Rain in the Meadow

Chapter Five: A Punchy Kiss

Chapter Five: A Punchy Kiss

Even with the four-inch heels, Sydney was a head taller than me. I figured he was about 6'6", but he wasn't as lanky as he maybe should have been. His golden blonde hair was worn as it usually was, up in a mini Mohawk, and his eyes seemed to glow in the semi-darkness. The black T-shirt he wore hugged his chest and biceps, showing the definition of his muscles. His blue jeans were baggy and hung low on his hips, but I felt awkward looking down to see what shoes he was wearing.

            I danced with him, but it wasn't exactly with him at first. Not until he put his hands on my hips and pulled me in so that my back was pressed against his chest. I danced to the music like that, probably moving my hips more than was necessary. I felt like something that had once constricted me was gone, broken away. I felt free of limitations or consequences.

When the next slow song came on, he tugged me around so that I was facing him. I leaned against him and he put his arms around me. I glanced around the dance floor, trying to find social queues that would tell me what to do next. Through the crowd, I found Shannon and Jace dancing in much the same position, except that Shannon had her hands in the back pocket of Jace's jeans. He was smiling down at her, as though they were having a silent conversation. I looked around some more, uncomfortable with the thought of putting my hands in the back pocket of Sydney's jeans. In fact, I felt like if I put my hands in there, with the extra weight, his pants might fall off. I found Andrea and Eli, although they weren't exactly dancing. They were dancing the way Sydney and I were, but it kind of just looked like their make-out session had simply continued onto the dance floor. I found Meadow, who was dancing with a tall brunette who had a piercing through the center of her bottom lip. When she saw me, she smiled brightly, and I supposed that she was pretty.

I sighed and nuzzled my face into the crook of Sydney's neck. With my face nuzzled there, I could smell him. He smelled like soap and rain. I didn't know it was possible to capture the scent of rain, but it seemed to me as though Sydney had done it.

Above me, Sydney whispered in my ear. "I forgot to tell you. You look beautiful tonight."

I looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you." I tugged on the hem of his shirt. "This shirt makes your muscles look sexy."

He snickered. "Don't they always?"

I thought about what I had seen of him this week. "Well, I don't know. I guess I never noticed."

The look he gave me said he didn't believe me. "I find that hard to believe. It's most of what the girls at our school talk about. My eyes and my muscles."

I blushed, feeling a little out-casted. "Um...well...I didn't..."

I didn't notice that I had looked down until he tilted my chin up. He gazed down at me and I couldn't help the excitement that pulsed inside me at the thought of him kissing me. He had nice full lips and I couldn't help imagining them kissing me. He caught my gaze, he knew what I wanted. A few seconds later, he gave it to me. He lowered his head and brushed his lips across mine. His lips felt good, so I leaned up into him. He kissed me softly at first, pulling away to make sure I approved.

I shook my head. "You're not allowed to stop until I say so." My words seemed to run together, but I didn't care. I just wanted to kiss him. Heck, I wanted to have sex with him. Right there on the dance floor.

He smiled and leaned down again, kissing me harder this time. I kissed him back eagerly, too happy to have his lips back. He gave up on the dancing and instead wrapped his arm around my waist, bringing me closer to him. His tongue slid into my mouth and I slid my tongue against it at first.

An arm wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me backward, away from Sydney. I looked up to find that it was Meadow and that he was very unhappy. I had to restart my brain to figure out what I'd just done. Meadow looked like he was going to punch Sydney in the face as a distraction to cutting off his balls. Instinctively, I stepped between them. "Sam. Back off."

He glared at me. "I'll deal with you later. Now step out of my way, Rayne." I shook my head defiantly. "Now, Rayne."

Instead, I stepped toward Meadow. "Leave him alone, Sam." I squared my shoulders, ready to defend Sydney if I had to. Meadow didn't give me the chance. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away. I tried to pull away from him, but he was too strong. I looked back toward where Sydney was supposed to be, but he had vanished. Looking around the room, I didn't see him anywhere.

"Meadow! Let go!"

He didn't even answer; he just pulled me into a room that might have been Lydia's. "Do you even realize what you've done, Rayne?"

"Release me, Meadow. Now." I was started to get mad. I'd never been mad at Meadow before. Not once.

He released me and flung himself onto the bed. "How am I supposed to protect you if you go against my better judgment?"

"I didn't go against your better judgment. You were right there! You're acting like I disappeared into a room with him."

"We've been here a week and the one guy I don't like..."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What, Meadow? What?"

"You practically threw yourself at him!" He was glaring at me like I'd betrayed him. As far as I knew, I hadn't. So, unless he had some sort of attraction to me that he'd never spoken of...

"I did not throw myself at him! I happen to like him and he happens to like me! There's no problem with that." Oh no. Was there? Was I forgetting something? I tried to think, but my head was filled with fog, and it seemed like the more I thought, the dizzier I got. I stumbled backward a little bit, but Meadow was there to keep me from falling into Lydia's desk.

He looked down at me with concern; all trace of his anger had vanished. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I feel...weird." My words were slurring again. I wasn't even sure if I was making proper sense. Had he just asked me if I liked spaghetti? I opened my mouth to tell him that I liked it, only if there were no meatballs, but he spoke first.

"When did this start?" I shrugged, my head too foggy to think about it. He tried a different approach. "Okay, what have you done since you got here? I mean, besides dancing and kissing Sydney."

I laughed. "Sydney's nice."

Meadow sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Did he give you something to drink, maybe?" Oh no. He had.

"Umm...yep. He said it was punch. He told me it might be spiked, but then he said he was kidding. I dunno what punch is though. Hey, do you know what-hey, where are you going?" He hadn't listened to what I was saying; he'd just stormed out of the room.

He came back several seconds later, looking even angrier than he had when he'd left. "Where is he?"

"Who? Meadow, who are you looking for?" I looked at him, chuckling a little bit because his face looked strange when he was mad. Oh no wait, that was just me. The whole room was spinning, growing fuzzy around the edges. "What...what's wrong with me?" Meadow looked down at me, confused now. "Am I dying?!" I panicked, but then I passed out and it didn't matter anymore.