Tangled in Love

Chapter 1

The school's auditorium was decked in posters, with a banner under the stage sporting the words, "Romeo and Juliet: starring Nolan Knäblein-Greene and Maya Rader!" Onstage, with hundreds of people keenly watching them, Nolan took Maya's hands in his.

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss," Nolan's passionate voice rang out. Nolan played the part so well that Maya could easily slip into her role as Juliet.

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this, for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss," Maya responded, reciting the words gently: meaningfully.

Staring straight at her with his deep blue eyes, Nolan inquired, "Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer," Maya debated, gesticulating wildly so the audience can see her determination.

"O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair," Nolan, or Romeo, calmly pleaded.

Maya checked her voice, making sure it was was coherent enough for the back row to hear her when she responded, "Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."

"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take." Having rehearsed the play countless times, she knew what would be coming next.

Warm hands, again with the puzzle-piece-fitting feeling of warmth, cupped Maya's cheeks as her lips pressed against Nolan's. Electricity, powerful and thrilling, flowed between them, their meeting lips the wires that connected them together.

They hadn't rehearsed the kiss before; they had always just paused when they came to that part in the script during rehearsals. Maya wondered why they could only kiss when the play was performed, Maya would be more than willing to kiss at every rehearsal, maybe even just press her lips against his during every rehearsal and forget about everything else. Maya had sometimes wondered about kissing Nolan, sometimes even longing for it, and now her guilt for wanting such "foolish" things melted away as she pressed her lips to his.

She wanted to take a mental picture of this moment, wanting to remember it forever. She bathed in the glory of having a perfect first kiss, even if it was a staged one. Her thoughts jumbled from the roller-coaster emotions rolling through her body; she was unable to assemble complete and understandable sentences in her mind. The only thought she could totally form was, "wow."

But Nolan pulled back and continued on with his role, making it simple for Maya to continue as well. Composing herself, she didn't let a single real emotion betray her, her mouth fixed in a line, but throughout the whole show, all she could think about was it.

The kiss.

As the performance drew to a close, the cast all filed onstage for a bow, and Maya followed everyone off into the audience to greet their waiting parents. There, she was at the receiving end of flowers, occasional bouquets, and many congratulations on the great job she did.

However, Maya was barely listening, absentmindedly replying in thanks to gifts and compliments. She was too focused on the contact of her and Nolan's lips to think about anything else.

What troubled her was that it seemed to have no effect on Nolan. He just continued reciting his lines after they broke apart, and was even the one who stopped the kiss! If it didn't bother him, why was she obsessing over it so much?

Her eyes widened in shock as realization dawned on her. No way! she thought to herself. There's no way I could possibly like him!

Another thought flashed across her mind. It's probably because it's my first kiss, she reasoned with herself. That's why I keep thinking about it. Nolan has kissed plenty of other girls, so that's why the kiss didn't mean much to him.