What You Did in the Dark

The trio laughed as they walked around the neighbourhood. Their feet hurt from all the walking they did, and on each of their arms a plastic bag swung back and forth, heavy with candy.

"You’re never too old for Halloween," Oliver chuckled.

As they walked by a huge group of kids, Oliver grew nervous. He recognized a few girls in that group that liked to pick on him—their arms attatched to guys that beat him up. He even saw a few of Tom’s friends in the bunch. He hoped that the paints on his face and the darkness of the night were enough to hide his identity.

But he knew he was pushing his luck.

"Are you okay?" Aleria asked, grabbing his hand and locking their fingers together. She eyed the group of kids suspiciously.

As they walked by, he could hear the hushed whispering among the crowds of people.

"Is that Oliver with a girl?" One girl said loudly.

"Uh," Oliver stammered to Aleria, "those kids go to my school. They’re the ones that hate me…"

She squeezed his hand reassuringly and grinned up at him. “Just avoid them. Don’t let them get to you.”

"Oh my God, that is a girl. Emo boy has a girlfriend!"

"Oh, please. That can’t be a girlfriend. She’s too pretty."

Aleria blushed and hid her face from the group. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed quickly to Oliver.

It was then that she realized that Tom had walked over to two of his friends whom were standing among the group.

"It’s okay," Oliver chided, "it’s just what I go through on a daily basis."

That wasn’t fair to Aleria. He had people talk about him like this everyday? She knew he had been bullied…but she didn’t know it was by this many people.

"Well we can’t leave, we have to wait for Tommy," Oliver said, his tone almost annoyed.

Aleria led Oliver by hand over to a curb. She made him sit down next to her, his hand never leaving hers as they waited for Tom to finish conversating.

A gust of wind made the trees shake and Aleria shiver. “It’s a bit cold tonight.”

Oliver chuckled. He let go of her hand, to her disappointment, but that disappointment soon vanished as he wrapped his strong arms firmly around her tiny frame and held her close.

They received suspicious and awkward glares from the group of kids, but Oliver didn’t mind one bit.

"I really do wish you went to school with me, though," Oliver said. "Maybe they wouldn’t pick on me if they saw I was hanging around such a pretty girl."

The compliment had Aleria blushing and she thanked the night that it was dark.

Oliver thought her blush was adorable. She was adorable. He stared down at her admiringly, smiling to himself as she hid her face in his shoulder.

She wanted to just kiss him! She had never had her first kiss yet, which pegged her to wonder if Oliver had. She knew that he’d only moved here maybe in the beginning of summer, and before that, he lived in England. It was quite possible that he has.

Once she was looking back up at him again, small smiles perched on both of their mouths, she did a daring thing. She reached up with her hands and pulled his head down to hers where their lips pressed together tightly.

Oliver was shocked, but didn’t pull away. He didn’t want to. Aleria was kissing him. He almost smiled at the thought of her being his first, but he didn’t want to break contact.

The kiss remained innocent, their lips pressed together until Oliver’s parted just slightly. Aleria grew nervous about the new form of contact, but went along with it. She was careful moving against his busted lip.

"See? That must be his girlfriend."

This was when Oliver smiled and Aleria tangled her fingers into his hair. They never wanted the kiss to end, but they had to pull away sooner or later.

Her hands stayed on Oliver’s neck, his arms still wrapped around her. He pecked her lips one more time before opening his eyes and looking at her happily.

They broke contact completely when they heard Tom’s shoes scuff against the concrete near them.

"So what’d I miss?" He cluelessly wondered.