For the Rest of Our Lives

It's toward the end of the year, and I've just kissed Liam for the first time. I knew I wouldn't like it, I don't know why I went through with it. To prove a point to Sally? Sally's already kissed Darren a few times. She hasn't talked much about it though; it doesn't seem like she wants to talk about it. But I want to tell Sally immediately.

"I have to get back," I tell Liam. "It's starting to get dark outside."

"Okay," Liam says, a small smile on his face.

He walks me to the door. I'm about to tell him goodbye when he offers to walk me all the way home. Internally I'm yelling no. But there's a part of me that now knows monsters could lurk in the oncoming darkness; real monsters, not the vampires and demons they show on TV. I tell him okay, we get our winter gear on, and he walks me all the way home.

"I had a great time," he tells me. I give him a small smile.

"Me too," I tell him. We played video games on his play station for hours. It really was a great time; I'm just not into him the way he's into me. And I can clearly see the definite signs of a crush forming in his eyes.

"I'm glad you had fun, too," he says. He turns to leave, and then turns back. "Hey, Luna?" His breath forms a cloud in the air.

"What?" I ask. I rub my hands together, the fabric of my gloves have finally been breached by the cold.

"Have a great night," he says.

He leans toward me then, his arms held out, and I allow him to pull me into a hug. It's a very brief hug, and as soon as he's gone and I'm safe inside my house I allow myself to shudder. I definitely need to talk to Sally.

So I strip myself of my winter gear, and then dial the number for Sally's house phone on mine. It rings a few times before she answers. I hear her sniffling on the other end.

"Sally?" I say, forgetting about my evening. "Are you okay?" I hear her draw in a shaky breath, and then let it out slowly.

"Yeah," she says, the higher pitch to her voice betraying her. "Yeah, I'm fine. What's up? You want me to come over?"

I suck in a breath myself. It only takes me a few seconds to think about it before I nod to myself. When she's calm again, I can talk to her about Liam. And how I don't like him the way he likes me.

"Yes," I say. "Come over."

"I'll be right there," she says and quickly hangs up.

When Sally comes over, the skin around her eyes is really red and her eyes themselves are really bloodshot. I welcome her into my house and she immediately draws me into a hug. This hug feels really good; feels right.