Smile

"Do you really?"

Tom stared at me in disbelief, like I had just told him that I was related to Queen Elizabeth. I folded my arms across my chest and huffed. "Yes, I do. I don't know why you can't believe me." I don't know why I'm hanging out with you, either. But here I am. I lay back in my chair, and look at him.

He grinned. "Can I see it?"

"What!" I gaped. "Tom!"

"What?" He shifted his body weight so that he could see me better. "Unless it's on your ass or something..."

"Shut up." I groaned, and stood up, smoothing my skirt down over my hips. "I'm not going to show you unless you promise that you're not going to laugh at me." Tom held up his pinky finger, and I sighed, wrapping mine with his in a pinky swear. "This is so childish." He grinned in response.

"Come on. Show me." His hands went straight for the hem of my tank, and I shrieked, swatting them away.

"Hands off, Fabio," I snapped. "Actually, why don't you just sit on them, so I can actually trust you?" I fidgeted with my shirt while I spoke, and my hands started to sweat. Neither Sam nor Auriana knew about this. Tom rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Carefully, and very slowly, I lifted up the hem of my shirt and pushed the waistband of my skirt down, just a little, which revealed a tattoo of Bubbles, the PowerPuff Girl. Just as soon as I had showed it to him, I covered it up again.

"Hey, no," Tom protested, "that's not fair. I didn't even get to see it." He stood up in front of me, and closed the space between us. I exhaled and stumbled backwards, surprised by the sudden proximity.

"Tom," I whispered, but he didn't budge. When he leaned in even closer, my breath hitched in my throat.

"Whatever it is," he murmured, "I'm sure you pull it off really well." I closed my eyes, pretending that he wasn't act-- Tom kissed me softly, and my whole body tensed. I couldn't move, but no matter how much I told myself that Tom was gross, I couldn't stop him. So instead he deepened the kiss. My hands pulled on his tee shirt, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me towards him.

My heart was pounding against my chest, and even though this was so incredibly weird, I couldn't stop myself. I fell back against the wall, eager. I had been kissed before, but not like this. Tom sighed against my skin and broke away. I was suddenly embarrassed. "I, uhm ..." I took a deep breath, and kept my eyes on the floor.

"Sorry," Tom said. "I couldn't help myself."

"I should probably be going home now. It is Mother's Day." I grabbed my tee shirt off of the couch. I still didn't know why I wore it in the first place - I knew that I was going to take it off. Tom had moved to the other side of the room before I had my things collected.

"Hey," he said, taking my wrist as I walked by him. Tom tugged me in his direction and I followed reluctantly. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. A smile crept onto my face, and I leaned in to kiss him one more time.

"Bye, Tom."

*

It had only been a couple of hours since I left Tom's house, but it sure felt like it had been two weeks ago. I sat in the living room with Sam, completely unsure of how I was supposed to feel. "My band has a gig this weekend," Sam said softly. "I was hoping we could hang out afterwards."

"Sure," I said, flipping through television channels. Nothing I did was taking my mind off of Tom.

"What's on your mind?" Sam could always tell when I was thinking, and I hated him for it. "And don't lie."

I sighed, and looked at him. My dark brown hair fell over my shoulders. "I hung out with Tom earlier."

"Well there's your problem. Why were you with Tom?"

"Would you let me finish?" I snapped. "Besides, what's it to you?" I turned the television off and threw the remote to the side. Of course, it was Saturday night and so there was nothing of good taste playing on television tonight. "Anyway, Tom kissed me."

"Did you like it?" He was focusing on his sketchbook. Sam had always been an awesome multitasker, and I'd always been envious of him. I was one of those people who had to focus on one thing at a time. "I mean, it is Tom Baczak!" When he said that, his voice fluctuated and it imitated a girl's voice.

"That was creepy," I said, smiling a little. "Yeah, I guess. Took me by complete surprise though, and you know I hate surprises."

Sam shrugged. "You know I hate his guts, but really I can't do anything about who, or what... you date. So knock yourself out, girl."

I sighed, and pushed my hair out of my face. I didn't know what I wanted, but I should probably figure it out quickly before anyone's heart gets broken.