𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 ; lucas zumann

[23]REAL LIFE

LORIE'S FIRST KISS HAD taken place when she was nine years old and at a girl she hated's birthday party. In their first year of middle school, girls had just stated to invite boys to their parties.

Melanie Parker was the most popular girl in fifth grade, and when she invited Lorie to her birthday, the girl was in shock. She hadn't wanted to go at first, she didn't like Melanie at all, but as soon as her mother heard about it she insisted Lorie went. When she arrived, everyone was gathered around the living room talking.

"Oh, it's Loren!" Melanie had said when the brunette had entered the room.

"Lorie," she said, glaring a little.

"We're playing seven minutes in heaven," Melanie said, ignoring her.

"Mature," Lorie had said in her usual gritty and sarcastic tone. (Yes, she was like that even when she was ten)

"Yeah, it is," The other girl said. "And it's your go."

"What?"

"Who wants to spend seven minutes in heaven with Lola?" Melanie asked the rest of the group.

An unimpressive yet not abysmal amount of hands went up at the prospect of this. Henry Sykes, Theodore Hatt, Casey Evans and Connor Wilkins. Lorie stayed cool and aloof, blowing a large bubble and popping it with her finger.

"Connor, you go," Melanie said, yanking Lorie with one hand over to the hall.

Connor followed close behind, repeatedly running his hands through his hair in an annoying way. Melanie pointed to a broom closet, and they stuffed themselves in.

Three minutes of silence passed, before Connor took a large breath.

"So, are we gonna make out or something?" He asked.

Totally taken aback, Lorie stared at the boy in the torchlight for a moment. Then, she nodded.

"Screw it, why not," she said, taking out her bubblegum and sticking it on the wall.

She hoped Melanie would find it there and accidentally touch it or something. That bitch.

Of all the douche boyfriends she'd had, Connor had probably been the worst. They were all horrible, and Lorie had never been sure why she had such a blind spot when it came to guys. She'd kissed a lot of people a lot of times since that first night in Melanie Parker's broom closet, but none had ever felt like the kiss she'd shared with Lucas that night on the roof.

They had stared into each other's eyes, something they'd made quite the habit of, and Lorie had just done it. She'd just kissed him. It was a kiss that was easily comparable to the rainy one in the notebook. The kiss was only a few seconds, but it felt like years. She knew that memory was one she'd grow old with.

Then she'd ran away.

Lorie ran down the roads in the torrential rain until she'd got back to campus, where she'd flopped down on her bed. She lay there for a minute, as still as a corpse. Then she lifted her wet fingers up to her lips, where she'd kissed Lucas not twenty minutes ago.

***

When Lorie awoke the next morning she felt extreme regret. All she could think about was the kiss, and how it would be if people found out. Kaya and Amybeth wouldn't stop spamming her on the groupchat. Amybeth would probably even fly down to see her so she could make a big thing out of it. Mia would probably— Lorie didn't really care what Mia would do, to be honest. Really, all that mattered was that what Lucas would say. He would be all nice and romantic, maybe even ask her out, which was the last thing that Lorie wanted to happen.