Once Upon a Kiss

Chapter 43 - One Kiss Short

     For Kristina, standing under a mistletoe was like standing on a land mine. She thinks she's had enough with the public kissing. Although it only happened once, (a few months ago during the school festival) and it happened to be her first kiss too, she didn't want it to happen again. She couldn't take all the PDA and embarrassment. She was okay with doing it in private, but not too private. She vigorously shook her head and turned red up to her ears when another thought entered her head.

     It was today.

     Today was the day they complete the hundred kisses and the promise they made when they were kids. Kristina was more nervous about coming to Daniel's house. She hasn't visited there for a while now. And she wondered why her uncle Jonathan made a sudden trip back to Europe? She couldn't help wondering why.

     As she was arranging the ornaments, she glanced at Daniel. He was staring oddly at Kristopher and Daniella. Ever since those two confessed to each other, they were always together. To be more precise, Kristopher always found amusement in teasing Daniella so he never left her side once. That's what it seemed on the outside, but in the inside, there was a whole other story that only he and his cousin knew.

     Daniella's face looked like a Picasso today. She was clearly irritated because Kristopher kept teasing her about her "cute" get-up last Tuesday when he dropped off the gifts at her apartment. He didn't forget to mention the bird's nest hairdo and the large, pink bunny-slippers. The weirdest part was... she was still smiling cheerfully. She must be used to it already.

     When Daniel noticed that Kristina had been looking at their direction for a long time now, he looked back at her and gave her a smug look. Her left eye twitched as she continued arranging (read: destroying) the ornaments.

     That evening, she changed into casual clothing and put her hair down on her shoulders. She was at least conscious about her appearance tonight. As she gaped at her reflection on the mirror, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt like she wasn't prepared to face this challenge yet.

     Lizzy suddenly came to her room, probably to check on the scarf. When she noticed that her daughter was all dressed up, she asked why. "Honey..." she looked her up and down. Kristina was getting ready for another lecture about fashion. "You look so adorable today! Are you going somewhere?"

       "Um..." was all that she said. She wore a pair of loose, beige pedal-pushers, a camouflage-patterned shirt and her usual white sneakers. Not really girly, but the items matched, so her mother was actually pleased with her choice of clothing for once. "I'm going over at Daniel's place."

     Her mother's eyes sparkled immediately and Jacob appeared in her room, magically when he heard what she had just said. He looked at his daughter and gave her a slightly-panicked, slightly-confused face. "T-To Daniel's? Why?"

       "I dunno. He just invited me over," she replied. It was half the truth though. There was no way she was telling them that the real reason was to complete that damned promise.

     Jacob suddenly remembered his talk with Daniel. He knew about the situation so he quickly became understanding and considered his reasons for inviting his daughter. And besides, he knew Daniel wouldn't do something stupid to Kristina even if he was on crack. Although, he hope he wasn't.

       "Dear, you're still kids—" he warned, but she interrupted.

       "Dad, if you're thinking that we'll do something dirty... well. Please don't. Because we're not." She was giving her father a reassuring look and she eyed her mother hopelessly. Lizzy was pouring out hearts everywhere. "He told me he just needed to talk to me about something. It's been bothering him the whole week and he's only going to tell me why, tonight."