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6. Nostalgia

I sat in an office chair waiting for an hour before somebody came out and told me that Ms. Keaton no longer needed to talk to me and told me I could head back to class.

Glancing around the room one last time looking for Paige, I grabbed my backpack and headed for the back door.

As soon as my hand landed on the handle, the dismissal bell rang and I turned on my heel to walk towards the parking lot. Making my way through seas of kids standing around talking, I finally made it to my car and saw somebody leaning up against it, legs crossed out in front of them, head buried in a book.

When I neared my car, the person turned their head out of the book to look at me.

"Hey Landon! " Paige beamed up at me, putting a bookmark in her book and closing it shut.

"Hi Paige, what are you doing?" I asked, completely stupefied.

"Well, I think I remember where you live, but I wanted to follow you there just in case." Giving me a sly smile, she pulled her car keys out of her bag.

"Right, sorry, I forgot about that." I mumbled, pulling my lanyard out of my pocket.

Removing herself from my car, Paige walked over to hers and turned to wave at me.

"See you there Landon." She called over the commotion of the parking lot.

Climbing in my car and starting it, I settled on a radio station and pulled out of my spot, waiting for Paige to do the same before leaving the lot. Weaving down the highway and through my neighborhood, Paige stayed right behind me the entire time, impressive seeing as how I am a pretty quick driver.

Parking in my driveway, I waited for Paige before getting out of my car. Watching her pull in my driveway and exit her car gracefully, I stepped out of mine as well, heading for the front door.

"I was right," she smiled up at me, and continued when I cocked my head to the side, "I knew how to get here. I guess all those movie nights as kids paid off."

Opening the front door and allowing her to step in before me, I thought about how Paige would come over everyday when we were kids to watch a movie. The days I was sick she would bring her toy doctors kit and take care of me.

"I remember once," she started, luring me out of thought, "your parents were out and you decided that it would be fun to watch a scary movie. You covered my eyes for me and told me when the scary parts were over." Staring up at me in the foyer, we laughed with each other, remembering my choice in movies that night.

"Darkness Falls. I remember, we never wanted the tooth fairy to come again." I said walking towards the living room, turing around to make sure Paige followed.

She was right behind me, laughing to herself.

"I barely watched the movie, your hands covered my eyes the entire time. I only remember screaming because you were. I think we were like 7, right?"

"Hey now, I'm no scaredy cat, that movie was horrible for a young chap my age." I winked at her, getting a giggle in response.

Plopping down on the couch, Paige removed her shoes and looked up at me.

"I don't think you want to do that project today, do you?" She said with her eyes closed.

"What do you mean?" I questioned, does she not want to be my partner anymore?

"Let's watch a movie." Paige spoke, smiling up at me. I headed to the kitchen for some popcorn.

Choosing one of our favorite movies as kids, we picked Pirates of The Caribbean. When we were younger, we would act them out. Paige would be Elizabeth and I would be Will, fighting off pirates and ghosts until we fell asleep on the floor of my living room.

"Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me," she sang over and over again waiting for me to join in with her.

"Come on Landon, you know you want to sing it. Yo ho yo ho..." She waited patiently for me to finish the song, passing time by looking down to fiddle with her nails or by playing with her long hair.

"A pirates life for me." I mumbled low, and her eyes shot up from her hands.

"Louder, Landon." She said, looking in my eyes expectantly.

Her eyes were such a clear blue and I could tell her every emotion just by looking at them. Right now, she was playful.

"Yo ho yo-" she began, egging me on once again.

Shooting up from my spot on the couch, I started spinning around yelling.

"A pirates life for me! Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me!" I shouted, watching Paige laugh her ass off, almost falling off the couch before standing up to join me in my concert.

"Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me!" She danced beside me, eyes alight with humor and delight.

Grabbing her by the waist, she turned into me, chest crashing onto mine. Her eyes met mine, no longer singing, pupils dilated, and her breathing became heavy. This was it. I was going to kiss her. Her face was so close to mine, there is no way I couldn't.

I became very aware of her hands on my shoulders as they moved towards my chest. Watching her eyes close, I closed mine and leaned my head into hers. Right before her lips met mine, I felt my arms become empty, her hands off my chest.

"Yo ho yo ho!" She laughed, dancing around my kitchen, grabbing a handful of popcorn, I watched it fly through the air and hit me on the nose.

"Oh lighten up Landon," Paige sauntered over to me, noticing my mood.

"I am lightened up, Paige." I snapped, instantly regretting it.

"Is this because I'm a better singer than you?" She laughed, standing directly in front of me, occasionally putting some popcorn into her mouth.

"You know what it's about Paige." I said, looking down at my shoes. I was embarrassed for some reason, so what? She didn't want to kiss me.

Her vanilla perfume invaded my nose as she stepped closer to me.

"I'm sorry, that was rude." She admitted, a blush spreading across her face.

"It's alright, Paige. Um, can I tell you something?" I whispered, knowing that if I spoke at a full level, it would be too loud because she was standing so close to me.

"Yes." She spoke quickly, staring at my lips, which were drying by the second due to my nervousness.

"Everything you said earlier, it's the same for me. I've liked you for as long as I can remember Paige. And I-" I was interrupted when her lips crashed against mine.

After the initial shock left me, I let myself enjoy the kiss. Her lips were soft and plump, they fit everywhere mine weren't. Her hands found my face once again and her fingers combed through my hair, my scalped tingled at the sensation.

Breaking apart to take a breath, I leaned my forehead on hers, sighing heavily.  Her lips found mine once more and I stepped backwards until the inside of my knees found the couch. Sitting down and pulling her with me, I realized I had sat on the television remote. Not bothering to move it, I continued to revel in the feel of Paige's lips on mine.

"Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me!" How was Paige saying this if her mouth was on mine?

Separating my lips from hers, Paige pushed my shoulders back and looked up at me laughing.

"I think you're on the remote." She giggled, her lips swollen and cheeks red.

"Oops," I said, standing up to grab the remote and stopped the movie once again. Silence fell over the room as I ceased the song that played while the credits were rolling.

Looking back over at the couch, Paige wasn't there anymore. Panic spread through me, and I turned to look for her brown hair, only to get several kernels of popcorn bounce off my face.

"Gotcha again." Paige smiled up at me, fistfuls of popcorn in both hands.

"Yes, but this time I'm getting revenge." Jogging to the kitchen to grab popcorn I watched her scurry away down the halls of my house, popcorn falling everywhere she went.