Future Fighters

      After a few drinks, Nikolai and I got to talking about the worst topic of the night: Girls. I took the bottle and took another swig, then gave it back, "I don't know, you're probably getting laid every other night while I’ve never even kissed a girl." I said, and then looked over to Nikolai, only to find the bastard staring at me. "Not even! You're kidding right?" He said, a huge smile plastered on his face. "You’ve got it all wrong! I don't have time for romance and girls; I have to train to be the best. I have never kissed a girl, and I don't plan to anytime soon. Though with your looks, I figured you would have had every girl in the colony in your bed at least once,” he said as he sat back, then took his turn on the bottle before passing it back off to me. My face was bright red at this point, though he didn’t seem to notice. "Then again..." He said, then turned to face me again, giving me a once over. "You do kind of look like a girl..." he said as I was taking a swig of the vodka. I choked, then gulped down the remaining bit in my mouth, and coughed to clear my lungs. "I l-look like a girl?" I managed to choke out, my eyes watering slightly from the coughing fit and my cheeks most likely an even darker-if-possible shade of red. Nikolai took the bottle back and suppressed his laughter before speaking again, “Some girls like that, you know?” “Do you like that?” I heard myself respond, and then I froze, then quickly turned my head away from him, my eyes wide and my face near crimson. Oh my god. Did I seriously just say that out loud?! I took a deep breath, and then swallowed hard. Now that that was out there, might as well keep going, right? “I-I mean, you said I look like a girl, right? And you like girls, right? W-Well, neither one of us has kissed anyone before... M-Maybe we should just... Get it o-over with..." I said, and then swallowed hard once more, feeling my heart thumping faster in my chest, and a lump forming in my throat. At the awkward silence that followed, I closed my eyes tightly and sighed, turning to face him again, “Look, Niko, forget about it, I-“ and that was where I was cut off by his lips on mine. My eyes widened and before I could really register what was going on, I felt him pull away, his face as red as my own. “There. First kiss is over and done with.” He said, turning his head away and refusing to look at me. I stared at him, my eyes still wide and my heart still running a marathon in my chest. Nikolai just kissed me. Nikolai just kissed me. “Can you do that again? Like… a lot?” I felt myself ask. Nikolai relaxed and rolled his eyes, “C’mere,” He said with a laugh. I leaned in, same as him, and our lips met, only this time I could get over the shock enough to kiss back. I slipped a hand up to tangle in his hair as he tilted his head, deepening the kiss. He brought a hand to my waist, pulling me closer, and before I knew it, we were sucking face hardcore, our mouths a mess of lips and tongue. I couldn’t believe it, and was half expecting to wake up in my own bed, this whole thing being a cruel and wonderful dream. I was snapped out of that dream when he bit my lip, my eyes snapping open and my heart nearly stopping. Oh, yeah. This was real. Very real. I closed my eyes once more and let him pull me closer, my mind nearly floating on the bliss of the moment.

      Sunlight hit my face and I groaned, trying to hide my face into the pillow, though when I tried to shift much more, my body was held in place by an arm wrapped around my torso. My eyes snapped open and I looked down, my eyes meeting a nest of messy black hair, resting against my chest. The events from the previous night swarmed into my mind all at once, causing my face to heat up substantially. I let out an exhale, trying to calm myself, and looked over to the clock. Nine o’clock. ‘It’s fine. We’ll sleep and then deal with… us… when he wakes up.’ I thought, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. That’s when it hit me. Late. We’re late. My eyes snapped open and I shook Nikolai’s shoulders, trying to wake him up. “Niko! Niko, get up! We were supposed to be at the Academy like five hours ago!” I shouted, the only response I received from Nikolai, however, was a grumble of ‘shut up’ and his arms holding me tighter. If he had done this at any other moment, I would have positively melted, but I was too terrified for daydreaming at the moment. “Nikolai, get UP!” I shouted, slapping the back of his head. With a snort, he bolted into a sitting position, sitting still for a moment, before leaning over me, grabbing the clock, then gasping, and chucking it back onto the bedside table. “Dimitri, get the fuck up, we’re late!” he yelled, jumping out of bed and scrambling to get his things together. I let out an annoyed groan and rolled my eyes. Geez. “I just said that, bolvan!” I shouted back as he tripped over himself, trying to pull on his jeans while half hopping into the bathroom across the hall. I gave a small sigh and slipped out of bed, walking over to my backpack and pulling out my uniform. Seeing how the colonies were a place where money was low, and most people didn’t have enough money for the types of uniforms the navigator schools used, the fighter school’s uniform consisted of jeans, a pair of combat boots, and a black tank top with the school crest on a small breast pocket on the shirt. Not very fancy, but it was enough. I pulled off my shirt after pulling on my jeans, and paused as I lifted my tank top. My eyes slowly moved over to look at the doorway of the room, finding Nikolai leaning against it with his toothbrush in his mouth, toothpaste dribbling slightly from his bottom lip. I felt my face heat up a bit; Nikolai’s eyes wandered over my bare torso and I could see a smirk threatening to tug up a corner of his mouth. I cleared my throat, “Can I help you?” I said, trying to keep my voice steady causing him to give a small jump, and his green eyes met my silver. His eyes widened and he gave an embarrassed sort of laugh before leaving the room. The look on his face had been like he had gotten caught doing something bad, and that alone made my face heat up even more. I shook my head and pulled my shirt on, tucking it in, then reaching into my bag for my brush. As I ran it through my hair, I noticed how long it was getting. It was almost shoulder length at this point. Hell, I could put it in a ponytail if I wanted to, though my bangs weren’t long enough to be held back just yet. Nikolai soon re entered the room and a sort of awkward and tense aura filled the space between us. Nikolai cleared his throat and nodded his head in the direction of the bathroom, “Bathroom’s free. Uh… B-Be ready to leave in like five minutes, alright?” he said, trying oh-so-very hard not to make the atmosphere more awkward still. It didn’t work. I gave a nod and he nodded back, “Good.” He said, and I promptly left the room to brush my teeth. Never in a million years did I think that kissing the guy I’d been in love with since age 7 would be so awkward the next day. Not only did we spend the night cuddling, but I caught him checking me out when I was changing. Has he ever done that before? Has he ever done as I had? Looking at me when I wasn’t looking and I was always only just missing it? I shook my head and squeezed toothpaste onto my toothbrush, wetting it under a small trickle of water, then placing it in my mouth, and brushing my teeth. Jesus, I needed to calm down. He was probably just spacing out and I just happened to be there. It was nothing. That kiss sure wasn’t nothing, said a voice in my head. I tried to ignore it, but… It was right. That wasn’t nothing. I had felt something, something wonderful, something beautiful, something… Just… Something. I’m sure Nikolai had too; otherwise why else would he have been so okay with what we had done last night? Stop. Stop. I had to concentrate. Finish what needed to be done. We could deal with that later. I spit into the sink, rinsed off my brush, swished water in my mouth, spat that out, then wiped my mouth on the back of my hand, then took a deep breath before walking back into Nikolai’s room. He was already dressed and ready to go by the time I walked in, and just as I put my toothbrush back in my bag and flung it over my shoulder; he threw a helmet at me, which I thankfully caught before it hit me in the face. “We’re taking the bike,” he said with a smirk, and immediately I felt as though my heart had dropped through my stomach. We were going to die.

       My eyes were tightly shut as I clutched to Nikolai, my arms wrapped around his torso and holding on as if for dear life. Jesus, I hated riding on this damn motorcycle whenever we were in a hurry. He would always drive at mind numbing speeds, weaving through the streets and back roads, nearly hitting everyone that almost crossed our path. And instead of Nikolai being worried, he whooped and hollered with laughter from the ‘excitement of the moment’. Freaking idiot. I gave a yelp as he boosted the speed a bit more. I opened my eyes, trying to see where in the world we were. We were nearing the school now, so please for the love of everything that is holy, please let us not crash and die. Nikolai made a sharp twist with the bike, the tires skidding and causing the bike to stop in a sideways angle beside the school, me clinging to Nikolai harder than ever and my eyes closed so tight, that it kinda hurt. As he turned the motor off, he stuck out a leg to hold the bike up, and gave a laugh. “Babe, you need to get off so we can go inside.” Nikolai said, and I quickly opened my eyes and let go, slipping off of the bike and taking off my helmet. Thank god. Solid land. No more death defying rides on Nikolai’s motorcycle; for now, at least. He walked his motorbike over to the bike rack, pulling a chain out from inside of the seat, and chaining his bike to one of the metal bars beside the other motorcycles. It wasn’t uncommon for kids to have motorcycles in the Russian colonies. Though we didn’t have much money, we held one of the biggest scrap junk yards in all of the colonies, so teenagers would sneak in, and occasionally steal an old, broken down motorcycle, fix it up, and keep it. That’s what Nikolai had done, and, though I don’t like to admit it, I was the one who helped him steal and fix it up. Well, I don’t really regret it. It was one of the times in which I could make Nikolai smile and I would always do everything I could to make him smile, so fixing up a motorcycle was the least I could do. After chaining up his bike, he ran over, grabbed me by the wrist and practically dragged me inside, then pulled me behind one of the pillars by the main doors of the Academy. “Listen. I’ve snuck in here late enough times that I know how to not get caught. So shut up and follow me, alright?” he whispered to me, his face bent close to mine. My face grew a bit hot and I nodded, not daring to say a word. “Good.” He said, then slipped his from my wrist and grabbed my hand instead, pulling me out from behind the pillars after looking around first. The building was overall kind of dimly lit, though bright enough that sneaking around was still a mission. The main building and the entrance hall was rather big, seeing as how the Space Fleet came to this building to challenge the new recruits and see if they make the cut. The entrance hall had a high ceiling, large pillars decorating the white walls. This room was always the best lit room in the Academy, probably because whenever the Navigators would accompany their Fighters to the Academy, the Academy wanted to make a good impression. Nikolai lead me from pillar to pillar, peaking through each time to make sure the coast was clear before moving on. Eventually, we reached the end of the hall, and seeing as it was rather empty, I assumed everyone was at weapons training in the side building and back shooting range.