Trapped in School (Watty Awards 2012 Nominee)

Chapter Twenty-One: Surely Right

My whole body felt alive. It was like my heart was about to burst, my toes begged to dance, and my throat wanted to sing. I felt a tingling sensation from the tips of my toes to my hairline. It was everything I imagined a kiss to be and something completely different at the same time. When Lucas broke the kiss, my lips wanted to beg for more. So I did the only thing that made any sense.

I slapped him across the face.

We both jumped up, Lucas rubbing his cheek as I began to pace.

“Ow!” he said “What was that for?”

I spun around, hoping he could see my glare in the dark. My brain was a mess. One second ago it felt like mush, but now I had a million thoughts swimming through my mind at once. It was like an abandoned road suddenly becoming rush hour traffic, and the mix of endorphants, adrenline, and phermones running through my body at that time was probably a dangerous mix.

“What was that for?!” I repeated incredulously “What do you think that was for, you idiot!” I turned to look at him face on, but in the dim light his eyes were eerie shadows. Somehow, I could still see the look of concern on his face.

“It was just a kiss Nat,” he said.

Beep beep beep, danger, danger! He said the K-word!

I gave a frustrated growl and went back to pacing, pulling at my hair. My heart felt like an oxymoron. It was a sun and a black hole at the same time. I felt like something precious, my first kiss, had just been ripped out of my hands, but at the same time I just wanted to be kissed again.

“You don’t…. I can’t…. We, uh, we can’t be….”

Great, now I was speaking in fragments.

“Natalie, I’m sorry. I thought you wanted to be kissed. I thought….” Lucas voice became softer and softer with each word. He shifted from foot to foot. I wondered how he must have felt. Was that his first kiss too? Wow, sixteen years old and the poor guy has never had a kiss….. Then again, he probably only desired to kiss video game characters like how I wanted to kiss anime boys, which is kind of weird but--

Focus Nat!

“I…. uh….”

Wow, I was ever so elequaont today, wasn’t I?

The room fell into a heavy silence with only Lucas and I left staring at each other in the dark. It was a battle of who would speak first, who would admit how they felt first, and I knew that I was winning because I myself couldn’t take what I felt and put it into words. It was like writing a proof in geometry. You knew what was there and how you got there, but you weren’t sure how to translate that into written language. Lucas cleared his throat.

“Natalie, listen. It’s been a crazy past two days for you and me,” he began.

“You and I,” I corrected automatically. I whinced, but Lucas smiled. To my relief, my grammer correction lighted the situation a bit instead of annoying Lucas.

“You and I. But unlike you, I’ve felt like this for… well, for a while. You’re just… Uh, I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a fruit ball! I mean, sure I could go on about how you remind me of the sun, or the moon, or the stars, or something,” said Lucas in a rush. “But I’m not Romeo, or even Edward Cullen for that matter. I’m not good with this romancy-shit. And I can’t be all player either and talk about how hot you are and be all smooth, because honestly, I know you would hate that. And I’m kind of a nerd. I don’t get out there and flirt with a ton of girls because I’m always in my basement and-- wow, now I sound like a total loser.” Lucas face palmed and I couldn’t help but smile. He was visibly shaking, and seemed nervous as hell. It was kind of cute.

“Anyways, I’m getting off topic here. Natalie, I like you. A lot. I know I’ve been a total dick to you in the past, but that’s just because I didn’t want to like you. You’re way out of my league, like, thousands of leagues away. You’re pretty and brilliantly smart and funny and-- God, here I go..... So, I just, I just thought… maybe if I kissed you or…. Wow this is difficult, um…… But can we at least be friends? I don’t…. I mean, uh…..” Lucas started to walk away, but I stopped him by grabbing his sleeve. He turned around expectantly, and I could clearly see his eyes in the dim light. I let go, feeling my heart pick up speed underneath my t-shirt. He watched me. Finally, I let out a sigh.

“I don’t like the dark,” I muttered lamely. I snuck a glance and saw Lucas biting his lip. He seemed disappointed, and it made my heart squeeze in an almost painful way. Under normal circumstances, I would have expected heart failure, but it seemed to me these weren’t normal circumstances, not even close. “Andifyouwantyoucankissmeagain.”

“What?” asked Lucas in shock. I refused to meet his eyes.

“You heard me,” I said. I raised up on my toes and our lips met for the second time.

Lucas wrapped his arms around my waist. Sure, I didn’t know what I felt. Sure, I was a nerdy girl whose never kissed anyone before. And sure, this probably wasn’t the best time for kissing. But even with the storm raging outside and the storm raging inside, I knew what felt right, and kissing Lucas was surely right.

A/N-- Sorry if this chapter seems filler-y. What was up with wattpad today? I tried getting on, like, three times and they said they were closed. Aw well. So even though some of the romance is out of the way, here are some questions to ponder :

What exactly does Natalie feel for Lucas? What will happen without electricity? What will happen to Lucas's sister? And how will Natalie's mom react if she finds out about the kiss?

I hope to answer these questions, and more, in the chapters to come. Thanks guys for all of the wonderful support, I love you all! P.S.--I always try to respond to messages, so if you want to know more about the story, just send me a message!