Kissing in a Dream

Who Keeps Letting You In Here?

"I'm going to do it with Wolf."

Ari dropped the glass bottle she'd been holding and it smashed to pieces on the floor. Tok on the other hand, choked on a carrot.

"You can't just drop that on a person!" Ari exclaimed. "And you almost killed your best friend!"

I flailed. "I don't know how any of this works!" I frowned. "I'm sorry."

Tok stepped over the carrot and walked over to take my shoulder. He and Ari carried me into the sitting room and pushed me into a chair.

"Okay. You have to be ready for such a move." Ari told me.

"I'm ready." I confided. "I mean, sure, I'm nervous. But every time I think about it, I know Wolf is the one and I want him to be my first."

"Does he know he's your first?" Tok asked.

"Yes. And don't worry, I'm ready."

Ari nodded and leaned back into the sweat. "This is like Tok taking me home for Christmas."

"Wait—what?" I asked. "Are you guys—"

"I'm still chasing her." Tok grinned. "But mom wants to meet her."

"I don't want to be mean but does mom know Ari is..." I paused.

"Black?" Tok asked. "Yes. I explained all that to her. She didn't argue but I did explain to her that I like this girl—I really like her. I think her want for my happiness outweighs any fear she might have about Ari's race."

"Listen." Ari giggled. "Happy things. Tok is taking me to Thailand and you are going to be cherry-less for Christmas! We need to drink to that."

My cheeks burned. "Ari!"

She laughed and darted for the kitchen.

Tok and I cleaned up the broken bottle.

I decided to take Ari's advice. Nothing but good things for the rest of the day. This was the last chance we had to get everyone together. The next night, Wolf and I had a hotel booked. The day after that, Wolf would be gone. He would be on the other side of the world and my heart would break until he returned. I had to wait until the new year to see him—I had wanted to kiss him at midnight. But I couldn't be selfish. He was going home to look after his sick father.

I excused myself to call my own. I apologized for not coming home for Christmas. Pa understood, but I still felt as though I was letting him down. I told him I loved him. He laughed softly.

"I love you too, Nong."

The doorbell rang and I looked up. "I'll get it."

When I opened the door, Dae smiled at me while thrust a wrapped package at me. "Desserts."

"Oh, I can't wait to see what these are." I laughed.

"Um...I found her in the hall." Dae said.

"Her?" I asked.

"I figured she was coming here so I brought her with me." Dae stepped out of the way.

I wanted to scream. Her small frame had been hidden by Dae's large body, I didn't even know Prae was standing there. I wanted to push her out and slam the door. But how could I be rude. The smile disappeared from my face as she said hello. I didn't reply. I merely walked away to the kitchen, handed the package to Ari and headed to my bedroom.

The anger bubbled up inside me. I wasn't sure how many ways I could tell Prae I was no longer interested. I couldn't come up with the right anything to make it any clearer. Now I merely wanted to hurt her, to shoved the words in and twist them like a knife.