First Kiss

It’s the stranger things in life that get to Jack. He’s always been attracted to the idea of spontaneity and was always up for a challenge or two. He may have had broken ribs, fractured his skull, and almost lost a leg because of it, but he’d take the thrill of it over the safety precaution any day. However, what he signed up for today was slightly different; and for the first time in a very long time, his hands went clammy and he felt restless with fear.

His friend Rian is in the social sciences field and he was doing field work on the possibility of love at first sight, physical attraction, and the role intimacy plays in a relationship, in collaboration with his videographer friend. He had handpicked some of his friends so he could keep close tabs on it, and while Jack was initially not part of it due to his lack of a love life, Rian asked him for a favor.

Jack, despite his love for one-night-stands and harboring several traits of a man slut, was never going to take advantage of a person and make them fall in love with him just for an experiment – he made that perfectly clear to Rian. Jack would never admit to being a romantic, but he has had his fair share of daydreams over a relationship he can’t help but keep to; a relationship that he wouldn’t mind waking up to. But Rian said it wasn’t anything like that – he just wanted him to kiss somebody so he could see what effect kissing has on all sort of people. Jack would be filed under the “confident” sort of people for this project – he couldn’t decide whether it was accurate or not.

By Rian’s ruling, he wasn’t allowed to know who he was going to be kissing until he came face to face with him. Jack expected Rian to make him kiss both a guy and a girl to fully maximize his bisexuality, but Rian said he was only going to make him kiss one. He said that telling Jack whether he was kissing a boy, girl, or both would contribute to the confidence Jack would have in the filming room, and he didn’t want to give him leverage. So Jack just went with it; it was just kissing, anyways.

Jack was currently seated in a waiting room with maybe 12 other people, more female than male. The door was on the left, which meant that he’d be walking in from the right side of the shot. He knew he wasn’t in the same room as the person he was kissing, but he liked looking anyways. He started conversation with some of the people in the room, asking them about how they felt and how they know Rian. Rian actually told him not to do that because they might end up thinking of Jack while they were kissing the person they were meant to kiss – he has so much confidence in Jack’s people skills, it’s actually quite flattering – but Jack was never one to remain quiet in a room; he needed to ease the newfound tension in his body. From time to time, a person would come in and call out a name, then the person called would have to leave the room. They never came back, which sucked because Jack wanted to have at least an idea of what happens in that room. Is a camera on you the moment you step out the door? Do you just go straight in for the kiss? Is there a time limit to how long you can stay on the stage with that person? Will someone tell you when to start and when to finish? A part of Jack’s mind appreciated the spontaneity of it all, but another part of him, the more dominant one for today, wanted to know exactly what was going to happen.

The door swung open and Rian stepped in with a clipboard. He scanned the room and saw Jack, then smiled deviously. “Mr. Jack Barakat, if you could please,” he said, tilting his head towards the outside of the room. Jack stood and walked towards him, rubbing Rian’s bald head on the way out. He first looked at the layout, seeing only a white background that went from the high ceiling to being draped across the floor, ending right before where the cameras were placed. There were bright lights and a mic hanging from the ceiling, and the space seemed too big for such a small scale shoot. Maybe it was supposed to add to the awkwardness. His gaze landed on someone across the room that wasn’t dressed in all black and didn’t have wires on him. Jack would probably remember the moment he saw him his whole life because everything he thought only happened in movies happened to him in that instant.

It was as if the whole world went just a tad bit slower just so he could take in that one moment in his life. The other boy was dressed in black skinny jeans, a white shirt with thing gray stripes, and a black jacket with a band logo Jack couldn’t see clearly enough to recognize. His hair was a lighter-than-dark-brown-but-not-too-light color, and was styled with a short side-swept fringe while the rest of his hair fell in an organized mess. His face seemed to always rest on a slight smile. He didn’t notice Jack when Jack noticed him, but when he did, he bit his lip to hide a smile. Rian gave Jack a shove and he felt himself start walking; the other man started walking, as well. Jack only had eyes for him as he walked, not even knowing whether there was an x that marked where they were supposed to meet. He wanted to know his name, wanted to hear him speak, wanted to hear his laugh, wanted to know whether his hair fell like that all the time or if he does it when he gets up in the morning like Jack does. Jack had to remind himself that he didn’t believe in love at first sight, but the more he looked at that other man, the more he wanted to believe in it just to have something to blame.

Jack slowed his walking when he saw the other man do so. He looked calm, but the calm that Jack usually used as a façade when he was actually incredibly anxious; hands in the jacket pockets, wandering eyes, swaying. He couldn’t help but notice how that other guy couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Jack no matter how many times Jack tried; and Jack just imagined himself staring at him, not being able to look anywhere else. That was a really awkward image in his head, so he did something about it.

He extended his arm, making sure he was smiling; he wasn’t sure he could stop smiling. “What’s your name?” he asked, sounding a bit breathless in his head.

“Uh, Alex,” the other boy responded, giving him a firm handshake in return. Jack’s arm fell limp by his side after that.

“Well, ‘Uh, Alex’,” he said, making the other boy chuckle nervously, “I’m Jack. I kind of wish we met under different circumstances.” He looked directly into the camera at that point, giving it a piercing look.

Alex laughed, and the butterflies in Jack’s stomach erupted. He wanted to hear that again and again. “Same,” he replied. He looked at the camera as well, his cheeks going slightly red. He looked to Rian, who was behind Jack. “So, do we just…” Rian probably nodded, because Alex mimicked it in a smaller manner. “Alright, uh…” He looked back at Jack, a smile still fluttering on his lips. “How are we gonna…”

“I have no clue,” Jack said, laughing with him. He looked at Rian. “Time limit?” Rian shook his head, biting his thumb to suppress an obvious laugh. Jack looked back at Alex, who was still slightly away from him. He took half a step forward. “I suppose…”

Alex mimicked the step forward. “This is so awkward,” he whispered. Jack wasn’t sure if the mic caught that, but it was the cutest thing he has said so far.

“It really is,” Jack agreed, laughing with him. Alex lost his gaze, biting his lip. “You sure you want to do this?”

That got his attention again, and he met Jack’s eyes again. Alex’s eyes were dark brown and looked very crystalized from this vicinity. He was only a little bit shorter than Jack, probably only by an inch or two. He nodded, a smile returning to his lips when Jack smiled at him and went in for the kiss.

Their lips met very gently, the other boy’s feeling very soft against Jack’s. He had fairly thin lips that were a bit rough, and he relaxed as soon as they were in contact. It was short-lived, both boys probably thinking that they weren’t supposed to make-out in front of the camera – Rian did just tell Jack that it was only a kiss. That, by definition, means for their lips to touch, and that’s it. But the way Alex’s lips fit in between Jack’s and the warmth of his breath against Jack’s skin made Jack want more. In the duration of that kiss, Jack’s hand landed on Alex’s hip by nature, but he had to keep himself from pulling him closer to him. But he really wanted to; he wanted to feel his body relax against his because it made him feel both strong and vulnerable at that same time.

“Holy shit.” Jack thought he said it in his head, but Alex laughed, dropping his head to rest his forehead on Jack’s shoulder for a moment before pulling back again, a dopey smile on his lips.

“One more?” he suggested, smile widening.

Jack nodded eagerly, wrapping both his arms around Alex’s waist and pulling him closer. Alex laughed and linked his hands behind Jack’s neck, pulling him to his height. Their lips were quick to find each other again, this time with more energy and passion. Jack, in general, loved the feeling of lips against his skin, but Alex was different – he fit so perfectly in Jack’s arms and he had this thing about smiling and even giggling while kissing him, then suddenly becoming so consumed in the kiss that Jack couldn’t help but reciprocate. He smelled like what was now Jack’s favorite scent and Jack didn’t want to stop any time soon. He wanted to be consumed in this boy.

When they separated to breathe, the director was quick to say that they had a couple of questions. Jack and Alex laughed, sharing the same feeling of embarrassment yet lack of regret in them, and faced the camera, Alex now putting his arm around Jack’s waist and Jack moving his to around Alex’s shoulders.

“How did that feel, boys?” Rian asked, smiling cheekily.

“I would like to thank my best friend in the whole world, Robert Rian Dawson,” Jack began immediately, making Alex and the rest of the crew laugh, “for convincing me to do this.” He looked at Alex, delighted to see that he was already looking at him.

Alex shrugged, looking into the camera. “It was alright,” he said indifferently, but otherwise smiling and laughing when the rest of them did. He looked at Jack, a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Let’s be friends.” That brought about another round of laughter

“Netflix and fucking chill kind of friends, I think,” Jack added, making Alex blush but laugh anyways.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Alex replied softly, looking deeply into Jack’s eyes in a way that made Jack feel like he was getting closer and closer to his daydream.

Jack looked back into the camera. “Again, I would like to thank Robert Rian Dawson for convincing me to do this,” he said before steering a blushing yet laughing Alex out of the room.