I laughed. “I couldn’t resist. Still afraid of the dark, I see.”
“I’m leaving,” she sniffed, and turned to rush to the door.
I caught her hand. “What about your assignment?”
She glanced down at where our hands held, then back up at me. In that moment, she looked a lot like the girl I use to know. Except, you know older now.
She seemed unsure, but with her hand in mine it was like it used to be. I was the brave one back then, I was the one who took care of her.
“Planetariums are dark.” Her teeth sunk into her lower lip.
“You really are still scared of the dark?” I asked, I tugged her and she took on step forward.
We were still holding hands and it kicked up some nerves in the pit of my stomach. Like this unsteady, shaky feeling deep down. This was new. This reaction to touching her had definitely not been there when we were kids.
“Yes and if you tell anyone…” she warned, the man-eater side to her coming out.
Man-eater side = the girl who takes what she wants without consequence. The girl who isn’t afraid of anything.
But Kelly was afraid of the dark.
Maybe she wasn’t such a man-eater after all…
“Chill. I won’t ruin your precious popular girl status,” I said. Usually this would have pissed me off, the “new” her on display. But it was hard to be mad when she was still holding my hand and it felt really good.
You know what else felt good?
Her body against mine when she fell into me.
“Why is it so dark in here?” she grumped.
“Building is closed.”
“Then what the hell are we doing here?” she asked, glancing around like we were about to get arrested.
“There you go being boring again,” I teased.
She gave me a withering look.
“I know the guy who runs the planetarium. He won’t care I’m here.”
“How do you know him?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“I come here all the time. I did a report last year for school.”
She nodded slow. “Isn’t the planetarium dark too?”
I smiled. “Not when all the stars are lit up.”
Our eyes collided and she smiled back at me. We stood there for a few seconds just smiling at each other and I felt like a goof, but I also didn’t look away.
“I’ll let you hold my hand,” I cajoled.
I used to say the very same thing to her when we were small and she didn’t want to climb to the top of the tallest slide at the park.
It always worked then.
“Fine,” she agreed, and I had to admit, surprise rippled through me. Her fingers tangled tighter with mine and she stepped right up to my side. “But only because you know the way and I don’t want to trip and fall.”
“Obviously,” I said, and smothered a smile.
Even after all these years it appeared I might still like her.
I pushed that thought away and guided her up a steep flight of stairs to a closed and locked wooden door. She didn’t say anything when I found the spare key and unlocked the space.
I pushed open the door, but the room was even darker than the stairs and hall. She hesitated. I held out my hand again and she gave hers immediately.
I think I could get used to holding her hand.
Just inside, I flipped on a dim light and the place lit up.
It was a round room. It always made me feel like I was in a tower. Half the room was filled with seats, each row a little bit higher than the one in front of it. The seating formed a half circle and filled up half of the room. In front of the seats was the area where the guide would introduce what he would be talking about that day, and there was a chalkboard with a several chalky erasers and half pieces of white chalk where he could draw out examples and make notes.
In the very back of the room was the projector that was set up to project the images on the wide, round ceiling.
I hadn’t lied when I said I came here a lot. It was a good place to think. The lights would go out and the instructor would go on and on about what was overhead. In a way, his boring voice was soothing, and I could just let my mind wander or work out stuff that was bothering me.
Plus, no one from school ever came here, so it was sort of like my own special spot away from reality.
“Wow, this is kinda rad,” Kelly said, letting go of my hand and stepping further inside to look around.
I shut the door quietly behind us and went to the projector. Neither of us said anything as I looked around for the slide I wanted. Once I found it, I slid it inside and made a few adjustments.
“Pick a seat,” I told her, and went to turn off the light.
She sat in the front row and I smiled a little when her knee started bouncing with nerves because I was about to plunge the room into darkness.
“It won’t be that dark for long,” I promised.
She nodded and I hit the light.
“Eric?” she said after, like, ten seconds of pitch black.
I chuckled. “I’m still here, Kel. Hang on.”
I felt around for the switch and flipped it on. Stars and planets lit up over head, turning the pitch black into a nighttime sky that was anything but scary.
“Whoa,” she whispered. I could see the top of her head from where I was. It was upturned toward the ceiling and her face was illuminated softly from the lights overhead.
After I made sure all was right with the projector, I slid into a seat beside her. “What do you think?”
“It’s so pretty.”
I spent the next while pointing out constellations, giving her history and names. She was totally into it and when I started telling her the legends with the Gods and how the constellations came to be, her eyes lit up.
Who’s the geek now? It was a dumb thought and I pushed it away. People might call me a geek, but I wasn’t. Not at all. Just because I did well in school and wore glasses didn’t make me somehow not as cool as say the jocks. Those guys were jerks.
Since I didn’t like to be called a geek, it wouldn’t be fair to call her one either.
I wondered what she would think about the label everyone had given her? I knew she didn’t know about it. If she did, she’d probably throw a fit.
“How do you know all this stuff?” she asked, still gazing up at the stars.
“I’m just making it all up,” I deadpanned.
She jerked back and stared at me. Her mouth formed a little o and it drew all my attention to her forever pink lips. “Seriously?”
“Your face right now,” I teased and couldn’t resist using my finger to push the bottom of her chin up so her mouth closed.
The death glare was back on her face again. “If I get a bad grade on this…”
“You’ll what? Tell everyone I’m a geek?”
Her face changed. She actually looked a little sad. “I don’t make the rules of high school.”
“You just follow them,” I said, glancing away.
“Don’t we all?” Her voice was soft, imploring me to understand.
But I didn’t. I didn’t understand why people had to change. Why people had to turn their backs on people they were supposed to love.
“I was just kidding before. Everything I told you,” I cleared my throat, “about the stars is true.”
“I believe you,” she whispered and looked back up at the stars.
I felt fidgety suddenly, so I got up and went back to the projector to change some of the views. It was more comfortable to fall into the role of tutor I made sure to change the sky so it was mottled with different colors and light. Kelly seemed enraptured by that part the most.
I guess I should have known—some of the sky was pink, and that seemed to be her favorite color.
I went on, talking more and switching out the slide. We didn’t talk much other than for her to point out things she thought were interesting so I could talk about them.
“That should be enoug
h for you to write a two-page summary for class,” I said, switching back to the view I’d originally turned on. I liked this one the best. It was a little darker than the others, and the stars came through more clearly because the backdrop was colorless.
“We’re done?” she asked, turning in her chair and peering over the back toward where I stood.
“Yeah.”
“Can we stay a little longer?” she asked, surprising me. “I like it here.”
“Sure.” I left the projector and wandered back to where she was sitting, but I didn’t sit back down. It was kind of hard to sit beside her.
“Tell me about that one again,” she asked, pointing up.
I smiled. That one would be her favorite. She always had liked fairy tales.
“That’s Andromeda,” I explained for the second time tonight. “She was a princess, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia.”
Without taking her eyes off the constellation, she patted the seat beside her. I paused, wondering if she realized what she had done.
Because I was no longer talking, she glanced over and motioned for me.
I gave in. Maybe I wasn’t so immune to the man-eater’s charms after all.
I stretched my legs out in front of me when I sat down and looked up instead of at her (even though I wanted to look at her).
“Andromeda’s mother had a big head and she use to tell anyone and everyone that would listen that her daughter was the most beautiful of everyone. Even the Nereids.”
“Think she was?” Kelly interrupted. As she spoke, she linked her arm with mine, and leaned her cheek on my shoulder.
My legs pulled in, my feet flattened on the floor. Kelly didn’t move. She just sat there, almost snuggled against me, staring up at the sky.
My heart rate doubled in seconds. The scent I had noticed in the car wafted over me once more.
“Eric?” she murmured.
“Uh, I’m not sure,” I said. “I think her mother was probably a little biased.”
She laughed lightly. “Most moms are.”
I nodded even though she wasn’t looking at me. I could barely think with her lying on me like this. “Poseidon was angered by her mother’s claims, and in a wrath sent a sea monster to devour Andromeda. She was chained to the rocks about to become dinner when Perseus saw her. He thought she was very beautiful as well and battled the sea monster.”
“And then he carried her off and made her his wife,” Kelly ended and sighed.
I glanced down at her. With her face upturned, I could see all of it. Her eyes looked dreamy—like the story entranced her—and her skin sort of sparkled beneath the low light.
She was beautiful. She always had been.
“That’s so romantic.” She smiled, her eyes changing direction and looking up at me.
I swallowed thickly. “You still like fairytales.”
“You seem surprised.”
“A lot about you surprises me, Kel.”
“You were the only one who’s ever called me that.”
My eyes bounced between hers. I felt so pulled to her. She was familiar yet new to me all at the same time. I’d never felt anything like that before.
She broke eye contact first, but didn’t pull away. She stayed against my shoulder, her arm linked with mine and her hand curled around my forearm like she’d sat this way a million times before.
Her cheek felt warm against my shoulder, even through the fabric of my shirt.
“It’s like we aren’t even in Bakers Town anymore. Like we’re in our own little universe,” she mused, glancing around.
“Do you like it here?” I asked. Instantly, I wanted to kick my own ass. What the hell was I thinking asking her that? Of course she’d rather be in Bakers Town. She was practically the reigning queen.
Her cheek moved against me, her face tipped back up. “I do.”
She meant it. I could see the truth right there in her eyes.
In that moment everything fell away. Who she was. Who I was. Who we used to be.
I leaned in, bringing my face inches away from hers. I felt the change in her. She knew what I wanted to do. I expected her to shove away and shriek.
She didn’t.
She waited, the tips of her fingers tightened on my arm.
The hell with it.
I swooped in and pressed my lips against hers. My eyes stayed open long enough to watch hers sweep closed.
It felt like a firework went off inside me. Light burst behind my eyes and my mouth started to move. I kissed her deeply because that’s the way I wanted to kiss her. I took charge of her mouth and our kiss. My lips ground against hers. The taste of her lipstick hit my tongue and I kissed harder.
My tongue tentatively stroked across hers, measuring the way she would react. She froze for a fraction of a second, then opened further and I thrust my tongue inside to stroke over hers.
Too many people treated her like she was in charge. Too many people gave her all the power.
Not me. Not this kiss.
This kiss was mine.
I’d share it with her, but on my terms.
Her nails dug into my forearm and her body leaned further into mine. I kept my hands where they were, even though I was dying to touch her.
I wanted her to want me. I wanted her to know what it was like to lack.
With one last stroke of my tongue I broke the kiss.
She gasped and sat back, her face full of shock. “You kissed me.”
“You liked it.”
Kelly practically jumped out of the seat and clutched her notebook in front of her. “We should go.”
Without another word, I got up and shut the projector down. With it off, the room plunged into absolute blackness. I could hear her breathing as I made my way back over to where she was standing.
“C’mon.” I felt for her hand.
“You could have waited ‘til I was at the door to turn off all the lights,” she said as I guided us.
“I could have,” I agreed. “But then you wouldn’t hold my hand.”
“Eric…” she whispered.
Annoyance pinched my chest. I knew what that meant. I knew the hesitant, almost warning sound to her voice.
I pushed open the door and busied myself with locking up.
I didn’t reach for her hand again as we went down the stairs and through the hall to the exit. She stayed close though, and as annoyed as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to move away. She was scared and this was probably the last time I’d ever be close like this with her again.
Outside the air was a lot cooler, nightfall in full swing. The Buick wasn’t parked far, but even so, out of the corner of my eye I saw Kelly shiver. I looked over completely in time to see her hardened nipples press against her top before she wrapped her arms across her chest.
I couldn’t stop my mind from wondering about what her bare chest would look like before me, open for my touch.
She went ahead and got in the passenger seat but I went around to the trunk and reached in for what I wanted. After I closed it, I stood at the bumper and let the cold air sink in because I was getting too hot.
One kiss, and I was thinking about her naked chest and what it would be like to run my hands and mouth all over her body.
Shaking off the thoughts, I walked around to her side and pulled open the door.
“What are you doing?” she asked, alarmed.
“Here,” I said and thrust my jean jacket at her. “It’s pretty cold out.”
I tried and failed miserably not to look at her chest. Her nipples were still totally hard and looked like rocks beneath her shirt.
“Thanks,” she said, and reached for my jacket.
By the time I got into the driver’s side, she was wearing it and I wondered why I had to be a gentleman, because giving her that jacket totally ruined my view.
We didn’t say anything at all on the ride back to her house. When I parked in the driveway and shut off the engine, she turned toward me. “Thanks for helping
me with the assignment.”
“No problem.”
“Uh, about what happened…” she began.
“You mean when I kissed you?” I said.
She nodded and ducked her head.
“What about it?” I wasn’t going to make this easy. Now that the night was over I was feeling even more annoyed.
“We just… we got caught up with the story, and the stars… it shouldn’t have happened.”
“Right.” My voice was tight.
“If you could not tell anyone about it,”
“Don’t worry,” I snapped, cutting her off. I didn’t want to hear any more of her rejection. “I won’t tell anyone I kissed you and you liked it.”
She stiffened. “Who said I liked it?”
“I still have the nail marks on my arm to prove it,” I half growled.
“Maybe I was trying to pry you off me!”
“If that’s what you gotta tell yourself, Kel,” I chuckled, but it was a mean, hard sound.
“Don’t call me that!” she huffed and threw the door open and leapt out into the driveway.
“No?” I called after her as she stripped off my jacket. “Maybe I should call you what everyone else does, then!”
The jacket flew in the door, across the seats, and slapped me in the face.
She did not just do that.
I grabbed a fistful of the material and yanked it down ready to yell some more.
But she was already gone.
Fled back into the house.
Back into the universe where she was everything and I was just a geek.
Chill – a way to tell someone to calm down.
I rushed up to my room and shut the door. Leaning against it, I pressed my fingers against my lips.
They were tingling.
Still.
I had no idea he could kiss like that. I had no idea anyone could kiss like that.
It unsettled me. It shook me. It ate away at me…
I never should have allowed it to happen, but unlike I led people to believe, I was only a girl. And not a very strong one at that.
If I was as strong as everyone thought, well…
I shook off the thought.
Images of the way Eric looked sitting there beside me with the sky all lit up flashed in my head. I leaned a little heavier into the door.
1982: Maneater (Love in the 80s #3) Page 5