"Have you ever kissed a boy?"
Eleven-year old Jade released a long breath before she answered. "No. And I don't want to. Why are you asking?"
Tori shrugged her shoulders, reaching for a fry from her plate. "I don't know, it just seems like everyone makes a big deal out of… kissing. And just boys in general."
"Well," Jade started but paused to take a sip from her milkshake, "They're stupid."
"Boys?"
"They too. But I mean those boy-crazy girls. What's so special about 'em? I don't want to kiss them, I have better things to do."
Tori slowly nodded. She guessed Jade was right. But she was the first girl she heard who talked about boys like that. The other girls in her class were always giggling when a boy was talking to them and she wondered why she herself didn't feel like that. It was stupid to giggle when someone talked to you. You're supposed to be talking not giggling. "Have you?"
With a shake of her head, Tori answered Jade's question, causing the pale girl to nod and focus her attention on the French fries standing in the middle of the table. After a moment of hesitation and her teeth heavily biting her lip, Tori cleared her throat and leaned forward a bit. "What about a girl?"
Jade frowned. "A girl?"
"Have you ever," Tori's voice dropped to a whisper, "kissed a girl?"
"No, I haven't. I don't want to either. It's the same with boys. I have better things to do."
"Huh." A small wave of unease rushed through her as well as a twinge of excitement when she thought about her first kiss. How long would it be till she'd get it? Where would it be? With who would it be? And while she watched Jade from across the table, she couldn't help but wish… that maybe she would change her mind. At least about kissing a girl.
Stupid, stupid Andre! As much as I love him, it was just unacceptable! Hadn't it been for him, who knew what would have happened between me and Jade. Oh right, I know! We would have kissed! And I knew it hadn't been a dream, I knew it! She wouldn't have leaned in, she wouldn't have been so adamant on knowing if it was a "good dream" or not. God, this girl was driving me insane, slowly but steadily. I just hoped I wouldn't end up in a mental institution.
Jade hadn't asked about "my dream" again. She also pretended as if the moment in the hallway had never happened. I hadn't mentioned it either. Instead, I found myself observing every little thing Jade did in my presence. Fleeting touches. Lingering glances. Soft smiles. And she wanted me to believe that what I remembered was just a dream? I couldn't understand why she would want me to think that.
My train of thought was interrupted when I saw a flash of red approaching me. "Hey Cat!" But as soon as I saw her face, looking so blank and… wrong without her usual smile, I felt my forehead crease with worry. "What's wrong?"
She pushed out a long sigh and plopped down on a seat across from me in a very unlike Cat fashion, eyes kept down and fingers playing with a strand of her bright red hair. "Nothing. I'm fine."
"Come on. I see something's wrong. What's up? Tell good ol' Tori."
When she glanced up at me I got a glimpse of a small smile hushing over her face before it got replaced by her sad frown again. "I'm sad."
I pushed my salad to the side and put my arms on the table, leaning forward. "Why are you sad?"
Another deep sigh. "I'm all alone this entire week," she started to explain, her eyes kept on the blue table, "My brother needed to go to the special hospital again and my parents have to stay there with him. But because of school I couldn't go with them, I didn't want to anyway, but now I'm all alone."
"And you don't like being alone?" With both of my parents not home a lot of the time, both having demanding jobs, I was able to empathize with Cat. It didn't bother me so much, sometimes I liked the time I had for myself and even if I didn't, there was still Trina. But Cat was really all alone and she didn't seem like a person who would ever enjoy being by herself.
"No. I really don't like it."
A sympathetic smile made its way onto my mouth as I thought of a way to cheer the small girl up. My face brightened when an idea popped into my head. "Hey! Why don't you stay at my place for the rest of the week?"
Cat's eyes lifted from the table, uncertain. "But… are you sure?"
"Yeah. My parents won't mind, I'm sure."
Almost a feeling of relief swept over me when finally, a bright genuine smile appeared and Cat sat up straight. "I'd really like to stay with you," she said excitedly and I smiled too, because Cat's joy was just intoxicating.
"Okay! And what about, since the school lets out early today because of the teacher's conference, we do a movie night. Or… afternoon." Cat gasped, then clapped her hands a couple of times.
"Oooh yay! Can I choose what movies we'll be watching?"
I laughed. "Sure."
"That's so exciting! Oh! We should invite Jade! Can we invite Jade?"
I hesitated for just a moment before I told her that of course, we could invite her, and that I would make sure to ask her later. Cat's mood instantly brightened and she immediately began babbling about everything that came to her mind. I listened, nodding and smiling here and there, while I began eating my salad. After a couple of minutes, Cat's words had become less and when she grew completely quiet, I looked up at her. Cat was staring at me with a bright grin, her tongue poking out from between her teeth. I smiled at the adorable sight and shot her a curious look. "What?" I asked with a soft laugh. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
She giggled cutely. "I'm just really happy, that's all." Another giggle escaped her mouth and I put my fork down, chuckling at her behavior. "Well, what are you so happy about?"
She suddenly became completely quiet. My lips formed an amused smile when she first looked over her right, then over her left shoulder. "Because of you and Jade!" Her voice quivered with excitement and I could see it took a great deal of effort for her to manage to keep her voice low. "I'm so happy you two get along!"
I picked my fork back up and scooped up some salad. "I am too," I told her with a probably way too big smile, which faltered as soon as I thought back to last week.
"I think she's lying."
I frowned in confusion and looked back up. "Jade?" Cat nodded. "Lying about what?"
"That she doesn't like you very much. I think that's a lie. I mean, if she doesn't like you then why does she hang out with you so often? That doesn't make any sense! Right?"
"Right…"
"Also she touches you a lot. And she doesn't hit or yell at you when you touch her. I think that's a sign that she likes you."
Yeah. She liked me, alright. But was that all? Was it just like? Oh man, this was confusing me so much. I was sure it wasn't just like but… who really knew with Jade. She was like one of those Rubik's cubes. You could turn and turn but eventually… you just make everything even worse.
-OS&SD-
"No."
"Why not?"
The boy in front of us quickly scurried out of the way when Jade shot him one of her menacing glares, before she returned her eyes back to look straight ahead, gaze locked on her car."'Cause! I'm not going to act all crazy with you two morons in your stupid McNugget Show."
"The Funny Nugget Show," Tori corrected, "And we won't do anything like that. We'll just try to cheer Cat up a little. We won't even have to have a sleepover! Just a girl's night! Girl's… afternoon, I mean." When we reached Jade's car, my hand pressed against Jade's door to keep her from opening it, which earned me an annoyed look and a sigh. "Please Jade? Seriously, it would make Cat so happy." But Jade shook her head, grabbed my wrist and removed my hand from her door. Before she could get into her car though, I quietly said, "It would make me happy.", which made her freeze. Her bright eyes snapped up to me; all I needed to do was smile hopefully, then she sighed and I knew I had her.
"Well… what have you two nutheads planned?"
My face split up into a huge grin. I wasn't even embarrassed by the squeal that escaped me as I threw my arms around Jade's neck, muttering my thanks into her hair over and over again. "I hate hugs," she mumbled but her actions said otherwise as her arms slowly snuck around my waist and gently pulled me closer. My heart began to beat faster; I wondered if Jade felt it against her own chest.
"You love mine," I mumbled with a small smile, shivering when Jade's fingers ran over the length of my spine. She only grunted in response before she slowly pulled away, folding her arms across her chest and leaning her hip against her car. "So? What are we doing?"
"We'll watch some movies."
Jade groaned. "Oh my God. Please tell me Cat isn't choosing."
"… Yeah. She is."
Another groan, louder this time. "Seriously? Great, Vega! Then we'll watch every freaking Disney movie that exists!"
"Pffft." I waved my hand dismissively. "I'm sure we won't."
-OS&SD-
101 Dalmatians.
The little Mermaid. (Okay, I actually had expected to see that tonight.)
The Lion King.
Well… Jade was right, to say the least.
"Oh my God! Can I go home now?"
Cat stopped singing along as the end credits of the Lion King rolled down the screen, turning around with a frown. "No! I have part two too!"
Jade groaned, her forehead falling against my shoulder. "Please tell me she's joking." But when Cat proceeded to pull out the DVD case of 'The Lion King 2' I couldn't help but laugh softly. I really didn't mind watching all those movies. They were classics, you were never too old to watch them. But for Jade, as she put it earlier, it was pure torture and not the good kind (which actually made me wonder what the good kind of torture was…).
"I'm going to put it in now," Cat exclaimed happily and dashed for the DVD player.
"You owe me," Jade murmured into my shoulder before lifting her head and letting her back hit the back rest in an overdramatic fashion. Her hand shot out and stole the bowl of popcorn from my lap, placing it on her own, her other hand taking a handful and popping it into her mouth.
"Okay," Cat said, turning around from her position in front of the TV, "Can I start the movie?"
With me nodding and Jade grumbling something under her breath, Cat pressed play and the movie started. Instead of joining us on the sofa, Cat stayed on the ground in front of the TV, eyes glued to the television. She really was like a little kid. I didn't know if I was allowed to find it adorable or if it should seriously worry me…
When the part came in which Sira sung little Kovu her lullaby, I felt a small poke at my ribs. I ignored it, knowing that Jade just wanted to tease me, but it wasn't long before she poked again. And again. And again. Fighting off a smile, I turned to her, narrowing my eyes at her smirking face. She turned back to the movie, smirk staying on her lips and finger still prodding my side. The tickling sensation her fingers evoked made me bite my lip in a hopeless attempt to stop myself from giggling. Cat was still completely engrossed in the movie so I quickly swatted Jade's hand away before reaching out to pinch her arm. Eyes widening, she turned toward me. Before she was able to do the same to me, I grabbed her hand in mine. My breath hitched however and smile slightly fell when Jade laced her fingers through the gaps between mine. I was nearly biting off my lip when Jade's thumb ran over my skin, back and forth, back and forth. It was almost painful, the way the little butterflies beat their wings against the walls of my stomach, but I guess… it was a good kind of pain. Hesitantly, I lifted my eyes from our hands, only to see Jade still staring down at them. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream, I told myself over and over again when I finally found the courage to-
"I think Kovu looks a lot like Beck."
Cat's voice made Jade pull her hand back, almost ripping off my own in the process. Trying to calm my racing heartbeat, I looked to the front where a now grown up Kovu was on screen. My eyes shifted to Cat, her eyes still completely fixated on the TV. Thank God. When I glanced at Jade, she too had her eyes glued to the screen but I knew, unlike Cat, her thoughts weren't revolving around any sorts of lions at all. My nails scraped against my jeans as I desperately tried to concentrate on the movie but the song that came up next really was making things kinda hard. Hands itching to reach out for Jade again, I suddenly felt my heart in my throat and breathing turned out to be increasingly difficult.
"Where the hippos swing from the jungle vines
And the rhino rumba in a conga line,
And the pink flamingos are intertwined
As the stars come out to play"
When the chorus started I couldn't help but to glance over at Jade, biting down on my lip as hard as I could as I watched her hands tightly gripping the bowl of popcorn on her lap and eyes staring at the TV screen. Was this as hard for her as it was for me? God, I needed to stop. Just concentrate on the movie. Forget about Jade. Concentrate. On. The movie. The movie where a monkey was singing about love. Don't let it bother you that she's shuffling closer to y- Wait, why was she shuffling closer?! I couldn't look at her and yet… I did. And met the most incredible, intense eyes I've ever had the pleasure to look into.
"You better watch your step 'cause the path is steep
Better hold your breath cause the water's deep
It's a long way down over Lovers' Leap
But falling's half the fun!"
Closer and closer her head came, her eyes never leaving mine and God, I couldn't help but lean in too. The cheesiest but also the most beautiful moment of my life happened then, as our lips brushed just as the next chorus started.
"In Upendi
Where the passionfruit grows sweet
And it's so divine
That you lose your mind
As it sweeps you off your feet!"
I only wasted one second thinking about the bowl of popcorn that spilled from Jade's lap as she twisted her body toward me and deepened the kiss, pulling me closer to her by the back of my neck.
In Upendi
Without a worry or a care!
It just takes two
To make it true
Your heart will take you there"
Holy Mufasa... I was officially in love with this movie.
A/N: Yeah, so... I was watching the Lion King 2... and then this happened. I couldn't help it. It's my favorite song, okay?