Kissing You That Friday Night

I walked into the gymnasium, it was crowded and music was blaring over the speakers loud enough so it was nearly impossible to make out the words. Everyone was laughing and dancing like crazed maniacs. I focused my gaze to the center of the dance floor and caught a glimpse of Jen and Ricky. They were holding hands and dancing, having a good time. Ricky obviously saw me and waved, a smile planted on his face. I gave him a thumbs up and headed outside to get some fresh air. The chill of the night bit my cheeks and sent a shiver down my spine, even though it was warm during the day, the nights were still cold. I found an empty bench outside the school and planted myself on it. I huffed and looked up at the night sky. The stars looked briliant, glowing brightly. I could see the north star clearly.
I then heard a loud cough coming from around the corner of the building. I straightened up and listened intently. When I heard the cough again, followed by a few footsteps, I got up. I walked over to where the noise was coming from.
"Aiden?" I saw a dark figure sitting on the ground, leaning back against the brick building.
His eyes darted up and he smiled at me.
I frowned, remembering how upset I was with him. I shook my head and began to walk away.
"Laila, please." I felt a cold hand wrap around my arm.
I looked at him with fury. The sadness in his eyes was obvious.

I began to walk away again once he didn't say anything.
"Lai, no...Please...." He began.
I turned around and looked at him, crouching on the ground, his hands on his knees. He looked like he had just ran a marathon, like he was in pain.
I walked over to him suspiciously. He looked up at me and I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms, showing no sign of defeat. His eyes then left mine and he slowly stood up.
"Lai, I'm so sorry-" He started.
"Sorry for what, Aiden? Sorry for dating Jen behind my back? Sorry for leaving me in the dust..." I was yelling now, and I began to feel guilty. This situation was very much like the one we encountered in the practice room. "Sorry for kissing me and then going to the dance with Jen?..."
Those last words shook him, he looked into my eyes. They were blazing with heat, not in a passionate way either. He tried to grip my arms but noticed they were crossed, so he settled for a firm grip on my elbows instead. I felt my eyes grow wide and in the pit of my stomach I wanted to cower, but I stood my ground. He must have noticed my fear and dropped his hands to his sides and took a step away from me, revealing a foot of distance between us. I let out a sigh of relief.
"That sounds so familiar..." He finally said after a few moments of silence.
I had then forgotten what we were talking about, "what?"
"'Sorry for kissing me and then going to the dance with Jen...'" He repeated my words, "sounds just like what I said to you...About Ricky..."
I looked away at the darkened sky, the twinkle of stars was the only thing beyond this atmosphere that gave me the idea that everything would end up okay.
"I'm sorry, Lai...I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Explain this to me then...Why'd you kiss Jen behind the bushes in the courtyard?" I questioned.
He looked upset, like a teenager in a jail room, lights beating down at him asking him where he was that Saturday night.
"Even better yet...What happened at Jacob's party that was just the latest buzz around school the other day?!" I threw my hands in the air. I was angry, he didn't even look like he had an explanation.
"Jacob's party?" He finally said and rubbed his chin.
"Oh don't act like you don't know. You came to school with that tangerine wrapped around you and everyone was gossiping about something that had happened between you and Jen. And what would that be? Because you never told me, my friends were too afraid to tell me. Did you sleep with her?" The questions and statements were flooding out of my mouth like another hurricane Katrina, never to be stopped. I finally haulted when I noticed I could barely remember what I asked.
"Yeah I don't blame you for thinking that..." He laughed silently.
I felt my face get red and I began to stomp away again.
"Lai!" He shouted.
I turned around. I didn't want to, but something about Aiden's presence made me want to be there, with him, even when I was infuriated with him.
"Lai, I don't know what you heard, but nothing happened between me and Jen at that party." He announced and looked me straight in the eye. I gazed into those perfect brooding eyes, they were quite dark at the moment, like he was thinking, deeply.
"Proceed..." I said in a calmed, low voice.
He took a deep breath and began his story, "At Jake's party, everyone was bringing beer, and peer pressure took me in a choke hold. You know how Jake and his friends can be..."
I rolled my eyes and blinked at him.
"Okay...Maybe you don't. Well they're a little untamed with their drinking habits, they got me to have one and one turned to two and two to three...Soon enough I found myself in a bedroom and Jen waltzed in..." He rubbed his forehead and continued," I don't remember that much really. All I remember is that Jen was kissing me, but nothing more than that. By the time I realized what was going on I forced one of Jen's friends to drive me home, considering all my other friends were hammered." He laughed when he said that last part.
I looked at him as I lowered myself onto a bench near by, he joined me.
"You know...This is a little hard to believe...." I said and looked up at the stars again.
Aiden reached for my hand. When I felt his cold fingers touch my skin,20I shivered and pulled away.
"I know, You don't have to believe me, Lai..." He shrugged and stood up, wandering around beside the bench. "I got home and Jake called to see if I was okay. I said I was fine and he said something about me getting nailed in the room upstairs, but I was too drunk to know what he was saying. I must've said some things that made it seem like Jen and I had sex but we didn't."
"How am I suppose to believe that when you can barely remember that night. What if you did have sex with her and you just don't remember it?"
"How many people do you know completely forget about having sex for the first time even when drunk?" He questioned and laughed at the thought.
That question lead me to think about that night with Ricky, feeling like the bootycall. Ricky said he was drunk but he still clearly remembered what he did to me. I guess it made a bigger impact on them than I thought, but I found this far from funny and repeated the question in my head, leaving me with one more, "so if you did...Well, ya know...Then that would've been your first time?"
"Yeah, I still have my first time to come. As embarassing as it is for me to tell you, I'm still a virgin..." He looked at the ground again and I saw that he was now beside me on the bench again. He reached for my hand, slower than before, and I let him have it. He smiled and turned to me.
"Why would you be embarassed?"
"I don't know, I just didn't want to admitthat I hadn't done it, even when the gossip was all over school. Not that I knew much...But Jen seemed pleased."
"Why do you hang out with her?"
"I have no clue...I thought she was cool and for some reason, even when I questioned her she came up with more and more reasons for me to forgive her and before you know it people thought we were some sort of item. I couldn't let the rumor stop because, well, I don't know, some girls like the idea of an experianced guy..." He seemed embarassed to tell me this and I saw him bite his lip.
I suddenly found myself laughing, and he glared at me in disbelief. "I'm sorry..." I managed. Once I had stopped laughing I turned to him and said, "I'm not one of those girls..."