I sat down next to Carson and Will, my hands trembling.

"Hey Annie, you okay?" Carson asked me.

"What? Yeah I'm fine." I said. He gave me a reassuring smile, before spinning the bottle. It landed on Sydney.

Other people spun the bottle, and I silently watched. Once Will was done, I hugged myself, hoping that no-one would notice me.

"Come on Anns, spin the bottle!" Jayden cheered.

I tentatively spun it, my hands were out of control. It stopped right in front of..

Asher.

He smiled at me. I smiled back. I was really nervous. I had never had my first kiss before. I leaned in, gave him a quick peck, and ran back to my spot. I buried my face in my hands, trying to hide the fact that my face was redder than a tomato.

After a couple of rounds, the girls decided to call it a night. It was a school night after all. My parents would be coming home from the clinic soon too.

The girls were too busy obsessing over the fact that they finally got to kiss their crushes to tease me, which I found relieving. I hadn't made eye contact with Asher after you-know-what. I was too nervous to.

I got home and saw that Mom and Dad were already back. Mom was up in Caleb's room. I was trying to sneak up into my room as quietly as possible, but got busted by my dad.

"Not so fast Jullianna!" He whisper-shouted. I cringed and went back to where he was.

"Where were you?" He whispered.

"I was at a friends' place. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." I whispered back. I didn't really know why we were whispering, but decided to go along with it.

"I'll let you off the hook this time, but let us know if you're going anywhere beforehand okay?" My dad said as he ran his hand through his hair. He had dark circles under his yes too.  Huh, maybe he had been jetlagged from his last trip?

I nodded and ran upstairs into my room. I took off all my make-up, got into my pj's and pulled my hair in a messy bun. Without even checking my phone, I collapsed on my bed.

✧･ﾟ:*

I got into Sydney's car the next morning. She smiled at me through the mirror.

"So, I noticed you weren't making eye contact with Asher after, you know.." She said.

I sighed. "It's just, that was my first kiss and I kind of wanted it to be a little more, memorable. I'm not trying to sound rude or anything." I said.

"Aww, it's okay Anns, I get how you feel. But something tells me that's not all of it." She said.

Darn it, why'd she have to be such a good friend?

"Okay, but don't freak out." I warned her. She nodded, and I took a deep breath. "I sort of kind of had a little bit of a crush on Asher when I was nine." I rambled.

Sydney almost crashed the car.

"Omg! Annie, how could you hide such a thing?" She shrieked.

"Because I knew you would make a big deal out of it! Like you are now!" I said.

"Okay, I'm sorry. So, are you gonna tell him?" She asked eagerly.

"What? No! I used to like him, I don't anymore. I was just nervous because I didn't' want to catch those feelings again. Not after his past relationship record. And I kind of like the way or friendship is right now. I don't want to ruin that." I admitted.

Sydney nodded sympathetically. "Well, you gotta apologize for ignoring him though Anns, the poor guy is probably worried sick that you didn't like kissing him!" Sydney said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I mumbled.

I went to my locker and took out my books. I was a few minutes early, so I decided to talk to Asher. He looked really upset when I saw him by his locker. He was staring at his screen. I walked over at him and gently tapped his shoulder. He looked startled and quickly turned off his phone.

"Oh, uh, hi Annie." He said nervously.

"Hey Asher." I replied.

'Listen, about last night," he started whilst rubbing his neck, but I stopped him.

"Look Asher, I'm sorry I ignored you after that. It was my first kiss and I was just really embarrassed. I'm sorry." I said, playing with my fingers.

"No Annie, it's okay. I should have known. I was just worried I made you uncomfortable since you weren't answering any of my texts." He said, wagging his phone.

"I'm sorry Ash, I haven't been on my phone since last night. So, are we cool?" I asked.

He thought about it for a while, before pulling me into another bone crunching hug. I awkwardly patted him on the back, taking in his scent.

I'm glad things are back to normal between Asher and I. I just hope I don't make the dumb mistake of catching feelings again..

✧･ﾟ:*

This one's for my girl -aiileen

You're welcome 😊