Ezra May

Chapter 5

Vic and I walk down the carpeted staircase and then into the kitchen to get some drinks; I am not into alcohol that much,- mainly because mom doesn't drink and I don't ever go to parties- but I still grab some beer that has been poured into a red Solo cup and lightly sip it.

"Well looky there, poor Ezra is trying to make herself look pretty," Mika says with a dramatic pout as soon as we walk into the living room where all of her evil friends are huddled together on the brown leather couches, and Jack is just staring at me surprised by something, maybe because I am actually in the same house at the same party a Mika, "too bad it will never work." At that, Jack rubs the back of his neck and looks down to the ground.

"Geez, Mi get some eye's stop acting like a jealous bitch! Ezra is beautiful and you know it." Vic says gripping my arm and whirling around in her purple short flowy dress as she begins to pull me into the next room. There it is again, Vic called Mika jealous, just like Jack did, but that makes no since Mika might be a horrible person but she is still by far the prettiest girl in our grade, and the second prettiest girl in the entire school. (Amy is the prettiest.)

"Wait, come back here," Mika says before we are all the way out of the room and we stop but we don't turn around or begin walking back into the room. "Play a game of Spin the Bottle with us, it will be fun and you might actually get your first kiss." I grit my teeth, she just hit a nerve and I don't know why but I can't let it go, I need to show Mi that I am not afraid of her.

"No, and I actually have kissed someone before, it might be hard for your small minded brain to process but it is true." I say the words as though each is a dagger. She looks even more mad now, and that is exactly what I want.

I begin to walk into the next room with a smirking Victoria when Mika says, "Prove it." I turn around, "Prove that you have kissed someone before by playing, give your best kiss" Jack looks at her like she is actually insane. All of her and Jack's friends are laughing or smiling while they start to make a circle and they put an empty glass soda bottle in the middle of them.

I walk over and sit down in the circle, Vic sits on the couch with a big plop and a sigh. "Deal," I say. I take a deep breath and place my hand on the bottle and spin it clockwise. And of course with my luck it comes to a stop pointing at none other than Jack Bradford. You have to be kidding me. Please No. To my surprise it looks as though Jack is nervous, but Mika just smirks and laughs a little.

"Well are y'all going to kiss or what?" Mika says coolly, but I can tell it is fake. She is actually nervous; I made Mika Wellington nervous, and I am happy about it.

I get on my knees and take a deep breath pushing any other thoughts aside and lean into Jack. I bring my lips to his. He is stiff at first but after a heart beat he softens and begins to kiss me back. I lean into him more and slightly suck on his bottom lip, and I can slightly taste mint. He leans into me and touches the back of my neck softly, while I bring my hand to the side of his cheek that is now slightly rosy. Suddenly for a moment the world seems to stop, and it is just me and Jack. Kissing Jack is not like kissing Adryan. When I kissed Adryan it just felt fun, but this, this feels dangerous, but at the same time I don't want to stop. After more seconds than necessary I get nervous and do stop then I sit back down and cross my legs again. I bite the bottom of my lip and look down at my lap.

"Jack, was that enough to show you that I have kissed a guy before?" I ask flipping my long black hair over my shoulder trying to sound confident and like that is the only reason the kiss was longer than it should have been. Trying to act as though it was just a game, even though deep down I know that might be how it started but it definitely wasn't by the end of it.

Jack begins to blush looking a little surprised by the fact that actually just kissed him. "Aaah I mean it wasn't the best kiss I have ever had," he says looking at Mika awkwardly and blushing even more than he already was, "but it didn't seem like her first time kissing either." The last bit he says he looks at me, while I am trying to keep my face neutral, then he looks back at Mika who looks so mad she might just kill Jack- or me for that matter - if she was not in a room with a bunch of people.

Vic looks a little annoyed but at the same time she is so surprised she stays silent until we leave the room. For the rest of the night we talk and laugh and occasionally I will meet eyes with Jack but I quickly look away before anyone notices us.

I never stopped thinking of Jack that night, of how he was so gentle when he kissed me and how genuine it actually felt. I never stopped thinking of how somehow kissing him felt right, but was wrong in so many ways. How all I wanted to do was go back and kiss him again.

I pull out my phone while sitting on my patched up gray comforter on my bed that I have had since I was seven, now I am sixteen. I write a quick caption and post a picture of my drawing of the bonfire that I drew a few weeks ago. I am so nervous because this will be the first time anyone -other than my family and Vic- has ever seen my work. I really hope that this works and helps to get my work out in the world.

After I post the photo I plug my phone in and begin to draw a mint leaf, to symbolize something embarrassing, but at the same time something that gives me butterflies every time I think about it.