Stars Collide

Chapter 12

A/N: Julien is no longer going to be a main character. He'll still be on the side because he's Chiara's brother, but he won't have his own POVs anymore because I don't see much that I could write about him. I'm also going to change the order of the POVs to Ben, Leah, then Chiara because I just wrote a chapter for Leah and Chiara.

When I got back from the park, Ian was all ears. "So, Benny," he prompted. "How did it go?"

"It went good," I told him. I didn't want to tell him the details. Right now it felt like the memory of the date was mine to keep. I didn't want to give that up.

"Did you kiss her?" I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Not yet."

"Aw, man!" he exclaimed. "You gotta get rid of your lip virginity." He was silent for a moment before a smile began taking over his face. "And I think I know how."

I held my hands up as I backed away from him. "Don't even think about it. I'm not going to kiss you."

Ian laughed. "Not me, you idiot. I'm going to get a girl for you to practice on."

"You've got to be kidding me."

Ian shook his head. "Nope. You're going to have to learn how to kiss before you kiss someone that you actually like."

"Relax," I told him. "It's my problem, not yours. Plus, I'm like ninety percent sure she has never been kissed before either. And why are we even talking about this? I'm not even sure that she wants to go on enough dates with me that we talk about kissing."

"Hold up," Ian said. "Okay, first of all, how do you know she's never been kissed?"

"We were talking about ourselves and she never brought up a boyfriend of any kind."

"You're really stupid," he told me. "Do you really expect a girl to tell you about her ex-boyfriends when you're on a date with her?"

I held my hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry."

"Okay," he went on. "Second, she is going to want to go on more dates with you."

"How can you say that?" I asked.

"Okay, Ben, I'm telling you in advance not to go all lovey on me. Alright, here goes. Ben, you're a great guy and the fact that you haven't gone out with anyone ever would probably make girls think of you as more... valuable. Plus, Leah can see how much you want her and that would make her feel special."

"Wow," I said. "I never knew you thought of me that way, Ian."

Ian smacked my arm, making me jump. I laughed.

"Anyway," Ian continued. "Let's go get you some kissing practice."

I sighed. Maybe this was for the best. I didn't want to scare Leah away.

Ian got up off my bed and walked to the door, motioning for me to follow him. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"We're going to the West Coast Building to go and see if Lily is free."

"Lily?" I asked.

"Cory's sister," he explained. "She'll give anyone kissing lessons to save up for college."

I coughed. "Her parents can afford to send her here but they can't afford to send her to college?"

"It's complicated," Ian told me. "The bottom line is, you are going to learn how to kiss tonight."

By the time we got to the West Coast Building, we were soaked. I didn't mind because I was already wet. Ian grumbled as we walked inside. "I know Lily's dorm," he whispered when we were inside. "I may or may not have used it before."

Of course. The people in the lobby barely batted an eyelash as we walked to the elevator and went up to the third floor. When we reached, Ian grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her room before knocking on the door.

"It's open," a female voice called. When she saw Ian, her face lit up. "Ian!" she exclaimed. "What brings you here? I never thought you'd be out of practice."

Ian smiled. "It's my friend, Ben," he explained. "He's never been kissed before."

I think this was when Lily noticed Ian wasn't alone. "Hi Ben," she greeted, smiling. "I never thought you'd be doing any kissing."

"Trust me, I didn't either," Ian told her. "But Ben got himself a date. The problem is, he doesn't know how to kiss."

"Well, we can fix that, can't we?" Lily smiled. "Come here, Ben." She motioned for me to come closer. When I did, she wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in closer. Her lips were barely an inch away from mine when I decided that I couldn't do this.

"Stop!" I exclaimed, pulling away. "I can't do this. No offense, Lily, but I don't want my first kiss to be a lesson. Alright, Ian, I'll kiss the girl tomorrow. Just not Lily."

Ian smiled. "I knew you would crack!" He was met by the confused look on my face. "I planned this," he explained. "I knew I needed something to push you a little bit further so I decided to ask Lily if she could pretend to teach you how to kiss. Lily's my girlfriend, by the way-" Lily waved at me sheepishly. "-and she does have enough money for college. I knew that you had it bad for this girl and I wanted you to know that too."

"Jesus Christ, Ian!" I exploded. "Don't you think I've had enough to deal with today?" Ian's face turned to guilt and I lowered my volume. "I'm sorry." I ran a hand through my hair. "I appreciate what you've done for me."

"I want to know one thing," he told me.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you really going to kiss her tomorrow?"