The Girl in the Boys' Dorms

Chapter Twenty-Two: You never thought I was anything more than a nerd.

^ Dedicated to alligator7, because she's a really good friend of mine on Wattpad, and the conversations we have are pretty fun. She makes me laugh. :)

The Girl in the Boys' Dorms - Chapter Twenty-Two: You never thought I was anything more than a nerd. You must feel like an idiot now.  

I didn't close my eyes. I couldn't. It was like some invisible force had grabbed hold of my eyelids, wrenched them upward, and then glued them so that I couldn't even blink. So, all I could do was wait; stare at Chase's crinkled brows, which had knitted themselves together in concentration, and wait for him to move back.

Because I had no idea what to do. He'd initiated this kiss, so he would be the one to sever it, as well.

There was a small, mischievous, secretive part of me that was enjoying what was going on. Chase's lips were warm against mine, like I had pressed my mouth against the rim of a cup of coffee. Due to the minimal distance between us, the inviting scent of his cologne managed to envelope me, wrap around me and hold me prisoner. His hands were like fire against my lower back, the roughness of his palms tangible to me even through the fabric of my dress. The disheveled strands of his golden blond hair ticked my forehead, and since my vision had a limited amount of space to examine, I found myself looking at them; his hair was blond, yes, but the kind of bronze color that leaves became in the autumn, or like caramel at its richest.

And finally, as though my ego had given up on resistance, I admitted the fact to myself; Chase was gorgeous, dazzlingly so.

As I thought about this, someone's long fingers closed themselves around my upper arm, clenching hard on my flesh, and wrenched me out of Chase's grasp. I spluttered a little as I was yanked backward, but whoever had seized me kept me from falling over. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting it to be Principal Dennis or one of the other administrators, but to my surprise, it was Evelyn Walker glaring back at me.

"I think that's enough, don't you?" She seethed through pursed lips, her grayish irises blazing with fury. Releasing me, she gathered a fistful of her pink gown in each hand, and stalked back to where she was meant to stand; first in line, with Marc Sanders as her partner for the night.

A smirk threatening to surface, I turned back to Chase, who was shooting his friends in the audience - all of whom were leaping on their chairs, cheering and whistling - a quick thumbs up. He swiveled his head over when he caught me gawping at him, and winked, the corners of his mouth curled into a grin. Raking a hand through his blond waves, he strolled over to where I was, and slipped an arm around my waist.

"That's two kisses in a day," he murmured, lowering down so that he was speaking directly in my ear. "I'll let you decide which was better."

At that, I felt a flaming blush flood into my cheeks, embarrassment overtaking my whole being. He'd kissed me to entertain the people watching, yeah, but he'd also done it to prove something; whether he wanted to prove it to himself or to me, I didn't know. But as Chase smiled, gently guiding us to our rightful place in the line, I realized that his intentions had been somewhat sweet.

"We'll discuss this later, Miss Underwood." Principal Dennis' voice said, and I whipped over to see him brushing past us on his way to center stage. Giving us both a firm glower, he raised the microphone to his face, booming out a greeting, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the North Shore Annual Beauty Pageant!" He paused for a round of applause, and then continued with his opening speech. "This tradition has been a part of North Shore Boarding School for over four decades, and we crown a new Pageant Queen each year. As per usual, we have a fine selection of ladies - " I rolled my eyes at this, he was making us sound like cattle for sale. " - and I'm sure the decision will be tough. Unfortunately, I'll have to endure the pains of choosing a winner, because I'm one of the judges."