Lipstick Kisses

Red Heartbeat

Red Heartbeat 

"Where do we go now? The sun is setting," says Jace.

"We can go to mine? But what about your family, will they wonder if you don't go home?" I ask.

Jace runs his free hand through his hair, ruffling it up, "Nah." He shakes his head, "they are gone for the weekend for their anniversary."

"My parents are working late, so we can grab food and head to my bedroom to hide out."

"Good plan." He nods his head.

"I just need to text my date and explain I won't be coming out tonight." I grab my phone out of my pocket and send a quick message to Luke explaining I'm sick and can't make it. When I slide the phone in my pocket, I look up and notice we are at our stop.

"This is us." I nod my head and look up to the arriving platform.

Jace and I step off the train and start walking away from the platform. I lead him up the street and then cross over. We walk for roughly fifteen minutes until we get to my house.

"Fancy." He eyes off the big yard.

"Hm." I lead him up the pathway and then quickly unlock the front door. Instead of giving him a grand tour, I drag him to the kitchen and start handing him food. I grab a picture of nacho chips and sauce, a water bottle and a few pieces of fruit.

"Am I going to get a tour of the bathroom by any chance?"

"Are you serious?" A shiver runs down my spine.

"Unless you want a temporary indoor water fountain, the bathroom would be nice."

"Okay." I grab a few more things and then lead him down to my bedroom. We dump the hood and then I take him to the bathroom down the hall. There's a half wall which enables a little bit of coverage, but not enough.

"How is this going to work?" I ask.

"Close your eyes and turn your head." I do as he says, but more shivers run down my spine.

"This is gross."

"I can't concentrate on what I'm doing if you're talking to me." Before I can reply, the toilet flushes and I take a calming breath.

Jace and I go back to my bedroom and we get comfortable on my bed. I lay under the blanket eating nacho chips while Jace sits up and chomps through an apple.

"Sorry about the kiss," he says.

I stop munching on the chips and look down at the salsa dip instead.

"Let's just put it behind us, okay?"

"Okay." I grab another handful and stuff my mouth with it, hoping Jace takes this hint as a sign to stop talking to me about it. He'd stolen my first kiss, I didn't need to be reminded of it. I'd never get that perfect red kiss from Luke, I'd just have an accidental first kiss to be forgotten.

"Honey, we're home," my mother calls. I hear the sound of footsteps which sends me into panic mode. I shuffle over and Jace slides down to the ground. I pull the blanket up high and watch the door. It creeks open and my mother pokes her head inside.

"Are you okay? What about your date?" she asks.

"Feeling a bit sick, so I decided to cancel and so something on another night," I explain.

"Okay." She nods her head, "get some rest." My mother closes the door and I look down at Jace, who has a ghost of a smile on his face.

"That was close!"

"It was." I shake my head.

I move from the side of the bed and allow Jace to get back on. His phone buzzes and he quickly checks his messages. Since we're so close, I can see it's a message begging him about something.

"Are you okay?" He yanks the phone away from my vision.

"Very well, thank you for asking." I grin back, "What is that about?"

"My friends are throwing a party, they want me to come," he explains.

"Oh, sorry."

"We could still go if you want. I promise to bring you home in one piece." The thought never crossed my mind because deep down I wanted to go. Being stuck inside this house missing out on what could have been a very fun and amusing one... that was a letdown.

"Let's do it," I agree.

"Serious?"

"Yeah." But I don't sound too convincing. "Just promise I won't be like, stabbed or shanked." I frown and shake my head at the thought.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I look down at the chains hanging off his clothing, then back up to his face and smile brightly.

"I uh, was just saying."

"We won't be stabbed, so don't worry. My friends aren't criminals, okay?"

"So you're the criminal one?" I smile, shaking my hand with the cuff on.

"That wasn't my fault either. Some guy said I was stealing, so I ran."

"But if you weren't, why did you run away? Not just tell him the truth?' I ask.

"Because they don't believe people dressed like me." He teases.

"Let's go to the party and prove me wrong." I smile, trying to improve the stale tension between us.

"We're going to have fun, dance, and act silly." Jace tugs on my arm and we climb off the bed and start walking towards my window. We slide the window across and then Jace is the first one to climb through, followed by me.

"How long will it take to walk there?" I ask.

"Fifteen minutes?" he replies.

"Oh wow, I'm going to look so sexy when we finish this walk," I say. 

Deep down I'm shivering over the amount of time that we're going to spend walking and how my feet are going to hurt afterward.

"I don't think you can get any sexier." He slaps my butt, then takes my hand in his.

Jace has already proven to be interesting, that makes me worried about how the night is going to turn out.