to Harry.  "I don't know what you're talking about, but come here, you!" he said, making kissing sounds, smacking his lips at Harry. 

Harry pretended he wasn't seeing Josh and turned to me, waving his paper up to my face.  "Come on, Joey. Promise is a promise!" he said, beaming widely. 

"What?" I asked, confused, staring at the paper being waved in front on my face. 

It was a Math test. A bright red “A+” was written at the top. Harry had aced the test!

"Oh, my God, Harry! Congratulations! You've got an A plus, that's amazing!" I cheered proudly. 

"No, no. No 'Congratulations, Harry'! I want my kiss!" he deadpanned. 

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Sam exclaimed. "You promised that, if anyone aces a test, you’d give them a kiss, Joey. Like you did Tristan that time he aced his History test.”

A recollection started to drift in. Oh, yeah. Tristan had cheekily scored an A plus on his History test because, miraculously, the majority of questions had been focused on the 1940s and early 1950s. At the time, I had said that I'd give a kiss to any Lost Boy holding a test paper with “A+” on it.  I rolled my eyes at Harry when I realized he was taking this seriously.

"Harry, you know I was just joking around," I said, pushing the paper away from my face. 

"You're breaking your promise, then?" Harry said, faking hurt and betrayal.

Soon the boys all joined in Harry's defense. "Yeah, Joey! You did promise! You can't do this to him! He never aced a test before!" they teased me. 

Tristan was surveying the scene with an amused expression, and then he looked at me. He shrugged and smiled, telling me silently he was okay with it. Everybody was still protesting at me when I stood up gracefully from my bed, and walked right up to Harry, putting both of my hands around his cheeks. The commotion stopped abruptly, like someone had just pressed the pause button. 

I looked up at Harry. Small laughter lines marked the corners of his vivid green eyes, registering his smile. I could also spot a hint of smug attitude in his gaze, like he was daring me to chicken out on my promise. So I leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips.  

It was a nice kiss, not hot and heavy, but deep enough to count as a real kiss. His lips were sweet and his scent hazelnutty. His lip ring felt cold and hard against the warm softness of his thin lips, giving a vibrant contrasting sensation. It felt . . . different to kissing Tristan.  For a brief moment, I forgot I had an audience, but soon enough I remembered they were all watching intently and I quickly ended the kiss.

“There you go, Harry,” I said, looking up at him. "I never break a promise."

I walked back to my bed, resuming the same position I’d been in before.  I glanced quickly around the room. The Lost Boys all stared at me in shock.  Harry was standing stock still in the middle of the room, and looked like he’d been struck by lightning. He had thought I would never dare to kiss him. It took a few seconds for everybody to realize what had just happened.