It's Our Time to Shine
Kiss Me Like You Did.
“Hey, maybe we should be thinkin´ about going to bed soon? I mean, it’s getting kinda late and we need to get up pretty early tomorrow to catch the flight”, Jepha said while looking at all of us.
“Yeah, you’re probably right”, Bert agreed, getting up from the sofa and started packing the board game.
“So I’ll see you guys in the morning”, Quinn added as he headed towards the stairs.
“Yeah, me too. Good night, guys”, Dan said, following him upstairs.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m up for a cup of tea. Anyone? Lina…?”
“No, no thank you, Jepha. I’m alright.”
“Yeah, me too”, Bert answered.
“Okay, then. I’ll be in the kitchen if anyone needs me”, he said before leaving the living room.
“Hey, I’m headin´ out for a smoke – wanna come?”
“Yeah, sure”, I smiled, looking at Bert as the both of us went outside to the porch.
The clock had already turned 1 am and there were no people outside on the streets, and all the neighborhood’s houses were pitch black.
I felt the summer breeze blowing in my face, playing with my hair as it gave me goose bumps.
It was a somewhat cold wind tonight, despite the fact that it was in the beginning of August.
“Hey, are you feeling okay? You look kinda pale”, Bert asked, looking at me with a worried face expression.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just-”
I sighed, taking a deep breath before I continued.
“It’s just that I’m so anxious about the flight tomorrow. I really hate flying, Bert.”
“Don’t be. There’s nothing to be afraid of. What is it actually that you’re afraid of, babe?”, he asked, now inhaling his cigarette.
“If we crash…”
“Lina, hey – if a plane I happen to be on would crash, it would’ve done that a long time ago, okay?”
“Yeah, I guess so”, I responded, not really feeling anymore comfortable at all about flying.
“Come on, sit down with me”, he smiled, hinting for me to sit down on the hammock next to him on the porch.
The hammock’s solid wood felt hard as I sat down, noticing that the pillows were placed inside a transparent plastic box to the left.
I didn’t bother getting one. That would’ve looked stupid.
The sky was clear this night as it had been every night during these past couple of days.
Each and every star was now competing with each other on which one of them could shine the brightest.
To me, they all would’ve won the gold medal.
“Are you cold?”, Bert suddenly asked as I folded my arms.
“Me? No, not really. How come?”
“Well, just the fact that the wind’s kinda chilly out here now and you’re only wearin´ a t-shirt.”
“I’m fine, I’m not cold.”
“You’re lying”, he said before inhaling the last of his smoke and throwing it down on the grass.
“Here.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Here, take it.”
“No, I’m fine – I promise.”
“Look, babe – if you don’t put it on, I swear to you I’m gonna put it on you myself”, Bert smiled, placing the hoodie on my lap.
“Okay”, I replied, rolling my eyes with a smile as I grabbed the hoodie and zipped it on.
“God, you’re so fuckin´ stubborn, you know that?”, he giggled.
I couldn’t argue with him. I really was stubborn.
At that point, I just gave him a smile before leaning back in the hammock.
Bert suddenly did the same, now moving closer towards me, making the hammock swing back and forth so that the wood squeaked.
I felt a warm hand touching mine now, stroking it carefully with tender touches.
He was smiling, not really looking at me, but smiling as he gazed out in the dark night.
Then he took my hand and held it, before he turned his head towards me.
“It’s a really beautiful night tonight.”
“It really is”, I whispered.
I smiled now, blushing as he was holding my hand on the hammock, like if it was the most natural thing to do.
Then, without even having the chance to react, I saw at the corner of my eye that Bert leaned in to kiss me.
I looked at him and turned away.
My heart was now beating at the speed of a runaway train, and my shyness became overwhelming.
He didn’t say a thing, he just kept on holding my hand with no intentions of letting go.
But then I looked at him once more and then we both moved in at the same time.
At that point, our lips met in a soft touch, a touch that was so sweet and gentle that it felt like time stopped.
The kiss didn’t last very long – only a couple of seconds. But still, right then, we managed to stop the world just for a little while.
The both of us ended the kiss with looking into each other’s eyes, just smiling.
Now we just sat there, not saying a word while holding hands.
During these past couple of months getting to know each other, this had become some sort of natural part of being together – in silence.
We were just enjoying each other’s company silently.
“Hey, there you are!”, Jepha suddenly said, peeking from the front door. “I thought you guys had gone to bed, but then I heard voices, so I figured you were out here.”
“Yeah, we were just, uhm, hanging out on the porch”, Bert hesitated, scratching his neck with a smile.
“Cozy. Hey, listen – it’s almost 2 am, so in case you wanna be able to function tomorrow mornin´, I suggest we go to bed ‘cause I’m gonna be more than stressed out without having to deal with all of you guys being cranky as hell too”, he smirked.
“Yeah, you’re right. We’ll be with you in a minute”, Bert then responded, seeing Jepha head back inside while closing the front door behind him.
“That was nice…”
“What was nice?”, I asked, not knowing exactly what he meant.
“Our kiss.”
’Our kiss’? That sentence sounded weird coming from Bert.
Still, it made me blush as I kept my silence and just looked at him with a smile upon my face.
“We should do it again some time”, he smiled.
Why did he kiss me? What did he see in me? He, a guy, a man of 26 years – what could he possibly see in someone like me, an 18-year-old girl whose self-consciousness was like an 13-year-old’s getting her first period?
He must've been out of his mind…
“Yeah, you’re probably right”, Bert agreed, getting up from the sofa and started packing the board game.
“So I’ll see you guys in the morning”, Quinn added as he headed towards the stairs.
“Yeah, me too. Good night, guys”, Dan said, following him upstairs.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m up for a cup of tea. Anyone? Lina…?”
“No, no thank you, Jepha. I’m alright.”
“Yeah, me too”, Bert answered.
“Okay, then. I’ll be in the kitchen if anyone needs me”, he said before leaving the living room.
“Hey, I’m headin´ out for a smoke – wanna come?”
“Yeah, sure”, I smiled, looking at Bert as the both of us went outside to the porch.
The clock had already turned 1 am and there were no people outside on the streets, and all the neighborhood’s houses were pitch black.
I felt the summer breeze blowing in my face, playing with my hair as it gave me goose bumps.
It was a somewhat cold wind tonight, despite the fact that it was in the beginning of August.
“Hey, are you feeling okay? You look kinda pale”, Bert asked, looking at me with a worried face expression.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just-”
I sighed, taking a deep breath before I continued.
“It’s just that I’m so anxious about the flight tomorrow. I really hate flying, Bert.”
“Don’t be. There’s nothing to be afraid of. What is it actually that you’re afraid of, babe?”, he asked, now inhaling his cigarette.
“If we crash…”
“Lina, hey – if a plane I happen to be on would crash, it would’ve done that a long time ago, okay?”
“Yeah, I guess so”, I responded, not really feeling anymore comfortable at all about flying.
“Come on, sit down with me”, he smiled, hinting for me to sit down on the hammock next to him on the porch.
The hammock’s solid wood felt hard as I sat down, noticing that the pillows were placed inside a transparent plastic box to the left.
I didn’t bother getting one. That would’ve looked stupid.
The sky was clear this night as it had been every night during these past couple of days.
Each and every star was now competing with each other on which one of them could shine the brightest.
To me, they all would’ve won the gold medal.
“Are you cold?”, Bert suddenly asked as I folded my arms.
“Me? No, not really. How come?”
“Well, just the fact that the wind’s kinda chilly out here now and you’re only wearin´ a t-shirt.”
“I’m fine, I’m not cold.”
“You’re lying”, he said before inhaling the last of his smoke and throwing it down on the grass.
“Here.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Here, take it.”
“No, I’m fine – I promise.”
“Look, babe – if you don’t put it on, I swear to you I’m gonna put it on you myself”, Bert smiled, placing the hoodie on my lap.
“Okay”, I replied, rolling my eyes with a smile as I grabbed the hoodie and zipped it on.
“God, you’re so fuckin´ stubborn, you know that?”, he giggled.
I couldn’t argue with him. I really was stubborn.
At that point, I just gave him a smile before leaning back in the hammock.
Bert suddenly did the same, now moving closer towards me, making the hammock swing back and forth so that the wood squeaked.
I felt a warm hand touching mine now, stroking it carefully with tender touches.
He was smiling, not really looking at me, but smiling as he gazed out in the dark night.
Then he took my hand and held it, before he turned his head towards me.
“It’s a really beautiful night tonight.”
“It really is”, I whispered.
I smiled now, blushing as he was holding my hand on the hammock, like if it was the most natural thing to do.
Then, without even having the chance to react, I saw at the corner of my eye that Bert leaned in to kiss me.
I looked at him and turned away.
My heart was now beating at the speed of a runaway train, and my shyness became overwhelming.
He didn’t say a thing, he just kept on holding my hand with no intentions of letting go.
But then I looked at him once more and then we both moved in at the same time.
At that point, our lips met in a soft touch, a touch that was so sweet and gentle that it felt like time stopped.
The kiss didn’t last very long – only a couple of seconds. But still, right then, we managed to stop the world just for a little while.
The both of us ended the kiss with looking into each other’s eyes, just smiling.
Now we just sat there, not saying a word while holding hands.
During these past couple of months getting to know each other, this had become some sort of natural part of being together – in silence.
We were just enjoying each other’s company silently.
“Hey, there you are!”, Jepha suddenly said, peeking from the front door. “I thought you guys had gone to bed, but then I heard voices, so I figured you were out here.”
“Yeah, we were just, uhm, hanging out on the porch”, Bert hesitated, scratching his neck with a smile.
“Cozy. Hey, listen – it’s almost 2 am, so in case you wanna be able to function tomorrow mornin´, I suggest we go to bed ‘cause I’m gonna be more than stressed out without having to deal with all of you guys being cranky as hell too”, he smirked.
“Yeah, you’re right. We’ll be with you in a minute”, Bert then responded, seeing Jepha head back inside while closing the front door behind him.
“That was nice…”
“What was nice?”, I asked, not knowing exactly what he meant.
“Our kiss.”
’Our kiss’? That sentence sounded weird coming from Bert.
Still, it made me blush as I kept my silence and just looked at him with a smile upon my face.
“We should do it again some time”, he smiled.
Why did he kiss me? What did he see in me? He, a guy, a man of 26 years – what could he possibly see in someone like me, an 18-year-old girl whose self-consciousness was like an 13-year-old’s getting her first period?
He must've been out of his mind…
♠ ♠ ♠
... i miss your comments, guys. :/xo,
lina.