It Started With A Dare

The next day I awoke with a smile on my face, probably due to the amusing dream I had the night before. It involved Damien being pregnant and then giving birth to a magical leprechaun. Needless to say, it was a very entertaining dream, and it also proved how screwed up my imagination is.

I stretched my arms out in the air, trying to wake myself up properly before rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and flinging back the bed covers. My feet touched the freezing cold, wooden floor and I yelped quietly at the sharp sensation on my toes. I then headed out into the bathroom to wash my face and then went back to my room to pull on my clothes for the day. This consisted of black jeans and a purple lumberjack shirt rolled up at the sleeves with black converse.

“Cassie! I’m leaving with or without you!” I heard Bob yell from downstairs. Rolling my eyes, I quickly ran a brush through my hair and ambled down the stairs, books in hand. Bob was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, not looking particularly mad, so I stood on my tip toes and ruffled his hair before he could ruffle mine. I giggled at his confused face and almost skipped out the door to his car. I couldn’t help it; I was just so happy today.

“So what’s got you in a good mood?” Bob asked when we were about halfway to school.

“No reason.” I shrugged, staring out the window aimlessly, not really concentrating on the conversation.

“Oh really?”

“Hmm.”

“What’s his name?”

“Ge- Wait, w-what? There’s no guy!” Thank god I’d caught myself before I let Gerard’s name slip.

“So, I’m guessing his name is Geoff, Gerry, George, something along those lines?”

“Shut up Bobby, you know nothing.” The ride continued in silence until we reached school, both of us jumping out of his car and walking into the depressing building. I followed Bob until we reached where Frank, his girlfriend Chessy and Ray were stood chatting amongst themselves.

"Hey you guys!" Frank greeted us with his usual toothy grin.

"Oh my god Frank, guess what? Cassie's got herself a little boyfriend and she didn't even tell me!" Bob announced almost immediately. My cheeks burned red as everyone cooed at me.

"Shut up Bob, no I don't." I insisted, even if it was a lie.

"Aw I think it's cute, do we know him?" Frank asked. At that moment I see Gerard approaching over Frank's shoulder.

"Yeah, you could say that ..." I trailed off, trying not to keep my gaze fixed on Gerard. "Well, I'm gonna go find Damien, see ya." I walked off, smiling shyly up at Gerard when I passed him and carried on to the library where I undoubtedly found Damien searching through an isle of books for a specific one.

"Hey Day!" I grinned at him, pulling him into a sideways hug with my school books still lodged in one arm.

"Hey sugar muffin." Damien had started to give me a lot of pet name which were often absolutely hilarious. "So what's got you all giddy today?"

“Nothing in particular.” I replied. He just gave me this look which told me he knew I was lying, and that he would eventually get it out of me.

“Okay then, well the bells gonna go soon.” He stated, gathering up his necessary books, and mere seconds after he spoke the bell rang. “Come on, we’ve got Chemistry.” I followed him out of the library and down the hallway to our chemistry room where we both sat at the desks at the back.

The lesson started up and as predicted I couldn’t focus on anything he was saying; my thoughts were preoccupied by Gerard. I began daydreaming about what we would do when we next saw each other, would things be different between us? Or would it be better than before? Jesus, I sound like a teenage girl! … Oh, right.

I was startled out of my musing by vibrations being sent up my leg from my phone in my pocket, alerting me to the fact that I had a text message. Looking up at the teacher, I saw he was busy writing stuff down on the board, so I reached into my jeans and slipped out my phone which read ‘1 new message’. Upon opening it I felt a smile on my face.

Hey Cassie,
I know that we only saw each other last night, but I miss you :)
xoxoG

Glancing up at the teacher again, I quickly texted back.

Aw I miss you too :)
Maybe we can meet up after school?

Seconds later I received a reply.

Sure thing, I can’t wait ;)
So what’s up?

This carried on all the way through science and other classes until lunch finally arrived. As usual, I sat with Damien at our table in the back of the cafeteria, still texting back and forth with Gerard, smiling every time I got a text. From where I was sat I could see him clearly, and each time I texted him he would look up at me, smiling, after reading what I’d written.

Before I knew it, lunch was over and I only had one class left for today which was unfortunately gym. This was pretty much the worst lesson for me since it involved me getting undressed in a room full of girls when I’m self conscious about my body. To me it seems that everyone is staring at me whilst I change, and it makes me uncomfortable, so I try to do it as fast as possible.

When I’d finished getting changed into the required white t-shirt and blue shorts along with my black converse, I headed out to find Damien. Thank god we were in the same class. The class itself was a mix of all four grades and it was mixed genders as well. When I reached the bleachers, I quickly found Damien and sat next to him, starting up a conversation about whether we would hang out at the weekend.

My eyes drifted across the other students and landed on a familiar head of raven hair, sitting alongside a more than familiar blonde and a brown, poufy afro. I smiled as I watched them mess about with each other, seconds later Gerard turned around and caught my eye, causing me to blush profusely as he grinned at me before turning back around.

“Alright guys, settle down!” the gym teacher bellowed. He was a balding, middle aged man who I’ve learned takes sports way too seriously. “Okay then, today you’re gonna be working on your basketball skills, so when I pair you up I want you to grab a ball and start passing between you. Alright … Johnson and Freeman, Stewart and Danks, Thompson and Warden,” I listened to him list off the surnames of pupils, watching them stand up when their name was called out. “… Jones and Bryar,” I groaned, this could mean I was paired up with Debbie, since she was also in this class.

“Which Bryar?” Bob called out.

“You.” Oh thank god, but I also feel sorry for him. The sound of Debbie shrieking with excitement could be heard and I could almost feel Bob grimace.

“… Hughes and Reynolds, Bryar and Way.” I looked up at the sound of my name again, and grinned inwardly at the excellent twist of fate. I stood up as I was Gerard do the same, he went and grabbed a ball from the basket and I followed him to a space in the gym where we began to throw the ball back and forth.

“Well this is convenient, I was thinking I’d have to try and find you before you went home.” Gerard said with a smile.

“And why would that be?” I asked.

“I was thinking that we could go back to that clearing after school, spend some time alone together.” He replied. I grinned at the thought.

“I’d like that.” We continued to practice passing, then moving onto dribbling and shooting. I noticed that Damien had been paired up with Ray, and it was amusing to watch Ray tower over him and prevent Damien from shooting. Eventually though I saw Ray lift him up onto his shoulders so that he could score more easily, and I just had to laugh at them. The lesson was soon over so it was time to get changed and go home.

“I’ll meet you behind the back building.” Gerard said, reaching to take the ball from my hands and in the process one of his hands brushed over mine softly, and something tells me it wasn’t unintentional. He smiled his crooked smile before putting the ball away and retreating to the locker rooms. I went and got changed in record time, leaving the locker room and luckily seeing Bob already walking down the corridor, so I jogged to catch up to him.

“Hey Bob, I’m gonna be staying at school to study, so I won’t need a ride.” I said once I was beside him. I felt kinda bad for lying to him, but knowing I was going to spend time with Gerard made it worth while.

“Okay then, do you want me to pick you up later?” he asked.

“No its fine, I’ll walk.” I said. “I’ll see you later then.” I gave him a quick hug and walked off in the direction of the back building. Sure enough, when I got there Gerard was waiting, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and on foot against the wall. When he realised I was there he quickly stood up straight and walked the short distance towards me, pulling me into a tight hug. I leant my head against his chest, my arms around his neck as I hugged him back, inhaling his intoxicating scent of vanilla and cigarettes.

“Hey.” He said when we pulled back, leaning down to place a quick kiss to my lips.

“Hey.” I replied, grinning up at him.

“I’ve wanted to see you all day.” He admitted, moving a pieces of hair out of my face and behind my ear.

“You saw me countless times today.” I corrected him.

“You know what I mean. So, you ready to go?” He asked me. I nodded and he lead us back to wear his car was parked, stopping to open the passenger door for me and shutting it behind me. He drove us all the way to the clearing and held my hand as we walked around the place, eventually sitting down together on the grass, cross-legged and facing each other.

“This is gonna be more difficult than I thought.” He sighed

“Why’s that?” I asked, getting a little worried.

“Because I won’t be able to stop myself from kissing and touching you all the time.” He said. Blushing, I leant forward and kissed his cheek, grinning when I sat back and saw a bashful smile on his face. I moved so that I was sitting next to him, and he instantly put his arm around my shoulders, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder as I gazed out at the view in front of us. The sun was about to go down and when it did the colours were amazing, the sky filling up with reds, oranges and pinks right up to the horizon.

“It’s beautiful.” I whispered, still watching the sunset in front of me.

“Not as stunning as you, your beauty puts this sunset to shame.” He responded. I blushed, once again, and looked up to see him gazing back down at me, his eyes entrancing me before his lips met mine and I let my eyes flutter shut. His hands found mine; rubbing his thumbs over my knuckles as his lips massaged mine slowly. Our kisses were still pretty innocent, and I wondered if my lack of experience bothered Gerard, but he seemed pretty content with our simple kisses.

We both pulled away about a minute later, both with huge smiles on our faces. It was starting to get a bit cold outside now that the sun had gone down, leaving us in darkness, and I was beginning to feel it. Gerard must have noticed me shivering since he momentarily pulled back from our embrace to remove his jacket and draped it over my shoulders, hugging me closer to him to keep warm. This has to be a dream. He’s just too perfect.