Juke Jam

Chapter Eleven

The two pulled away from the kiss, smiling at each other. Charlie's blush was evident from his cheeks to his ears. Gladys couldn't stop blushing herself; her smile gave it away. The two teenagers shared their first kiss with each other—which would be a moment they would never forget. Gladys was saving her first kiss for someone special, and she had an inkling that Charlie could be that person. Charlie just knew that he wanted to kiss her in that moment, so he did and he never felt better. It may have been rushed, but neither teenager could ignore the strong tension between them.

He thought this was all going really fast, but he couldn't help himself around Gladys. Whenever he got around her, he wanted to know everything about her: her goals, her ambitions, her likes and dislikes. He wanted to get another look on the world from her point of view just because he could. Curiosity got the best of him and it had nothing to do with the color of her skin. It was the simple fact that he had never met anyone like her a day in his life. He knew she was different; he knew he wanted to continue being around her.

"That was boss." Charlie smiled at Gladys.

"Tell me about it." Gladys smiled, biting her lip. She wondered if this was what it felt like to actually like a person. The constant beat of her heart and her nerves being all over the place.

"You're pretty." Charlie said out of nowhere, after looking at her for a while.

"Thank you." She giggled.

"What's your favorite sounds to listen to?" He raised his eyebrows. "I showed you some of mine."

"Have you heard of Ray Charles?" She asked.

"No." He looked puzzled.

"You never heard of Ray Charles!?" She exclaimed. "You gotta listen to some of his sounds."

"Is he any good?"

"Is he any good? Is you crazy? He one of the best rhythm and blues artist 'round." Her eyes lit up.

"Got any of his records?" He asked.

"No." She shook her head. "I don't got no record player, remember?"

"Awe, yeah, that's right." He nodded his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's okay." She giggled, covering her mouth. "I think it's funny how you always apologizin'."

"Well, if I feel like I'm offending you, then it's the honest thing to do." He shrugged his shoulders.

"But you not offendin' me. I know we come from different backgrounds. You have more than me." She said, picking at her nails. It made her glance at his nails and she grimaced at how dirty they were.

"It shouldn't have to be like that, you know." He stated. "It's kind of sad actually."

"We been over this. It's the way things work." She shrugged her shoulders.

"You wanna know somethin'?" She changed the subject.

"What?" He raised his eyebrows, looking at every part of her face. She noticed that he stared at her a lot; she didn't necessarily like it, but she didn't hate it either.

"Yo nails are so goopy." She pointed to his fingernails.

"My nails are not dirty." He observed his nails. "Okay, maybe a little bit."