Eric Is Back (A Gossip Girl Novel)

9. 2009

Every time the bell chimed I snapped my head up, hoping to find Dan and Vanessa entering the cafe.

Naturally, it never happened.

Following my gaze, Jonathan looked over his shoulder and asked, "W-what do you keep looking at?"

"Oh, n-nothing," I lied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. "It's nothing."

Jonathan and I had been dating for over a week now. I'd kept taking him to Smachno's, hoping to run into Dan again so that I could make him jealous. Dan must have caught onto it though because I hadn't seen him in here again.

"We should probably go," I grumbled when I figured that Dan wasn't going to show up. "Otherwise we're going to miss our movie."

"Oh, sure."

As we shrugged into our jackets and made our way out of the cafe, I thought to myself: If he shows up before I leave we're going to get back together...

At that moment, the bell chimed. But when I looked up, it wasn't my curly-haired stepbrother. It was just an elderly man who looked like a real Ukrainian.

"I think next time I'll take you somewhere else," I said bitterly. "I'm getting kind of sick of Ukrainian food."

*

Jonathan and I were sat on a bench at the movie theatre, waiting for the doors to our screen room to open. At some point, Jonathan's hand crept into mine. When he squeezed it, I looked up and saw that his face had softened.

"Hey, you..." he said softly.

I giggled. "Hey."

The next thing I knew, he was shuffling towards me, closing his eyes and puckering his lips.

Oh, no...

We were about to kiss!

I just sat there... not moving... waiting for Jonathan's lips to connect with mine...

But just as he was about to kiss me, I jerked my head away and exploded into a fit of giggles.

"Eric?"

"S-sorry!" I said nervously. "I just... I-I don't know."

Jonathan huffed. "Look, Eric –"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Squeezing my hand, he said, "No, listen..."

I stopped giggling.

"A-are we on the same page here?" he asked. "Or am I totally misjudging whatever this is?"

I sighed. "No, no!" I said. "We are on the same page."

"Then what is it, then? Why don't you want to kiss me?"

I looked away from Jonathan and stared across at a poster for the latest Twilight movie.

"I-I do," I said. "I just... I haven't been kissed before."

Jonathan's eyes widened. "You haven't?"

"No."

It was a lie.

Of course I had been kissed before. And Dan was the reason why I didn't want to kiss Jonathan. Because Dan was the only person I wanted to kiss!

No one else.

"I find that hard to believe..."

I eyed Jonathan suspiciously. "Um... why?"

Does he know about Dan...?

"Well, because you're gorgeous," he said. "I mean, just look at you!"

My heart swelled. I didn't deserve Jonathan. He was too good for me.

"Oh, t-thanks," I mumbled.

At that moment, Jonathan let go of my hand, making my heart hurt. Sighing, he said, "Well, I guess we'll just be friends, then –"

"No!"

Zooming forward, I smacked my lips against Jonathan's, cringing when our teeth banged together.

"Ouch!" he grunted.

"Oops, sorry!"

To my relief, Jonathan started laughing. Rubbing his lips, he said, "Crap – I think I'm bleeding."

"Oh, no – really?"

"Yeah – now you have to kiss it better!"

I smiled. "Oh, okay."

Leaning forward, I was gentler this time. I pressed my lips against Jonathan's, my insides whirling as our mouths merged together. This should have felt wrong... like I was cheating on Dan or something. I mean, that was crazy! He wasn't my boyfriend. He didn't care about me.

But, to my surprise, kissing Jonathan actually felt right.

As we kissed, I realised that I didn't want to be Jonathan's 'friend' any more. I didn't want to keep using him to get back at Dan.

I wanted him to be my boyfriend.

When we broke away, a dreamy look took over Jonathan's face. "Whoa..." he breathed out.

"Y-yeah," I croaked. "That was, um... great."

Jonathan smiled. "Wanna do it again?"

I nodded. "Absolutely!"