First Kiss
Page 1
First Kiss
By J. Tomas
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Copyright 2009 J. Tomas
ISBN 978-1-61152-171-9
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Cover Credits: Dizzy
Used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.
Cover Design: J.M. Snyder
All rights reserved.
WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published in the United States of America.
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First Kiss
By J. Tomas
Noah Lipinski lingers at his locker before the lunch bell, hoping to catch a glimpse of Doug Hathaway. The guy plays on the football team and Noah’s liked him since freshman year. He doesn’t know Doug really—he sees him in the hall between classes or jogging down the sidewalk because he delivers the morning paper, but that’s about it. They’re in the same grade but take different classes. They aren’t even friends.
But Noah likes his dark eyes, the color of his hair, the shape of his lips. If he were braver, or more popular perhaps, or maybe just more self-confident, he would cross the fifteen lockers that separate his from Doug’s and talk to the guy already, but he can’t. What would he say?
Down the hall, Noah hears Doug laugh, a sharp sound slicing easily through the noise of the other students. Noah’s heart quickens and he catches a glimpse of Doug’s wavy brown hair a moment before he hears his own name shrieked in his ear.
“Noah!”
It’s Melissa Bradshaw, head cheerleader, and she falls back against the locker next to his with a giggly sigh. “There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Noah doubts it. Melissa may live next door to him but in school, she usually acts like he doesn’t exist. With her blonde curls sprayed into place, glitter glossed on her lips and eyelids, she gives him a smile that says she knows she’s pretty. Too bad Noah isn’t interested.
“What?”
Melissa giggles again, a distracting sound. She looks past him down the hall and Noah follows her gaze, but suddenly there’s no one between his locker and Doug’s. The jock stands at his locker, rummaging through notebooks as he looks for something. God, that hair!
Noah feels the urge to sigh, but Melissa’s right beside him, remember? He presses his lips together and frowns into his own locker, the skin on the back of his neck hot. “Go away,” he growls at Melissa.
She’s still looking past him, and from the corner of his eye, Noah sees Doug glance their way. Sweat beads on his neck, dampens the back of his head. Melissa gives a little wave that pisses Noah off.
When he realizes she isn’t leaving, he tries a different tactic. “What do you want?”
Her smile cranks up a notch. “I want to know when you plan on asking me to the Homecoming dance.”
“I—” Noah starts, then her words sink in. Confusion replaces his irritation. Why would he ask her? More importantly, why would she go with him? “What?”
“It’s only three weeks away,” Melissa says. She speaks matter-of-factly, as if they’re going steady and she wants to know what time he plans to pick her up, because she already knows he’s going to ask her out and she’s going to say yes.. “I know you haven’t asked anyone yet. So why—”
“Because I’m not going.” Noah shakes his head in disbelief.
“No-ah,” she says with a breathless laugh.
“Is this some kind of joke?” he wants to know. She can’t be serious. “Why me? You’re just wasting your time.”
“No, you’re wasting my time,” Melissa snaps.
Noah looks around and sees they’ve attracted a crowd; worse, Doug is still at his locker, watching this. Watching him.
Melissa continues. “I have a dress all picked out but we have to match. What color are you going to wear?”
“I’m not going,” he says again.
Someone laughs but Noah doesn’t think this is very funny. Even Melissa’s grinning, the little bitch. I get it, he thinks, the back of his neck now burning with embarrassment. This is some sick joke. Let’s pick on the homo—get the most popular girl in school to ask him out then laugh when he says no. And hey, while you’re at it, let’s do it in the hall between classes where everyone and their brother can see, including the hot jock the geeky queer creams over.
Angry, he slams his locker shut and shrugs Melissa’s hand off his arm. “I’m not taking you to the dance.”
He storms off, elbowing his way through the crowd amid catcalls and giggles. It’s not until he reaches his classroom that Noah realizes Doug’s signature laugh wasn’t among those following him down the hall.
Somehow he makes it through the rest of the day without running into Melissa again. But word gets around his school easily and by his last class, Noah’s had two more girls ask him to the dance. What, just because Melissa’s noticed he’s alive, everyone else clues in now, too?
Everyone but Doug.