Shut Up and Kiss Me, Barakat

It’s for a good cause. It’s for a good cause. It’s for a good cause. I attempted to convince myself but nerves couldn’t help but bubble in my gut. I walked through the empty halls until I reached the room with that sign hanging on the door, ‘Student Council’. Standing outside the door, deciphering whether to knock or just turn around and leave. In any other instance, perhaps, I wouldn’t have been so over ridden with fright. It’s the simple fact that he was behind that door, the boy I had a crush on for about a year. Ever since the first day he walked through the door of my home-room I knew, I just knew, that things weren’t ever going to be the same. I had hardly spoken to the boy ever since that day as he began to gain popularity. Why would he talk to an awkward, lanky weirdo when he could be talking to a hot jock with social skills?
I was removed from my thoughts by a small, shy voice speaking to me “Hi, c-can I help you with something? I mean; d-do you need anything? Or are you lost? Sorry, I’ll g-go” I looked toward the boy who was now completely flustered. I had never seen him like this around anyone. He was usually cool, chilled out, I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude and all of the confidence that was possible but now he was an insecure, rambling, panicking Alex Gaskarth. He turned away from me and I was ready to leave when a certain wave of confidence took over me. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder stopping him from moving any further away from me, “Actually, you’re just the guy I was looking for” It seemed all of a sudden our roles were reversed; I was the confident one and he was the mumbling mess.
His eyes snapped toward me as they scanned up and down my body making me slightly more conscious of what I looked like. Soon he turned away from me and walked back into the room in which he had earlier emerged from, “You gonna come in, or what?” His tone sounded harsh and the sentiment of his statement; rude. And there it was, that Alex that everyone seemed to know and love. I nodded shyly and walked into the room behind him. He sat down in a chair at a small table and began to take deep breaths, I was relatively confused as to why he was doing this ... was he nervous? I shook the naive thought from my head and gave him a comforting smile to try and calm him slightly, and it seemed to work.
“I’m Jack, by the way” He looked up at me from his lap, the shyness returned to his features; particularly his eyes which were filled with worry and fright. “I-I know. You’re Jack B-Barakat” He seemed to be stumbling over his words; which were pretty unusual for the popular kids. I nodded and offered him another smile, that of which he gladly returned which caused mine to widen. “I was wondering, as you are the captain of the football team, a popular socialite and the president of the school council, whether you would be willing to offer a hand with helping me raise money for a local hospital?” His blush was apparent after the second clause of my sentence; he nodded eagerly at my proposal. “Sure, whatever yea sounds good” Once again he sounded flustered and caught off guard.
His hands were lain flat on the table so to show my appreciation I lay one of my hands on top of his; I offered him another warm smile. As soon as I had done this his eyes widened and a slight gasp escaped his lips which soon turned into a cheeky grin. “Thank you Alex, you don’t know how much this means to me” Quickly, he rose to his feet causing my hand to slip from over his. His feet carried him around to my side of the table, he leaned close to my ear “No problem Jacky, anything for you” I felt a smirk appear on my face. I could feel his breath running down my neck which caused me to twitch slightly. He pulled his face away from mine to see my facial expression. By the grin on his face he obviously saw the cherry-red blush that painted my cheeks. My eyes darted toward his face, skimming over his features and staring into his hazel eyes. Rapidly he pressed a small kiss to my cheek which left me struck dumb, I tried to speak but the words wouldn’t develop. I stood up and walked toward the door, quickly glancing back at the boy who now looked ridiculously smug. “B-bye Alex” He had turned me into the babbling idiot I always had been.
-
I hadn’t spoken to the other boy for the next couple of weeks; we often exchanged glances and smiles whenever we passed the other. He had been permanently on my mind since the day we last spoke; I literally couldn’t stop thinking about the moron that had been stuttering at me outside of the student council office. I was walking down the empty halls, being late for class as usual, when I was checking over my schedule. Because I was so focussed on the piece of paper that was in my hand I didn’t see the boy that I soon crashed into. His chest hit off my hand causing all of the papers I was holding to scatter themselves across the marble floor. Without even bothering to look up at the person I had walked into I just dived to the floor to pick them up, stuttering a quickly thank you as I did so.
A hand brushed across mine which signified that whoever it was, was helping me pick up the paper. Once it was all collected I looked up at the friendly figure who had just lent me a hand in collecting my stuff, I let out a slight gasp. “Thanks Alex, I guess I’ll see you around” I threw my words out of my mouth in an attempt to get the interaction over and done with in case I messed up. He let out a slight laugh and handed me more of the papers I had dropped, “It’s no problem, remember; anything for you” He held a flirtatious tone in his voice throughout his remark. Truthfully, he took my breath away. “I’ve come up with an idea for that fund raising thing we talked about, here. I’ll see you later, hopefully” Before I could look down at the leaflet he had handed me, he dashed down the corridor.
I scanned over the words on the page and let out a small giggle, ‘Kissing booth with Alex Gaskarth, Friday. Be there’ I couldn’t help but smile at the way his mind works. I looked over the page once more and noticed some small grey, scribbled writing that looked like it had quickly been written on in pencil. ‘Especially you Jacky boy, you can have one for free’ I laughed once again and then stuffed the paper into my pocket; I made my way to my next class in a complete daze that the brown haired boy had left me in. I remained in that daze for the next three days, until the day. Friday.
At lunch that day I made my way to the cafeteria when I was greeted with a huge banner that read ‘1 kiss $1’ and people with megaphones ranting about kissing the one and only Alex Gaskarth while you had the chance. To be honest, I was tempted to waste all of my $6 lunch money on kissing him but I was too hungry to actually go through with it. The queue for the booth stretched longer than the lunch queue, resulting in me being able to quickly buy a sandwich without having to wait in a long line. I sat on a small table by myself and demolished the ham encased in bread and butter. I felt a tap on my shoulder once I had finished, I turned to find a young cheerleader smiling at me.
“Sorry to bother you but Lex said you need to go and stand in the queue because he needs to talk to you.” I frowned at her then glanced toward the queue, “Why should I stand in that to talk to him?” I said, sounding more harsh than intended. “People might thing you’re cutting and anyway Lex was pretty determined that you join the queue” I sighed and walked away from the small girl and toward the long line of people. Turning back to see her smile once I had reached the end, she ran back over to Alex to talk to him. I looked at all the people standing in front of me and they consisted of slutty girls or needy gay guys. Sure, I was gay but I certainly wasn’t needy or desperate. I waited with the crowd for about ten minutes until I got to the actual booth it’s self.
As soon as Alex noticed me a smirk appeared on his face, I walked closer to him with my eyebrows raised. “Your little elf said you wanted to talk to me and that you insist I wait in that queue.” I sounded slightly pissed off but that quickly disappeared when he pulled the neck of my t-shirt toward him. “Shut up and kiss me, Barakat” I let out a small laugh that was interrupted with his lips crashing toward mine. He kissed me repeatedly and it lasted for a minute or two, he still had me pulled over the table by the neck of my black New Found Glory t-shirt. Eventually he pulled away and I rummaged through my pockets to find some change. I pulled out two dollars and put it in the box next to his hand, he gave me a small wink “come and find me later Jacky, you can have more than just a kiss”
I sighed then looked at him then stuck my tongue out, I turned to walk away but he launched over the table and grabbed my arm. I looked back at him and he jumped over the table still hanging onto my arm, he pressed a quick kiss to my cheek then slid a piece of paper into my hand.
I never knew that ten digits could make me smile so much.