He was in trouble. I knew it by the glares the rest of them gave him as he made his way across the room. His brown mop of hair hung into his dull brown eyes as he looked at everyone looking at him. My heart was pounding. I didn’t know what was coming over me, but I suddenly felt the urge to protect him.
But why? Sure, he was the first guy I laid eyes on when I got here, but he and I weren’t that close. I had no reason to want to stand up for him.
Other than, of course, that he was funny and outgoing, and never afraid to say what he wanted. And he always teased me; dragging me with him to his lunch table when I was on my way to sit with my girl friends, tickling me when I stole his pencil and refused to return it. All these things were fun, but it didn’t mean anything, did it?
And yet, standing here in the midst of a dozen angry faces, knowing that he was about to be driven away, I felt compelled to help him. I had to do something.
“Dan.” I took his arm just before he started to leave. His eyes were facing me, but he wasn’t really seeing. It was like I was invisible, as I always had been. My heart pounding, I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.” And then, before I knew what I was doing, I was grabbing his shoulders, closing my eyes, and kissing him full on the mouth.
Yes, I was kissing Dan Harvey.
His lips tasted bland; there was nothing special about them. It wasn’t like in the sappy love stories where they say the kiss tasted like cherries, or soda, or anything like that. They were just lips, and they tasted like lips.
I pulled away from him all at once, surprised by my own actions. He was staring at me – really seeing now – but he couldn’t say anything before he was pulled away from me. And then Levi was behind me.
“What was that for?” he asked me, sounding as totally baffled as I felt. I shook my head, watching Dan leave until I could no longer see him.
“I don’t know, Levi,” I replied. “I don’t know.”