Chapter 1- Another Round of Playing with my Heart …
I walked onto the concrete pavement and avoided the puddles from the rainfall of last night. I recognized the brilliant red hair that swayed back a forth when she took a step in front of me. I hurried to catch up to her. She smelled amazing, like vanilla and brown sugar. "Cat!" I called. She stopped, "Oh, hi, Robbie", she grinned and waved. I smiled briefly, scanning her outfit. She was wearing a high waisted pink skirt with black leopard print and a tight fitting black t-shirt with black flats. Her frosted pink lips were curved in a smile. "You look really nice today, Cat", I told her. "What's that supposed to mean?" she looked at me accusingly. I regretted my choice of words, "I mean…you look pretty. You always look good though, just today I think you look good…" She smiled in satisfaction, "Oh, thanks, Robbie"; she scanned her Ipod and began to walk again. "What song are you listening to?" I asked, attempting to make conversation. "Space Bound, it's by Eminem", she told me, looking up at me, as if waiting for approval. "Cool", I nodded; I didn't know anything by Eminem. "So, are you auditioning for the play?" she asked me, hopefully. "Yeah, are you?" I wondered. "Yep, I'm trying out for Arianna", she smiled. She wanted the female lead. "Oh, cool, I'm trying out for Mason", I told her, that was the male lead. "Coolness", she responded, "Well, gotta go, see you later!" and then she was gone. Damn, she was adorable.
I stepped onto line for auditions behind some black guy and about a minute after arriving he and another girl were whisked away into the room to try out. I popped in my ear buds and drummed against the lockers. Soon after the black guy and the girl emerged from the room and walked off thanking the teacher. The teacher glanced at his clipboard, "Okay…um, Robert Shapiro and Catherine Valentine". Cat ran up behind me, "Sorry, I'm late!" I was auditioning with Cat? We followed him into the classroom and Cat playfully elbowed me in the ribs. He handed us scripts and told us where to start. "You're my brother; you just don't get that do you?" Cat read her lines. "Arianna, tell me that you don't feel the same way that I do, sure, there are some minor complications, but I love you and I freaking love me back, don't even pretend that you don't", I responded, burying my nose in the script, pretending not to know the lines that I had memorized, avoiding Cat's eyes. "Minor complications? Dude, you've officially lost it! I'm your baby sister, not your sex toy", she read. "That's not the point; the point is that we love each other and if we do than who the hell cares? Who can get in our way?" I read back, and then following the stage directions and fighting the sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that grew as I moved closer, I brushed my lips up against hers. She looked at me for a minute, "I do love you, but this isn't right…", but she followed the script and kissed me anyway, snaking her arms around me and catching my mouth with her own. Her lips tasted like peppermint, the sweetest mint I'd ever tasted, the minty gloss made my own lips tingle. Her lips were soft and cradling. She knocked me over, pinning me to the stage which was equipped with a blue foam mat and then the teacher clapped his hands ending the scene. She picked herself up, fixing her hair and smiled. "How was that?" she asked for approval. "Wonderful", I said of the kiss. She looked at me for a minute and then smiled, "I was asking him", and she pointed at the teacher, whose name I still couldn't remember. "It was really believable and great intensity", he dismissed her. She smiled in satisfaction and bounced out of the room. I followed after her, she had done it again. She kissed me again, but it meant nothing to her and everything to me.
Cat sat down beside me and set down her coffee, "Hey, people". Tori revived our prior debate, asking Cat's opinion, "So, Cat, would you rather have tongues or no tongues in a kissing booth?" Cat shrugged, "Depends on the guy". Tori giggled mischievously, "What if it was Robbie?" Cat blushed, "Why him?" I wanted to disappear. "Because, he's the only one here who would ever come to a kissing booth", Jade smirked. "What about Andre`?", Tori pointed at her friend. Beck grinned in amusement. "I hate to say it but he has a little more dignity than that", Jade admitted. "Wow, thanks, Jade", Andre` sounded like he just won a Grammy or something. "Don't talk to me", she snapped at him. "God, woman", he complained. "I said not to talk to me", she said, standing up and walking away, pissed off. Beck followed after her. Tori shrugged, "So, would you French kiss Robbie?" she asked Cat. Cat put her lips around the big green straw and sucked away at her iced coffee, innocently. Andre` nudged her in the arm, "C'mon, little red". I groaned, "Guys, I'm right here". They all responded in simultaneously. "Oh, hi, Robbie", Andre` mumbled. "Hey", Tori quickly acknowledged me. Cat continued sucking away at her drink, which was almost gone. "AH! Brain Freeze!" she shrieked, grabbing onto my arm and pulling away from her drink. I felt a good pressure, a rush of blood to my legs. It felt great, until I realized what was happening. She recovered from the brain freeze and glanced at my erect penis which was pushing up against the fabric of my jeans. "I was thinking about the playboy I watched last night", I said, turning red. "Oh, God, Robbie", Tori covered her mouth. Cat released her grip. "Oh my damn", Andre` muttered. "You watch playboy, Robbie?" Cat sounded disgusted, "Porn is so gross". I couldn't take it anymore, "I don't watch it, okay? That boner was for you, Cat! And that stage kiss was freaking amazing, I can't stop thinking about it. And guess what? I love you, okay?" and I got up, not able to look at their astonished faces and covered my crotch area with my books, running off. What the hell did I just do?