Trombone Crush

7

The obnoxious trap music is the first thing that overwhelms me when I get to the Halloween party. The rapid pounding of the bass matches the pounding of my heart as I push open the door and step inside. The second thing that overwhelms me is the number of people. The crowd is so dense that I can barely see past the people in the living room. I take a slow breath for strength and wrap my arms around myself before I begin to slip through the crowd. I screw my face up at how strangely humid it is inside. I quickly attribute that to the fog machine that's haphazardly placed in the middle of the walkway towards the kitchen.

With much difficulty, I get past the mass of people dancing on each other in the living room without suffocating. I walk past the cheesy Halloween decorations in the kitchen and snag a packet of skittles from one of the vibrant orange candy bowls. I stuff it in my purse as I make my way to the door and step out onto the patio. 

Immediately, I'm enveloped by the crisp autumn air. Relieved by the lack of humidity outside, I take another deep breath, then begin scanning the crowd. The patio is elevated over the rest of the backyard so it doesn't take long for my gaze to stop on a pirate hat sticking up in the crowd. An excited and nervous chill runs through my body and I don't stop to think. I rush down the stairs and into the crowd. I adjust my Tinkerbell costume as I get bumped into by various people until I finally see Jesse in the near distance.

His expression is dejected as he stares at his phone. His lips are pursed and his eyebrows are furrowed. Ernesto puts his hand on Jesse's shoulder and says something and Jesse just nods a little before Ernesto walks away. I walk up to him, a bit more carefully now and he turns to look at me. A split second of shock flashes across his face and he shoves his phone into his pocket. "Hey, Lana." His eyes dart around like he's trying his best to avoid eye contact.

Refusing to let the awkward atmosphere get to me, I smile. "Hey, Jesse, Nice beard." I tease, loudly over the music.

Jesse's expression brightens and he laughs. He then strokes the poorly made beard that was clearly drawn in with marker onto his face. "Thanks, I grew it myself," he replies, "And that's Captain Jesse to you."

I roll my eyes and laugh. "Are you okay? You looked kinda sad."

Jesse's eyes widen "What do you mean am I okay? Are you okay?"

I wince, remembering the last time he saw me. "Oh, right. Yeah, I'm okay now, sorry about all of that." I smile sheepishly at him.

He smiles and lets out a breath, "I was so worried about you!" he ruffles my hair and I gasp and jump back.

"Augh! Don't mess it up! It took me forever to get my hair symmetrical." I pout and move to fix my hair. Since my hair isn't that long, I had to put my hair in two buns instead of one, which took way longer than it should have.

He grins mischievously, "Oops."

I narrow my eyes at him, lick my finger, and then reach up to smudge his beard.

"Ah! Assault." He laughs, pushing my hand away "How could you! I worked so hard on my beard." He pouts at me and I grin back.

"Karma."

He squints his eyes at me like he's considering retaliating, but he doesn't instead he grows sheepish and looks away. "Um, you look really nice by the way."

"What was that Captain Jesse?"

He laughs and he leans in a little to repeat himself "I said, that you look-"

I reach up and gently cup his cheek, and he stops speaking abruptly. His cheeks darken and he stares at me with wide, confused eyes. I lean up so close that our noses are touching. My gaze takes in everything, his thick alluring eyelashes, the two tiny freckles on his pink lips, the little golden specks in his eyes and the pink color on his tan cheeks. 

I close my eyes and my own lips tremble with anticipation before I finally, finally lean up to kiss him. The sensation of his soft lips against mine sends warm tingles all down my spine. When his hands rest on my waist and pull me closer my thoughts dissipate into nothingness. After a moment of pure bliss, we separate slowly. He rests his forehead against mine with cheeks as red as I assume mine are.

He smiles gently and takes a shaky breath. "So, uh...does this mean you like me too?" He asks, with a bit of hopefulness in his expression.

The adorable shyness of his question makes my heart throb. I look up into his hazel eyes sincerely and reply. "Of course. How could I not?"

His eyes light up and the most incredible smile spreads across his face. Before I can say anything else he wraps his arm around my waist and leans down to meld his lips against my own. I wrap my arms around his neck and lean into him feeling more excited jitters going down my spine. 

This is it, my life could end right now and it would say on my grave stone 'Lana Kenyon, died the happiest girl alive.'