- sixth grade -
Kiara was sitting on the bottom step of her friend Sarah's house. Sarah had thrown a huge party for her birthday and invited literally the entire school. As Kiara watched people walk by, she recognized most of the kids. She sighed and took her hair out of its braid. She and Sarah had spent hours this morning getting ready for the party. Well, it was mostly Sarah and then Kiara tagging along. Kiara didn't really care how she looked. Kiara was just about to get up from the step when she saw Rafe Cameron walking towards her. Her heart started to pick up. An eighth grader was coming to talk to her and she wasn't prepared. He sat down next to her and the smell of weed and alcohol was consuming her. She had heard about all the kids doing drugs and drinking nowadays, especially if you were a kook.
"Hey, Kiara" Rafe slurs his words, the 14-year-olds face looking more like his dad's than ever.
Kiara smiled politely, "Hi Rafe."
Rafe threw his arms around her, "Come with me, sweetheart." Kiara followed him graciously as she was both bored and wanted to look good in what she assumed was a group of his friends. She didn't hang out with older kids much. He sat her down on a couch and they watched as his friends did lines. Kiara was offered a beer and was about to decline when Rafe told her to go for it. Again, wanting to be liked by the other kids, she drank. She finished the whole can, and someone handed her another one while everyone was cheering her on to chug it. An hour later, after Kiara had been under the influence of Rafe, she was more than under the influence of just him. Cocaine and beer swirled around her body in an intoxicating concoction. In all her years, she never thought she would get drunk and high at the age of 11 but that's what she gets for living with the kooks. By hour 2, she was half passed out on the couch with Rafe next to her.
"Hey, Kie?"
Kiara sat up at the sound of her name. Rafe was sitting directly across from her, inches away. He grinned and grabbed her face in his hands. Her young, naive, drunk, and high, 11-year-old self grabbed Rafe's collar. He closed the distance between them. Kiara had also always envisioned how her first kiss would go. This was certainly not it. All she remembers before she passed out, was Rafe getting punched in the face as she got dragged away.
Kiara woke up in a hospital bed. Her head was pounding and every part of her body hurt. There was an IV in her arm and she could feel the pressure where the needle was. Her whole body was on high alert. She opened her eyes to see the bright white room and her parents arguing with each other on the other side of the glass. Probably something about how their 11-year-old daughter had to be brought into the emergency room because she passed out at a party. She slowly turned her head to see a figure sitting in the car by her bed.
"JJ?" Kiara asked. Her throat felt like sandpaper. The figure stirred and got up, taking the baseball hat from his face and putting it backward on his head. JJ's blonde hair was a mess and the skin around his right eye was different shades of purple, green and blue.
"JJ! What the fuck!" Kiara said, "How did that happen?"
JJ had a murderous look on his face, "When I had to pull the bitch off of you and John b and Pope had to drag you away."
"What?" Kiara asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
JJ sighed and pulled his seat closer, the angry expression on his face melting to something closer to sympathy. "How much of last night do you remember?" JJ asked.
"I remember sitting on the stairs and Rafe coming up to me. He asked me to come with him and I wanted to impress him and all his 8th-grade friends so I followed him"
JJ winced.
"Someone handed me a beer I think, but after that my memory is super fuzzy,"
"He kissed you."
"Huh?"
"Rafe kissed you while you were drunk and high and obviously not in your right mind," The murderous expression was back on JJ's face.
"He did what...?" Kiara said quietly.
"I know. Fucking douchebag," JJ mutterd.
"I kissed Rafe...?" Kiara said again solemnly.
"No," JJ said. "He kissed yo-"
"My first kiss, the kiss I've thought about for years, was with idiot Rafe Cameron at a party where I couldn't even think straight?
JJ was about to say something like "don't keep reminding me" but when he saw how sad Kiara was, he scooted even closer to the bed. He rested his arms on the side of the bed by Kiara's arm.
"I didn't get a cute first kiss," Kiara said. "Why couldn't it have been on the beach, at Midsummers, or at a party when I was sober."
JJ grabbed her hand. "Hey, Kie?"
Kiara wiped her eyes. "Yeah?"
"Can you try and forget about Rafe kissing you?" He asked as she nodded, again confused. JJ said, "Close your eyes," He stood up, and leaned over the bed. Kiara felt his breath on her face and opened her eyes slightly, and when he gently grabbed her face, she closed them again. JJ closed his eyes and lightly pressed his lips to hers. Both their hearts beat ridiculously fast. JJ let go of her face and pulled away.
"There," JJ said. "That was your first kiss."
"What?" Kiara asked but she was smiling like she had caught on.
"That was your first kiss. There was no kiss at the party, actually forget about the party altogether. It didn't happen, okay?"
"So are you saying that you were my first kiss?" Kiara asked, sitting up higher in the bed.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," JJ said
"And was I yours?" Kiara asked, expecting the answer to be no of course. She was sure JJ had kissed at least one girl.
"Yeah. You were," He said
Kiara's eyes widened. "Really? Why did you want this to be your first kiss? In a hospital room. With me. It's not exactly the best first kiss. You just wasted your first kiss on me.
"Kie," JJ said. "I'm glad it was with you. To me, it was the perfect first kiss."
oh, hey...
sorry its been almost half a fucking year...
ill try to write more
also thanks for literally over 9k.
-el
