Chapter Eleven
Sunday, July 17
It was shocking, to put it simply.
I didn't know how this happened, or why my heart suddenly burst into a sprint as his lips met mine. This was different from when he was forcing air down my throat - this wasn't an attempt to save my life.
This was the real thing; this was my first kiss.
Did he know this was my first? Did he realize how important I think a first kiss is? Did he realize at all? Or maybe he does know, and he thinks this is the right time. But, after I almost drowned? Or maybe it was impulsive. Maybe he needed comfort in the fact that I didn't drown. After all, he does... love me.
It's weird to say that - that someone loves me. Was he just joking? Was he lying? Or maybe he meant in the brotherly way. Why would he be kissing me then? That wouldn't be logical - if he loves me in a brotherly way and just kisses me on the lips. Am I reading too much into this? What do I even feel about Gabriel anyway? I know I like him. I know I've felt something close to a crush whenever I'm near him, but do I like him enough to kiss him?
Thinking this way, it makes me feel... confused. Maybe I should just kiss him back... go with the flow. Then the kiss wouldn't mean anything, though. I want my first kiss to mean something. Be memorable, important. In the right place at the right time. I know, not many people get their first kiss in a perfect scenario, but that's how I feel about a first kiss - not many do.
Am I reading too much into this?
I was thinking too long, though, because Gabriel froze and pulled away, looking at my wide eyes with his own.
He covered his mouth, "I'm so sorry!" He cried.
I couldn't move, I was in a frozen state.
"I didn't mean to do that, it's just that I was so happy that you're okay and then I confessed that I love you and then I kissed you, and it didn't mean to happen this way!" He rambled, shoving himself away from me and curling into a ball. He hid his head under his arms and mumbled, "I'm sorry, i'm sorry, it didn't mean to happen this way."
I twitched a little in my frozen state and my fingers uncurled, revealing Valerie's purple dinosaur. I sighed. At least I didn't almost die for nothing.
"It's fine," I said through my raw throat.
He looked at me, "No, it's not! I took your first kiss! It wasn't meant to happen just after you almost drowned!" He said.
I heaved myself into a sitting position, feeling physically numb in my legs and arms. Everywhere, to be exact. I crawled over to him and draped my arm over his shoulder. He flinched.
"It shouldn't have happened this way," he muttered sadly.
I rested my head on his shoulder, "we can redo it," I whispered, not realizing what I was doing. I wasn't thinking. But I did like Gabriel, and that's all I needed.
His head raised to look at me, noses touching. "What?" He looked surprised.
I cleared my throat, feeling it pinch as I did so. "We can redo the kiss," I repeated, "if you want."
Gabriel's eyes suddenly lit up. "Do you... you know... do you, um... like... me?" He asked, stuttering over his words as if he never thought he'd ask someone that question.
I smiled, "I won't answer that until you tell me why you lied."
He frowned, "I never lied to you."
"Yes, you did. You told me you liked someone who's name started with an 'S'. My name starts with a 'B'." I told him.
He suddenly grinned. "You're middle name is Serena," he stated.
I looked at him, confused. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"I never specified which name. I never said it was her first name that started with 'S'." He kept grinning.
My mouth was parted slightly, realizing the truth. That's right; he never did say it was her first name. It was her middle name that started with 'S'. It was my middle name.
I huffed, "Stupid smart people." I muttered, looking away from him.
His soft laugh was at my ear, and his finger tilted my chin to make me look at him. Our faces were only inches apart.
"Now, you have to answer my question." He said.
I smiled a little, "What was your question?" I asked, faking ignorance.
He frowned, "The question I had just asked," he said.
I cocked an eyebrow, "I don't remember you asking a question."
His eyebrows pulled together, "I did ask a question," he insisted.
I tilted my head to the side, "I don't recall you ever asking one. Can you repeat it?" I fought a grin.
He suddenly seemed to realize what I was doing. "No, I'm not repeating it!" He said, "you know what my question was!"
I released my grin and let it show, "Well then, I'm not going to answer until you ask me it again." I said and stood up, feeling my joints pop as I walked towards the steering wheel.
Gabriel's hand knocked mine away from the handle. "No. You go sit down while I drive." He instructed stubbornly.
I sighed and did as he wanted.
The entire ride was silent, with only occasional glances at Gabriel. The air was silent, but my thoughts weren't. How could I not have known that Gabriel liked me? I say 'like' because he doesn't love me. He can't love me... it's not possible. This is just a crush for him, not love, because if he loved me, I would have at least noticed. Right? But Gabriel was always good at hiding his feelings and masking them with another. I was never able to tell which emotion was real or fake, but still... he can't love me. He's sixteen, and I'm going to be eighteen next month - an adult. He'll be too young to love me, even though it's only one year. But age is just a number... but then again, a jail cell is just a room. Besides, I don't like him back enough to love him back. Isn't love supposed to be a mutual thing? Not just one-way? So, he can't love me... because I don't love him back.
So, it's only a crush.
Why do I feel a bit depressed by that fact? It's probably just because I like him... and only like him.
"We're here," Gabriel snapped me out of my thoughts.
I stood up, wobbling a bit on unstable legs until I gained my balance. My toes felt really wrinkly.
We jumped out of the boat and he tied it the dock. I noticed my boat was tied there as well.
Wow. Some friends.
"At least they brought back my boat," I tried to lighten the mood.
His eyes were an icy blue now. Cold. "Yeah. Your boat." He spat angrily.
I looked at him, and then pulled him into a hug, all my worries about him 'loving' me, were gone. "Stop being like this. I don't like this side of you," I told him.
He sighed and wrapped his arms around me, "Fine," he gave in.
I smiled and let him go, but he didn't remove his arms. I stood there, confused. "Um, you can let me go--- what are you doing?!" I shrieked as he suddenly hoised me onto his shoulder.
He laughed, "I'm doing what you asked me to do--- I'm being myself." He said as my head dangled down his back.
"Put me down!" I yelled, laughing a bit at his old self. His butt didn't look so bad...
Whoa, what am I thinking?
"Nope," he said.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, feeling the blood starting to make my head feel heavy.
He laughed one of those maniac laughs. "Mwahahaha, I'm taking you to my evil lair, where I shall test my experiments on you, my mini minion," he evilly laughed again.
I chuckled and lightly slapped his back, "Help!" I screamed, "I'm being kidnapped by an evil scientist!"
He suddenly jumped, making my head bounce. "It's mad scientist!" he corrected
We reached a familiar house - Gabriel's and Valerie's, to be exact. I rested my elbow on his back and put my head in my palm. You know; the way Fiona does it when she's on Shrek's shoulder in the first Shrek movie? I loved those movies.
"So, why are we at your house?" I asked as he walked inside the empty house. That's weird, usually his mom is here.
"I'm not letting you go back to that bastard until your throat feels better, which means you might have to stay the night over here." He told me.
"We live a five minute walk away from each other! Maybe even less!"
He chuckled and dumped me onto the couch. "I don't know what could make your throat feel better, actually, but I do know that you're hungry. I'll make you soup; it'll go down more easily." He said and walked into the kitchen.
I curled up onto the couch and turned on the tv, settling on Family Guy. This reminded me of Kaylee and Hayden, which also reminded me that I haven't called or seen either of them since summer break started. I should do that soon.
Wait, I forgot about the party! Kaylee's huge party-for-no-reason-at-all is on the 27th of this month, and I promised her I would be there. I have no one to go with, though.
"Here's your soup," Gabriel said, placing it in my hands.
Mm, chicken noodle. I loved chicken noodle soup. "Thank you," I grinned, and he sat down beside me.
I blew on it to cool it down before starting to eat. "So, I was wondering," I said after swallowing; it was a painful swallow. "my friend, Kaylee, is throwing a party on the 27th. Do you want to go with me?" I asked.
He shrugged, "Sure."
I took another spoonful. "When did you get back from camp?" I asked.
"A few hours ago," he said slowly, as if he didn't want to bring up this subject.
I frowned, "I thought the camp wasn't finished until next week."
He smiled sheepishly, "I was kicked out," he admitted.
I looked at him in surprise. "Why?"
He chuckled nervously, "Well, I was a bit scared because... well, do you remember Jesse?"
"Yeah, wasn't he the gay guy that asked you to mix juice with him?" I grinned.
He scowled and looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah, him. Well, it turned out that he went to the same camp with me... and we were sharing a cabin." He suddenly turned to me with wide eyes, "you have to believe me when I say I had to get out of there!" He said, as if relieving some kind of nightmare in his head.
I fought back a laugh, "I believe you, but what did you do to get kicked out?"
"I pretended to be gay."
I choked on my soup. "You did what?!"
I fidgeted with his fingers, "I pretended to be extremely gay. As in, I sort of made Jesse think I was into him..." he trailed off, his entire face bright red.
I pretended to be disappointed. "Gabe, Gabe, Gabe... you do realize what's going to happen when Jesse comes back, right?" I asked him.
He smiled, "I have a plan," he said surely.
"What's your plan?"
"Well, I was wondering if I could, I don't know... stay at your house for a little while?" He looked at me with big puppy dog eyes.
That's what I find funny about Gabriel; he can make his eyes as small as an ant, but he can make them as wide as soccer balls. Then there would how he made his bottom lip tremble, and his upper lip just a tiny bit too. No one can resist his puppy dog face. No one can say---
"No."
He dropped the act and pouted, knowing that only I could resist the puppy look. "I find it incredibly depressing that you're immune to my charm," he said.
I laughed, taking my last spoonful of soup. He noticed the empty bowl and took it from my hands, "I'll wash it for you," he said.
I snuggled more comfortably into the couch, noticing my throat was feeling a bit better. The spot beside me dipped and Gabriel rested a hand on my shoulder. "Feeling better?" He asked.
I nodded and smiled at him before resting my head on his shoulder. "Thank you," I mumbled, the new warmth in my stomach making me feel sleepy.
"Are you tired?" He asked, starting to play with strands of my hair.
"Mhm," was my brilliant reply.
"Well, too bad. I won't let you sleep until you say I can stay over at your house until Jesse goes away." He said. "I am not taking any risks!" He added.
My lips pulled into a smile, "You're silly, but okay." I gave in, too tired to put up a fight.
I heard him laugh, and then felt lips on my head. "You're silly too," was all I heard before I fell into a comfortable sleep.
===========================================================
Love it? Like it? Hate it?
Alright, so this entire chapter was just with Brianna and Gabriel, for you Gabriel fans out there.
I just wanted to give out a HUGE thank you for everyone who voted and commented. Without you guys, I Hate You... would not be on page 4 of What's Hot list! I am extremely grateful to all of you!
Does anyone want to make a banner? A lot of writers on here are asking others if they want to make banners, so I just thought; what have I got to lose? I'll ask too :P.
Keep up the amazing votes, please!
Thanks.