love can burn like a cigarette

Chapter one.

"Come on," one of Wirt's classmates begged, "it's just one party. What, would you rather stay home and... I don't know, sit around?"

Wirt gave a weak smile. "fine" he spoke coldly, he loathed parties, they were too noisy for his liking, and all people did was get drunk and hook up.

As soon as he entered the door, he regretted his choice, and after chatting for a while, he went outside for a quick smoke. It was just to ease his nerves, and no one could see him.

The night was delicate, and he didn't want to shatter its quiet. He took a hit of his cigarette and exhaled softly, watching the smoke leave his mouth.

"Do you have a lighter?" a gentle feminine voice came from behind him, he jolted back slightly out of shock, and hurriedly grabbed a cheap Bic lighter from his jean pockets, before passing it to the woman.

"Thanks," she hummed, she then fumbled with it for a while, but it refused to light. She scoffed, making a "eughhh" sound under her breath.

"Here," the boy muttered with the cigarette still in his mouth, he took it out, tapped on it to get rid of any ash, and lit the girl's cigarette using his flame.

As he looked up at the girl his gut sank in realization, and his face went pale.

"Wirt?!" the girl sputtered.

Her name was Sara, Wirt's former crush from ninth grade. She had beautiful black curls that went down to her collarbones, and her voice remained as soft and sweet as before, just a bit more baritone. She had grown taller since then. She smelled of sandalwood and roses, a bold contrast against Wirt's scent of cigarettes, tea and pen ink.

"S-Sara? What are you doing here?" he questioned, his cigarette still burning. His face slowly got veiled in a light shade of red.

"the same thing you are, some friends dragged me along" she smiled while taking a hit of her cigarette, she couldn't help but notice that Wirt was now taller than her.

"heh, um, hey are you still friends with Jason?" Wirt wondered, saying "Jason" like it was an illness.

"Please don't tell me you still hate him" she teased "we're still friends, I guess. we barely talk."

"n-no, It just um, it just crossed my mind." he faltered, knowing that he was lying.

"Why did you hate him?" she asked, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"I um, I used to have a crush on you," he muttered, "a-and I thought you liked Jason so I hated him for it."

"I even made this- shit!" he quickly dropped his cigarette and stomped it out, he looked at his index and middle finger, he had let the cigarette burn, almost forgetting that it was there, and it had seared his fingers. he cleared his throat while holding his fingers "I even made this cheesy tape with poetry and clarinet on it" he laughed softly.

"Do you still have it?" Sara questioned eagerly, wanting to hear his words of admiration.

"i-i think I might-- back in my dorm..." he confessed, "are you sure you want to hear it though? it's... really bad." he searched his pockets for a pack of cigarettes, hoping to light a new one to relieve his nerves again, but all he found was an empty box.

"Here, have mine," Sara insisted, and removed her cigarette from her mouth, handing it to him. "as long as I get to hear this tape."

he nodded stupidly, caught up in a daze. it wasn't until he finished the cigarette that he realized.

he flicked the cigarette butt out the window, and nervously tapped on the steering wheel. He hadn't even recognized that he was in his car until then.

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" he questioned once more, remembering the fact that the tape was twenty-two minutes long. "It's really long and cheesy..." he blushed.