It Happened Last Year

Chapter 27

Then he pulls away.

Are there tears streaming down my cheeks? Am I holding my breath? Did I make it?

"Y-You. . ." I murmur, not knowing what to say. This is the first kiss that I have made it all the way through. With Mr. Russ, I always pulled away. Why didn't I pull away? I should have pulled away. "You can't do that."

Daniel crosses his arms, hiding his amusement with a straight face. "I can't?"

My cheeks flush with color, shades of pink and red pouring out onto my face, all for him to enjoy. It gives me away, well, the blushing and the nervousness that I am making very clear. I can't even stand right—my fingers messing with the hem of my shirt is not helping. "You. . . You can't."

"Are you going to try and run away? Should I take your keys again?" He plays along, enjoying this very much.

I blush even harder, my hands swiping at my face as if that will take it away. What would a normal girl do? What would she say? My mind is running blank. "What does this mean?"

Daniel shrugs. I watch as he leans down to his bag and pulls out a shirt. He hands it to me, and I take it, confused. Daniel then decides to take off the shirt he is wearing as if this is something casual. My blush intensifies if that is possible.

He drops the shirt he was wearing into the bag, then takes the other from me before slipping it on. I have seen him without a shirt on—it is truly a wonderful experience—but never after a kiss. It is different now.

He leaves me speechless by jogging off onto the track, leaving me standing with a flushed face and wide eyes.

What the hell? What the hell was that?

Immediately, I grab my phone from my pocket and tap Jana's contact. Wandering away from the track, I bring the device to my ear, breathing heavily. She answers.

"Hey, I was just about to call you. We're going to a party at Watts' tonight," she says right off the bat. "Did you find Daniel?"

"Uh, I did a little more than find him," I mumble. "He kissed me. Daniel kissed me out of nowhere."

"What? He kissed you!"

"I think I'm going to throw up," I tell her.

There's a moment of silence. "Wait. It was that bad?"

"No. It was amazing," I breathe out. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the cafeteria. Meet me in the main hallway."

I hang up and shove my phone back into my pocket. After stealing once more glance of Daniel, I hurry to meet Jana.

It would be stupid to think that he is with Daphne now, wouldn't it? I mean, Daniel did just kiss me. Why? I am not sure about that. It would probably be weird to ask why someone had kissed you, but how else am I supposed to figure out what it means? He just shrugged. What does a shrug mean? I can always ask Jana, but she'll probably tell me it means he wants to marry me.

I internally groan.

I find Jana leaned against a row of lockers, and when she spots me, she rushes over. Her face says a lot.

"What was it like? Was it long? Was there tongue? Did he place his hand on the side of your face to stop your hair from falling into it?"

My mouth opens and closes, then opens and closes. "It's hard to remember. There was no, no tongue," I say slowly, bothered a little. "But he definitely knows what he's doing. He's wasn't hesitant at all. The weird part was, I didn't hate it."

"Well, you did say it was amazing. How can you hate amazing?"

I don't know how to explain it without mentioning Mr. Russ, without talking about my discomfort and tears with him. "I don't know. The idea of kissing has made me upset ever since Harrison. I thought I would have freaked out."

Jana smiles. "It's good that you didn't. You're healing, Hailey. Now, Watts' tonight, come over around six and I'll have something cute for you to wear."

A short sight escapes me. "Watts needs to stop having parties on school nights."

"Oh, he just assumes that everyone coming is cool," she jokes. "This party-thing is important. Daniel kissed you, and now you have to look like a million bucks."

"He's going to be there?"

Jana playfully rolls her eyes. "Of course. How can he not be when you're going?" The bell rings and she begins to drift away. "My place, six o'clock, be there."