The Art of Unopulence

25 | melt

"Right." he nods in understanding, calmly staring at the door.

'Great!' I huff to myself, 'That means I need to take charge of things here.'

"Ok, so have you at least practiced kissing with your fingers or something?" I ask, cracking my fingers.

Nathaniel narrows his eyes, taken aback, glaring at the door with a fervent prayer in his eyes. At least I'm not the only person who's awkward here.

"I don't see how that's any of your business here." He says in a low voice.

"It is my business if you're going to slobber over my face."

"Slobbering saliva on someone is hardly hygienic," Nathaniel responds in a flat tone, "And I certainly will not be slobbering like a domesticated quadruped on your face, Ariya."

"Six minutes!" someone shouts from outside.

I throw my hands in the air, aggravated. Nathaniel conveniently averts his gaze towards the closed oak wood door and I suspect he's planning to wait out the remaining six minutes staring longingly at the door.

Cursing explicitly under my breath, I take a determined step forward and point at his hand that's half inside his front pant pockets.

"Ok, so you can keep that hand here." I pat my shoulder, "And keep the other by your side or wherever you're comfortable. My front is out of bounds."

Nathaniel presses his mouth hard and swallows as he keeps his right hand on my shoulder, he says, "I'll keep the other hand by my side."

"You've seen kisses in films right?" I look up at his face through my eyelashes.

He pulls his mouth in a thin line and nods.

"It's against the rules to simply stand!" Cyana shouts from outside, her voice slurring a little, "We'll leave you two inside here until you kiss."

I roll my eyes and look up at Nathaniel's face earnestly.

"I'm going to kiss you now, is that alright?"

My mother would be so proud of my manners right now. I remember her reiterating the importance of consent after getting suspended from school for breaking Brett's nose.

Nathaniel nods subtly, holding his breath.

It's unnerving to see him waiting for me to take charge and I realise I might just need some liquid courage after all. Licking my lips, I glance at the full cherry vodka shot on the shelf beside me and exhale.

"Are you planning to have that?" I ask Nathaniel breathily.

"No, you can ha-"

Without waiting for him to complete his sentence I lean towards the shelf and pick it up with three fingers, finishing it in one go- the dizzy rush immediately sending my head spinning. Like I said, I'm a complete lightweight.

"Thanks." I grin, "Just give me a moment. I need to text Dad and tell him I'm sober."

I sway sideways a little, closing my eyes as Nathaniel holds my elbow to steady me.

"Careful." He says softly as I reach out for my phone.

Unlocking the screen, I tap on the messenger app relying on memory. I blink at it, struggling to read the chat names as I all but hang on to Nathaniel's towering figure.

"Here, let me do it." he offers helpfully and I hand my phone over to him.

"I would have done it myself, but my eyes are shaking." my words drag slightly as I spout what makes perfect sense in my slightly meddled mind, "Thanks though. You're a total sweetheart!"