She was a good kisser.

Emerald Smith, making out with Sasha Pierson, the perfect cinematography to any lesbian porn video ever shot. The crowd that swelled up the boundary around these two begun to cheer triumphantly as the make out session ensued. Sasha's hands slowly lifted the hem of Emerald's shirt , exposing the butterfly tattoo carved on her lower back. Zac and I share cunning winks as he saluted me with his tumbler cup filled with booze.

  This was the perfect way to end the week. By throwing an unruly party down at Tyson's house on a Friday night. Sure I'm not really supposed to be here under the grounds of me being grounded but did you expect me to not break that frivolous rule? I needed to blow off some steam and everything about this rave seemed to provide the antidote for my aching head.

" Take your tops off!" Ian Monroe yells amidst the boisterous chattering and booming music.

" And bras!" His friend , Michael Reeds , chimed with just as much zeal as Ian.

Just when things were starting to get handsy , Emerald gently pushes Sasha off her body , giggling at the aftermath of the passionate kiss. The crowd exclaims in disappointment at the abrupt conclusion of the kissing. I pull my red solo cup to my lips and chug down the remainder of the beer, its taste burning down my throat.

Zac approaches me and settles next to me on the couch . We both take in the scene around us , teenagers letting loose, grinding, making out , laughter emerging from unseen corners.

" Aren't you afraid that your parents are going to notice that you're not at home, like you should be!" Zac nudged me with a playful grin on his face, his voice straining to be heard through the booming music that had impregnated the atmosphere.

" Fuck them!" Was all I could muster to say , resurrecting a bout of laughter from him and I joined in too. " This is my life and I will do as I please!"

" Nice!" Nodded Zac. " I admire your chutzpah...so long as they don't split your nutsack off for defiling their rules -"

" I'll be fine!" I assured and we both lifted our cups to our mouths, simultaneously chugging our beer together. Pulling the cup out of my face , my gaze lands on Emerald. She's standing by the stereo , her arm hooked around Sasha's as she chatted with a bunch of other highschool guys. She seemed happy, all giggly and flirty...

" Em looks different tonight!" I observed, tilting my head as I embraced that peculiar image of her .

" She does," Zac agreed. " Do you think maybe it has something to do with that necklace that she's wearing?"

Suddenly, I'm squinting my eyes to locate the aforementioned necklace that Zac was talking about - yeah, she indeed was wearing a new necklace. Pearl necklace, the glossy cream strings of beads secured around her neck. It looked lovely. I wonder who gifted that to her.

" No, that's not it.... although I must say that necklace does look great on her," I intoned, scratching my chin ruminating.

" It does," Zac drinks out of his cup , his face contorts into a grimace as he swallows the liquid and sets his cup down.

" Pearl necklace... " He nods sagely. " I wonder where she got it from."

" Family heirloom?" I joked, chuckling quietly at that assumption before my eyes averted from Emerald and over to the brunette who was making her way over to where Zac and I were seated. I'd seen her from school, didn't seem like much of a stranger.

" Hello boys," The brunette waves at us , her voice slightly deeper, an Alto pitch that made her sound like Angelina jolie.

" Hiya," Zac and I reply in perfect unison.

She plops herself down next to the couch we'd settled in, crosses her legs elegantly as she gazed at us expectantly. Dressed in a cute black palazzo pants and a neat crop top , she was obviously a high maintenance type of girl, at least she came of as one.

" So.... what's up?" She asks in a nonchalant manner and if there was an award for coolest laid back teenager in this rave, I swear she would've won it indiscriminately.

" Nothing much, " I took the liberty to reply, Zac already plotting his exit seeing as his cup was vacuole. And just as prophesied by yours truly, he was up on his feet, excused himself as he made his way to the drinks table leaving me with this attractive stranger. She wasn't drinking anything, just chewing gently on a piece of gum in her mouth, her lower jaw moving softly as she masticated.

" Can I get you something to drink?" I tried to act like a gentleman, completely out of my usual character.

"No no, it's okay," she declined with an apologetic smile. " I don't really drink alcohol. "

" What about a juice box, or water?"

" Nah, it's cool,"

" You sure?"

She nodded and I decided to let her be , raising an eyebrow at her peculiar decision. Who wants to be sober in a place like this? Maybe she doesn't really know how to party like an animal. Or she finds cheap punch and liquor to be a huge turn off, I don't know.

" You're Maxwell, right?" She inquired, her voice turning into a loud shout seeing as the dj switched the music to a louder selection of pop songs.

" You know me?" I raised a surprised eyebrow.

" Of course I do! Anyone who's anyone knows who you are, you kinda have a reputation," Leaning forward with my elbows resting on my knees, I silently nodded at her conclusive statement of me having a rep at my school. Of course she knows who I am. I am a fucking legend damnit!

"Is that so?" I smirked at her. " You know me but I don't know you -"

" Oh, I'm Tina," And she held her hand out for me to shake and I obliged to the friendly gesture. Her hand was warm and soft, getting swallowed by my big one. " I usually like to stay under the radar that's why you don't know me." She pulled away from the handshake as she informed.

" Well, Tina," I exhaled. " You and I are very different from each other. You like staying below the radar while I thrive living above it. "

" Among other things," She laughed in response.

" Yeah well, that's going to be a deal breaker for me. It's definitely going to complicate our relationship, " I teased, much to her amusement.

" Oh yeah?" A scoff. " Why is that so?"

" Well, I prefer my girlfriends to be eerily similar to me, you know, breaking rules, rebelliousness and all that jizz,"

" So then how come you and Charli are dating?" I couldn't prevent myself from gasping silently at that, caught unawares by the sudden revelation of my fake relationship with Charli. " You two are nothing like each other."

" Well, um..." My brain was numb, frozen, unable to come up with a plausible deniability of whatever she was alluding to to no avail. " Things change...."

" I'd like to think that but I still find it weird that a guy like you could go for a girl like her,"

" What does that mean?" I straightened up, displeasured by the way she said that. Was she alluding to the fact that Charli Dawson was an undeserving nobody who couldn't find a guy who could love her for who she is? Was she talking down on her? Please don't be like Leslie, Tina.

" I mean, you don't seem like the type of guy to go for-"

" For a girl like Charli?" I cut her in, eyes narrowed to a sliver at her choice of words.

" Yeah, I mean like, guys like you are always swooning over bimbos and sexy cheerleaders or rebels who are heavily tattooed," Tina, highly unaware of the sour mood she'd placed me in, rambled on with a smile on her face. I don't really know why I was pissed at the way she looked down on Charli.

" So that means I can't go for a girl like Charli?" Arms folded across my chest , I tried to hide my irritation behind a mask of neutralism.

" Well, what do you like most about her?" Was she seriously asking me that question? Just when I thought I'd made a great newly found rapport with a cool girl then she ends up being a dick! If she says anything remotely close to insulting against Charli, so help me.

" Is she a good kisser? Or does it have something to do with her bed room skills." Tina probed in cheeky tone, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Do you have something against Charli as a person or-"

" What,no!" Exclaimed Tina, her eyes bulged out in horror. " Of course not. Charli and I are ,like , friends. I go to her poetry slam performances every Saturday night on open mic at Krinski's bar."

Wait, Charli does poetry slam performances?

Suddenly, a wave of realization washes over me, of how I might have overreacted by thinking Tina was just another highschool girl that made fun of Charli. Just hearing her confess her friendship with Charli made my eyebrows shoot to the roof in shock. My eyes fell down her frame, slowly scanning her and truth be told, I would never have guessed that a girl like Tina could ever be friends with a girl like Charli and vice versa. She was so....proper and polished. She looked elegant, like a fucking dutchess.

No way she's friends with Charli!

" I'm sorry..." I let out a nervously embarrassed chuckle. " I thought you were one of those girls who love to make fun of Charli."

" Why would you think that?"

" I don't know, with your questioning me on why I would go for a girl like her , kinda made it sound like you were...." I blew out a frustrated sigh. " I don't know.... like you were looking down on her?"

To my surprise, Tina burst out laughing after I was done explaining myself, making me feel ten times more embarrassed. Amidst her hooting laughter that seemed to go on forever, I darted glances around the house; Zac was now standing right next to Emerald and Sasha together with a couple of other dudes I didn't know of, Tyson was playing beer pong at the pool table, Jackie was boisterously and animatedly conversing with her female friends....

" I would never look down on her," Tina's hand resting on my shoulder is what brought my gaze back to her. She was still a bit giggly, wiping some tears with her acrylic French tip nail from her hearty laughter.

" That's new seeing as every girl in our school seems to have an issue with her personality,"

" There's nothing wrong with her personality, people are just insecure about themselves and they seek for comfort by shitting on amazing people like Charli," That's when it hit me. This was my first time hearing someone openly express their compliments on Charli Dawson. The first time someone spoke highly of her, positively. Suddenly my perception of Tina changes drastically. She was one of the good people left in our decaying school.

" Wow!" I breezed a laugh. " You seem to like her more than I do. Maybe you should be the one dating her instead of a loser like me." Seriously.

" Oh please," Tina rolled her eyes dramatically at the joke I hinted at her. " If I was to date someone, I would most definitely not go for Charli Dawson. "

" Why is that?" I readjusted my seating posture, facing her , an arm draped over the armrest next to her.

" She's out of my league,"

I hooted in a laughter filled with incredulity, head tilted backwards.

" What, it's true!"

" You, out of Charlie's league?" I couldn't contain my mocking laughter because there was no way in hell that a girl like Tina would think that. Charli has her own fair share of amazing assets ( it pains me deeply to even admit that upon myself) but Tina was an exquisite piece of art. Flawless skin, alluring green eyes , perfect eyebrows, an elegant and refined nose , and for an added bonus, perky breasts that seemed to fill her shirt adequately.

" I know it sounds a bit crazy but it is what it is," Tina shrugged indifferently. " Plus, I'm not a lesbian nor bisexual so the possibility of me dating her is completely off the table."

" Any boyfriends that I should know about?" I asked and her gaze immediately fell to the ground, a wistful smile painting her lips. Twisting the silvery bracelet on her wrist, Tina cleared her throat loudly before facing back up to me. I know I'm not an expert when it comes to people textbook but after reading into that reaction to my question, I would say she was either heartbroken by an ex or she fell in love with someone who didn't like her back.

" Let's play a game," She propositioned, completely evading my question. The asshole in me wanted to probe her obviously open wound on the topic of boyfriends but decided against it.

" Okay," I obediently went, feeling slightly ashamed to bring up the whole boyfriend sitch. " What kind of game are we talking about exactly?"

" Would you rather,"

" Ah!" I nodded in agreement hiding behind the fact that that was the most lamest game ever. I'd rather play Truth or Dare , or Never have I ever... anything but Would you rather. But seeing as Tina was the one controlling this conversation, I happily obliged to being her puppet. Take the strings, Tina.

" I'll go first," She scooted closer to me , just enough for me to feel her heat on my face but not close to the point of uncomfortableness. " Would you rather ...." She seemed to be thinking through for a moment," would you rather wear someone else's dirty underwear or use their toothbrush?"

I found myself chuckling at that. Such an outrageous question but I am the Master of all things outrageous so there's that.

" Both excellent choices," I intoned with a humor filled voice. Imagine if I used Amanda's toothbrush.... just thinking about it made me selfishly aroused. " I'd rather use their toothbrush."

" Why? I mean, think about all the food particles that were previously in their mouth before they got stuck inside the toothbrush bristles,"Tina pretended to retch and I laughed at that.

" I'm guessing you've never kissed anyone," I mocked.

" What does that have to do with anything! "

" Well if I'm kissing a girl -"

" You mean Charli Dawson since she's your girlfriend,"

" Whatever," I dismissed. " If I'm kissing.... Charli Dawson," I supressed a gag after hypothetically declaring that " it shouldn't be a problem sharing her toothbrush."

Tina's face etched into one of disgust, pursing her lips in a disapproval manner, her arms folding across her chest. Her reaction was hilarious and right there and then I knew that she either hasn't been kissed before in her life or she's not a tongue girl when kissing.

" Still disgusting," she argued back.

" You've never really french kissed, have you?" Again, her reaction betrayed her as she shot me a glimpse then back at the carpet, fidgeting with that bracelet that handcuffed her left wrist. Then looked back up at me.

" Your turn," Not surprised that she evasively shut down my question. She must've gone through the worst break up for her to not want to talk about anything, even a kiss on the cheek.

" Alright,but I have to warn you, I am a pro when it comes to games like these," I amplified that statement by cracking my knuckles, indirectly declaring war as far as Would you rather questions is concerned.

" Ok hit me with your best shot," Replied Tina , patting her knees excitedly, a toothy grin plastered on her face , momentarily forgetting her supposed heart break.

After like ten seconds of thinking, I snapped my fingers , the perfect question dancing inside my consciousness.

" Would you rather drink two litres of piss or two litres of sweat?" For the shortest amount of time that I've known Tina , I more than anticipated her reaction as I watched her gag violently at that question, hands covering her mouth as if trying to hold back the urge to vomit. And as expected, my reaction to that was a laugh, my shoulders shuddering as I did.

" That question is so-" Another gag before gulping aggressively and facing me , shoulders corked back. " My sweat and piss or someone else's?"

" Someone else's, duuuh!" I said.

" Oh god!" She took a deep breath before answering. " I'm gonna go with....piss?" That came out as a question of uncertainty, whether it sounded good or a bit tame for someone to admit they'd drink someone else's piss .

" Ooo....salty," I wiggled my eyebrows at that whilst she shot me a look that would put all horrified ones to shame. A look of terror if you will.

" I say piss because it's a bit sterile,"

" Unless they are suffering from Gonorrhea or Chlamydia or something more sinister,"

Tina gagged once again. " I'd rather piss than sweat. I mean, sweat is-" Another pretend gag, visibly shuddering at the disgusting image. If I'm being honest, I would also rather drink pee than sweat. But at the end of the day, both are equally disgusting body fluids that nobody should be chugging down like a carton of orange juice.

" Your turn," I nudged her after her gagfest was over.

Tina, having regained her composure, tossed her hair over her shoulder, bringing her tanned face to full exposure- I notice for the first time tonight, an anti eyebrow piercing over by her left eye- a wicked smirk stretching her pink glossy lips.

" Ok let's shake things up a bit, are you ready?" She inquired and with the sudden shift of aura from her cool laid back form to a devious one, I knew things were about to get nasty. She was starting to speak my language bringing an odd sense of thrill into my spine.

" Hit me with your best shot, Tina," I returned the smirk, equally as devious as hers.

" Ok," My eyes followed her tongue as she licked her lips and then she spoke. " Would you rather...drink your mom's period blood or-"

"Jesus Christ!" She wasn't even done with the question but my prefrontal cortex was astounded by it.

" Or," Tina held a forefinger out to shush me. I had to hold my breath for the second potion of this outrageous question. " Drink your father's sperm."

The strong urge to throw up became a pulsing fist in my throat as I contemplated on the answer to this preposterous question. No way in hell this cupid looking girl just asked me that. Tina was the type of girl who would turn in their homework on time and volunteer at homeless shelters . I guess they didn't lie when they asked us not to judge people solely off of their appearance. She was a living proof of that.

Her left eyebrow, the one blessed with an anti eyebrow piercing, twitched as if daring me to answer before she awarded me a lopsided smirk. How is she Charli's friend?

" So what's it going to be, Max?" Her voice had a hint of mischievous ring to it. Oddly enough, I liked it. " Mom's period or Dad's sperms?"

During the beat of silence that lingered between the pauses of our conversation, the lyrics to Katy Perry's This is How we do song rung through. I hated that song.

" Truthfully speaking, " I begun, trying to keep a straight face. " I don't think my father has the ability to.... ejaculate given his decrepitude demeanor. I don't even think he gets boners anymore to be quite honest. " Tina's laughter followed through with each sentence forming at the tip of my tongue concerning my father's worn out age. Seriously, people his age don't even get boners that easily like I do. On an average day, I get about ten boners and not to brag but that's how a healthy penis is supposed to function.

Dad wouldn't relate seeing as he's almost the age of Joe Biden.

" How old is your father?" Tina asked between giggles.

" I don't pay attention to that sorta thing, I say let the old people die you know what I mean?" I garnished that with a sly wink. Tina let out a derisive laugh, shaking her head at the disgraceful statement.

" What about your mom?"

" Menopause," I flatly replied and she once again chuckled at that. " So in other words, I'm saying that your question is null and void. Overruled. My father doesn't ejaculate, his dick is way past performing that duty and my mom's ovaries are burnt out. "

" That's a shame," She sighed. " I was kinda hoping that you'd be into rainbow kissing."

" What's rainbow kissing?"

" Look it up, preferably the urban dictionary definition," Her eyelid folded into a wink and I felt impressed by her. She really was my type of girl, not crush wise but accomplice wise. My heart belongs to a much older woman.

" I'll put it on my to-do list," That's when we both caught a glance of a dark haired girl, manoeuvering her way through the pressed bodies on the dance floor. The girl being Charli Dawson. You don't see that everyday. She looked so out of place, with her dark clothes and brooding expression. Tina called out to her , effectively grabbing her attention and soon she's sauntering over to where we were.

" Can we go now, please?" Was the first words that came out of her mouth the moment she reached destination, plopping down next to Tina. She avoided me and I was grateful, that was until -

" Come on, your boyfriend's here, you can't just leave without you two grinding against each other on the dance floor," Tina cheerfully responded and that's when Charli faced me , completely stolid.

" It's okay, I don't even know how to dance," Charli declared,her eyes still on me, darkening with each passing heartbeat.

" Oh please! Nobody in this party actually knows how to dance, I mean look at Daphne," Tina pointed at the aforementioned Daphne but Charli refused to look , her eyes still on me. " It's like she has two left feet or suffering from a seizure or something."

" Yeah well , that's her and I'm me. I'm definitely not dancing," That's when her eyes left me and fell back to Tina's. " But i do want to go home. It's past my bedtime anyways. "

" Oh come on girl! You can't leave yet,"

" Yes I can,"

" It's not even eleven thirty yet. Just stay for thirty more minutes and I swear we'll all leave afterwards,"

" Yeah, Charli," I chimed in, shocking both her and me. That once neutral/brooding expression that was her chronic facial look changed slightly to one of perturbation. And I could've sworn I saw a tiny smile accompanying it. " You should stay abit. Hang out with us."

" See? Even your boyfriend agrees with me," Tina's voice was just another background noise as we held our stares for an uncomfortable amount of time, neither one of us daring to bat an eye . Through those blue eyes of hers ( which by the way looked unnaturally blue, like perfectly cut sapphire stones. I hate myself for getting lost in them) a million unfathomable emotions sored deep. I wonder what she was currently thinking as of now. Did she think my eyes were attractive like I unfortunately saw hers to be ? Did she like my facial features like I sometimes do hers, much to my very disappointment? But at the end of the day , I hated her with all my heart, she was....a nuisance to society, my society.

" Um..." She swallowed with a grimace. " I guess I could...hang a while ."

" So that means you two should use this thirty minutes to dance with each other , like other couples," Tina announced, hopping on to her feet before reaching out for Charli's hand , yanking her to stand. Charli declined, her butt refusing to leave the cushion of the seat, releasing a string of protests at Tina. I sat back and enjoyed the show, my attention greatly focused on Charli, suppressing a laugh.

" No no no no....Tina! I said no, please respect my wishes!" She kept crying but Tina wouldn't budge. In the end, she won, effectively pulling her up and the look on Charli's face was priceless! A mixture of anger, frustration and anxiety.

" I don't even know how to dance!" She whined, darting fearful glances around the room. It was getting hot but Charli still managed to wear a black cardigan sweater wooven with a heavy material. If she took it off....with those tiny boobs of hers....

" Max will dance with you," That's what I heard , my train of thought that was consumed by Charli's tiny tits getting cut off abruptly.

" What?" It's not like I didn't hear her the first time but me dancing with Charli? If the whole school sees this, it would be the talk of the week. More than me punching Leslie in the face.

" Dance with her," And she was now reaching for my hand, pulling me off my butt without me putting up a fight. A wave of dizziness surfed inside my head once I was up on my feet , probably from the excessive drinking. Or was it vertigo? Or maybe I stood up too fast? Tina would then step aside, leaving enough room between Charli and I as we held our gazes , still unable to look away.

" I don't think that's....a good idea," She mumbled.

" But he's your boyfriend! You two should be all over each other, making out, grinding against each other, acting all flirty and sappy and all that couple stuff, ya know?"

" Our honeymoon phase is over and-" Without warning, Tina shoved Charli towards me , causing her to stumble , not before colliding with my hard body. My arms instinctively wrap around her waist to steady her from falling on this ground. Not sure if it's clean . Charli's hands grabbed onto my biceps, those smoky eyes looking up at me, shocked by this unwelcomed and unsolicited body contact with her arch nemesis; me. Our faces were inches apart, the closest that we'd ever been. Up close, her eyes looked ten times hypnotic, the blue in them intensifying to a shade of the midnight skies, so alluring and seductive at the same time. My heart leapt at this.

Once again, my mind rushed back to the time she and I were locked inside a closet in the name of Seven minutes in heaven. My eyes drift down to look at her parted lips, she's not wearing lip stick or lipgloss, just the faint cherry blossom shade of her natural lip skin. And the signature scent of tangerine masked around her body was certainly beguiling, intoxicating as it assaulted my nostrils with its magic. I felt lightheaded, from drinking...I'm not sure because the sudden urge to lean in and ki-

No! Get your priorities straight, Maxwell Cooper! Remember Amanda? She's this girl's mother, the one that's captured your heart, the only woman that matters in your life?

But the universe had other unforeseen plans that night when the unbelievable happened. It happened so quickly and ended just as quick too. This capricious dame, without warning, stood on her tippy toes before smashing her lips on mine, awarding me a surprise kiss. The deed had my eyes widened, the world around me holding its breath as they witnessed the joke of the century.

Charlotte Dawson kissing Maxwell Cooper!

It lasted for about three seconds , enough for me to register the taste of her mouth-the taste of her saliva- enough for me to come up with the conclusion of how soft those lips felt against mine, like melted butter. Enough for me to like the way it made me feel against my consent. Have you ever wanted to not like someone so bad but every cell in your body outvotes that peculiar notion? I felt like that. I wanted to hate her...Scratch that! I hated her! I hated that I liked that kiss! I hated that the taste of her mouth lingered inside mine.

I fucking hated Charli Dawson! And I knew for a fact that that feeling was mutual between us, so why would she resort to this?

Pictures were taken during the entirety of the kiss and when she pulled away, she too was bewildered with what she' just done. Those doe eyes, framed by long cute eyelashes, were quite vocal on the preposterousness of the action she decided to take without my knowing.

" Max just made out with little Charli loser pants!" Someone laughed from the curious crowd before a storm of rowdy laughter tore through like a comet entering Earth's inner atmosphere. Even the music stopped , as everyone's attention focused solely on us two. This was definitely going to be the talk of the school .

********************

hey guys :)

so this is the longest chapter I've ever written, almost at 5k words. I feel exhausted!

hope you like it anyways,

don't forget to vote on it. Thanks.