Soulmates and Exceptions #Wattys2016

Bonus #2": Spencer's First Kiss

     After the duo dropped their backpacks off at Brea's house, they decided to take a walk rather than play games or do their homework. Brea glanced at the lights glowing from the Thomas house as they began to walk around their neighborhood. "Spence? What do you think they're telling him?"

     "Beats me. Probably all about how you get drawn to some random person and how you'll live your life happily ever after." He stuck his tongue out in disgust, tossing in an exaggerated shudder for emphasis.

     Brea rolled her eyes. Leave it to Spencer to ruin a serious conversation. "I know. I know. You say that you refuse to be matched, but why ruin the magic for those of us that do believe in happily ever afters?"

* * *

     Spencer stopped, pausing a moment to gather his thoughts. Brea, like all of the other girls at school, loved to talk about soulmates and being matched. He couldn't care less when the other girls droned on about it, but when Brea started in with it, he came close to losing his mind. He was the one who knew when she was upset – even when she denied it. He was the one who taught her how to fight back. He was the one who knew her better than she knew herself. The thought of another guy – a guy that had no idea what made Brea special – being her match filled him with a rage that encompassed his entire being. He didn't want to be matched, and he didn't want her matched either. The longer she stayed unmatched, the longer he could be a part of her life. He turned to face his best friend. "Come on Brea! Think about it. You can't seriously tell me that you can't wait for some random guy – a total stranger – someone who doesn't know you at all - to go up to you," he stepped closer to her, unable to resist taking her arm and lightly caressing it, "touch your arm like this and be the first and only person to ever kiss you..." his face was close enough to feel her breath on his lips, rendering him unable to move.

     Brea leaned forward and pressed her soft lips against his own. His hands gripped her arms tighter, out of fear that this wasn't really happening. The kiss was a mixture of sweetness and awkwardness. Despite Spencer not having a clue as to what he was doing, he felt that he was doing well on instinct. He pressed his lips back with the same amount of force Brea had been pressing against his. He couldn't remember who opened their mouth first, but as soon as they did, both of their tongues explored the other's mouth. At that point in the kiss, Spencer noticed the warmth that filled him and the tingling sensation, that was overtaking his senses, bringing an underlying thought to the front of his mind: 'What if I'm being drawn to Brea?'

     He took a step back, his heart pounding faster than it ever had before.

     "I didn't mean to...I'm sorry." Brea became extremely flustered.

     'Maybe I'm just wishing it was her...' he thought dejectedly while biting his lip. "Um...don't be. It was kind of nice." He looked to his shoes. Why did he add that last part? "Well, I guess now you don't have to worry about some strange guy being your first kiss." He added quickly and smiled slightly.

     "I guess not." She bit her lip hard. "We should head back." She started to walk back to her house.

     Spencer caught up to her, putting his arm around her. "It's okay, really. I didn't hate it – I kind of liked it..." He turned his head away, hoping she didn't hear that last part. "Now we can relax, knowing that our first kiss wasn't with some weirdo and totally horrible. We're still friends. Nobody has to know, okay?" He bit his lip as they continued their walk home. It's not like he'd ever be lucky enough to be matched to the one girl that never cared about the uniqueness of his family structure – the one girl that looked past all of that and saw him and encouraged him to get matched despite everything. Someone so optimistic could never be matched with a pessimist like himself. It was this feeling of despair that reinforced his decision to never be matched.