Yeah, I Hate You Too, Sweetheart.

Chapter 19 - Laila

Laila

            I went cross-eyed and froze when all of a sudden Justin came walking over out of nowhere, spun me around, and kissed me. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that my first kiss would be in front of more than a hundred people I didn't even know. But I guess there was a first time for everything, right? 

 My first reaction was to stay frozen and just stand there. I mean, after all – I hadn’t exactly ever kissed anyone before. What was I supposed to do with my hands? Was I supposed to return the pressure his lips were pressing against mine?

 What the hell was I supposed to do?

  As that rather frightening thought occurred to me, Lissa’s words from our early conversation came floating across my mind. This summer was supposed to be about letting go and just living, right? 

  Stifling a giggle, I realized that there were more important things I could be doing right then than internally freaking out - like kissing Justin.

 I clutched awkwardly at his sleeve as I kissed him back before reaching my arms up around his neck. Justin's lips were impossibly soft and warm as they moved with mine, making my stomach start twisting into knots and color rush to my face. 

   I may have heard some people - probably Avery and Nick - who were wolf whistling and clapping, but I honestly didn't care.

   Yeah, you could say that kissing Justin was that awesome.

I could go into detail about how amazing and mind-altering my first kiss was - how the Earth stopped moving or time froze or something like that - but I wasn't going to.

  That would all but spoil it.   

Justin broke away from me after pressing his lips against mine again, making me light-heated.

 There was a shocked, disbelieving look on his face as he leaned back, staring down at me with his wide, blazing green eyes. In all honesty, it looked like he was afraid I was going to reach up and slap him for kissing me.

   I'm sure an equal expression of disbelief was on my face, too, at that moment.  

 "Uhm...." I said breathlessly, my face practically radiating heat.

 Justin smirked. "That baffled by my amazing kissing skills, sweetheart?"

 I frowned, pulling a sour face. "No?"

 "Maybe you need a little more convincing," he suggested casually, completely serious.

 I thought about that for a moment.

 “Maybe just a little more,” I finally agreed with a grin of my own.

    That time I'd been expecting it, so at least I didn't fall over from shock. Justin was kissing me like these were the first and last times he was ever going to kiss me again, and it was enough to make my knees nearly start knocking. My fingers braided into his silky hair as his own arms wound around my waist, keeping me thankfully up on my feet. 

  "How about now?" he asked, pulling away for a breath of air.    

I sucked in a breath, not even sure how I was going to answer that question when clearly he already knew the answer.

  "Okay," I admitted breathlessly. "You win."  

Justin smirked again, laughing a little. "Of course. But," he continued, leaning down closer to me, whispering in my ear. "You're definitely giving me a run for my money."

  I didn't know whether I should feel triumphant or even more embarrassed at that point, considering nearly every pair of eyes at this 4th of July party were glued to me and Justin.

  Almost as if he was thinking the same thing, Justin stepped back, untangling himself from me, a slight tilt to his smile. 

  "That was definitely worth waiting for." 

I flushed as I remembered that Nick and Avery were only been a few feet away, watching our rather sudden display in full view. I glanced over at Avery with a sheepish expression, biting my lip.

  Avery shot me a smile, giving me the inconspicuous thumbs up.   

"Well done, bro," Nick interjected, slapping Justin on the shoulder. "It's about time."

  Justin rolled his eyes, giving Nick an annoyed look. "It's about time you went out and got over your nerves, too, huh Nick?" 

  Nick shrugged a shoulder. "Good things happen to those who wait, right?”

  A pointed shove in Avery’s direction followed that statement, which made her flush bright red and quickly look the other way. I made a mental note to ask Avery what that was about as soon as I could, because that had certainly meant something.

  Justin glanced down at me with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, one of his arms wrapped around my waist.     

 “Yeah,” he finally agreed. “I’m going to have to say that they do.”

  I flushed bright red at his comment, quickly looking away, embarrassed. Under normal circumstances, I would totally be reveling in the moment of a guy actually being…well, affectionate towards me. But in front of tons of people that I didn’t even know? Well, you could say that I was definitely embarrassed.  

   “Don’t go shy on me now, sweetheart.” Justin smirked crookedly. “That may just bruise my ego.”

  “Shy?” I scoffed, going hands on hips. “I’m not shy.”

He raised his eyebrows in response, crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh, really?”

   Just to prove my point, I grabbed a fistful of his collar and yanked him down to my level so I could kiss him before he could say anything else. I’d never admit it to him or anyone else, but Justin Richards was one hell of a kisser.   

  We both jumped apart when there was a loud, whistling bang! and hundreds of silver and golden sparks started exploding into the night sky, cascading down in waves towards the ground.

  “No way!” I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth. “Fireworks!”

 “You’ve never seen fireworks?” Avery, Justin, and Nick asked in unison, looking shocked.

  “Not except on TV,” I said, shrugging a shoulder.   

   I wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but somehow, I ended up on the ground in a tangled mass of limbs and laughter with Justin. Moments later, Marshall, Alec, Jack, and then Nick and Avery were on the ground beside us, and then we were all laying back to watch the show.

  We settled back onto the ground, side by side, and watched the mesmerizing fireworks exploding off into the night sky in raptures. I was curled up against Justin’s side, my head resting on his shoulder, and I was pretty much feeling like I could fly right then and there and beat David Beckham at a scrimmage game of soccer all at the same time.   

   Sure, these weren’t exactly the most ideal conditions for a summer vacation, but I had a feeling that I was making the best of what I had. 

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