He Who Moved the Sun

Chapter Eleven: Just One Little Kiss

Chapter Eleven

J.R adjusted his Carolina Tarheels snapback and grabbed his old school bag out of the trunk before shuffling towards the building. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to say to Escher even  if she decided to show up.

Escher Griffith: Maybe.

What did that even mean? Maybe she would show up or maybe she was willing to give him another chance? He had a feeling it meant both and that she wasn’t even sure what she wanted to do. He didn’t blame her, things had gotten confusing.

But that was how Escher was. She'd been told what to think and what to do by so many people she couldn't think and do on her own anymore.

Hopefully she figured it out, he thought as he entered the high school wearily, nodding politely to a CV who was eyeing him with suspicion. “Just getting to class early,” he said cheerfully and held up his history book for proof. “Gonna get some studying in before the big test.”

The CV nodded but continued to watch him until he rounded the corner and took a sharp turn into the history classroom without stopping, just in case he changed his mind and turned around again.

There she was, sitting in her usual spot, staring at him with curious blue eyes that were now unblinking as he stood in the doorway, frozen. He wasn’t quite sure what to say or do because truthfully, he hadn’t expected her to really show up.

“You’re here,” he croaked and scratched his head in wonder.

Escher just nodded, not taking her eyes off of him. She seemed as confused as he was as to why she'd come. “Aren’t you going to sit down,” she said in an unusually high pitched voice. She cleared her throat self consciously and looked away.  “Unless you’d rather stand.”

He chuckled and went over to the desk in front of hers, collapsing in it and turning around so that they were face to face. He took a deep breath and cut to the chase. “I can’t believe that happened.”

She nodded in agreement and rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t have gotten any more unlucky. My mother is strict about a lot of things, but she’s absolutely mental when it comes to boys.”

“I can see that,” J.R said and Escher smiled halfheartedly.

“It’s not you. It could have been the president’s son and she would have said the same things. I’m just sorry you had to witness that. It was pretty extreme under the…circumstances.”

Escher looked away awkwardly and he realized she was referring to what had happened moments before Mrs. Griffith had walked in.

“What?” He said with a sly grin. “The kiss?” It amused him that she was embarrassed over something like that. But then she wasn't like other girls. Things like that meant a lot more to her.

“We live in a place where a simple kiss on the cheek out of marriage is intolerable,” J.R told her when she didn’t say anything. “For your mom to have reacted any differently would have been a surprise.” He shrugged and crossed his arms on the desk, leaning forward.

“Did you like it?”

Escher’s head snapped back to attention so that she was looking him in the eyes again. She cocked her head to the side in questioning manner. “Like what?”

“You know,” J.R said with another smile. He wiggled his eyebrows humorously. “Did you like the kiss?”

Escher turned slightly red and stated playing with her pencil.

J.R realized she wasn’t going to tell him one way or another so he continued. “It’s about time you got kissed by a boy,” he said matter-of-factly. “Even it wasn’t a real kiss.”