Fall From Grace

As I flipped through the different pairs of jeans on the rack, Jessie was staring at me with this stupid look on her face.

“What the hell is up with you?” I finally asked, becoming annoyed with all of her staring.

“Nothing, just enjoying this lovely little random shopping spree with my bestest friend in the whole wide world,” she said in her best innocent voice.

“Again I ask, what the hell is up with you?”

“Just the fact that someone is trying to get all cute for their date tonight,” Jessie said and
then quickly stepped back so I missed when I tried to smack her on the arm.

“It’s not a date, we have to spend time together because of the judge, remember?” I said in an irritated voice. She knew I hated her messing with me about Johnny. We were friends now, that was it.

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you’re buying new clothes for the occasion,” she kept pushing.

“Chill Jessie, I just wanted to buy some new clothes. It’s not particularly for tonight,” I said, wishing she’d shut up already.

I finally made a selection and pulled the jeans from the rack with intentions of trying them on without any more conversation.

“Whatever you say, but those are some pretty sexy jeans to wear for no particular reason at all,” she said with a laugh.

“How about you just shut it before I shove these jeans up your ass,” I threatened.

She held up her hands in surrender and laughed. “I’m done, sorry bitch!”

Satisfied, I turned and went into the dressing room. The jeans were a perfect fit and I loved them. I went back out into the store in search of a shirt. I found a cute black one that showed off my recent belly-button piercing. I tried the shirt on with the jeans and stepped out of the dressing room so Jessie could see. She let out a shriek and fanned herself dramatically.

“Johnny is not gonna be able to take his eyes off of you with that outfit,” she said with a smile on her face. Dodging as I tried to hit her again.

I rolled my eyes at her for what felt like the hundredth time that day and changed back into my clothes. After I paid for the new clothes, we had just enough time to grab some food from the food court before I had to go get ready for the fireworks show.

~x~

I was running late when I got back home, so I took the fastest shower possible and hurriedly dried and straightened my hair. I was looking good on time by then so I slowed down and took my time on my makeup.

If by some crazy chance Johnny was into me, I wanted to at least look decent. As soon as I thought it, I tried to forget about. Even if he was into me or something, I didn’t want to know.

I heard Johnny pull up to my house and get out of his car. I sat down on my bed and pulled on my cute, black flats and then quickly jumped up, sprayed on some perfume, and ran down the stairs. I got to the door just as Johnny started knocking.

“Hey Johnny,” I said as I opened the door.

His eyes widened as he saw me, but he quickly composed himself and just smiled. I found myself returning the favor and I stepped outside on the porch and locked the door behind me.

“So I thought we could go get a spot for the fireworks and then go eat somewhere after the show,” Johnny said as we were getting into his car.

“That sounds perfect,” I said, laughing at how much alike we thought.

It was crazy that it was so easy to get along with him when we had been at each other’s throats for so long. I just wish I knew what was in the future for us. Would we even be friends anymore in a couple weeks when the judge’s sentence came to an end? It was a lot to think about, but I just shrugged it off. I wasn’t going to weigh down the fun of the evening with all those thoughts.

~x~

After walking around for a few minutes, we found a good spot and Johnny spread out the blanket he was holding on the ground and we sat down on it. We fell into a semi-awkward silence and I had the strongest urge to break it by saying anything that popped into my head. There was something different between us tonight. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I just hoped it wasn’t something that would turn ugly.

We finally managed some small talk and that carried us through until the fireworks started erupting in the night sky in front of us. I loved fireworks, but I just couldn’t pay attention to them tonight with the way Johnny kept shooting glances at me thinking I couldn’t see him.
“What’s up, Johnny?” I asked finally, making him jump.

“N-nothing,” he said quickly, “I’m just thinking about how weird it is that we’re being friends after all this time.”

“Are we going to be friends still after we’ve served our sentence?” I asked, looking out across the water. I finally asked the question that’s been bothering me for so long, but I found myself afraid of the answer.

“Maybe friends, maybe more,” Johnny said in a low voice that could barely be heard over the booming fireworks.

I turned to look at him and he met my gaze without wavering. He looked scared to death.

“What?” I asked him, wondering if I’d actually heard what I thought I heard.

“Promise you won’t kill me,” he said.

“Kill you? Why would I kill you?” I asked. I had no idea what the hell was going on here.

“Just promise,” he insisted.

“Okay, I promise,” I finally said.

He took a deep breath like he was trying to prepare himself for something. Almost like he was moving in slow motion, he leaned forward. He rested his hand on the side of my face as he brought his lips to mine. The sounds in the background faded away to almost nothing. In that moment, it was just the two of us. When he finally pulled away he had this timid look on his face. It seemed like he would run away in fright at any second.

“Johnny, I –“he cut me off as soon as the first words left my mouth.

“I know, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” He was looking down at the ground now.

“No it’s not that, it’s just that-” Again, he cut me off. For him to act so cocky all the time, he sure was insecure.

“You don’t like me that way, I get it. It’s okay,” he said, starting to get up. He still wouldn’t look me. I had to do something to make him shut the hell up and listen to me.

“Johnny,” I said a little loud, making him stop and finally look at me.

Before he could say another word, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer so I could kiss him again. He seemed to get it through his head at this point because I felt his arms wrap around my waist and I let him pull me closer. My head was spinning by the time the second kiss ended. I had kissed plenty of guys before, but it was never anything like that. It felt right.

“You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that,” Johnny said quietly, letting his forehead rest against mine.

“I’ll respond to that when I can think straight again,” I murmured, making Johnny laugh.

This was completely new territory with us and I had to say, I was pretty excited to see where it was going to go.