Song of the chapter - Hearts Don't Break Around Here by Ed Sheeran

"So, why did your family end up moving this way?" I asked what I thought was an innocent question. TJ was still sitting next to me out on Mitch's back patio. The party was raging behind us, every high school teen film cliche in the world present and accounted for. But when I saw the look on his face, I realized the question hadn't been so simple. He almost looked sick to his stomach.

Whoa. I needed damage control, and fast!

"Or we could talk about something else..." I began to stammer, "soccer. You could tell me about soccer. Yeah, I don't really know anything, so teach me about it." My nerves were on high alert. I grabbed the hem of my skater skirt, pulling it against my thighs with anxiety. It had already been an awkward situation for me, just sitting out there with a guy, the guy. And then I went and shoved my foot in my mouth making things twice as awkward as before.

Hey, wait a minute! I thought to myself, all I did was ask why he moved. That's a totally normal thing to wonder. I should just stop freaking out because he had a weird reaction to a normal question. So I sat quietly, waiting for him to calm down. I smoothed the sides of my new Soul Honey shirt, (what can I say Jess and Gabe are goals) trying to look casual.  Seemed like the tables had turned...

"Um..."TJ cleared his throat, "no, that's ok. I can answer your question. Sorry, it's just, the reason brings up a whole other thing, but yeah. I should tell you anyway."

He was still all green-looking, but continued to talk about whatever it was. "My dad is in the military, and they transferred him to a different position temporarily. So rather than make a two hour drive every day, we moved to be closer to the recruiting office he's working in right now." He explained.

Well, that didn't seem like a reason to be about to vomit. "Oh. Well, yeah that makes total sense." I replied. I was seriously confused by the dude.

"But, um, they aren't my real parents." He tacked on at the end, quietly. His eyes were no longer making contact with mine, now focused on the ground instead. I guess that could be a reason for the sudden nerves he had. He was adopted?

"Oh?" I wasn't sure how to respond. I didn't know if I should change the subject or encourage him to continue, so I waited for him to decide.

"Yeah. My parents were friends of theirs. My dad was also in the army, and he got deployed to Iraq. He was gone for about six months when he was killed. My mom kind of flipped out and got hooked on some pain killers. She couldn't handle life anymore I guess. So my parents," he said emphasizing the last word, "which is how I think of them, took me in."

Sheesh, I was really bad in these types of confession situations. We had just come out to escape the craziness of the party, and now we were in this heavy conversation. I didn't know how to react. I was shaking a bit too, because he was really hot.

"Well, I'm so glad there was a great family for you." I finally said, proud of my lack of awkward reply. I mean, it could have come out something like, sucks to be you, but thankfully my tongue cooperated.

TJ looked back at me, finally. Which of course made my blood pressure skyrocket. My heart also replied with a bit of extra hammering in my chest.

"Yeah, me too." He smiled slightly, causing me to have a minor heart attack. "I have a bunch of little siblings now, which is fun. They're a great family."

I smiled back at him, despite the fact that my nerves were running amuck. "That's great! I have a younger brother, but he's more of a menace than a bunch of fun."

"Too bad. I think siblings should get along, I never had any so I'm just enjoying it."

"Well, Seth isn't real enjoyable anymore." I replied solemnly.

"Seth? I met a Seth at school, I wonder if he's your Seth?" TJ said.

"Oh gosh, I hope not. Lord knows what he would say about me..." I mumbled.

"Don't worry, if it's your Seth, I'll put him in his place." He winked at me. Winked. Sheesh, I just about passed out.

"Hey," he said while reaching out to take my hand, "you want to dance with me?"

Thankfully I had complete control of my jaw, because it just may have fallen on the ground if I hadn't. All I could do was nod in reply, allowing him to take me by the hand and pull me to my feet. I glanced at him, taking the quick opportunity to check him out. And I highly approved. I always approved, but something about party attire made a guy look extra good.

The dark blue v-neck tee shirt, which fit him perfectly and displayed his biceps, my undoing, quite nicely. His light wash jeans were the perfect combination of fitted and baggy. They weren't showing his boxers, gosh I hope they were boxers, but they weren't so tight that he looked like a throw back grease monkey.

Still holding my hand, he escorted us back into the dreaded party house. Except that this time, my focus was on TJ and not on the insane surroundings. He kept walking, weaving in and out of bro chats, girl drama and couple love, right into the makeshift dance floor in the family room. Rather than a teen flick staple DJ, because who can afford that, they had an iPhone and a Bluetooth speaker. Meh, it worked. The music was loud enough to rattle my lungs so I figured it was high school party acceptable.

Once we arrived at our destination, TJ turned to face me and wasted no time pulling me close to him by wrapping his arms around my waist. We were in no way creating an R rated scene, geez it wasn't even PG-13. Especially in light of the couple grinding right next to us. However, I had never danced so close to a boy, let alone a boy I kind of liked, so I felt my palms begin to sweat.

Sheesh what was it with me and my sweaty palms?

I raised my arms and slid them onto his shoulders, feeling somewhat awkward but also completely perfect. TJ once again had more than enough confidence for the two of us, which I was reminded of when he ever so slowly tightened his hold around my waist, forcing my body closer to his.

Oh what the heck, might as well, I thought to myself as I put my head on his shoulder. I'm not sure it's actually possible, but if it is I think I felt TJ smile. Something happened, some sort of muscle change in his neck or chin area, so I figured it must be a smile.

Then I heard him release a deep breath, as if he was relieved. Like, maybe he was worried I wouldn't want to dance with him, or I would pull away if he tried to get closer to me. Maybe he wasn't as confident as I thought. But a guy as hot as he was shouldn't have those thoughts. Should they?

I let my mind shut off for a while, and just enjoyed hanging close to TJ. He made me nervous, yes, but something about him was also calming. And those two things shouldn't exist simultaneously, but with TJ, they did. We continued to sway with the music, even though the next song was much faster than the one we started dancing to.

After a few songs, I pulled back to check the time. I had a curfew, after all, and I had narrowly escaped a grounding earlier in the week. I wasn't about to push my usually terrible but recently decent luck. Looking at my phone, I indeed saw that the carriage was about to turn back into a pumpkin, and needed to get going. I had to find Robin so she could take me home.

"Um, I have to get home soon. The parentals are expecting me."

"Oh," he said, looking like a lost puppy, "that's too bad."

"Yeah. But can you help me find Robin so I can get a ride home?" I asked, hoping to spend a few more minutes with him.

"Sure." He smiled slightly.

We started our search and was surprised to find Robin in the kitchen. Dancing. With a red cup in her hand. Dang it! Who gave that girl a beer? Now she couldn't drive me home.

"What happened to being the designated driver?" I yelled while grabbing the cup from her hand.

"Oops!" She said in response. Then she giggled.
Like a total buzzy kind of giggle fit, right there in the kitchen.

"Yeah, she's not driving." TJ said, then he looked at me, "Where are her keys?"

I reached into her back pocket and pulled the keys out. Robin tried swatting at my hand about twenty seconds too late.

"Hey!" She sulked when she saw that I had hit the jackpot.

"Next time just say no, and this won't happen." Now what? How was I supposed to get home?

As if he could read my mind, TJ took the keys from me and said, "I can take you. I have to get home anyway. We'll help Robin get her car tomorrow."

Wow. He was just adorable. "Sounds like a plan." I pulled Robin along and followed TJ to his car. The rest of the girls were going home in Christy's car anyway, so we didn't need to round them up.

TJ walked us to his car, a beat up Explorer, but I wasn't judging because I didn't even have a car so a beat up Explorer sounded pretty good to me. We shoved Robin in the back seat and I claimed shot gun. Then TJ climbed in and started it up.

"How long have you had this car?" I asked.

"A while. It was my dad's car. My mom wanted to sell it, but I couldn't do it, so now it's mine." He was a little sad, saying that.

"It's nice that you kept it." I said, causing TJ to look over at me quickly, smiling.

We got to Robin's house in about ten minutes, which meant that we'd be getting to my house about five minutes later. And that just sucked because I wanted more time with him. It was going really well and I didn't want it to stop.

Robin got out, "Bye, lovebirds!" She yelled, bringing a blush to my face. Then she turned to go into her house, after TJ had given her the keys back.

"Yeah, bye." I mumbled, still embarrassed. Glancing at TJ, he seemed a little pink, too.

He turned the wheel and started to get the car going back the opposite direction, when something jumped into our view out the front windshield.

"Go ahead and kiss her! What are you waiting for!" Robin yelled from the hood of the car. Both of us sat still as statues for a split second.
Then TJ reached up and put the car in park, turned towards me, as I looked at him questioningly. Not waiting for me to say a word, he leaned over and covered my lips with his. They were soft, and warm, and somehow entirely masculine, if lips could be masculine at all. His arm found its way to my hip, pulling gently. My arms automatically went around his shoulders, as if we were still dancing.

It wasn't a long kiss, or very spicy. It was mostly sweet, and I loved every second of it. Until I heard the screaming outside the car.

"You did it!!! You kissed him! He kissed you! You kissed!" Robin was jumping up and down, probably waking up half of the neighborhood.

But I didn't care. I just had the best first kiss a girl could ask for.

^^^^^
I'm 3 for 3 this summer, although today's is a day late. My goal was Monday, but Tuesday isn't too bad. Plus it's the July 4th holiday so I think I get points for that.

I would love it if you could tap the star 🌟to vote!! You are amazing!

I just learned today that my other current story, More Than This, took 2nd place in the Romance category of the Teen Fic awards! If you like this story, I think you'll love that one!!

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