~Dedicated to sneaky kisses~
Chapter Thirteen
Have you ever been through that awkward moment where you know no matter how much you prayed and wished for something to be taken back, but it wouldn’t happen? I was going through that at this very moment, all because I had kissed Sean in the ‘sick room’ while were locked in. To be honest, I didn’t regret the kiss at all, in fact if I could I would have kissed him all night long and even now in the morning, but the fact that everyone else was still in the cabin and not to mention the fact that Dave was here too, made my stomach churn with guilt.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In movies popular girls never had these problems, no they just smiled and with the click of their fingers everything would be cheery and people would go back to loving them, but here I was. Still geeky and nervous as ever, kissing boys behind my kind boyfriend’s back and worst of all, actually enjoying the kiss more than I could ever imagine. I Vivienne Lanter, had just made a right mess out of my life, and the only thought swimming in my mind was that Dave could never find out about this.
"Lanter," a deep voice called out, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I licked my lips nervously, glancing down at Sean who had just woken. My lips found themselves quirking into a small smile, despite the guilt which was washing over me like giant waves, swallowing me whole. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I managed to force away the horrible shame which consumed me and smiled down at Sean as he began to sit up, taking in the room slowly as though he thought we would have been out by now.
"Morning," I greeted, my voice slightly shaky.
Sean turned to me, hazel eyes still sleepy yet they were bright and shining from the sun’s rays in a golden honey tone, "Morning."
"We uh…" I began then stopped, turning red slightly, "No one opened the door yet," I finally said.
He nodded, then yawned, "What time is it?"
I shrugged, "I’m not sure."
Turning to me, Sean caught my look then smiled softly, "About last night Lanter," he started, "we were both drunk and you know…" he sighed, "not ourselves."
I nodded, wanting to believe every word he spoke.
"And besides, no one exactly knew we were here," he continued, "so," he glanced at me again, "no one has to know about what happened."
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Sean opened his mouth again, "But you know-"
He was cut off when the door opened suddenly revealing Chris who looked as tired as I felt, his eyes red rimmed and his usual cheerful smile pressed into a half-grin. For a moment, it was as though shock had taken over his features, before he regained his composure and grinned at both Sean and I, somehow sending Sean a knowing look that I caught.
"There you two are," he greeted, "everyone thought that you took off to the lake."
"At this time," Sean asked with another yawn.
Chris shrugged, "Either way, everyone’s already headed down there."
Sean turned to me, and with a grin he asked, "How about one last swim before we leave?"
"Mum," I yelled, "I’m home!"
"In the lounge honey," I heard my mother call out.
With a sigh, I dumped my heavy bags at my feet in the hallway, before walking towards the lounge, spotting my mother sitting cross-legged on the floor with Holly. Forgetting about my problems with the whole Sean and Dave thing for a moment, I grinned down at Holly as she stood up and beamed at me widely. Her dark hair was braided with a long pink ribbon and she wore a simple summer dress that came down to her ankles.
"Vivienne," she greeted, running towards me and enveloping me into a tight hug.
I grinned, raising my eyebrows at my mother before I returned Holly’s warm hug.
"Jeff had a meeting to attend and he didn’t want to leave Holly home by herself," my mother explained, "besides Holly wanted to see you."
I laughed slightly, turning my attention to Holly and asked, "Is that true?"
Holly nodded shyly, "Yes."
I smiled, "Well aren’t you the sweetest ever?"
Grinning, Holly turned to my mother, "Can we go to the park now?"
My mother turned to me, "Are you up to it Viv?"
I shrugged, "Yeah that would be great."
After everything with Dave and Sean, going to a park might actually be good for me and besides there was the bonus of little Holly being there. I smiled warmly at the five year old before we headed off to the park.
The park was buzzing with life. People were walking around with kids, ice cream carts were in full action and of course there were a few couples walking around. I turned my attention to Holly, feeling my stomach twist as the thought of kissing Sean came back into my mind. The fact that the kiss had been beyond amazing made my cheeks flush red and the tingling to return to my lips. I let a sigh escape my lips, for once letting myself indulge in the thought of kissing Sean, but it didn’t last long.
"What’s wrong?"
I turned to my mother and gave her a weak smile, "Nothing mum, I’m fine."
My mother raised an eyebrow at me, clearly not believing a word I said, "Viv, I’ve raised you as a single mother your whole life, trust me sweetheart, I know when you’re lying."
I groaned, "It’s about the lake house."
"Did you lose your virginity?" my mother asked, her tone sounding slightly panicked.
My cheeks went red, "What! No mum!"
My mother let out a breath of relief, "Good. Then what is bothering you?"
Swallowing, I replied, "Well Dave was being super sweet about everything but…"
"But?" my mother prompted.
"But he was talking a lot to Amanda," I answered.
"Who’s Amanda?" my mother asked.
"She’s Sean’s friend, and she’s like a model," I replied.
My mother sighed, sitting back against the bench, her eyes going to Holly who was climbing up the jungle gym, before she spoke, "You know when I was young, I had a lot of mixed feelings about your father."
I turned to her, my eyes widening slightly. Mum never really spoke about my father, so to hear her now was a shock.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well for starters, I was in a relationship with someone else," she replied, "and your father, he wasn’t exactly the best boyfriend material."
I frowned, "But you still fell in love with him, didn’t you?"
My mother nodded, her dark hair bobbing, "Yes, I did. But the point is Vivienne, no matter how much you might think you know about the person you’re with, remember that love is unexpected, it strikes you when you least expect it."
I groaned, "Mum, that’s no help."
"What I’m trying to say honey is that maybe you should give Dave more time?" she replied, "And maybe keep your options open."
"Options open to who?" I asked, my brows furrowing.
My mother gave me a sly smile, "Oh you’ll see."
Muttering under my breath about ‘mothers being too vague’, I decided that I’d take mum’s advice about Dave. So maybe I was overreacting about the whole Amanda thing, I mean Amanda was a friendly girl and besides she did look like she had a crush on Sean or maybe she already had a boyfriend and didn’t see the point in being sad and single when she could make friends with everyone around her. Yes, that was the answer Viv, Amanda was just being friendly and you overreacted.
"Viv," Dave greeted me the next day at school.
I felt my tongue getting thicker as I stumbled over words, "Dave…uh yeah hi."
He frowned, "You look pale, are you okay?"
I nodded, "Aha, I’m awesome."
Dave’s lips broke out into a smile, "That’s good."
Nodding again, I turned to scan the parking lot, feeling slightly disappointed when Sean’s car or bike wasn’t there. He must have left before I could get out, which was completely understandable, I mean he has a life and so do I and more importantly I have a boyfriend, who was standing in front of me and talking. Shaking away the thoughts of Sean, I returned my gaze back to Dave with a half-smile.
"Sorry what," I asked.
Dave’s eyes twinkled in amusement, "I was asking you about the time I should pick you up tonight?"
I frowned, "Why?"
"Today’s the annual carnival, remember?" Dave replied.
My eyes widened, as the memory of Dave asking me out to the carnival. God Viv, you should seriously star on your own show called, ‘Forgetful Geeks’, I mean you would at least make money out of looking stupid. Seriously how could you have forgotten about this whole date thing with Dave? Can you even go out with him, especially after the whole kissing Sean thing? God Viv, stop being such a coward and do what mum said to.
"Oh yeah," I replied, a smile taking over my lips, "how could I forget?"
"Good," Dave answered, before leaning forward and placing a light kiss onto my cheek, frowning when I stiffened at the contact. Pulling away, he spoke, this time his voice seemed detached, "So is seven fine with you?"
I was about to reply, when I was cut off by Juliet who ran towards me, "Viv, I need you to do me a huge favour."
I breathed a sigh in relief, glad that Juliet had interrupted. I couldn’t stand another minute with Dave alone without wanting to blurt out the stupid kissing Sean at the lake house.
"What favour?" I asked, ignoring the way Dave looked at me.
"You know about dad manning the dunking booth right?" Juliet asked, and after I nodded, she continued, "well this year he’s got another food stand and he needs me to work at it, so he wanted me to ask you to you know be the girl in the dunking booth?"
My eyes widened, "What? No way, I mean God, not in the tank."
Juliet gave me a puppy dog look, "Please? The whole booth is rigged so that only someone with an amazingly good aim can get you into the water."
I sighed, "Can’t I handle the food?"
Juliet shook her head, "Dad wants to promote the new specials which you haven’t learnt to make yet, so please, say yes?"
With a groan I replied, "Fine, but you so owe me."
"Thank you," Juliet beamed, flinging her arms around me, "I’ll make sure to pay you back."
I nodded, but couldn’t help smiling in return, "What time do I start?"
"Around five, but don’t worry, you’ll be done by seven," Juliet replied.
I turned to Dave who managed a shrug before saying, "I’ll meet you at the booth then."
I smiled in gratitude, "Thanks for understanding."
Juliet nodded, "Definitely Dave," she responded, "you’re literally saving my butt and Viv’s."
Dave smiled again, "Well then, I’ll guess I’ll see you later?"
I nodded and let out a relieved breath as soon as he was out of earshot. Turning to me, Juliet raised her eyebrows before speaking, "Spill all the details, now or else I’ll make you sit in that booth until midnight."
"Seriously Jules," I hissed under my breath, "do I seriously have to wear that?"
Juliet gave me an apologetic smile, "Look I know you’re super uncomfortable with bikinis, so I made sure you got to wear this."
I groaned, turning to stare at myself in the mirror. Even though I was technically covered, I still felt exposed. My legs were on full display, the only thing covering them were a pair of black shorts and my upper torso was covered by a short shirt, which seemed to have been knitted by a blind bat. It looked a lot like a knitted shirt, with gaping holes in between each stitching, causing the pink bikini top underneath to stick out like a neon sign.
"Can’t I go fully clothed?" I whined.
"Viv you’re très belle," Juliet responded, "so stop worrying about going out dressed like this."
I glanced at my best friend’s reassuring green eyes in the mirror and found myself nodding at her. She was right; I was Vivienne Lanter, no longer the geek but a popular and gorgeous girl who could do anything from Maths homework to making guys’ jaws drop. Yes, that’s right; I was so confident and wonderful that not even Jessica had anything on me.
"Sweet dreams are made of these," I sang to myself, watching as a large guy aim at the target with the red ball.
Juliet hadn’t been lying when she said that only someone with an exceptionally good aim could have caused me to fall into the cold pool of water below me. I sighed, watching as the beefy red haired guy aim at the circular target next to the tank, before throwing the ball towards it with such force that for a moment I second doubted Juliet’s father and thought that I was going to fall straight into the water below, but instead of hitting the target, the ball bounced off the tank and hit the guy straight back on the head.
"Oh my God," I gasped, my singing coming to a stop, "are you okay?"
The guy groaned, before rubbing at his head and staring daggers in my direction, "This game is totally rigged!"
I scoffed, "You hit the tank!"
"Whatever," he muttered, "it’s still rigged."
"What’s rigged?"
I turned to the familiar voice and felt my heart rate quicken slightly. My eyes connected with deep hazel ones, and instantly I felt my mouth going dry and my cheeks to heat up. I stared wide eyed at Sean Gregory, dressed in his usual black jeans and white t-shirt which was covered by his black leather jacket. He completed his whole bad boy look with his combat boots, which I had to admit looked really good on him. My cheeks flamed up again, when I realised that I had been openly eyeing out Sean from behind the glass tank.
"Uh…" I started, "Sean, hi," I squeaked.
Sean smirked at me, "I didn’t know you were into getting wet."
I narrowed my eyes as his second meaning rang through his words, "Shut up."
He chuckled, "So how many turns do I get?"
Juliet suddenly appeared, wearing an apron and her red hair sticking to her forehead. She turned to me and grinned, "Good news Viv, it’s seven."
I sighed in relief, "Finally, I can get out."
Sean pouted, "Don’t I get one last try?"
Juliet turned to Sean with a smile, "Sure go for it, three tries and then Viv gets to go."
I turned to look at Sean who seemed to smirk wider at me, before he took the first red ball and aimed. Shooting me thumbs up, he threw the ball, sending it flying towards the target and hitting it dead in centre. A scream left my mouth as the board I sat on gave away, causing me to fall straight into the icy water and into the glass tank. Water surged across my face and hair. I blinked before pulling up through the surface of the water, coughing and wiping at my face.
I was rewarded by laughter, coming from both Sean and Juliet who looked slightly impressed before she rushed over towards the tank and through a towel over and whispered, "Now that was good aim."
I shot her a glare, before crawling up the ladder and wrapping myself in the white towel. It was already getting dark, and the air was cold, sending my skin into goosebumps mode. I shivered slightly as I climbed down from the dunking tank and sighed, pulling the towel around my body tighter. I needed to change before I died of hypothermia.
"Here," a deep voice mumbled from behind me.
I jumped up, before turning to face Sean, who held out his jacket for me. I glanced down at it, then back up at his face which in the light from the different carnival rides, looked strangely fairy-like and handsomer than ever. I swallowed, licking my lips before glancing back at his jacket. Just take it Viv, it’s only a jacket and besides, you don’t want to die from hypothermia, do you?
I reached out, my hand taking his jacket before I slipped it on. It was surprisingly warm and smelt strongly of something like cinnamon and somehow a lot like cologne. I took in a deep breath, before turning to face Sean with a small smile. With his jacket off, his muscles were a lot more visible, especially when he wore a plain white t-shirt. I couldn’t help the sigh that left my lips, then blushed again, realising that Sean had heard it. I waited for the crude comment or something smug but instead was taken by surprise when Sean’s hands took mine in his.
"You’re freezing," he said, his voice low and sending shivers down my back.
He began to rub his hands against mine, clearly not knowing the effect he was having on my body. My face flushed, as my skin began to tingle in excitement. My stomach had started its annoying tumbling around and my heart rate was soaring at speeds that were sure to give me a heart attack. I sucked down a moan that wanted to leave my lips, and glanced up at Sean. What was he doing? We put the whole lake house thing behind us and now this?
I opened my mouth, but suddenly stopped when Sean dipped down slowly, his eyes flying down to my lips, then back to my eyes; almost as if he was asking permission. Ignoring the fact that we were in the middle of a carnival or that I was only dressed in shorts and a shirt, hidden under Sean’s big jacket, I let my eyes close and leaned forward, feeling Sean’s warm mouth against mine. It was like someone had turned on the light switch and everything had come on.
My senses exploded in a mass of fireworks, the kiss deepening instantly as my mouth moved against Sean’s. His mouth parted, his tongue searching out, before trailing against my lips, causing them to part. I felt my stomach go from steady somersaults to crazy acrobatic spins and twirls. My body reeled from the pleasure, and I found myself moaning when Sean’s fingers slowly trailed down to my back.
Suddenly I pulled away, my mind racing back to Dave who was supposed to meet me any moment. My body protested as I pulled away from the kiss, my skin craving the warmth of Sean and my lips begging to be kissed again. Sucking in a breath, and trying my best to get rid of the blush which seemed to enjoy its permanent place on my cheeks, I spoke.
"We…" I began then stopped, "We shouldn’t kiss."
Sean frowned, "Why? I like it and so do you so there’s no problem in kissing."
I bit my lower lip, "It’s…urgh" I groaned, "It isn’t fair on Dave if I kiss you when I’m dating him."
Sean’s eyes flashed with hurt before the emotion fled. He pulled away, his mouth twisting into a smirk that tore at my heart like knives before he replied, "Oh yeah, Davey boy."
I nodded, "You understand right?"
Sean shrugged, "Of course I do Lanter," he tossed me another smirk, "you’re a good girl, you don’t kiss any other guy but your boyfriend."
My eyes narrowed, "Hey, you kissed me."
Sean leaned forward, his eyes swimming with anger, "But you kissed me back," his whispered.
"What’s going on here?" a voice suddenly called out, before Sean got punched squarely
A/N Hey Geeklings! How nice am I? An early upload! I should get an award or something right??? LOL, tell me what you think about the chapter, because seriously, this is a milestone thing for me to write when I'm this hyper =P Did you like it? What about the kiss? PS Who do you think it was that punched Sean? Dave? The red headed kid who called the booth rigged? Juliet? Some random hooker wearing shorts and fishnets (yet I wore that once)? Tell mw what you think people! Remember to vote, comment and spread the word about the story peeps B)
Peace, love and high heeled boots (cos I really would love a new pair)
xoxo
Mona-Mae =)