Breathing Water

CHAPTER 18

The hostess sits Shelly and me at a small booth in the back of my favorite restaurant. Picking up the menu Shelly gasps at the wonderful food choices. I laugh and she looks up. "What? I like food."
"Thats not a problem, everything tastes good here." I give Shelly time to look over the menu and find something. In the meantime a waiter takes our drink orders and brings them to us. "Decided on something yet," I ask after a while of sipping my soda and watching her think beautifully.
"No. I want everything but I'm not hungry enough."
"Maybe we could share a bowl of fries and a chicken caesar salad."
"Yeah that sounds good, but can they be sweet potato fries. Those are my favorite."
"Sure, I love sweet potato fries."
A minute later the waiter walks over to check on us and we order. While we wait for the food we start having a very long conversation about everything. I feel like I can say anything to her and she will listen and respond appropriately.
I'm not sure when in the conversation it happened but just as the food is being brought to us I realize my hand is sitting on the table and Shelly's hand is holding mine. I don't really want to but I pull away to grab the salad bowl from the server and Shelly grabs the bowl of fries. Shelly pulls out a fry and eats it slowly. I pick up my fork and mix the dressing and the chicken into the salad, taking a bite when I'm finished. I then start the conversation up again by saying "So, you've got a really nice car."
"Yeah, my family has a fair bit of money and my parents like to spoil me. However, the car is the only expensive thing I own that I like to show off. I feel really rude if I just go prancing around acting all princess like."
"Well, I would definitely show off some of money, if I had any." I frown slightly and then flash a smile. I reach over and take fry from the bowl and put it in my mouth. "So, if you have all that money why are you hanging out with someone like me?"
"Because your kind. And your beautiful. And most importantly I like you." My cheeks heat up and I swallow a little harder than I mean to. Shelly reaches over with her fork and stabs a piece of lettuce and a piece of chicken. Just then my chest feels like its being held down and I can't pull in a breath. I reach in my bag and Shelly stares at me confused. After fishing around in my bag for a little bit I finally pull out my inhaler. Before I can put it in my mouth Shelly grabs it and says "Try one of the exercises I taught you yesterday first."
I look at her desperately and she widens her eyes at me to signal that she means what she said. I try to think back to yesterday afternoon and the first exercise that comes to mind is thinking of something calming. I close my eyes and start thinking about the ocean. I think about waves crashing on rocks and on the shore. Suddenly I start thinking about under the water and swimming with fish. Then I'm thinking about swimming with my own tail and how the water seemed to be a part of me. I felt my mouth curve into a smile and the pressure on my chest was fading. Slowly I open my eyes and take a deep breath. "I can't believe it. It actually worked!" I widen my smile.
Shelly grabs my hand and squeezes it. "I told you it was possible for you to breath easier. So, what method did you use?"
"I thought of something calming."
"What did you think about?"
"The ocean." I grab another fry and eat it.
"Really?! I thought after the incident at the party, you might be scared of the ocean." She takes another fry too.
"No, not really. I've always loved the ocean. And falling in and drowning didn't really change that." I take a bit of salad.
Soon the conversation flows into other topics and we start laughing again as we finish off the food. We continue talk long after the waiter has cleared our table and Shelly's paid the bill. I finally realize that its getting a little late and we still have school tomorrow. We stand and walk out holding hands.
Our vehicles are parked next to each other, so we keep our hands clasped the whole way. As we stand between the cars Shelly turns towards me so I look at her. I am a little taller than her but not so much that she has to look too high. Her eyes scan my face and my expression stays blank but slightly happy. Suddenly she leans forward and gently places her lips on mine. She pulls away again to look at my face. I guess she doesn't see anything that discourages her because she returns her lips to mine, this time placing my bottom lip between hers. My eyes stay open in shock for a second, but as it starts to feel more right my eye lids slowly slide shut and my lips accept the kiss. I let go of her hand and reach up to hold her face to mine. Shelly's arms wrap around my waist and she pulls me closer. Her head turns slightly and our lips meld together like puzzle pieces fitting together and making an angelic image. I move my arms and wrap them around her shoulders. Shelly switches the tilt of her head and I slowly tilt my head the opposite direction. Our lips pull us closer together for another minute. Then we pull away and look at each other. After a few seconds I uncontrollably smile a her and she returns the joyful look. I don't know why I say it but I blurt out "That was my first kiss!"