Lifetime

Practice

My phone started to ring thirty minutes before my alarm and I groaned at seeing Hobi's face on the screen, rolling over in bed. I didn't say anything as I put the phone to my ear, too tired to talk yet.

"Wake up, I need help with my outfit." His voice was clear through the speaker and on the other side of my window, his finger tapping lightly at the glass.

I rubbed my eyes as I crawled from the bed, lifting the windowsill to let him in. I moved back to sit on the edge of the mattress, sending a moment of hate to myself for keeping him as my best friend, the complete opposite of me in the mornings.

He held up two crossbody pouches in front of himself, turning from side to side. "Which one?" He asked.

"You woke me up to help you accessorize?" I groaned, tilting my head as I looked at him in annoyance, but he was beaming and it reminded me of why he was still my best friend. He was literal sunshine. "The blue one." I pointed out to his satisfaction.

He ran his fingers through my messy bed head, pressing a short kiss to my forehead in thanks. "I'll bring coffee for you when we leave. You've got forty-five minutes!" He exclaimed as he stepped back through my window and over to his.

I was always grateful for Hobi's affinity for fashion as he'd helped me build a wardrobe good enough to match his energy. After forty minutes of getting ready I stepped out to the kitchen, the heels of my chunky boots clunking against the floor to find my mom wrapping a breakfast sandwich for me to eat on the way to school.

I pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and my dad's at the table, slinging my backpack over my shoulder just as Hobi beeped his horn.

For me, Hobi was my only friend. Neither of us fell fully into any of the typical cliques of our small high school. I liked to refer to us as floaters and as was evident in most high schools, you could tell by where we sat at lunch. On Monday's we joined in with the quieter students, the one day a week that the table was a little louder as we talked manga with everyone. We sat by ourselves on Tuesday's and Thursday's, occasionally joined by drifters just looking for a place to feel welcome. During the rest Hobi lulled me over to the table of athletes and popular kids as he tried to win the affections of Gabby Lee.

Gabby was nice enough, incredibly pretty and one of the smartest people in our class. We'd talk about the latest celebrity gossip and while Hobi flirted with her I'd turn to talk sports with some of the basketball players at the table.

We continued like this for a few months, Hobi finally confessing that he'd built the courage to ask her out as we did homework in his bedroom after school.

"That new romantic comedy is showing this weekend. I was thinking I could take her to that." He raised his brows, looking for my feedback.

"Boring." I continued looking down at my English textbook.

He smacked his lips in response. "It's not boring, it's what she'll like." He explained. "If I were taking you on a date we'd go somewhere like an arcade or an escape room, but this is Gabby. You have to think about the date with her in mind."

I shrugged. "Then I'm sure the movie will be perfect Hobe."

"Yeah, do you think she's kissed a lot of people before? It'll be my first kiss." His voice already showed signs of being nervous and I could anticipate that he was about to talk himself out of the entire thing.

I closed my book since we obviously weren't going to get any homework done. "Then just kiss me and I can tell you if it's horrible."

He laughed as if I were joking, his response taking a minute to catch up to my seriousness. "If you wanted to kiss me all you had to do was ask." He smirked and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Shut up, I was just offering you the chance to practice and get some actual impartial feedback before you give Gabby the worst kiss of her life on Saturday." I defended, reopening by book.

He seemed to be thinking about it for a moment before pulling the textbook from my lap, closing it with a thud. "Fine." He sighed.

"Okay first point of feedback, maybe show a little more enthusiasm when you kiss Gabby." I tried to break some of his tension.

He let out another breath, like he was preparing himself. "You don't think this will mess up our friendship?" He asked.

"It's a practice kiss, Hobi. It's not like I'm going to fall in love with you or something. Unless you're worried you'll fall in love with me?" I gave him a questioning look. "Plus, one day I'm going to kiss a guy too so it'll be good to know I'm not a horrible kisser too."

Before all of the words left my mouth Hobi was leaning across the space between us, his lips pressing to mine too quickly in a hurried peck that made our noses mush together.

I pulled away immediately. "Definitely don't do that. You don't want the first kiss to be a surprise. Make your move based on her body language." I instructed.

"Says the kissing expert?" He replied sarcastically.

"I know enough to know that wasn't good." I moved a little closer to him in the bed. He huffed and we took a moment just to look at each other, but I started to laugh, ruining the mood. "Sorry, sorry. Okay I'm ready." I recovered, meeting his eyes again.

He leaned forward, leaving a small space between our lips for me to close. I met him there, shutting my eyes as he kept his still against me, until I opened my mouth, closing it again so that his lips were captured with mine, deepening the kiss for just a moment before pulling away.

Hobi's eyes fluttered open a second after mine. I couldn't quite read his face for the first time since we'd become friends, so I dived into my analysis. "Pretty good, but don't be afraid to take the lead just a little bit." I gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't rush, read her body language, take the lead." He nodded to himself, memorizing my pointers.

I giggled at him, pinching at his red ears. "Okay, now it's time for my feedback." I tilted my head to the side, waiting for him.

"I didn't say I'd give you any feedback." He responded.

With my arms crossed over my chest I scoffed at him. "That's not fair. I need to know I'm not a shit kisser too." I tried to persuade him. "Oh my gosh, I am a shit kisser!" I exclaimed dramatically.

"No no no!" Hobi waved his hands in front of me. "That's not it."

I released a sigh of relief. "Okay good, then give me feedback please Hobe." He still refused, my face lighting up when a thought occurred to me. "Wait, I totally rocked your world didn't I?" Even though he tried to deny it, the deep red blush that crept up his neck and cheeks told me everything I needed to know.

With a glance at the clock I realized it was close to dinner time so I gathered my books. "Tell Gabby I said good luck living up to my amazing kiss." I teased him one more time, heading back to my house with a chuckle.

When I was in my bedroom I leaned against the closed door, knocking the back of my head against it three times because even if I rocked his world, I couldn't describe the impression he left on mine.