First Kiss

Chapter 19

When I arrive at the school, Keri isn't waiting for me in the hallway. I decide to shrug it off and turn the lock on my locker. I'm about to open it when someone's hands cover my eyes.
"Guess who?" She asks playfully.
I laugh.
"It better be my girlfriend or this'll get weird."
She giggles and uncovers my eyes. I turn to face her.
"Hey," I say.
"Hey."
I give her a quick kiss.
"You're a little late today," I point out.
"I know. I stopped at the store before school."
Before I can ask her about what she got, she unzip the front of her backpack and pull out a small box.
"This is for you," she says.
"Aw. You didn't have to get me anything."
"I wanted to."
I smile and lift the lid. Inside the box is a silver necklace with a heart shaped pendant that has sapphire in the middle.
"It's beautiful," I say.
"You really like it?"
"I love it. Thank you, baby."
"You're welcome."
"Here. Help me put it on."
"Sure."
We remove it from the box. I lift my hair up to get it out of the way and she puts the necklace on me. I let go of my hair and admire the necklace.
"I love it," I repeat.
She grins.
"I'm glad. I wanted to get you something that could be our thing. Like how people used to wear a pin or a ring to show that they're going steady. I knew that you like jewelry so I went with that."
"It's a good idea but totally unfair at the same time."
"Why?"
"You hate receiving gifts. You would be fine with just wearing my hoodie. It's not a fair trade."
"I get what you're saying but that's not my style. I am okay with wearing your hoodie all the time. I promise that's enough for me."
"Okay. Of course you had to pick a day where I don't need it," I joke.
"You'll definitely need one later when we go out."
I grin.
"Which one do you want?" I ask.
"Surprise me."
"You got it."
I give her a hug.
"Thanks again."
"Of course."
We pull away. I open my locker.
"You'll never believe what happened last night," I begin.
"What?"
"Heather came by the house to talk. At first, I thought it was weird that she asked me to come outside. It turned out that she had gotten into smoking which she did by the curb."
"Smoking?" She asks with wide eyes.
"Yeah. And it wasn't a cigarette," I say.
"What? Where did that come from?"
"You remember the guy that she was talking to at the party?"
"Yeah."
"She got it from him. He just uses the nerdy chess thing as a cover."
"Wow. What is going on with her? First the attitude change and now she's smoking."
"That's not all."
"What else?"
"She changed her mind about waiting until marriage. Guess what happened next."
"Oh my god. I mean, it's her decision but I don't like the way it changed so quickly."
"Me neither. I even told her that. She begged for us to start over as friends and I said no. She's not the same person at all and I don't like it. We're not friends anymore."
"I don't blame you. The old Heather would've never tried to start a fight or done any of those things. She used to get mad when other people smoked."
"I know. It's like you said. I don't know what's going on with her."
She paused.
"Will you promise me something?" She asked.
"What?"
"Promise that you'll tell me if anything is ever bothering you. I don't want you to end up like Heather."
"I promise. You're already the number one person that I would tell."
"I know. I just wanted to remind you that you can tell me anything."
"I know that. I will."
She smiles and takes my hand. I shut the locker with the other hand and walk down the hallway with her. Throughout the day, I keep playing with the necklace. During lunch, it's the first thing that Adam and Desiree talk about.
"Did you get a new necklace?" Adam asks.
"Yes. Keri gave it to me this morning," I say.
"Damn. You have good taste," Desiree says.
"Thanks. It was the prettiest in my opinion," Keri says.
"A pretty necklace for a pretty girl," Adam says.
"Hey. You better not be trying something," Keri jokes.
"And what if I was?" He challenges, going along with it.
"I'd have to fight you."
Desiree rolls her eyes.
"Are you feeling better, Keri?" She asks.
"Oh yeah. What was that?" Adam says.
"I had my first panic attack and didn't know how to handle it. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I just really needed my mom in that moment."
"It's okay. Those are no joke. I would rather go to my parents too," Desiree says.
"Yeah. You did the right thing," Adam assures her.
"Thanks. Anyway, I had it because I was overwhelmed by my feelings for Amelia. I realized that I'm in love with her."
I smile. Adam makes an aww noise.
"Weren't you in love with Eric?" Desiree asks.
"Yes but that was different. It's my first time loving a girl and I'm even more in love than I was with Eric."
Adam smiles. Apparently, this still isn't enough for Desiree.
"And you love her too?" She asks me.
"Yes," I say sincerely.
"How do you know?"
"I know because I always want to kiss her and be with her as much as possible. I miss her when we're not together," Keri answers.
"I know what you mean," Adam agrees.
"And I know because she's always there for me. She was reminding me of it this morning when we were talking about Heather," I say.
"What did she do now?" Adam asks.
"She showed up at my house last night. She asked me to go outside to talk. Guess why she did it."
"She wanted to fight without your family seeing?" Desiree guesses.
"Nope. She brought a joint and wanted to smoke it by the curb."
Their jaws drop when I say it.
"Heather smokes?" Adam asks in disbelief.
"There's no way," Desiree says.
"I swear. She even offered to share it but I'm very against that. I asked her how she got into it."
"What did she say?" Desiree asks.
"She got it from Donny at the party. That's the guy she was talking to in the living room. He might seem like a chess nerd but he deals on the side."
"Tell them what else she did," Keri encourages.
"She lost her virginity to him."
"What? After she was going on about the only other person who wanted to save it?" Desiree nearly shouts.
Adam shakes his head slowly in disapproval.
"According to her, she literally said fuck that and went with it anyway," I say.
"I don't know who she is anymore," Adam says.
"Neither do we," Keri says.
"That's why I told her that our friendship was over," I say.
"I'm glad that we did too," Desiree says.
"You said it," Adam agrees.
We continue to hang out until lunch ends.