LOVE!!! Has something deep inside me awoken?! [Part 1]

Waves of scorching heat rose upward as intense sunlight bleached the world around me. Dark shadows contrasted with white surfaces, like a black and white manga page, blinding my vision.

My pink bangs stuck to my face, tickling my nose whenever a droplet of sweat fell. Clinging to my body was a short, white summer dress. Its hem brushed gently against my thighs with every slight movement I made.

I pouted, looking at my watch. He should’ve been here by now. Doesn’t he know it’s impolite to make a girl wait in this heat? Maybe we should’ve met each other in a place with AC.

There should be AC in the school campus behind me but classes aren’t going on right now. But, wasn’t I waiting for him to get out of class?

Shouldn’t I be in class as well?

I lost my train of thought as the unbearable heat wave stole back my attention. Though my purse didn’t work that well as a fan, it sure as heck beat having nothing.

Purse? Did I own a purse?

I opened it up and dug around for an ID. Sure enough, there was one. At first glance, the photo on the ID was Daniel. But if I tilted it ever so slightly, it was Lune. I flipped it back and forth repeatedly until it was too taxing to look at. The lettering on the ID jumbled together, obscuring the photo.

I dropped the ID into my purse, no longer willing to decipher it in this heat.

Gripping my purse’s strap, I walked to a nearby tree and stood underneath its shade.

Where is he? It shouldn’t take this long for him to get here.

Just as I began to worry that I was abandoned, a voice echoed from the blinding white void. “Daniel!”

I perked up, excitedly looking around for the source.

Stepping out from the light, walking all cool and awesome-like, was Jack. He wore a pair of jeans and a white tank top; his perfectly cut abs poked through his shirt.

“Jack!” I squeaked in joy.

A sense of euphoria washed over me like a tsunami as I dashed toward him. My heart was beating so hard it was about to burst out from my chest. Angelic wings sprouted from my back, launching me forward with a force so strong I broke the sound barrier. A rainbow trailed behind me as I opened my arms wide. I was a soaring missile; target locked!

KABOOOOM!

Anyone else would’ve burst from the impact, but not Jack. He grabbed me with his strong arms and held me tightly. My hands gripped the back of his tight shirt as we spun in circles, my legs dangling in the air.

We laughed merrily until our spinning came to a stop. Jack gently placed me down, neither of us dizzy.

He gently brushed away the stray pink hairs from my face. His rough hands touched my cheeks, sending my heart to the stratosphere.

“Daniel…” he whispered.

“Jack…” I answered.

My eyes gazed deeply into his.

Then… he closed his eyes and began to slowly lower his head. I too closed my eyes, but then peeked because I couldn’t help but gaze at his cute, chiseled face. I could see remnants of that embarrassing thin mustache he always shaves off.

Faster and faster my heart raced, pounding away like the percussion line at a high school football game beating off their instruments.

Now his face was right up to mine. Our noses touched, sending me soaring into the sky in joy. Then our bangs became tangled with one another, propelling me to Mach 5.

I was over the moon! Then Mars! Then the rest of the entire dang Solar System! Oh, how I’ve wanted this for so long!

To hold me!

To embrace me!

To love me!

I wanted him so badly it hurt. Ever since I first met him all those years ago in elementary school, I was in love. What started as platonic love had become romantic, no matter how much I’d try to deny it. He was on my mind every day.

And finally, after all these years…

His soft, feminine lips pressed against mine, where I could taste potato chips and pistachios…

…

…

…Wait? What?!

My eyes opened to a bewildered Belliney, baffled by our brushed lips. A thin string of saliva extended between us.

With the reflexes of a rabbit, I rolled backward, fell off my bed, and slammed my back against my bedroom wall. “WH-WH-WH-WHA–” I kept repeating, my brain’s circuitry having been completely severed by what had happened to make speech impossible for me.

Belliney slowly sat up, placing a finger to her lips. “I…” she spoke softly with a blushed face. “To think… After being alive for countless millennia…”

She placed her hands to her cheeks as she smiled like an innocent schoolgirl, twisting back and forth bashfully.

“That you’d be my first kiss,” she fluttered her eyelids.

I wanted to die. Nothing more that I wanted than to drop dead right then and there. For my body to spontaneously combust, turn into dust, and be blown far, FAR away!

“When the heck did you crawl into my bed!?!?!?” my voice cracked with a scream.

“Well, you were tossing and turning in your bed, loudly moaning. I was worried, so I came to check up on you. Then you pulled me into bed next to you. You pressed yourself against my body, poking me with your… Ah! I can’t believe my little Danny has finally grown up!!!” she squealed.

“Poking?” I asked, unsure as to what she meant.

Poking. Poking… Pecking? Maybe she misspoke and meant pecking, right? To peck someone is to kiss, right? Kissing? It was the kissing, right? That’s what happened, after all! I pecked my lips to hers, so that’s all that happened, right? RIGHT?!

Belliney giggled, then pointed at my lower half…

I looked down.

My tent was thoroughly pitched.

I let out a bloodcurdling scream so loud that it shook the house and woke up everyone in the neighborhood.

***

After explaining to the police that, no, nobody was being murdered, and no, Belliney wasn’t suspicious despite her appearance and the fact she was floating, I collapsed over the kitchen table.

“I told you it wasn’t a good idea to eat that entire cupcake in one go,” Belliney said, sipping a cup of decaffeinated black tea.

“Uh-huh,” I mumbled, watching the steam rise off my cup of tea.

After returning from the mall yesterday, I scarfed down the entirety of my Princess Cupcake in a nervous fit. I couldn’t help but worry that Jack may have found out about my secret. How was I gonna confront him tomorrow at school?! What’ll he say?! What’ll I say?!

Making things worse was the radio silence from him afterward. He hasn’t sent me a text all night despite “Daniel” having disappeared after Red Sandrea’s appearance. I mean, come on! Wasn’t he worried about me?! Didn’t he care about me?

POUND!

I slammed my head against the table, almost knocking over my tea.

“Um…” Belliney spoke up. “I was only teasing you earlier about the whole first kiss thing if that’s what’s bothering you.”

POUND!

I slammed my head against the table, recalling the embarrassing situation I had woken up to.

I was in bed with Belliney! Embracing her! Our lips pressed up against one another! When the person I was wanting to kiss was Ja–

POUND!

Belliney walked over to me and hugged me from behind. “Aw, it’s okay. I forgive you. Puberty is a very turbulent period in a human’s life. You’re experiencing a whole swath of new desires. People who you see every day will now be viewed in a whole new light! Urges of the hot and steamy variant that are difficult to hold back!”

POUND!

“Aw! My little Danny is growing up!” Belliney cheered. “I know! Let’s celebrate your newfound adult awakening! I got just the perfect wine! Oo! I’ve also got some fancy cookies stashed away for special occasions! I should grab those too!”

“It’s too late in the night for partying,” I said, my face firmly placed against the tabletop.

“Boo!” Belliney whined. “It’s never too late to throw a party! Oh, but I guess you do have to get up for school in a few hours… I know! Let’s throw a party this weekend! A big ol’ bash to celebrate! Like a second birthday! The birth of your adulthood! We can invite Jack–”

“UAAAAAAGH!!!” I screamed, pulling at my hair as the events from the dream I just had flashed across my mind.

Belliney dropped her teasing, appearing sincerely concerned now. “Are you okay? If something’s wrong, I’ll do everything in my power to help.”

I face-planted back onto the table. “It’s nothing. Just… This dream I had.”

“A dream?” Belliney asked.

“The one I had when I woke up kissing you. In it, I… I, uh…”

I looked up to find Belliney leaning over the table, staring at me intently. Her nostrils flared from heavy breathing as she desperately waited for me to continue...

NO WAY!!!

She’s WAAAAY too into hearing about it. I don’t want her going all psychoanalysis on me, picking apart every aspect of my dream and saying, “you totally got the hots for Jack!” or something ridiculously WRONG and UNTRUE like that! Forget it!

“Nevermind,” I said.

“Aaaww!!! Come ooooon! It was a juicy dream! Wasn’t it?! I wanna know the details!!!”

She willed into existence a book on Freud. “I read up on dream analysis a ways back and have been wanting an opportunity to try it out! Come on! Please?”

I hopped off my chair and backed away. “No way! I don’t want to know! Besides! Freud was a hack! You shouldn’t believe what he wrote!”

“Tell me!” she continued, ignoring everything I just said. “Were you excited in your sleep because you were with the person you have an infatuation for in your dream?”

“Shut up!” I yelled, covering my ears and walking away.

Belliney followed closely behind, flipping the pages of her book. “It says here that young men are sexually attracted to their mothers and women who remind them of their mothers.”

“The heck are you going on about?”

“I’m like a mother figure to you, right? Are you in love with me?! Do you have an Oedipus complex?!”

“You’re more like an annoying older sister than anything!” I replied.

She flipped through the book. “There’s a chapter here on incestual relationships, too!”

“Enough with Freud!”

“How about Jung?”

“HOW ABOUT NONE?!”

“I never heard of Nuhn. Are they someone recent?”

“AAAAHHHH!!!!”