Agnes in JackieLand

Chapter 5

I'm a roiled mess of mixed feelings. Happy, nervous, excited, anxious, drunk, giddy. My very first kiss. Mason got up and held out his hands to me. Grabbing them, I stood on wobbly legs and lurched forward. He caught me in his muscular swimmer's arms. With my heart racing, I look up into Mason's chocolate brown eyes and get lost.

They are beautiful eyes. Like melted dark chocolate, and I was drowning in them. I felt the heat in my body rising, and my palms were getting clammy.

"Hey, love birds!" Jackie called out, breaking me out of my chocolate trance.

My blood pounded in my ears, and my face grew hot. I had gotten caught ogling the most popular boy in school. However, it didn't seem to bother him. He was grinning down at me.

"Come get your seven minutes location," Jackie said.

We made our way, a bit clumsily, over to Jackie. Mason leaned down for Jackie to tell him our desired make-out location. After she told him, he snapped up and shook his head at her. Jackie gave him a look that made people do what she wanted, and Mason scowled at her. If I had been sober, I might have wondered about the look, but as it was, I was too busy being eager to get on with my very first kiss.

Mason led me away from the group, away from the warmth of the fire, into the cool night air. Cat calls came from behind us at the fire, no doubt his swimmer buddies. I giggled. This date turned out to be the best night of my life. My dream came true. I was at a party where people usually mistreated me, and I was about to kiss the boy I'd had a crush on for years—the best night ever.

It was dark away from the fire, and I stumbled a few times, losing my footing as I sloshed through the sand. I had tried removing my shoes earlier, but it was too cold for my bare feet, and I had to put them back on. These shoes at the beach were terrible; you had to wear sandals or go barefoot. I would have to throw these out. There was no way I was getting all of the sand out of these puppies.

"You don't have to do this."

My head shot up from watching my feet as Mason pulled me into the designated spot. It was too dark to see much of anything except for Mason, who was now facing me. I was confused. Did he not want to kiss me?

He must have seen the hurt and confusion in my eyes because he put both of his hands on my shoulders. "I don't mean it like that. I mean that you don't have to kiss me if you don't want to. We can turn around and go back right now if that's what you want."

A touch of moonlight caught his eye, and I saw that he was being sincere. One step, and I was in his arms. "I want this, Mason," I told him.

He studied my eyes and face and said nothing for several seconds. His voice was warm when he answered, "If it's what you want, who am I to stand in your way."

I grinned at him, and he dipped his head to mine. I closed my eyes and felt his warm, beer-smelling breath for a second before touching his soft lips on mine. My heart leaped in response. I was actually doing this, kissing Mason Jensen!

"Awe isn't that cute."

We jumped apart like two kids caught doing something terrible. The area around us suddenly illuminated. My heart was thundering in my ears, and my head was fuzzy with the effects of the alcohol and my confusion. A dozen or so of our classmates were gathered around us, a couple with tiki torches, and Jackie was in front.

"Jackie, what're you doing?" Mason growled at her.

I was flustered. I couldn't process what was happening. My senses were spinning out of control. What was happening? I didn't think our seven minutes were up yet.