Anonymous

I shifted in my seat as the computer rang, the sound reverberating throughout the suite. Since we were staying in a smaller hotel, the boys and I all got five single rooms. Even still, I knew that Liam, Niall, and Zayn were all hanging out in one of the rooms while Harry showered. The four of them were going into town later, but I’d opted out. Now that there were only a few days left before the possible meet-up with Jess, talking to her was of the utmost importance.

“Hey,” she greeted breathlessly, cutting off the sound mid-ring. “I’m sorry. I totally lost track of time, so I was in the shower.”

“It’s alright, love,” I told her honestly. She looked even prettier without her makeup, her damp curls more defined than they’d been in the pictures I’d seen.

Jess grinned to show off her straight white teeth. “So should we pick up where we left off?”

“Sure. Whose turn was it?”

“Mine,” she claimed immediately, although I was almost positive the it actually had been mine. “Um, what’s your favorite cereal?”

“I thought we’d agreed we were going to get to the real questions today,” I chuckled. For the past week, the two of us had gone back and forth, asking each other questions to advance our acquaintanceship into a friendship. Up until then, we’d asked fluffy things like “Who was your first best friend?” and “What’s your favorite color?” But last time, after she asked me my favorite dog name, I’d teased her about it, and she promised to get more personal.

“You gotta start out slow,” she argued jokingly, punctuating her statement with a little chuckle. "Trust me. Shit will get real.”

I laughed. “Alright, um…Cinnamon Toast Crunch. What about you?”

“What happened to getting personal?” she questioned in a nasally voice that I really hoped wasn’t supposed to be an imitation of me.

Instead of repeating her words back to her, I just smirked a little.

“My favorite is the same, actually. I never have it anymore.”

“Neither do I. We should get it when we meet up.”

“Oh, what an adventure.” She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically to take the mickey out of me. “Alright, my turn…um, who was your first kiss, and how old were you?”

“First real kiss or first kiss?”

“We don’t have to discriminate on whether there was tongue or not.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I laughed loudly. “I’ll just tell you the first then. My first kiss ever was when I was five. You know how little kids chase the girls they like around the playground?”

“Everyone chases the one they like,” she answered instead of a simple yes or no. “It just turns from literal to metaphorical as we get older.”

“Okay, Miss Writer. If you say so.” But she had a point. I’d never thought of it that way. “Anyway, she was the fastest one in the grade, so she told me that if I caught her, I could kiss her. So she started off, I ran like a bat out of hell and tackled her, and then I kissed her on the lips.”

“What did she do?”

I was sure that Jess was expecting that the girl had said we should get married or something equally adorable, but that wasn’t how the story went. “She spit on the ground next to us, wiped off her mouth as she pushed me away, and burst into tears.”

“Ouch.” She winced, but I could tell that she wanted more than anything to laugh out loud at my misfortune.

“Oh, it’s alright. I know it’s funny. I stopped liking her the next week anyway.”

“Fast recovery.”

“Very.” I pondered my question for a second before I upped the game. “When did you lose your virginity?”

Her face turned a violent, angry shade of red. “Oh my God.”

“Shit just got real,” I stated plainly, using the same saying she had earlier.

“You bet.” Jess took a deep breath. “I haven’t lost my virginity.”

My eyes snapped open in surprise at the stunning girl in front of me. “Do you go to school with a bunch of blind guys or something?”

She blushed further as she shook her head. “Nope. Guys just don’t like me. I mostly keep to myself.”

“And then you become a social butterfly on the internet. Typical.”

There was a loud bunch of knocks on the door before Harry screamed, “Lou! We’re leaving to the pub now. Last chance. You coming or not?”

“No!” I replied. “Go on without me.”

“Seriously? Are you talking to Jess?”

“It’s okay,” the feminine voice said from the laptop speakers. “Go on with the boys. We can talk again tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I’d much rather stay here with you.”

“I’m positive. I wish you could stay here, too. But you have a whole life other than me. It’s perfectly okay to go live it.”

I could hear the sadness in her voice, but I knew her well enough to know that she wasn’t going to budge on the subject.

“If you’re sick of talking to me…” I trailed off to turn the situation back on her.

“I could never get sick of talking to you.” And from the way she looked at me through the web cam, her eyes wide, staring into my soul, I almost believed it.

“Louis!” Harry’s voice interrupted. “Are you coming or not?”

“One minute!” I responded in a shout before turning back to Jess. “I’m sorry about him. Same time, same place tomorrow?”

“I promise I won’t be in the shower next time.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. You could always take the computer into the shower with you. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing that.”

“Ugh, you’re gross,” she snickered. “That’s not happening. Now go get drunk.”

“Sorry in advance for any drunk dialing I might do or any embarrassing voicemails I might leave.”

“I welcome the possibility.”

“LOUIS. FOR FUCK’S SAKE. LET’S GET GOING!”

“Alright, I have to go before he has an aneurysm.” I watched the light flicker behind Jess’ eyes, and I couldn’t help but grin. “Goodbye and goodnight, Jess.”

“’Night, Louis.” With that, the screen went black, and she was gone.

I stared at the blank screen for a minute, still imagining the vision of her face there, before shutting the top and heading out to see my friends.

But even while they chatted around me, my mind was still on her. God, I was in deep.