Melodies

I widened my eyes when Courtney dared us to do 7 minutes in heaven. I knew she would probably have us do something, which is why I picked dare. I just didn't know exactly what she would pick. I didn't know she'd have us do this. I didn't mind it, exactly. I was just nervous.

Sydney appeared to not be phased at all. "'kay. Where?"

"Well, our closets don't exactly have room for people. Just go to my room, I guess. Yell out when you're there, and I'll set a timer."

Sydney stood up and looked down at me, winking playfully. "Come on babe, we gotta please the public."

I smiled a little and stood, following him upstairs to Courtney's room. He let me go in first, yelling down to Courtney as I sat by the pillows on her bed. "Hey bitch!"

She yelled back. "Hey what, asshole?"

"Set the timer, fuckhead!"

"Fine, you cocksucking whore!"

He slammed the door, pretending to be upset, but he was laughing the entire time. I melted at his laugh. His smoking had make his voice rougher over time, and it sounded perfect to me. It made his laugh raspy and endearing. I loved it.

It was dark in Courtney's room, the only light being what little was coming in from her window. Neither of us had flipped on her overhead light, or her lamp. I guess neither of us saw any need for extra light.

He walked over to the bed, starting to grab his pack of cigarettes from his back pocket, but quickly leaving them alone, thankfully. He threw them onto Courtney's desk, climbing onto the bed with me, moving closer.

I bit my lip nervously. He grinned at me. "You look nervous."

"I might be."

"Why's that?" He laid down next to me.

I shrugged. "I don't have much experience. I've only done anything with one girl before, and all that did was decide for sure that I'm gay." I laid down by Sydney, just for the sake of being comfortable.

"So, you've never been with a guy?"

"Pft. Only in my dreams."

I was staring up at the ceiling as I spoke, but suddenly, my lips were connected with Sydney's. I pressed back against him, feeling him wrap an arm around me and pull me closer. We kissed, our mouths moving in sync until he pulled back gently, looking at me with heavy eyes.

"You know, if we add dinner and a movie to our plans for tomorrow night, we could call it a date."

I smiled, my eyes just happening to float back to his lips. Even though they were a little rough and he tasted vaguely like ash, there was something pure and addictive about kissing him. "Sounds fun. Maybe we should go see a stupid gory film so I can grab your hand and pretend it was only out of fright."

"Just to warn you, I'm shit at comforting or anything."

"Well, maybe we should just go see something stupid then."

"I look forward to it."

I grinned and leaned in to kiss him again. As we continued, I felt his hand slide lower, until he grabbed my ass suddenly, making me jump in surprise.

He laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. I had to see what you would do."

I pretended to be hurt, until he coaxed me into lying down with him again. We stayed in Courtney's room well past seven minutes, but no one ever came to say that time was up. It was kind of beautiful and timeless, just being together in her room, learning about each other and exchanging kisses. Jamie eventually came to pick me up sometime around 2, and everyone but Brittany left.

Jamie insisted I tell him everything that had happened, but I couldn't even begin to describe how complete I felt. For once, there was no stress, there were no deadlines or headaches, there wasn't any assignment to do, there was no way I could practice. Even without Juice breaking or anything, I wouldn't have made myself do anything that night. Being with Sydney had magically calmed me down completely, taking away my worries.