•butterfly•kisses•
By zia_tiffah

Martins strolled down the halls leisurely, his comic under his arms. he passed the Principal's office with his back straight sparing no glance at the occupant. The air had a tease about it that promised a storm while it swirled on his arms, leaving goosebumps in the trail of its kisses. He increased his pace, his eyes set on the imitation greenhouse at the back of the school.

He slammed the door with little effort before the smoky haze made it known that he was an intruder. He ignored the fog opting to go upstairs where there was a clear view of the approaching storm. With luck, the chainsmoking gang were hidden behind one of the shrubs on the ground, where they usually were. The top of the stairs had a maroon colored hijab like a welcome mat. Martins rolled his eyes. Heaven help who he caught going at it like rabbits. Voices were lost in the haze with every step he took forward. He loosened his tie as he approached, getting ready for the weird looks that followed his appearance.

"It'd be better if I just died or ran away. Running away would be gold. Perfect daughter my ass." The figure of Raina slumped by the wall made his steps falter a bit before resuming its normal pace.

She shook ashes off her cigarettes before giggling manically, "Ass... My ass," she gave him a once over when she saw him. "Oh it's you! Come to fuck the slut? Sorry, I don't do dumb boys." She shrugged and puffed on her cigarette, exhaling more smoke that made his eyes water.

He stomped to the windows and opened one, letting howling wind inside before going to sit down in a far corner and letting his mind absorb the woes of Major in a futuristic world.

Raina's grating voice pulled him back to reality, "I knew you were dumb, didn't know you were a freak too."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes fixed on the manga hoping she'd take the hint and stop talking.

"You know who else is a freak? Me... I'm a freak. A gorgeous freak but still a freak. An ashewo if you're going with my mom's words."

He groaned, giving her more ammunition to talk. "So about your dumbness, is it like you can't talk at all or just that you can make sounds but can't form words. Which is it?" She had scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

He pushed her head off and looked at her, "My form of dumbness is self imposed." He ignored her gasp of surprise and turned his attention back to his manga, effectively cutting her off.

Her fingers on his thighs yanked him out of his imagination, "Why don't you talk?"

"Is it any of your business?" he retorted.

"No, but we're the only ones here and I'm as high as a butterfly so it's a no brainer," she spoke softly with her eyes closed.

He sighed, "I don't see the need to talk when half the world's population are idiots, a quarter are narcissists and the rest are just nosy and annoying."

Raina raised a challenging eyebrow, "What about you?" she inquired, "What category do you fall under?"
       
The corner of Martins' mouth twitched slightly. "Me? I'm a narcissist obviously. You on the other hand are nosy and annoying. Any questions or can I go back to something important?"

Raina smiled and snatched the manga from him holding it away from her body, "I like to think I'm more important than comics. Don't hurt my feelings."

His angry comeback was drowned out by the roar of rain as it vented on them. She danced out of his grip as he reached for his possession, winking at him as her scarf came loose and exposed her hair.
   
What happened next was the fault of hormones, weed and the universe.

Martins reached for Raina and drew her close, she reeked of weed and biscuits, yet he didn't care as he pressed his lips to hers. Thunder boomed in his ears, coming from both outside and within. She had cotton lips and he couldn't get enough.

What a cliche, was his first coherent thought.

Raina pulled away with a gasp, "I've been kissed by a lot of boys but this takes the cake," she kept on touching her lips in a disbelieving manner.

He had already pulled away trying to rationalize his mistake when she sidled up to him, "This would sound somehow but I don't care, we need to do that again."

He was on the verge of refusing when she took what she wanted, this time with force, her tongue pushed its way past his defensive lips and stroked his in a dance older than them. He ran his fingers through her hair in a frenzy. They kept at it for a long time, the rain drowning out their accompanying soundtracks.

The storm broke and so did the spell, Raina sighed in appreciation, "I'd remember that for a long time."

Martins snorted, "I doubt it. You'd barely remember anything from when you started smoking, that's how it works."

Raina sighed and shifted closer to him in a bid to get warm. He stood up and brought the hijab he had first seen and covered her with it.
He lost himself in Major's dilemma, letting Raina's rhythmic breathing convey him to a dimension beyond his.

••••
         
Everywhere was too loud in Raina's opinion and people were too annoying to deal with. The day before was a fog riddled memory. She pushed her way to class and leaned on the door, surveying her mates with a bored eye, not knowing what she was looking for till she found it, or more specifically him.

At the back of the class with his headphones in and feet propped up on his seat while he scrubbed in a notebook was Martins. Like her staring alerted him, he looked up and made eye contact, her fingers flew to her lips in a subconscious move. She had kissed him yesterday she was sure of it. Or was she?

Martins watched amused as Raina kept on staring at him like he was a museum exhibit. She'd never know, he was sure of it.