Dark Kiss

by Michelle Rowen

  I tried to find my voice. “Stephen Keyes kissed me.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God! You’re so lucky!”

  He’d kissed me. And then he’d called me a kid and walked away.

  “Lucky,” I repeated, just before my eyes rolled back, my knees gave out and everything went black.

  Chapter 2

  In my dream, something moved beneath me, twisting around my ankles like long, cold fingers. I didn’t know what it was, but the thought of being dragged down into the black, bottomless hole terrified me. Before it took hold of me completely, someone grabbed my hand.

  Frantically I looked up to see a boy. I couldn’t see him very well since it was so dark, but he was definitely not Stephen.

  “Hold on!” His eyes were blue—so blue that they seemed to glow. He was the only thing keeping me from whatever was trying to pull me downward.

  I tried to concentrate on his face but still couldn’t see him clearly—only his eyes, which burned into me with their strange light.

  “They were wrong, Samantha.” His voice broke as he said my name. “It never should have been me. This is the proof.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not strong enough for this.” His grip on me loosened. “I’ve failed you. I’ve failed everyone. It—it’s all over.”

  “No—don’t let go! Don’t let—”

  The next moment, I slipped out of his grasp and fell, screaming, into the bottomless darkness.

  * * *

  “Sam! Wake up!” Carly sounded a million miles away.

  My eyelids fluttered open and it took a moment for everything to come into focus. I lay on a red couch on my back and I was staring up at my best friend.

  She punched me in the shoulder.

  “Don’t do that!” Her thin brows drew together. “You just freaked me out! Did you eat today? I have a Snickers bar in my purse if you need it.”

  “No…I’m okay.” I sat up and ran a hand through my hair, forcing my way through a tangle. “What happened?”

  “Stephen Keyes kissed you and then you totally passed out for a minute—not that I blame you. That must have been some kiss. Are you really okay?”

  How embarrassing. After being kissed by the hottest guy in Trinity, I’d passed out right in front of everyone up here. Several of the other kids had drawn closer to get a look at me. “I was only out for a minute?”

  “Yeah. Any longer and I would have called for help.” Her cell phone was in her hand, its screen lit up as if she’d been about to make a distress call. She looked over her shoulder at the others gathered nearby. “She’s okay now. Back off and give her some air.”

  They did, their curiosity about the girl who fainted leaving as quickly as it had arrived.

  I watched them go back to their couches and chairs, talking amongst themselves. Then I scanned the rest of the lounge with growing dismay at the idea that I’d fainted. I never fainted. “Did Stephen see what happened?”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t think so. He took off. What did you two talk about?”

  Our short conversation was now a blur. “Nothing, really. I don’t even know why he wanted to talk to me in the first place. He brought me up here, said I was special or something and then he kissed me.”

  Her worried look shifted to one of happiness. “So awesome.”

  I cringed. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “Stephen Keyes kisses you, you swoon like some girl in an old movie and you’re trying to tell me it’s not a big deal?”

  “If it was that big of a deal, he wouldn’t have just walked away.” I wasn’t going to let myself be too disappointed by that, but my throat felt thick and my eyes burned. He’d even apologized. Maybe he was sorry that he didn’t find me very interesting or attractive, or maybe he was sorry that I was a lousy kisser. He had said that I was too young.

  And that dream I’d had about falling and the guy with the amazing blue eyes—that had been seriously disturbing.

  “Can we go?” I asked. “Sorry, I—I’m not feeling so hot.”

  Actually I was feeling cold as ice.

  She opened her mouth as if to protest, but then closed it, her expression growing worried again. “You don’t look so good. Yeah, we can definitely go.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Stupid Stephen Keyes. Who needs him?”

  Frankly, I wanted to put the entire experience out of my head. Following the wickedly sexy boy off to be kissed hadn’t led to danger; it had led only to the familiar feelings of disappointment and embarrassment. Stephen was the third boy I’d liked who’d made me feel bad about myself. Three strikes. I was out.

  If I looked at it objectively, maybe this was a good lesson to learn. I didn’t need any more trouble in my life.

  * * *

  I didn’t leave my house all day Saturday or most of Sunday and I slept in past noon all weekend. It was highly unlike me to stay in bed so long. I figured I was coming down with the flu. That could explain the passing out and my recent chills.

  Late Sunday afternoon, however, I forced myself to go to the movies with Carly. Even though it was only mid-October and the temperature read fifty-five degrees, it felt like it was freezing outside. Carly picked me up in her red Volkswagen Beetle—a gift from her parents for her birthday last month. My dad was generous with my presents and weekly allowance, especially since my parents had split two years ago and he’d moved to England for his law firm, but a few gifts and some cash weren’t nearly the same as getting a car.

  We paid good money to see Zombie Queen IV, which turned out to be possibly the worst movie in the history of mankind. As a self-proclaimed horror movie aficionado—with a deep fondness for all things George A. Romero—it took a lot to impress me.

  “I’m so hungry,” I said as we exited the theater while the credits rolled over the bloody, severed head of the hero. Even after gobbling down a large popcorn with extra butter, I was famished. It was strange. I’d pigged out all weekend. I didn’t normally have such a voracious appetite.

  “Maybe you’re pregnant,” Carly joked.

  I eyed her. “Highly doubtful.”

  “I guess you’re right. To be pregnant you’d have to actually be getting it on with somebody.”

  “Getting it on?” I repeated. “What a lovely way to put it. Besides, I’m starving, remember? Doesn’t pregnancy make you want to throw up?”

  “It would make me want to throw up. Actually, I feel sick just thinking about it.”

  Carly hadn’t brought up what had happened—or, rather, not happened—with Stephen at the club. It was appreciated more than she knew. If I could, I’d take a pill to forget about the embarrassment of him walking away after our kiss and leaving me standing there all alone. My crush on him had officially been crushed.

  “Hey, Samantha!”

  I turned to see a boy from my history class waving at me—Noah. He stood in a line waiting to get into the next showing of Zombie Queen IV.

  “Be warned, that’s a ridiculously bad movie,” I said as we passed him on our way out to the lobby.

  “I’ll take my chances.” Noah grinned. “You’re looking good tonight.”

  “Oh…uh, thanks.”

  That was a strange thing for him to say. We’d never really spoken that much before. Maybe he was just being extra-friendly tonight.

  Carly didn’t say anything until we’d moved out of hearing distance. “So what’s up with you getting hit on today? That’s the second time since we got here. Am I totally invisible all of a sudden?”

  The first time was when a guy named Mike—someone else I barely talked to at school—had sat right next to me in the theater and offered me some of his popcorn after I’d eaten all of mine. I honestly hadn’t thought anything of it, but I guess Carly had noticed.

  I frowned. “Who said that? I could have sworn I heard a voice, but I don’t know where it’s coming from.”

  She swatted me. “You’re hilarious.”

  “I ha
ve no idea what’s going on. Besides, he was just saying hi. That wasn’t exactly an official hit.”

  “Well, if it doesn’t pass, remember to share with your best friend.”

  I nodded solemnly. “Understood. I promise to share with you the wealth of boys who throw themselves at my irresistible feet.”

  Irresistible. Right. I already had a theory about why Stephen had kissed me, not that I wanted to share it with anyone, Carly included. I’d decided it had been a dare from his friends to go kiss a weird high school girl who had a thing for zombie movies—not that they’d know that little detail about me.

  My stomach growled.

  Correction: the weird high school girl who liked zombie movies and was suddenly ready to eat her way through the city. Then again, I’d always been too skinny. “A” didn’t only describe the grades I was striving for, but my bra size, as well. Eating eight thousand calories a day would definitely solve that little problem. Pun intended.

  Something smelled delicious. My skin tingled and my mouth watered. I closed my eyes and inhaled, seeking the new scent past the salty, greasy odor of popcorn that surrounded us.

  Carly groaned. “I can’t deal with him right now. I’ll just wait over here, okay?”

  “What?” I opened my eyes as she wandered toward a movie magazine rack near the concession stand. In her rush to get away, she banged against the island that held the napkins and plastic straws.

  “Hope she didn’t leave because of me,” a familiar voice said.

  Oh.

  “How did you guess?” I turned my head to see Colin Richards, Carly’s ex-boyfriend, standing a few feet away.

  Colin sat behind me in English and we’d forged a bit of a friendship since the semester started last month, which was awkward considering how much Carly hated his guts. He’d cheated on her at a pool party this summer and, understandably, she’d been crushed by the betrayal. Colin tended to do crazy stuff when he was drunk. One of the crazy things he’d done was Julie Travis, who’d allegedly had her eye on Colin’s broad shoulders, cropped sandy-blond hair and wicked sense of humor since they’d been in elementary school together. However, once he’d sobered up, Colin had realized his mistake, tried to make up with Carly and failed spectacularly. Carly was a lot like me in that way—she didn’t get over being hurt easily. She put on a good front, but I knew she was still heartbroken.

  “New haircut?” Colin asked.

  I touched my dark hair, twisting a long piece around my index finger. “Not lately.”

  “It looks nice.” When he smiled, my gaze was drawn to his mouth. I’d never noticed what nice lips Colin had. Carly had told me many times that he was an amazing kisser. As far as I knew—and, believe me, I would have been told otherwise—that’s as far as they’d ever gone together.

  I moved a little closer to him. “Are you wearing a new cologne?”

  He shrugged. “Just soap.”

  I pulled myself out of my sudden daze to glance over my shoulder at Carly, who was currently out of earshot. However, she was still giving me the eye. The eye that asked, Why are you smelling my ex-boyfriend?

  I cleared my throat. “I need to go. Uh, I’ll see you in class tomorrow, okay?”

  He nodded. “Bright and early.”

  I turned and walked over to Carly. She put down the magazine she’d been pretending to read. Her cheeks were flushed, which told me she was upset but trying to control her emotions.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “Don’t be sorry.” She sent a sneer in the direction of Colin, who’d rejoined his friends on the other side of the theater. “The fact that he’s still breathing isn’t your fault.”

  “He really wants you to forgive him.”

  “Did he say that?”

  “Well, not just now, but it’s implied.”

  Her lips thinned. “When he dies, I promise to put flowers on his grave. How’s that?”

  “It’s a start.”

  I wasn’t certain if Carly was still upset because she really loved Colin or if it was something else. Personally I think what had happened stung so much because he was the first guy to pursue a relationship with her. She tended to hide a bit, feeling fat—which she totally wasn’t—and not thinking she was good enough to catch a hot guy. I knew at least two other guys who’d be happy to ask her out if she’d give them half a chance. Instead, she wallowed. Which was fine, since I was a bit of a wallower myself.

  Carly grimaced, her gaze locked on something over my shoulder. “Brace yourself for impact. Jordan’s on her way over here and she looks pissed.”

  I tensed up.

  Jordan Fitzpatrick and I had been friends for three whole weeks in ninth grade drama class, until we’d started to like the same boy—one who hadn’t liked me in return and had proven this by laughing in my face when he learned about my feelings. He hadn’t liked Jordan, either, so she blamed me for the rejection. She’d then decided that she hated me. Because that made sense.

  She’d just exited a neighboring theater with some of her equally unpleasant friends and was headed our way.

  Nearly six feet tall with flame-red hair and a few scattered freckles on her nose, Jordan was easily the most beautiful girl in school. I knew from our short friendship that she wanted to be a model. A top model, of course, following in her mother’s footsteps. Her mom currently starred in a soap opera down in Los Angeles, and Jordan had stayed here in Trinity with her father to finish school.

  She’d been pursuing the modeling goal every waking moment that she wasn’t at school, and so far she’d failed miserably at it. Just because you were gorgeous and tall didn’t mean you were also photogenic.

  Did I mention she hated me?

  “I heard what you did at Crave on Friday night, you slut,” she snapped.

  “Great to see you, too, Jordan,” I said.

  “Julie said you were throwing yourself at him.”

  My stomach sank, but I tried to look confused. “Throwing myself at who?”

  Her green eyes narrowed. “My boyfriend.”

  “Stephen Keyes is not your boyfriend,” Carly interjected. “Not anymore.”

  Jordan’s mouth dropped open. “Excuse me?”

  Oh, crap. I’d totally forgotten the rumors that Jordan and Stephen had dated over the summer.

  Carly might not have a great deal of self-confidence when it came to standing up for herself, but when it involved protecting me, she did a great impression of a cute blonde pit bull. “From what I’ve heard, he dumped you last week, right? Sounds like he wanted to start seeing other people. And, FYI, Sam didn’t throw herself at him—he approached her. So if you want to blame anyone for your object of lust’s lips wandering elsewhere, it would be Stephen himself.”

  Jordan ignored Carly like she was a mildly annoying insect and focused on me. I could see the confusion in her eyes. “I guess I don’t understand why Stephen would want to be anywhere near a nobody like you.” Her words were sharp as glass as she twisted them into me.

  In the answering silence, my stomach growled again. Loudly.

  Jordan’s expression soured further. “You’re disgusting.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re—”

  “Go to hell, klepto.” She spun around and walked away.

  The klepto crack was a familiar insult from her, but it still made me flinch as if she’d slapped me. She’d been at the mall the day I’d been caught and had witnessed my humiliation firsthand.

  “What a bitch!” Carly exclaimed. “Just ignore her.”

  “I’ll try.” My face felt hot. It sucked to have the subject of the kiss—and my shoplifting embarrassment—brought up by someone I really didn’t like.

  “She’s welcome to Stephen, anyway. But I don’t think he’s interested in dating redheaded giraffes anymore.”

  I snorted. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

  “Give me a minute. I’m sure I can think of a better insult.”

  Jordan had succeeded in knocking my relatively
decent mood right out of me. “I think I’m going to head home. Don’t worry about driving me. I need some fresh air.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive. Besides, I have to make myself a sandwich. Maybe ten. I’m starving.”

  “If you don’t gain any weight with this new diet of yours, I’m going to be mad. I hate being cursed with a slow metabolism.” She placed her hands on her curvy hips. “Fine, you go pig out and I’ll see you tomorrow. And, Sam?”