Tears Behind Our Eyes: A Prequel

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I spent a more balanced amount of time with just Mia Kaye after our first kiss throughout the summer. Every time I heard someone talk about how awkward everything was during and after, I thought that was going to be me. In books, characters say the same and then they describe the perfect first kiss and how perfect everything thereafter turns out until blah blah blah. Me? I don't know. When it was just me and her, I felt comfortable. More so than with her in public, which is said to be opposite. I didn't tell Hunter about it. I know we were-slash-are bros but I didn't. It's no secret. It just never came up.

When Mia Kaye and I were alone, we would hold hands. We cuddled sometimes and napped together. The both of us went on mini-dates, both agreeing that's what they were--getting ice cream, going to a movie, whatever. Not real dates because she wasn't allowed to date until she turned thirteen, which wasn't until May of 2015.

May of 2015

It was her birthday. She turned thirteen. We decided to pull a prank on her, the start of a tradition, which was to plaster a path of sticky notes from her room to the (forty-four flights of) stairs to the lobby, hiding her wardrobe so she had to go in her pink pajamas and (admittedly) messy hair. She still looked cute, though. The path of sticky notes lead to a banner that all our school friends held up. Of course, Hunter's super fancy camera took pictures of her face like a normal cheesy surprise. Balloons were thrown at her after hugs were given, filled with everything that fit inside that she owned. We'd planned to do presents and stuff at lunch or throughout the day then have a mini party since it was a Thursday and only four people, including Hunter, Mia Kaye, and I, were free.

That day, I planned everything to a T. Everyone was going to delay getting to theatre so I could give Mia Kaye my present. After lunch, we put her presents in her locker, overflowing to my locker, overflowing to Hunter's. We have many friends that we love and care for but the three of us are the core. We walked to theatre together, minus Hunter. I wanted so badly to hold her hand but I kept my hands tightly secured in my pockets. The chairs were set up in a circle, and we were a few minutes early, nothing suspicious because she hated being late. We sat down, waiting and talking then I got impatient.

I stood, offering my hand to pull her up. I smiled at her, feeling shaky and nervous. I had no idea why but I did. Mia Kaye laughed, sending me the chills to relax and feel comfortable again. She wondered in her sweet voice, "What are we going to do?" I decided to just raise my eyebrows, my way telling her (kindly) to shut up and stand. I slid my phone out my pocket.

During our first mini-date, the song "All of Me" by John Legend came on. That was our first second kiss. It became our unofficial, because we were unofficial, song. You know, the song that couples have that mean something to them.

I played our song from my phone, set it on a the chair and grabbed her hand. We slow danced, still just the two of us. The teacher promised to make the class wait in the cafeteria, "as long as we didn't do anything inappropriate for school." At this point, only Hunter knew officially that Mia Kaye and I were (temporarily) unofficially dating.

The song ended, she kissed me, figuring out that nobody was going to walk in. Just then, someone walked in. It was painfully ironic but it was okay because it was only Hunter. He remarked, "You know, if you really wanted to keep it a secret, you probably shouldn't slow dance to a romantic song out in the open. And kissing is a dead giveaway." After that, students, our friends, poured into the classroom, bunches at a time so she didn't suspect anything but I knew that she knew. Ms. Rose, the cooky theatre teacher I had for a few years, came in and I told her to act, that her character was clueless to the relationship that was officially becoming un-unofficial. (She made me tell her if we were finally going to date,as eighth graders, in return of making my plan work.)

That night, we both posted a picture on Instagram of us. I was kissing her cheek and she smiled big, blue eyes shining. My caption was "Anyone have first date ideas for me and my girlfriend?" That got a lot of comments. Her caption was "Day one of officially being with my boyfriend and he's already spoiling me! Best birthday ever." That got a lot of comments.

Of course, the three of us had a mini-party before the real party on Saturday night at the park. Mia Kaye and I tried our best to not make Hunter a third wheel, which was easy because another close friend Gayle, was with us. We went to The Plaza first and then Mia Kaye's dad had to save someone's life in another state so we got a taxi to Gayle's house, which was the closest between her and Hunter.

Gayle's parents ordered pizza and we hung out in the basement, which were rare in Seattle. Somehow we had gotten on the topic of fraternity initiations.

I got an idea.

A good idea?

Nope.

No, it definitely was not.