Dismissed ⤯ Tom Holland

17 | First Date

Y/N

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"Why are we here?"

After our little confrontation by the pond, Tom managed to convince me to ditch the entire school day. I couldn't believe I agreed, but a part of me was looking forward to this date.

I'd never been on one before.

The two of us were back in Glasgow, standing outside of a building with the words LASER TAG hanging on the front. I didn't really expect the city to have one of these, much less expect Tom to take me here.

"I've always wanted to try it," he shrugged, "just hadn't found the right person."

I turned my head, my face suddenly heating up. I was really inexperienced when it came to romantics, so I didn't know what to say. I said the only thing that came to mind.

"Thanks," I blurted out, before wincing.

I didn't need anymore proof that I sucked at this stuff. Thanks? Really? I thought Tom would stare at me with confusion, but instead he just laughed, holding open the door. I walked cautiously inside, unsure of the place.

Laser....tag. Never done it, didn't entirely want to try it. The boy followed in after me, striding up to the front desk and starting a conversation with the woman up front. I strayed off to the sides, pretending to admire the assortment of posters hanging around. This date could very well be a disaster, and it would probably be my fault. I almost got lost in thought, so I jumped when I felt Tom's hand graze against my back.

"Oh, sorry," he said, widening his eyes, "is it okay to touch you there?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "I just didn't see you."

"Ready to go?"

I nodded, and we followed the front desk woman towards one of the rooms in the back. She set us up with the tag-gear, the laser gun, and explained the rules briefly. It reminded me of our scrimmage exercises back at the BIC academy.

"You're so going down," the boy grinned, sliding his laser out of his holster.

"We'll see" I laughed, "I may be new at this, but I'm pretty competitive."

"Competitive is my middle name."

I rolled my eyes, before slipping through the door and disappearing to my side. I was team green, he was team red. The whole basis of the game was to shoot your laser-gun at the opposing targets and rack up the most points as possible.

My eyes flickered up to the scoreboard, watching the countdown. 5, 4, 3...

Taking a deep breath, I powered up my laser and pressed my back up against one of the blockade walls.

2, 1.

As aggressive music began to blast out of the speakers, I weaved in and out of the obstacles, my senses peaked. If I assumed Tom's first path, it would give me a head start to reach his team side. He probably thought he was being sneaky, but I could hear his footsteps snaking around the left side of the room. Ducking down onto my knees, I aimed my gun towards his vague figure, which was creeping against the wall.

As I let out a shot, his gear let out a buzz, and I heard him yelp. 50+ points to me! Before he could see where I was, I ran over to the red base and began to shoot at the target. 50+, 100+, 200+, 500+....

I had it in the bag. By the time the first round ended, I had over 7,000 points, and Tom hadn't landed a single shot on me.

"What in the actual hell," he laughed, walking up to meet me in the center, "you've never done this before?"

"Nope."

"Then how are you so good?"

"I told you," I shrugged, "I'm competitive."

He winked, running a hand through his sweaty hair. Apparently he got all fussed up trying to figure out where I was. Nodding my head, I returned back to my side and prepped for the second round.

As soon as I heard the buzzer, I started to head in the same path I went before. Tom would obviously assume I'd try to change my strategy up, but hah! Little did he know, I saw that coming a mile away-

"Gotcha!"

I felt someone wrap their arms around me, tackling me to the ground. It was Tom.

"How did you-" I started, but he cut me off.

"I'm competitive."

"You realize you're supposed to shoot at me, right?" I laughed, "not tackle me."

"Tackling you was more fun."

"I bet."

Since he pulled me back, I was laying on top of him, my back pressed against his chest. He smelled like cologne...too much of it. I was about to get up, but he grabbed my wrist and flipped me over onto the ground. I was about to sock him in the stomach out of habit again, but I remembered what happened last time.

"Aren't we supposed to be playing the game?" I laughed. He was hovering over me now, which was new, yet I couldn't bring myself to look away.

"I thought I was," he grinned, "isn't this whole thing a game?"

"What are you on, Tom?"

"Right now? You."

I whacked him in the shoulder, rolling my eyes again, "that was gross."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"'I'm not!"

"You see?" he chuckled, "this is the game I'm talking about. I make a move, and you always try to laugh it off."

"Because all of your moves are ridiculous."

"Would it hurt to give in just once?"

His eyes flickered down to my lips, and then back up to my eyes. For the first time, I really couldn't laugh it off. what is going on, what is going on, what is going ON? Is this what hyperventilating felt like? The gap between us slowly started to close, and I surprisingly let it.

I whispered under my breath, "just once."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

A smile quickly flashed over his face, before he pressed his lips against mine. I never had time to imagine my first kiss, but I never thought it would be on the floor of a Laser-Tag room in Glasgow.

After a few more seconds, he pulled away, his hair dangling over my forehead as he stared at me in interest.

"Um..." I stammered, unsure of what to say. What are you supposed to say after that? Thanks? Nice kiss, bro? Your lips taste kind of like strawberry chapstick? I decided to wing it, "...holy crap."

He smirked, glancing at my mouth again, "you're new to this, aren't you?"

"Kissing?"

"yeah."

"Was it that obvious?"

"A little," he nodded, "but I wouldn't mind doing it again."

He learned it again, and I didn't even hesitate to kiss back. I guess I got the hang of it, because it suddenly became more intense. Wow, okay.

I guess that's how I got my first boyfriend.

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 is this book almost over? kinda, but not yet :0