You Again

Chapter 8: Teasing Playfully and a Carefree Reality

Chapter 8: Teasing Playfully and a Carefree Reality

My eyes widened in surprise. For a fleeting moment, I thought about how it seemed like lately, I was going against a lot of the rules I had set for myself. First, by telling Alec everything, and now by kissing him?! But my thoughts quickly diverted to the fact that I was kissing Alec. Alec Bennett. Alec Bennett was my first kiss. Is my first kiss.

I moved my lips along to his, molding our mouths together. He wrapped one arm around my waist and let the other run through my hair gently.

He pulled away breathlessly only to admit, muttering, “I’ve wanted to do that for the longest time, Makenna.”

I smiled against his lips and my heart fluttered. This must be what it’s like to have a heart attack, I thought dreamily. Only this is so much better.

I couldn’t believe how quickly I lowered my inhibitions and tossed out the window all the promises I’d made to myself… and to Landon. But I quickly realized just how right Britney was. I needed to move on and experience life. Like, for real.

I locked my fingers behind his head and threaded my fingers through his blond hair. His lips were so smooth and gentle; if it was a movie, sparks would definitely be flying. It left a tingle running through me; all I wanted was more.

Suddenly, I pulled back. Alec looked at me, confusion swirling in his eyes, but he swiftly regained his composure. “Sorry… I shouldn’t have done that,” he apologized.

“No, I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know; I just feel like maybe we shouldn’t be doing this. I mean, we don’t know each other very well, for starters. And we are in a public diner, like this is kind of weird,” I confessed.

His face fell. I tried to cover up, “No, I mean, it was perfect. It was great. It wasn’t you. It was just that I couldn’t – ugh,” I gave up trying to come up with a plausible excuse for my rash actions. I had ruined the romantic moment. Count on me to ruin everything I came into contact with.

I tried again to form an apology once I had collected my thoughts, “That was my first kiss, Alec, and honestly, it exceeded any expectation. It was just like a first kiss should be.” I smiled genuinely.

Then, I realized how whack it was that I hadn’t had a first kiss even though I had done it. What a strange order to do things in. Spencer and I had gotten right down to business, if you know what I mean… we hadn’t wasted time on kissing. And boy, was I glad that we hadn’t. He probably would’ve permanently tainted kissing for me, tarnished the perfection.

It wouldn’t have been sweet and memorable, like it was with Alec. I was grateful that it happened this way because every girl deserved her first kiss to be something real. Had it been with Spencer, it would have been anything but real, and I think that would have been the worst reality. I would have never been able to kiss anyone ever again without my thoughts drifting back to Spencer. So I was definitely relieved that he hadn’t taken that from me too. He’d done enough without also taking away my chance to kiss my Prince Charming, which was every girl’s childhood dream.

I giggled a little, thinking of Alec as my own personal Prince Charming. “What’s so funny?” Alec asked, his eyes gleaming.

“Nothing you should worry about,” I replied with a mischievous smile. I was relieved that there was no tension between us after I had awkwardly broken up our kiss.

The waitress returned with our drinks. “Th-thanks,” Alec and I said to her, still a little out of breath. She gave me a look in such a way that I knew she had witnessed at least some part of me and Alec's kiss, and my cheeks flushed. When she leaned in to place my drink in front of me, she whispered under her breath, “PDA isn’t welcome here.”