This Is Me

Photo Booth

] Parker's POV [

While we are on the bus, Aaron is just staring out the window, not talking to us. I look at Luke for help, but he just shrugs. Always there when I need you, Luke.

"Wanna go to the mall?" I ask Aaron, trying to cheer her up. Most girls love going to go to the mall. Aaron isn't like most girls though. I'm starting to regret what I just said...
"Sure," she says, her voice chirpy. Whew.

We get off at our stop, and we all separate to tell parents where we are going. I walk into my house, and don't even get all the way in the door. "I'm going to the mall with friends!" I call to mom. "Okay! Have fun!" she answers. I make my way back to the bus stop.

] Aaron's POV [

After deciding to tell our parents where we are going, Parker and Luke leave, and I do the same. I have reached my house. Uh-oh. I've never gone out before. Mom might not let me go. I hope she does. Gathering all of the courage I can muster, I walk into my home.

"Mom," my voice asks my mom shakily. She is in the living room. She doesn't look at me. "Yeah Sweetie?" she replies.
"Can I go to the mall with some friends?"
"Sure, what are those friends names?"
"Parker and Luke."
"There...boys?" she is looking at me now.

I nod my head slowly. She smiles at me, and gestures me out towards the door. "Go ahead, Sweetie," she gives me a reassuring hug. I wrap my arms around her, and give her a quick squeeze before practically flying out the door.

YES!!!!!!

I make my way back to the bus stop where Luke and Parker stand. They look at me expectantly. I nod my head really fast. Parker grins, and I run to him and hug him. He looks really surprised, but he hugs me back. Realizing what I just did, I pull away awkwardly.

Luke coughs, and I wrap am arm around him awkwardly trying to prove that I was going to do it to him too, not just Parker. Luke hugs me back, and Parker smirks at my pitiful attempt to cover myself up. I glance behind the boys to find a black Ford truck.

I my gosh! I LOVE trucks. Parker catches me looking and grins at me. Luke smiles too, and gestures for me to get in. Parker pulls out the keys and unlocks the truck. I gasp, and run to the truck, holding back a scream.

I swing open the passenger door, and climb into the truck. Bouncing on the seat, I call to Parker,"No way! I love trucks so much I just...blaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgah!" Luke and Parker exchange a look, but I don't really care. Parker says,"Get in the back."

YES!!!! I've always wanted to get in the back of a truck and ride there!!! I immediately jump out of the seat and hug Parker again, not even bothering to hug Luke. Luke smirks at Parker.

"She just couldn't resist me," Parker says, spreading his arms out. I look up at Parker, and push away from him, realizing that...I just hugged him. Uh-oh. I just hugged him. Oh well.

Time to face the truth. I shall say it out loud. Right now. I will say it out loud to Parker Luke, and myself. That's the best way to go about it.

"WORLD, I LIKE PARKER I DON'T KNOW HIS LAST NAME!" I shout, and Parker has his mouth wide open, and Luke is laughing so hard I'm expecting him to fall over. I peck Parker's cheek, and he grins. He raises his arms up, as if thanking God.

"Get in the back, I'll drive," Luke tells me and Parker. I smile at him, and Parker tosses the keys to him. Parker opens his mouth to warn him, but is cut off by Luke. "Shhhh...I know, not a scratch or you will strangle me, got it,"Luke says, putting a finger on Parker's lips.

Parker smiles and says,"I have taught you well my young grasshopper." I bow to him, then run to the side of the back/trunk of the truck. I put my foot on the top of the tire, and push myself up, and into the back of the truck.

"You know you could've gotten in by pulling down this thing," Parker says, patting the thing that opens the back.
"Uh huh, but the way I did it was way more fun," I smirk at my comeback. He sighs, and gets in the way I did.

Once the truck starts moving, heading to the mall, Parker says,"It's James." I frown in confusion. "My last name," he explains. I nod my head, and tell him my name, Grand. He smiles, and scoots closer to me. Our shoulders are touching now.

"Soldier Grand, I like you back," he whispers in my ear, and I tense.
"I gathered as much," I shoot back at him, making him blush. I look at his brown eyes, and I can tell we are thinking the same thing. My conscious, is chanting, KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS! I tell it to shut up.

I feel the truck stop abruptly. I bang my head on the truck, and I glare at Luke. He smirks at me," I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" he asks.

] Parker's POV [

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Luke is smirking. Aaron Grand, I just learned her last name, puts her hands on the the side of truck, and swings her small body over the side of the truck, landing perfectly on her feet. I do the same.

Deep breath. Okay. Oh my gosh. We were about to kiss. Then Luke had to ruin everything. Deep breath again. It wasn't his fault. He just stopped because we're here. Okay.

We walk into the mall, and we immediately see the Nike store. Aaron walks into the store, and Luke and I follow after her without a word. "We walk into a mall and the first thing you do is go to the Nike store?" Luke asks her.

"Yeah, that's basically why I come here. This is my mall life," she says, gesturing to the whole store.
"Well, and the food court," she adds. She heads to the shoes section. We walk past the ones that are supposed to be the ones that most girls like.

We end up in the section that looks okay, but not bad. Aaron grabs a pair that is black with white. Simple. She grabs a pair of elites too. She then buys them, finishing her job. Most girls take HOURS to find something. I smile, and we walk out of the store.

Holding her bag, Aaron walks towards a photo booth that I just noticed. She glances at me and Luke. I sigh, and walk up to her, Luke just barely in front of me.

"Okay, so here's the plan, first all of us, then a strip with me and Luke, than one with me and Parker," she says. I just realized how hot she is. Not cute, or anything. I mean, hot. I shrug, and Luke does the same. We all squish into the booth.

Our first picture is us just looking at each other. The next we're smiling. The two others are silly faces. Luke's and Aaron's consists of the same thing. One smiling, the rest crazy. Now it's mine and Aaron's turn.

We smile for our first picture, then we do two silly faces. I don't know what to do. When I look at Aaron I see that she doesn't know either. I make an awkward face. Then, while the countdown is going, Aaron seems to be thinking about something.

5
4
3
2

I feel her body swoop under mine, and she presses her lips against mine. I kiss her back. The camera clicks, and I know that it caught us. Good. I want it to. She pulls back for a moment, catches her breath then we start again.

I lean back against the side of the photo booth, and now she is practically on top of me. This is my first kiss in my life. Well, technically, it's my second, but my first was in kindergarten with a girl I didn't know, so that doesn't count.

My first real kiss, and I'm in 9th grade. Took me long enough. Aaron sits back, and she breathes heavily. I'm breathing hard too. Kissing kind of sucks the life out of you.

We step out of the photo booth, and Luke starts clapping. I throw my head back, groaning. I just remembered, people can see you when you're in the photo booth. The camera's view is shown on a screen on the outside of the booth.

Aaron steps out of the booth, and I smile at her. This is my cue. The way to be confident and show her how much I like her. PDA. Public Display of Affection. I got this. She looks a little flushed, but I can use that. I grab her by her waist, and pull her close to me.

I kiss her, hard. She kisses me back, and we pull away, smirking at Luke. She knows that that was part of a plan.
"Let's go home." Luke nods, smirking at my love.

My love, Aaron.