Hiding From Us

40. erick

One of the reasons that I loved Shain was because she didn’t really care about what she wore, as long as it was not feminine. Most girls would not have worn a black hoody beneath a silver button-down, plus a metallic blue scarf, but the thing about Shain was that she could really rock male clothing. 

     Up until now, an eleventh-grader DJ had been playing dubstep remixes of recent songs. As soon as Fancy finished, the first slow song came on: A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, and I got this brief memory of Shain signing it to me while playing the piano, and I loved how she loved love songs. 

     Her eyes light up. ‘‘Yes. Slow dance.’’ And then she eyed me for a second before I realized what she wanted. 

     ‘’Oh. Oh. Okay.’’ I held out a hand. ‘‘Good evening, lovely maiden. May I be so fortunate as to dance with you?’’ 

     She put her hand in mind and said, ‘’Of course you may.’’

     I raised her hand to my lips and kissed it shyly. She smiled at me, and then I took her waist, and she put a hand on my shoulder, and we danced. I wasn’t the best at slow dancing, and neither was Shain, but she just smiled and nodded her head to the rhythm and eventually rested her head on my shoulder, whispering lyrics. She smelt like coconut. The song came to an end and I stood there with my arms around her, and I kissed her softly behind the ear. 

     I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned. 

     ‘‘LOCKHART,’’ Ben screamed. He had a red Santa hat on his head and he looked like he was high on something. ‘’BE PREPARED TO DIE, LOCKHART. I HAVE THE MISTLETOE.’’

     ‘‘Ben,’’ I said, ‘‘are you high?’’

     ‘’ON LIFE.’’

     ‘‘Are you drunk?’’

     ‘’ON ENERGY.’’

     Shain laughed. She said, ‘‘That’s a good thing to be, Ben.’’

     ‘‘WELL,’’ said Ben, and then his voice quieted a bit. ‘’Be prepared, Watts, because this is the MISTLETOE OF DEATH. It is, like, the worst mistle to EVER come from a toe.’’ 

     I said, ‘‘You’re drunk.’’

     He replied, ‘’On euphoria. There is no booze better than that. Now.’’ He held up a giant fistful of mistletoe and shoved it between us. ‘’I haven’t got all evening. I need to get drunk on bliss again. So KISS, YOU STUPID LOVEBIRDS.’’ 

     ‘‘You said you were drunk on euphoria,’’ I said. 

     ‘‘SHUP UP AND KISS, LOCKHART.’’

     Laughing, I looked away from him just as I felt Shain’s arms slide up my chest to wrap around my neck. Slowly, I leaned forward and put my mouth to hers. She tasted sweet, like honey, and as she pressed her body against mine, I allowed my lips to part and my teeth to graze over her bottom lip. Tensely, she shivered, and I touched her skin so that I could feel her heartbeat.

     ‘‘PASSION,’’ said Ben.

     She kissed me long and hard, tongue flickering against my teeth, and as I pulled away, she sighed like something inside of her had melted. 

     Ben cried, ‘‘YES.’’

     Shain whispered, ‘‘Yes.’’

     I said, ‘‘Yes,’’ and I kissed her again for a short moment.