Love Among the Stars

0.5

The previous night, I couldn't sleep. I sat up, thinking. About Soda's eyes, about his hair and how I should have ran my hands through it, about how I should have kissed him again, about his lips. Oh, his lips... what I wouldn't give to touch them again.

And then in the morning another thought shook me. I was standing up after being in bed for 7 hours doing nothing more than awake, getting my clothes on when I thought about that kiss.

We'd been close enough for years to be able to do it. In fact, we had before. So why was this different than when we were in 7th grade and kissed during Spin the Bottle and Cindy Borski's 13th birthday party?

"Have you ever kissed anyone?" Cindy asked is I got up and spun the bottle in the middle of a big circle.

"Nope," I said, smiling in front of everyone. If you'd asked me that now and it were still my answer, I would have been petrified to say no.

The bottle spun and spun, and when it finally came to a stop, I looked up at who it landed on. Sodapop. Surprisingly, I smiled. He stood up.

"Have you kissed anyone, Sodapop?" He shrugged, not looking up.

"Should we take that as a no?" Cindy asked. Soda got up at that moment, pressing his lips to mine. I was nervous, seeing that I had never done it and had no clue how to, and everyone was watching me, but the kiss was over in a fraction of a second. That was it, the first one either of us had ever had.

"I've kissed someone. And so has Nina," he said calmly, sitting down with a newfound smirk on his face. I sat next to him, even though that wasn't my spot, and made everyone scoot down to make room for me. Later on, Soda ended up spinning for 7 Minutes in Heaven. He got me, of course. Everyone was surprised and told us the bottle likes us together. (Like how I always tell me friends who get each other over and over that the bottle ships it.)

"You guys know how to make out?" Cindy asked, winking. Soda put his arm around my waist and hustled me towards the closet before I could embarrass him anymore.

"Do you?" I asked him once the door was closed.

"No. But we can figure it out," he said. I nodded, figuring it couldn't be that hard. We both sat on the floor, he put his arms around my waist and I put mine on his neck. And we leaned in. And then kissed. Over and over, much more passionate than the first one in front everyone. Someone knocked on the door 7 minutes later.

"That's all?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I guess so," I said.

"I liked that," he admitted.

"Me too."

"So... does that make us like boyfriend and girlfriend now?" He asked. My heart started beating faster and faster.

"Does it?" I asked. I hadn't a clue.

"Do you like like me?" Soda asked.

"No," brutally honest 12 year old me answered immediately. I didn't even have to think about it.

"Do you?" He shook his head slowly.

"N-no," he stuttered.

Stuttered. I hadn't thought about it until now. I had always realized that he did, but had thought maybe it was an accident, or he was just nervous or something. But it was clear to me now. And it made me think that if we were okay after that, then we'd be okay now.

I got up, throwing on a black tank top with Audrey Hepburn's face on it and a pair of jeans. Brushing my hair as I went, I walked over to the Curtis's. Everyone was awake and in the living room, and I walked in with a smile on my face, being greeted by everyone.

"Hey guys!" I said. Soda ran over to me.

"Nina, you look beautiful," he said, quiet enough that I was the only one to hear. My cheeks heated up as I looked down at myself.

"I do? Th-thank you," I responded, embarrassed. He was smiling.

"You wanna go outside for a few minutes?" He asked. I nodded, and Soda took my hand. I heard Two-Bit "ooh!" from the kitchen and I stifled a laugh.

Everything from last night was set up still, but the fire was out. I was nervous for what was to come, so I let go of his hand and walked over to the logs we had sat at last night, putting a hand on one of them. That was where we had kissed, just last night. I still had a hard time believing it was true. And I couldn't figure out why it had been affecting me so much all night.

"So Nina," Soda walked right up to me after a moment, trying to sound confident. I knew that he was just as nervous as I was. I felt sick.

"Soda," I responded.

"About last night..." He started. Last night. The kiss. Us. Everything I didn't know I had wanted until now... I didn't know what to say.

"Last night," I spoke slowly, not sure what I wanted to say. I said it anyways, but I'm not sure it really was what I wanted. "It was nothing, Soda. I was sad, and the stars were out, and the moon..." I told him. The words were out of my mouth before I could even tell if it was what I wanted. I was sure immediately after that it wasn't. Soda nodded, and I could tell I didn't have to go on.

"Right," he responded, smiling softly. "Nothing, I was gonna say that too. Glad we're on the same page." But I could tell something was wrong. He looked like he was trying to hold back tears, or maybe he was just embarrassed. But that obviously wasn't what he was going to say. He could tell, I could tell, but neither of us said it. I hated to hurt his feelings, and it felt awful to lie, but I couldn't take it back now.

"Me too," I told him. It hurt to lie to him, and it hurt knowing that he was lying to me. Even if it was to protect my feelings. I took a deep breath and looked behind me.

"I... I think Bonnie's calling me." My voice wobbled as I spoke and Soda nodded as I walked off. Bonnie wasn't calling.