outside of the auditorium was complete madness. happy teens and proud parents crowded the streets. you hugged and congratulated your friends as they walked by, but your eyes were constantly scanning the crowd for your best friend, calum. you then saw his dark mop of hair underneath his graduation cap and his family were close behind him. your eyes met his immediately, as if he were scanning the crowd for you too.
"calum!" you waved your arms at him and he grinned and waved back at you. him and his family pushed their way through the crowd before finally reaching you and your family. his family greeted yours and gave hugs and began to catch up. you gave calum an awkward side hug considering that he was holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand. "we did it! we graduated! goodbye to secondary school!"
"i guess we're finally adults now!" calum held out the bouquet to you. "here, they're for you! it's a graduation gift!" before you could say thank you, your parents were pushing the two of you together for a photo. after a few other photos, his other friends began to show up and were attempting to pull him away from you. "i gotta' go, but i'll see you at the party tonight, right?"
"yeah––" you began before he was pulled away. he laughed with his friends before waving goodbye at you and you just waved at him. you didn't mind, it was a big day! and you had your own family stuff to get to. plus you would be seeing him at that party that evening. the party you had been freaking out about all day.
you hadn't been to big parties like that before. you were the type of girl who preferred to do other things instead of going to big parties. but calum had insisted the two of you go and it was the only reason why you agreed. you would do anything if calum was going to be there. calum wasn't aware about your crush on him whatsoever, and you hoped it would stay that way. the two of you had only become best friends this past year but you felt it would ruin your friendship if he found out.
the evening before the party would be deemed as one of the most stressful times of your life. your other best friend was helping you get ready and it was easy to say that it was becoming quite a disaster. to begin with your hair was not cooperating with you. it was frizzy and would not sit in the way you had wanted it to and, though you followed a tutorial, your makeup simply did not come out how it was supposed to. not to mention your friend had put you in such an awkward outfit that you felt completely uncomfortable. because of this, you ended up just and . you felt more comfortable this way and didn't really care anymore at that point, you just wanted to get the night over with.
the party itself was a lot more laid back than you thought it would be. while, yes, there were plenty of recognizable teens that were plastered, most of the teens were dancing to shitty garage music and were just talking. it was not like how you pictured it would be thanks to shitty teen movies you've seen. this was a relief. immediately you spotted calum on the couch with his usual buddies.
"hey! look who could make it! i'm so glad you're here," calum greeted. you grinned at him as he pulled you down onto his lap, an odd place to sit since you and calum weren't this kind of close. the boys greeted you and continued to joke around with each other. "hey, you look great." you blushed as calum began to rub your back, a subconscious thing. you didn't mind. it was comforting.
"aw, you guys are so cute!" his friend said, the other punching him. "ignore him. please," calum pleaded with you. you only laughed. of course you would ignore him. but only because you were about to turn as red as a tomato.
the night continued and you and calum laughed and talked. occasionally you two would get up and grab snacks or drinks, but most of the time, the two of you were sat on that couch. slowly, but surely, you two began to gravitate closer to each other. his arm would make its way around you and your hand would make its way onto his thigh. it was as if you two were the only two people in that house that night. slowly, you began to fall more in love with your best friend.
"okay everyone! truth or dare time!" you heard. before you knew it, groups of people were sat around the couch and on the floor that you and calum were on.
"oh great! i'm in!" calum said. "come on, let's play!" he urged. you were nervous but scooted upwards on the couch a bit so that you could be involved in the game.
rounds went on before it became calum's turn.
"okay cal," one of his best friends began. "truth or dare." calum thought for a second before answering with "dare." oo's and ah's came from the crowd. "i dare you to kiss someone in the room right now."
you froze. you definitely did not want to see that considering how in love with him you were. but you sat there, completely still. the girls in the room giggled as they prayed it would be them. you looked at your lap and hoped the music in the background would drown out whatever was happening.
calum cleared his throat and put a hand on your thigh. you looked up at him due to the sudden touch. his eyes began to close as he leaned into you. you leaned back in shock and everyone around you gasped. "i'm sorry," you squeaked before standing abruptly. quickly, you left the house.
when you got home, you threw yourself onto the bed and cried. your phone went off throughout the whole night. you didn't check, but you knew it was calum. the situation itself was so embarrassing you just wanted to sleep it off.
the next morning, you woke up later than usual. you fixed yourself up and walked downstairs for some breakfast. the familiar voices of your family echoed throughout the household but you stopped at the bottom of the stair case when you heard calum laughing amongst them. looking into the kitchen, you could see your family and calum sitting at the breakfast nook. before you could run upstairs, your mother greeted you with a "good morning sweetie! i made your favorite! also calum dropped by, isn't that nice!"
"y-yeah," you responded quietly. you slowly made your way into the kitchen before calum stood. "can i talk to you? privately?" you nodded at him as you both stepped out onto your front porch.
"so... what happened last night?" he started.
"uh, i can ask you the same thing!" you retorted. your crossed your arms over your chest defensively. "you tried to kiss me! in front of all those people! that's not cool!"
"it was a dare! i didn't want to kiss anyone else there, what was i supposed to do?"
"so you're not going to consider my feelings at all?"
"well–– no, that's not what i meant.."
you both fell quiet for a while. "that would have been my first kiss, cal. my first kiss EVER. and i didn't want my first kiss to be––"
"––with me, i get it.." he interrupted. he sat down on the railing next to you. "i don't think you know this but, i've honestly liked you for a while now and i told my friend to dare us to kiss because i really didn't think i could just sit down and tell you i like you like this. it was cowardly, i should have just told you.." he looked down at his hands that were in his lap. his cheeks were pink as he blushed at the confession.
"you idiot," you started. you chuckled at him a little even. "i was going to say that i didn't want my first kiss to be in front of all those people." you reached a hand over and began to trace shapes on his palm with your finger. in your head you were screaming at his confession, but on the outside, you seemed confidant and calm as ever. "i wish you told me earlier.. we could have been some sort of power couple at school." you laughed at yourself.
"i didn't know that would have been your first kiss. i'm really sorry if i embarrassed you at all." he exhaled loudly before slowly intertwining his hand with yours.
he looked up at you and you looked at him. his eyes were dark but the bright sun made them twinkle in the light. you both sat there for a while, taking in each other's appearance. he was beautiful and, to him, so were you. he let go of your hand and cupped your face instead. you both leaned into each other. then, his lips were on yours and the world faded around you two.
the kiss was soft and gentle. as you pulled away, you smiled at each other before calum abruptly pulled away from you. you stood up from the railing as he started wobbling on it. "woah- wOAh!" he loudly said as he fell over backwards.
"holy shit, are you okay!?" you yelled. you hurried down your front steps and knelt down beside him. he was on his back and looking up at you before you both laughed loudly. he pulled you down for a long, sweet kiss before you helped him stand. you helped him inside so you two could finish your breakfast, the sound of your laughter still able to be heard from outside.
