I Spun the Bottle

I Spun the Bottle: Chapter Twenty-One

Song for this chapter: “Kiss the Rain” by Yiruma

“If you start to feel tired, just tell me,” I said, sending a worried glance at Jace.

“I’m fine, Lyn,” Jace reassured me, but I didn’t feel better. Apparently, my face must have showed that because a small frown formed on his mouth. “It’s just homework. It’s not like it’s gonna kill me of something.”

“I know,” I bit my lip, turning my eyes to our still intertwined fingers. “But still, I don’t want you to be over-exerting yourself.”

“Lyn,” Jace said, in a voice that suddenly made my heart thump at a faster pace. For a brief moment, I wondered if he could feel my pulse quicken through our touching hands. “I am fine. If I start to feel worse than I already do, I’ll let you know, okay?”

Reluctantly, I nodded. “Fine, but you have to take a mandatory break every thirty minutes, okay?”

Jace chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “Deal.”

I smiled, pleased that I was able to weasel in a few breaks. Jace began sitting up, and I helped him, my right hand still latched onto his, while I let my left hand press against the small of his back, adding a little support for him, but he really didn’t need it. He was pretty much able to heave his body up into a sitting position on his own.

Was it strange that I liked the feel of his skin against mine? Even though his fever was still there, and his skin was hotter than it was supposed to be, the way his skin felt on mine was nice. My skin prickled strangely at the area our hands met. But I liked the feeling. It was warm, like a small bonfire was in the palm of my hand.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I reluctantly took my hand out of his and grabbed his homework off the desk.

“Here you go,” I said, handing him the stack.

Jace grimaced slightly and then sighed. “This might take awhile.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you through it,” I said, giving him an encouraging smile. “So what do you wanna start with?”

Jace shuffled through the stack, inspecting each paper before flipping to the next one. I couldn’t help but notice the frown on his face as he looked at each one. I also couldn’t help but find the expression adorable on him.

“Math?” he asked, more than said.

I shrugged my shoulders, letting a loose grin filled my features. “It’s up to you.”

“Math it is,” he said, shifting around on his bed.

“Who’s your teacher?” I inquired, pulling out a notebook and a couple of pencils from my backpack.

“Mr. Moriaty, for Algebra Two.”

“Oh yeah? Me too,” I said, handing him a pencil. “I have him sixth period.”

“Nice, I have him seventh period. It’s a great way to end the day,” he said sarcastically.

I nodded, agreeing with his sarcastic remark. “Yeah, but at least he’s a decent teacher.”

“True, better than Ms. Org in eighth grade. God, I hated that teacher.” Jace wrinkled his nose like he had just smelled something revolting.

“You had her too!?” I accused, surprised that someone I knew had her too. “What period?”

“Uhhm,” he paused to think, and a few short coughs left his mouth. “I think I had her third.”

For a moment, I thought back to eighth grade year, trying to remember what period I had her. “I had her third too…” I trailed off. Why hadn’t I noticed Jace if he was in my class then.

“Weird, I didn’t know you were in my class,” he said, nearly repeating what I had just thought.

“Yeah…you probably hung out with a higher social class than me. That’s why we never really noticed each other,” I mumbled, letting my eyes fall to the lined paper in front of me.

Without warning, Jace grabbed my hand, causing me to look up at him.

"Uhhmm,” I said, embarrassed and curious from the sudden action.

“Lyn,” Jace said, his blue eyes staring into mine. There was a strange emotion stirring in him that I never saw before. “You’re always talking about class or social status. And I just want to say that that’s just a bunch of bullshit. It doesn’t matter what class you’re in, alright?”

I realized that the emotion was anger. He was angry…because I was always worried about social status? Why? It’s just the way life is. “It does matter what class you’re in,” I told him.

“No, it doesn’t,” he answered curtly.

“Yeah, it really does,” I said, my stubbornness about this subject shining through. I gripped my pencil with my free hand, channeling my building emotion into the wooden writing utensil.

He sighed, “It really doesn’t matter, Lyn.” He said, evenly matching my stubborn tone.

“It does, Jace.” I frowned, using his name like he was using mine. I pulled my hand out of his, starting to get really annoyed. “You don’t see people from different social statuses dating, do you? For example, Taylor and David are going out because they are both in the same class. You don’t see couple around that includes a nerd and a prep because it’s unnatural.” I paused to take a deep, shaky breath. I need to calm down. I was getting too worked up about this. “It’s just how the world works.”

“I’m telling you, I don’t believe that’s true. There are couples that come from different social classes, but they could just be hiding it.”

“If they’re not afraid of the status quo, then why are they hiding it?” I remarked, proving my point. My hand that was squeezing the pencil began to pulse.

It was Jace’s turn to frown. “Because they’re afraid of being picked on by the others.”

I felt my jaw clench from annoyance. “Then they shouldn’t be going out in the first place if they’re afraid of that.”

A new wave of emotion passed through Jace. It looked….kind of hurt. “That’s like saying they should ignore their feelings for one another.”

“….well, maybe they should,” I responded, but immediately felt bad afterwards. If someone liked another person, and that person returned the feelings, they shouldn’t have to hide them. But…that didn’t change how I felt about social class differences.

“That would be like me ignoring the way I feel when I’m around you,” Jace whispered in such a low voice, I almost didn’t hear it.

I hadn’t realized that I was staring at my paper again, until I looked up at Jace. His face was faintly flustered, but I thought it was mainly from his fever. My hand that was holding the pencil so tightly, loosened and it fell from my grasp, plummeting to the carpeted floor. I could feel my pulse quicken at such a fast rate that I didn’t know how to calm it. My stomach felt like someone had just lit a million fireworks in it. My whole body tingled.

“W-what did you say?” I asked. The annoyed tone I was wearing mere seconds ago had now dissolved completely.

The right corner of Jace’s lips tilted upward. I never really noticed just how attractive the shape of his mouth was. His lips were a light shade of pink, and they weren’t too plump, neither were they too thin. They were just right. To put it bluntly, they were…sort of sexy.

Jace leaned closer to me, and I involuntarily held my breath. My face must have been blazing at this point. My heart thumped erratically, and my hands shook slightly. I could feel the adrenaline pumping furiously through my blood. It seemed like all my senses were dulled…but intensified at the same time, if that was possible.

Leaning in closer, Jace parted his lips next to my ear. The edges of his lips scraped across my right cheek, and I had to forcefully hold back a shiver. “Lyn…I like you.”

I had frozen in place. So I did hear him right… Jace liked me. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think!

Jace moved back a little so he could see my expression. His beautiful, royal blue eyes turned onto mine, and I stared back at him. He seemed still slightly embarrassed, but I could hardly notice, since I was overly distracted by his near presence.

I opened my mouth, aiming to make a joke out of his…confession, but instead this came out. “W-why me?”

He smiled, and the corners of his eyes tightened from the action. “Why not? You’re so sweet, so real, so…innocent. When I’m with you…I feel nervous. I feel like I have to prove something to you.” He breathed, and finally turned his eyes downward, letting my frame loosen just the slightest. “And when you smile…I don’t know. I just like it. You’re different than the other girls I’ve liked. You’re just something else, Lyn, and I like that about you.”

I let out a shaky breath. No one had ever said anything like that to me. I never had anyone like me, and I’ve never met anyone like Jace either. He was kind and caring. And the way he looked at me, made my heart jerk and pulse at a rate I never knew it could before.

Suddenly, I noticed why his lips were no longer looking at my eyes. His eyes were now trained on my lips. Every couple of seconds they would travel back up to my eyes, like he was trying to convey a secret message. And I somehow understood this message.

My mind blanked completely, except for one thought very strong thought.

I want to kiss him. I wanted to feel what it would be like to have his lips press against mine. I wanted to see if a person could really portray their feelings for one another through…a kiss.

I leaned in about a fraction of an inch, but that was enough for Jace to understand what I was doing. A warm hand caressed my cheek, and I could feel sparks of electricity pass through our touching skin. Jace slowly, but surely covered the rest of the empty space between our lips.

I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against his. Another spark erupted as our lips touched. His lips were soft, sweet, and tender. It was like he was afraid he was going to break me if he tried to push harder. The kiss was slow and gentle. Our lips felt like they molded together perfectly.

The kiss seemed to last only a second. But it was the best second of my life.

We both pulled back, and it was only then did I realize what I did. I kissed Jace.

My eyes widened, and my cheeks burned hotter than ever before. And then…I freaked out.

“I—uh have to go,” I muttered quickly. Without waiting for a response, I shoved my notebook in my backpack, zipped it up and got up from my chair.

“Wait—Lyn!” Jace called, but it was too late. I had already left.

I shut the door behind me, took a deep, calming breath, and then scurried down the hall. I hoped he wouldn’t follow me because I wouldn’t know what to say to him. As I was making my escape, I noticed Hali sitting in the living room, watching some show on Disney channel.

“It was nice meeting you. Bye, Hali,” I said, giving her a brief smile before leaving the house.

My brain was trying to still comprehend what had just happened. I walked down the brick path, touching my fingers against my lips. And then I ran into someone. Looking up, my eyes widened, as I noticed who it was.

David.

“W-what are you doing here?” I inquired, my voice sounded so guilty, and I didn’t know why.

“Just going to see Jace—Hey what’s wrong with you? You’re face is so red,” he said, arching a brow at me, curiously.

I couldn’t look at him in the eyes as I said, “I-I think…I just had my first kiss.”