His lips were soft.

I didn't want to think about those lips. Not his. But they were gentle. I didn't expect them to be gentle.

Remember how I said that it was all his fault? I might've lied a teensy weensy bit. In a way, I guess it was nobody's fault. The thing is? It was just easier to blame him than to take the blame for it myself.

Just another flaw in human nature.

After narrowly surviving the monster/coffee fiasco, I found my way to Spanish class and plopped down in second period. And Señora Morales doesn't play. She teaches the entire class in Spanish, talks excruciatingly fast to the point where you could get headache, and if you don't try your best, she calls you "an irresponsible student who's not trying hard enough." I wish I'd gotten Señora Joseph. At least she lets her class salsa and sing karaoke and makes them authentic enchiladas.

DeVante was in my class too. Two seats away from me to be exact. And I really wasn't in the mood to have anything to do with him. I really wished Rio were here. Too bad she took Mandarin. If I had only told her that I was mad at him, she wouldn't even ask any questions. She never liked DeVante anyway. Always thought he was too prissy.

I glanced over at him. He was staring at me. I looked away, still feeling his gaze linger for a couple of seconds and sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Jay sashayed into class and gave me a wink, running a hand through his blonde hair. "How's my favorite bitch doing?"

I beamed, ignoring my ex-boyfriend's eyes bore into my back. When all else fails, the gay best friend always swoops in to save the day. "I'm hanging in there. You wanna go with me to the mall this weekend? Books A Million has the newest young adult thriller and—"

Jay rolled his eyes and put a finger over his lips. "See this? It means hush. Baby, you talk to much. If we go to the mall, we goin' to shop." He gazed over me briefly. "And by the looks of it, we need to get you a manicure. Seductive Scarlet ain't your style."

"Gee thanks Jay."

"No problem boo." He winked again and took his seat between me and Vante, giving him a dirty look. "By the way, Deondre or whatever-the-hell-your-name-is," he said, pursing his lips. "You're a failed abortion whose birth certificate is an apology from the condom factory."

This is why I love Jay. You don't have to tell him anything. He already knows.

Class was the usual. Rapid Spanish and prayers that somebody would save us from the endless misery. How long until summer?

Luckily, it seemed to end in a flash, and as soon as the bell rang, I bolted out with my books in my arms. I needed to get out of there. I didn't want him following me.

"You betta' hurry up, girl!" Jay yelled behind me, walking in the opposite direction. "He gainin' on you!"

"Lia!" I heard somebody shout. Only one person calls me that. I walked faster and ducked through the growing crowd.

"Lia! Hey–wait! I know you hear me!" Yeah, I hear you. What do you want? A medal? Annnnnnd the award for the loudest voice projection ever recorded in Seaside goes to...DeVante Pierre! And the crowd goes wild. Gimme a break.

He grabbed my arm, making my hold on my books weaken. I kept walking and trying to not pay attention to the fact that he was touching me. "Lia, look we need to talk—"

"I have nothing I want to say to you."

"Okay. Okay. I deserve that. You don't have to say anything. You can listen." He compromised, falling into step with me.

"Fine." I paused. "And let go of me."
He obeyed.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I didn't want to end things like that."

Huh. Looks like my calculations were off. Maybe two weeks was a little much. I didn't guess we'd even think about being back together by now. Turns out it was less than 24 hours this time. That's a record.

"It was stupid of me." He continued over the late bell. "And selfish. I can't even begin to imagine how it made you feel."

"Not very good, I'll tell you that."

"Yeah and that's what I... Lia, are you sure you can handle all those books? That stack looks like it's taller than you. Can you even see anything?"

"So first you doubt my loyalty and now you doubt my strength?" I scoffed. "Please. You lost all your faith in me already? I'll have you know that I am perfectly capable of—"

WHAM

...carrying everything, I finished in my head. Good job, Noelia. Good job. Slow clapping it out.

I heard a soft sorry and glared at DeVante with a look that said SEE WHAT YOU DID?

He returned my gaze. ME? WHAT DID I DO?

I furrowed my brows. IF YOU HADNT HAD DISTRACTED ME THEN THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED.

His mouth twitched. WHY ARE WE SCREAMING OUR THOUGHTS WITH OUR EYES?

I scrunched up my face. I DONT KNOW.

I turned my attention to the kid I bumped into, who was looking up at me. "Sorry. You'll have to excuse my friend here," DeVante flinched at the use of the word friend. I smirked. "He's really distracting."

The kid stared at me as I clumsily put the rest of my books down on the floor, which only resulted in all of them falling over and making a bunch of loud THUD noises. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm such a klutz. Geez."

"No. No. You're fine. It's fine." He was British. I didn't know he was British. I licked my lips and had to fight the urge of asking him to speak again. Damn, his accent was sexy. British people can make anything sound good.

Jun (that's his name by the way) actually turned out to be really nice. A little shy, but nice. He was easy to talk to, even if it was just small talk. Isn't it weird when you feel a connection to people you don't even know? Too bad my nosy ex was there to ruin the moment. But he was so sweet. And I wanted to thank him.

And that is where the kiss comes in.

It wasn't supposed to happen the way it did. It was supposed to be a simple peck on the cheek. Something you do when you're feeling affectionate with people. I did it all the time. But the way I intended it to happen isn't what went down.

He was mumbling something with his face turned away and his cheek in front of me. So I went in for the kiss, right? But that bimbo turned his head at the last minute, and our mouths mashed together.

I internally screamed and pulled back almost immediately, cupping one hand over my mouth and trying to balance the books with the other. His eyes were as big as saucers. "What was that for?"

I stammered some muffled words through my palm, which was now sweaty. "I...no...you... I didn't mean—" My books dropped out of my free hand, but I kept my eyes on him. And he did the same. My first kiss.

That was my first kiss.

I backed away and felt the burn of tears well up in my eyes, keeping my gaze locked on him. My thoughts ran wild. I was hot. Too hot. And the overbearing feeling of embarrassment made my stomach turn.

His eyes. I never looked away from them. They were the only things I focused on. And I kept focusing on them. Until I turned.

And I ran.

~o~

I don't know why running to the school bathrooms is the first thought in everybody's mind when something big happens, but it is. Even in high school movies. Someone's getting bullied? Bathroom. Girls need to talk about something private? Bathroom. Embarrassed for your life? Bathroom. And I can relate to the last one so hard.

I bolted in and slammed the door shut, letting the tears fall free. My first kiss.

By somebody I didn't even know.

I know what some of you are thinking. How on earth did I have a boyfriend and never kiss him? How was Jun my first kiss? Why was I so upset about it?

Well, there's one thing about DeVante that you all should know. He was my first boyfriend. Ever. No sappy stupid relationships that everybody tried to have in middle school. No getting "married" to anybody when I was younger than age 10. No. I wasn't a very touchy person. And I've never been all that comfortable with the intimacy that comes naturally to everybody else. When Aunt Maria and Uncle Carlton adopted Rio, Juan and Angel, the first time she saw me, Rio gave me a bear hug. You know what I did?

5 year old me cried. Bawled, to be more specific.

I've gotten better now. I'm able to give her hugs without feeling so awkward. I can give people handshakes with ease. I can even kiss people on the cheek. But you can only imagine how difficult it must have been for me to have a boyfriend. Somebody that you're expected to hold hands with and cuddle with and make out with? Just the thought of it made me so uncomfortable. I wasn't even close to first base. I'd never kissed DeVante. It took him a month for me to even allow him to hold my hand.

(Random Author Interruption: My mom had her first crush at 13 years old and her first boyfriend at fifteen. And it took her 8 months for her to allow him to hold her hand)

Just to even have a stranger be that close to me was unnatural. And kissing them...?

It made me sick.

My phone buzzed and I tried to ignore that tight painful feeling in the back of my throat and DeVante pounding on the door. I was late to class. How bad would it be if I ditched just this one time? Mr. Rajala probably wouldn't mind. Maybe I could make up an excuse if I get questioned.

"Hello?" I answered croakily.

"Hey Noe. It's me." A high voice said, almost as weak as mine. "I need to come up there. Mom and Dad..."

It was Estella. My older sister.

"What happened?" I questioned urgently, wiping away my tear stained face and licking the salt off my lip.

"I told them. I told them everything. Even about Jenny. I told them and I don't know what to do." She wailed.

I froze. She told them.

Estella's been a closeted pansexual since she was 14. And the only reason she never officially came out to the open was because our parents wouldn't have ever allowed it. I couldn't blame her. Feeling unaccepted by society and by the two people that you've looked up to since birth must've felt terrible.

But now that she's out...

"They were already having troubles in their relationship and then I dropped this big bomb on them... I don't think... "

"Stella, what're you saying?"

DeVante's pounding ceased to a halt. Maybe he left. The line went silent for a couple of seconds until she took a shaky breath. "Noe. They're getting a divorce."

Do you ever just have one of those days? The days that seem to turn on you? The days that were horrible no matter what you did? The days that were the epitome of satanic?

This was one of those days.

So far, this has not been a very pleasant morning. My boyfriend broke up with me, my sister was crying, my parents were divorcing and I had my first real non-cheek kiss with a complete stranger.

"I need to come up to Maryland, Noe. I don't want to leave Jenny. She's my everything but..." she let out sob. "I can't be here anymore."

"Where are you?"

"At Jenny's."

"Stay there. I'll talk to Aunt Maria and Uncle Carlton as fast as I can." I demanded.

"I love you."

"I love you too. We'll talk later." She hung up.

I went home early that day.
The day of the first kiss.
The day that changed everything.

~o~

What's one without the other? There were two kisses after all. And the second kiss? Oh god, the second kiss was even worse. The first two smooches were a match made in hell.

I'd been in the library, minding my own business and trying to tune out Rio's never ending rant. Quiet isn't in her vocabulary. Some people don't appreciate the silence every once in awhile. Rio is one of those people.

"I mean seriously," she complained, slamming her book shut. "It's crazy how so many book plots revolve around teenagers. Who in their right mind says 'oh the world is ending? lets recruit a group of acne infested children to help us!' It's so unrealistic. You would think they'd hire somebody with more time on their hands. Like grandmas. I'd read the hell out of a story with an 85 year old protagonist armed with only their knitting needles and walking stick and— Are you even listening?"

"Yeah yeah. Something about grandmas." I mumbled absentmindedly.

Rio was almost as book crazy as I was. Almost. But she likes everything. Poems. Kpop. And figure skating. She loved figure skating with a passion, even though she sucked at it. Every time we went, she would fall down and scream each time she nearly ran into a wall.

"Don't you worry," she said to me one day in particular, trying to get back up on the ice only to fall back down again. "Someday, I'll meet my hot Russian prince and he'll see me skating and I will become a spicy pork cutlet bowl that enthralls men."

Angel had rolled her eyes and shoved her hands in her jacket pockets, smirking. "You're a delusional idiot." I laughed.

Rio snapped her fingers in front of my face and snatched the book out of my hand. "Hey!"

"Shhh." Cruddy Cruz hissed at me.

"Shush yourself." Rio scream whispered back, and shifting her attention on my book. "The Book Thief? Really?"

"'When Death has a story to tell, you listen.'" I quoted.

"Tell Death that Rio says 'maybe later.'"

"That's not—."

She cut me off. "Hey, is that...?" Rio looked over my shoulder. "Oh! It is! Hey Jay. Hey Jun."

Jun?

Every muscle in my body tightened and I didn't dare turn around. Sure, it'd been almost a month since our little accidental "lip contact" (I decided to refuse to refer to it as a kiss), but that didn't mean I was over it. I tried to avoid him as much as I could.

I heard his footsteps grow closer and his presence behind me. My lips drew into a thin line and I swear that ugly vein I have was probably popping out of my forehead.

"Still avoiding me, are you?" He asked, leaning down so close to me that his breath was on the back of my neck. I shivered.

"That was the plan," I whipped my head around and tried to look him straight in the eye dramatically and perfectly like they do in those movies.

But if there's one thing we've learned about me, it's that I'm nowhere near perfect.

Since we were so close, our foreheads bonked together. I tried to keep my cool but I couldn't hide the pain very well due to the fact that I kept rubbing my head and scowling at him. He didn't seem to care. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"There are two things I need to get accomplished today." He wasn't even acknowledging that we slammed heads together. What, was he just unable to feel pain? What was he made of?

"And those two things are?"

He glanced at Jay, and gave me a sly smile. "I'm glad you asked."

And that's when it happened. I wish I never turned around. He grabbed my face with both hands and forced my lips to collide with his.

That was the 2nd kiss. And this time only one of us was surprised.

I pushed him off of me and wiped my lips with my sleeve, coughing dramatically. "What the hell are you doing?!"

He touched his mouth and sighed, leaving a dot of blood on his finger. "Your tooth chipped my lip."

"You deserve it, jerk!"

"You don't kiss very well, do you?"

"Why you little son of—"

Cruddy Cruz shushed me again.

Rio seemed to be unfazed by this kiss and took action. "I'm glad you two came. Especially you Jun. You know, with you and Noelia and all this..." she paused to try and think of the right word. "Tension. I just hope you know that you're all officially invited to my birthday party. I've already invited everybody else."

"Wait, you told them to come here? In my happy place?" I shouted, referring to the library. "Did you know he was going to do this?" She ignored me.

"Well baby, I hope you know I'll be there. You makin' sweet potato pie?" Jay asked.

"As always."

"Fabulous. And make sure you add cinnamon." He gave us a kiss on both cheeks and waved good bye, strutting away in his new LeBrons.

"I don't know what a sweet potato pie is," Jun stated. Rio gasped and fell on the floor with this comment. "But it sounds like fun. I'll see if I can come."

Cruddy Cruz gave one last shush. "Girl, leave us alone an' go back to yo' book. We're all having a moment." Rio told her from the ground.

Jun looked at me. And I averted my eyes and inwardly cursed my life. It's been done.

All of us at Rio's Christmas/birthday party?
This was going to end well.

Said no protagonist ever.

Finally done with the chapters of filler and backstory BEFORE the actual dare happens. Just think of Noelia like Sheldon from the Big Bang theory. He's very literal and not very touchy feely. I'm literally nothing like that. You could be talking about something so serious and I'll legit just reach over and squeeze your cheeks in the middle of the conversation. I touch people I'm comfortable around. I'm weird like that, you feel me??

RANDOM FUN FACT ABOUT ME (Rio, as you will soon learn, loves fun facts and as do I. I've decided to do these from now on in each chapter): I love anime. Death Note, Yona of the Dawn, Yuri On Ice (who caught my reference?), Fairy Tail, you name it and I'll watch it.

Well guys I hoped you liked it! The story can finally progress from here. Into the actual dare. I'll reveal Jun's point of view from the 2nd kiss later on because I feel like I've wasted too much time already as it is.

And you see that blank star on your screen? Here's a fun game: LETS CLICK IT. Woah, it turns yellow! Who would've thought? And that button that says follow? LETS CLICK THAT TOO! Such a fun game.

But seriously, I had no idea this book was going to get this many views. I wrote it for fun. And to anybody who's reading this THANK YOU SO MUCH LIKE YOU HAVE MADE ME SO HAPPY.

Stay beautiful y'all.

Goldenetti