“Hey, Megan! What are you doing here?”
She frowned at him. “Packing relief goods, of course. Why aren’t you helping out?”
Chris’s eyes widened a little in panic. “Uh, I…”
Megan took his arm and pulled him to the registration table. “Never mind. Sign up here and start helping. We need as many people as possible because there are still so many places that haven’t received anything! Do you know where Katie is? She’s supposed to help too.”
Chris obediently took the pencil from her and wrote his name on the sheet she held out. “Don’t you know?” he asked.
Megan shook her head. “She said her mom had to tell her some big news, but I expected her to be here by now.”
Just then, they heard what could only be Katie running toward them. “Guys!” Her eyes were shining and her freckled cheeks were rosy. Chris grinned at her. Looked like the news was good. “My mom’s pregnant!”
Megan started squealing and jumping up and down, holding Katie’s hands. Chris instinctively backed away a few steps. He was still getting used to this newfound BFFship. “That’s awesome, Kate!”
When it looked like they had finished jumping, Chris reached out and gently squeezed Katie’s shoulder. “Congratulations. You’ll finally have a sibling.”
“I know!” Her eyes were wide. “In the olden days, I could be old enough to be its mom. How weird is that?”
“It’s not weird,” Megan pronounced in an authoritative tone. “In some countries, girls as young as twelve are already married off and having children.”
Chris shuddered. What a thought. Here he was trying to figure out how to talk to a girl while other kids his age already had their own families. Then he realized he could ask for Katie’s help. Pulling her aside, he whispered, “Kate, I have something to ask you.”
Megan narrowed her sharp eyes. “What are you guys whispering about?”
Katie whispered to Chris, “Later.” Then brightly skipped over to where there was a free space for them to begin packing. Chris looked around for her and saw that she was working far away from them. The entire time he was segregating canned goods and blankets into plastic bags, he kept thinking of ways to leave his friends and go over to her, but because she was surrounded by so many other people, there was no way he could go over there without it looking forced. So he sat next to Katie and Megan and listened to them excitedly talk about what they would make the baby wear when it was finally born. In a few minutes, he found himself joining in too, telling them how cool it would be if Katie had a baby brother so he could teach it to play soccer. But the whole time, he kept sneaking glances at her. Just in case she had moved closer to him.
Chris never got around to telling Katie about her. Megan wouldn’t leave them alone, so he decided to go home early and start on his homework. When he finally hunkered down at the dining table to work on his algebra, Ethan barged through the door.
“Hey, Chris! Wanna come with me to the park?” He dropped his backpack on the floor and held up his soccer ball.
“I just came from there,” Chris mumbled, eyes on his book. He was tempted to join his brother though, even if he knew he had to finish his homework or find himself in big trouble the next day.
“Come and I’ll tell you who that girl is.” Ethan smirked.
“What girl?” Chris felt his face heat up. How did his brother figure it out? He tried his best to hide it from him.
“Oh, come on, I’m not an idiot.” Ethan rolled his eyes and started bouncing the ball on his knee. “The one you’ve been staring at all month.”
No use pretending now. “Okay. Who is she?”
“Come with me to the park first. It’s not dark yet. I need to get some practice in. Coach says if we win the season, I might bag Rookie of the Year. That will cinch my entire college career!”
Chris knew how much being a sports superstar meant to his brother. But that wasn’t why he was abandoning his books. He wanted to know who she was and if Ethan knew, it would be worth the sleepless night ahead, finishing his homework.
“Well?” Chris asked when they got to the park field.
“Let’s practice passing.” Ethan was about to kick him the ball when Chris crossed his arms in an effort to hold his ground.
“No. Tell me who she is first.”
Ethan frowned at him for about two seconds then burst into laughter. “You’ve got it bad, little brother.” Chris just stood there. He knew that if he gave in to Ethan, he’d dangle the information in his face for as long as he could. But at that moment, Chris had leverage. “Fine. Fine. She’s the cousin of your buddy John. Just moved here from some province—and she’s a junior. Way out of your league. We all good?”
Chris’s mouth dropped open. “A junior? But she’s—”
“Tiny, I know. Really cute, though.”
Chris felt his heart plummet.
WHEN SHE FINALLY appeared outside his window, Chris dashed out of his room, down the stairs, and out the door. When he slammed it shut, he found himself face to face with her. She had turned to see who was barreling through the door. He opened and closed his mouth, feeling uncomfortably like a goldfish.
When she grinned, it felt like the sun had suddenly peeked out from behind the clouds to shine down on her face, giving her an unearthly glow. She was probably part goddess or something. “Hi there, you almost collided into me.”
“I…I’m sorry,” he stammered.
“It’s okay. Are you on your way to the park? I saw you there the other day.” She didn’t look like she was in a hurry to go anywhere.
“Uh, yeah…” He was sounding more and more like an idiot, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to gather his thoughts. Here before him was the girl he had been staring at and sketching for over a month and he had nothing to say.
“Okay, then, let’s go.” She smiled and started walking. It took Chris a few seconds to realize she meant for him to walk next to her. “My name’s Iris. What’s yours?”
“Chris.” At least he managed to get that out without stammering or sounding like he had forgotten his own name. Then remembering that he did have something to talk to her about, he said, “I’ve seen you walk your dog.” Okay, now he sounded like a stalker.
She smiled and said, “Yeah. Cutie.”
“His name’s Cutie? That big black Lab?” Chris blurted out, forgetting how self-conscious he was.
She laughed and continued, “Yes. My little sister called him that when he was a puppy and it stuck. He’s the sweetest thing. So you play soccer, huh? You’re pretty good.”
Oh, man. She had noticed him too. His heart was beating so fast, he couldn’t trust himself to speak. “Uh, yeah, thanks” was all he could mumble. Then taking a deep breath as they neared the park, he said, “My brother says you’re cousins with John?”
She smiled at him. “Yes, I am. Sounds like you’ve been stalking me.” Panic gripping his heart, Chris turned to her and saw that she had an almost flirtatious look on her face. Did this girl know he was just a freshman?
Before he could stutter his way to another apology, Katie spotted them and waved them over. “Chris! I thought you were going to stay home!” she yelled.
“Is that your girlfriend?” Iris asked. Chris couldn’t tell if she sounded disappointed or not. He was probably just reading too much into it. Or hopelessly hoping.
“No, Katie’s my best friend,” he answered.
“Oh, we all know what that means.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
Chris frowned and shook his head vigorously. “No, it’s not like that.”
Iris gave a smirk and said, “Sure. That’s how I lost my best friend. We got together and now I never want to see him again.”
Chris looked at her in horror. “That’s not going to happen to me and Katie.”
“Of course it’s not.” She reached up and ruffled his unruly hair. “You’re a lot younger than me, aren’t you?”
Chris felt his face fall. What g
ave him away? His childish reaction when it came to Katie? But before he could answer, Katie was next to them saying hi to Iris. As the two girls talked, Chris heard Katie telling Iris they were still freshmen. He’d never have a shot with her now. But then again, what was he thinking? She was going to find out sooner or later anyway.
“I knew it!” Iris laughed. “Your boy is much too sweet to be anything other than a freshman. Treasure it while it lasts.” She winked at Chris, who felt himself blush, and walked away.
Katie took one look at Chris and rolled her eyes. “You like her, don’t you? She’s a junior, Chris!”
Chris sighed in exasperation. “I know that, Kate.”
She studied him for a few seconds then took his hand and pulled him toward the other end of the basketball court. “Let’s just stay here, okay?”
Chris snuck a longing glance at where Iris was sitting, sorting through what looked like packs of pancit canton. “Okay.”
CHRIS TRIED TO avoid the park as much as he could. He didn’t think striking up a friendship with Iris would help his chances. There was no way a high school junior would go out with a freshman. Okay, it happened—but only if the freshman was female and the junior male. Why were there double standards like that? But then again, he knew he shouldn’t get started because whenever he got into an argument with Katie about double standards, he always lost.
But a few weeks later, while he was doing some groceries for his mom after school, something he actually enjoyed because he found it relaxing when there weren’t too many people, someone tapped him on the shoulder. “Haven’t been seeing you around.” He turned to see Iris, looking absolutely adorable in a blue tank top, skinny jeans, and orange Chucks. She had a faded yellow headband on and somehow, it made her entire face light up. He didn’t know how or why, he just noticed that it did. And right then, he knew he was powerless against her. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were avoiding me.” She tilted her head to the side and looked up at him prettily. She knew she was cute, he realized. She knew he liked her. And he didn’t care. She was talking to him, wasn’t she? Did that mean she liked him too? “What are you shopping for?” She seemed comfortable with his silence and peeked into his cart. “No junk food? I’m impressed. I subsist on Chippy and Tostitos.”
Taking one look at her glowing cheeks and wondering how she got them that way, Chris made a decision. “After I pay for these, want to grab a donut?”
She slipped her arm through his and looked up at him. “I was wondering how long I had to chatter away before you asked.” His heart soared.
Over donuts, milkshakes, and a bag of Chippy—Chris had snuck one into his cart on the way to the cashier—they talked about everything they could possibly think of. Chris felt like Iris wanted to pour out her entire self to him in the short time they had together. And he felt the same way. She told him about her best friend turned boyfriend turned enemy number one. She told him about moving, about her cousin John, about ballet (no wonder she was so graceful!), about her love for dogs, and about her two younger sisters—Olive, seven, and Crystal, four. Chris told her about being Ethan’s younger brother, about his drawing, about soccer, even about how he used to be obsessed with beating Katie at Speed when they were younger. It was then that Iris brought up the subject of Katie.
“So you’re like siblings then?” she asked tentatively.
Chris didn’t think she had to tiptoe around the topic. He was certainly very comfortable with it. “Yes, she’s like my twin sister or something since we’re the same age. It’s a lot of fun because I don’t have any sisters. It’s always just been me and Ethan and having Katie around is like having one more person who knows me like family.”
“I still don’t buy it.” Iris looked away. “But maybe it’s because Ryan and I didn’t work out. And it hurt ten times more than if it were another guy, you know? Because he was supposed to know me so well, he was supposed to care about me more than that.”
Chris was dying to take her hand and tell her it never had to happen again. But he didn’t know if she was going to pull away. She looked incredibly vulnerable right then and he wasn’t sure what the right move was going to be. Oh screw it. He reached over and took her hand anyway. It was so soft and tiny in his. But what he couldn’t get over was that she gently turned her hand around and held his back. Then she looked at him and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
They ended up in her house, in the basement where there was a pool table and a ping-pong table. Chris excitedly grabbed the pool sticks and asked if Iris wanted to break. She laughed and said, “I don’t play. These are for when my parents have their friends over. It’s like some big thing from their childhood. I just like it here because my sisters won’t bother us.”
Chris put the sticks back in their wooden case, a little disappointed. If Iris knew how to play pool, he’d have the perfect excuse to come over. “So you want to play ping-pong?” He started looking for the paddles.
Iris disappeared for a while and returned with a deck of cards. “I want to play Speed.” She grinned.
“You do know I’ve had lots of practice.” Chris returned her naughty grin, feeling more and more comfortable around this girl by the minute.
“So have I.”
Playing Speed had never been this intense. For one, Chris kept looking for ways to touch Iris’s hand without being too obvious, but at the same time, he also couldn’t blow the game. Not after telling her how much time he had put into it as a kid. She was pretty good too, but he was better. In the end, he triumphantly slapped down his last card and crowed, “I told you!” She smiled at him, then totally took him by surprise when she leaned forward on her hands and pressed her mouth against his.
Chris couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. This was the first time he had ever been kissed by a girl. Well there was this one time with Katie when they were like eight or nine but that didn’t count. But this one. This One. He didn’t know what to do, but Iris sure did. Without breaking their kiss, she effortlessly moved close and sat down in front of him. She put her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer, and gently but insistently moved her lips against his. Chris allowed his mind to stop churning and put his arms around her too. She was so tiny, he felt she would break if he held her any tighter. But he didn’t want to loosen his grip. He couldn’t believe that in his arms was the girl of his dreams. The girl he had been drawing, obsessing about, and staring at for over a month. He was actually making out with her, in her basement, and she had made the first move. If it were up to him, he would never have done a thing and definitely wouldn’t have known what he was missing. His hands wanted to move and feel every part of her, but he kept them where they were, chastely on her back. He didn’t want to make any mistakes. This moment was perfect. He wanted to keep it that way.
When she finally drew back, Iris looked at him, her eyes even wider than they usually were. “Where did you learn to kiss like that, my little freshman boy?” Her arms were still around his neck.
“That was my first kiss.”
The teasing look in her eyes softened. She pulled his head down again and this time slowly moved her tongue in between his lips. Chris wasn’t prepared for that. He had no idea what to do. But as Iris gently touched her tongue to his, his instincts took over and he followed her lead. He didn’t know how long they were kissing like that when they heard a loud rap on the basement door. Iris quickly jumped up and smoothed out her hair. She said, “Hang on,” then ran to open the door. Chris dazedly got up, walked over to the pool table, and started mindlessly clinking the balls together. What had just happened?
“Chris, do you want to stay for dinner?” Iris called out.
Was it dinnertime already? His parents had no idea where he was. “Uh, thanks, but maybe next time. I have to take the groceries home.”
Iris came over with her mom behind her. She made the introductions and Chris’s face flamed with embarrassment. Didn’t her mom wonder what they were doing in the baseme
nt with the door locked? Apparently not.
“You should come over more often, Chris.” Iris’s mom smiled. She looked just like Iris, only rounder and with layered hair that went past her shoulders. “I’m so glad Iris is meeting new people here.”
He looked at Iris and she looked perfectly poised, as if nothing had happened. He nodded mutely, thanked her for having him over, and made his way to the front door. Iris stepped out with him and closed the door. “That was fun.” She smiled.
Chris wanted to ask her what it all meant. His heart was now hers, irrevocably. And he wanted her to know that. But he knew that if he said anything, he might scare her away. Who knew what she was thinking? “Yeah, it was.” Then he gave her a shy smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
She nodded.
He made sure she could no longer see him when he let out a loud whoop and started running home, his grin wider than it had ever been in his life.
THE FIRST THING Chris wanted to do when he got home from school the next day was go to Iris’s house. He couldn’t think of anything else all day. Even when John asked if he was going to tryout for the soccer team, all he could do was shrug. Ethan would have killed him—soccer was his life and he had made it clear that it should be Chris’s too.
Before Chris could run out the front door, Ethan walked in. “Where are you going?” He frowned at him suspiciously. He could probably sense that Chris was bursting with something he wasn’t telling.
“Uh…” Then Chris grabbed the soccer ball from his older brother and said, “To the park to practice.”
“Let’s go.”
Dang. Why didn’t Ethan have homework like regular college kids? Oh, right, the school cut him some slack because he was their budding superstar.
Only A Kiss Page 3
