Just A Kiss
Over the next few weeks Lauren and Dante had expanded on their playful friendship. Eventually Lauren gave Dante her number, but she wouldn't admit to Madison just yet that she had any interest in him. So far Lauren had really been enjoying the college life, despite all the work. Having a best friend helped a lot with that as well. It was Friday morning now, and both Lauren and Madison were making their way towards their classes that happened to be in the same letter building.
"So did you hear about the party that's going on tonight?" Madison asked eagerly.
Lauren shook her head, "I had no idea, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go anyway."
Madison raised an eyebrow at her,"Why not?"
"I have a huge chemistry test on Monday and I need to study for it."
"Oh come on! Live a little! You can always study on the weekend, and I'm sure your little friend will be there," Madison nudged her best friend and she found herself giggling when she saw Lauren smile.
"Oh my gosh Lauren! You like him!"
Lauren looked at her like she just pulled a fire alarm. Her eyes widened before hitting Madison playfully, "Shut up Madison! People can you hear you, you know?"
Madison waved her statement off, "So is it true...Do you like him?"
Lauren chuckled, "I don't know Madison...Do you like Jack?"
"You're avoiding the topic," Madison pouted.
When Lauren didn't say anything she sighed, "Fine. I'll see you later tonight. Text me if you decide to go to the party. I really don't want to go alone. Ah! I wish Jack was here."
"How are you two?"
Madison smiled, "We're good...I'm still a little worried about the whole Grace thing. I mean what if he thinks he made the wrong decision in being with me?"
"I'm sure he doesn't Madison. He broke it off with Grace for a reason."
"Yeah but he's done that before. Anyway he said that he was making a trip to Berkeley. All of the football players at his school get a weekend to leave the campus and get a break from sports."
"That's great Madison! But why next week?"
Madison smiled, "Duh Lauren! It's Valentines Day!"
"Oh right, I totally forgot."
"Who forgets Valentines day?"
But before Lauren could answer that the warning bell rang, and she was making her way to her class.
Chemistry was her first class of the day. Aside from the first day she had managed to arrive there on time everyday. Today Mr. Potter was going over mole ratios. He had a very weird way of constructing his assignments, and if Lauren hadn't taken Chemistry in high-school, she might have been lost. She looked around and noticed that Dante was nowhere to be found, even when the bell rang he still wasn't there. She didn't know why she was so anxious about it, but she kept that to herself as she looked over at Mr. Potter who began explaining the chapter.
"...And we must always remember that in order to solve a mole ration you must have a what?" He looked over at the class enthusiastically but no one said anything. Mr. Potter looked upset about this, and he sighed heavily before writing it on the board, "A balanced equation. Come on you guys! I know most of you learned this in the tenth grade."
Before he could say anything more the door opened and Lauren felt her breathing hitch for a second as Dante walked inside casually. She only looked at him briefly, five seconds tops, before turning her attention back on her paper. She started to scribble down the notes as Mr. Potter looked over at Dante angrily.
"You're late. What's your excuse?"
Dante shrugged, "I don't live on campus and my motorcycle broke down."
Lauren's eyes widened at this for a second. "He rides a motorcycle?"
Mr. Potter rubbed his temples, clearly aggravated, "Go have a seat and copy the notes from the board. We're going over mole ratios."
Dante made his way towards Lauren and took a seat. She quickly turned her head and looked back at the board.
"Did you miss me?" he joked.
Lauren rolled her eyes but chuckled, "You're gonna miss what Mr. Potter's teaching if you don't pay attention."
He rolled his eyes playfully, "Back to square one I see."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" She looked at him for a second, but he was still looking at the board.
"Nothing, don't worry about it," he responded.
She wanted to ask him another question but she refrained as she continued to copy the notes from the board.
"Ok now I want you guys to go ahead and do these ten practice problems. There's no homework tonight but make sure that you're studying," Mr. Potter said as he went around and passed everyone a worksheet.
Lauren grabbed the paper from her teacher and scanned over the questions before doing them. Dante looked over at her for a minute. He wasn't the type of person to get started on his work right away. She noticed that he was looking at her, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.
"Aye Lauren," he nudged her and she looked up at him with curious eyes.
"What's up?"
"Did you hear about the party?"
"Oh yeah...I heard. My friend really wants to go-"
"And you don't?" he questioned.
"Well it's just that...We have that Chemistry test on Monday remember? And if I don't do good on the first test-"
Dante chuckled, "Lauren, you learned all this crap in high-school. Besides it's not like you're majoring in Chemistry. That's why we're in General Chemistry remember?"
Lauren laughed at this, "I guess you have a point..."
"So you're coming then?"
For a while she didn't answer and Dante laughed to lighten the mood, "I can take you over there on my motorcycle, and I can get you and your friend in for free."
Lauren couldn't help but giggle at this, "I'll go but I'm not going on your motorcycle Dante."
"Why?"
She gave him a knowing look, "Motorcycles are even more dangerous than cars. What happens if I fall off?"
He faked a shocked expression, "Well gee! I never thought about that before!"
She rolled her eyes at him and he laughed, "Lauren you really think I would let you fall off?"
"I don't think that's something that you can control."
He took her by surprise when he suddenly leaned in towards her, and whispered something in her ear, "Well if you just hold on tight, I'm sure you'd survive."
Her heart started racing, and she couldn't turn to look at him. She was thankful for the interruption from the teacher.
"How is it going? Are you guys understanding the lesson?"
She nodded at the teacher and he checked her paper, which was only half way done.
"Finish it up, we have about fifteen minutes of class left. And Mr. Nixon, I would really appreciate it if you would get started on yours."
When Lauren was done with all of her classes, she made her way inside her dorm. Her parents as well as her brother had called her and she decided to call them back to waste some time. It was late afternoon and the party would be closer to nine or ten at night. Madison said that she would be coming over an hour before they left to get ready. She scrolled through her contacts list and called Jason.
After a few rings he answered the phone in a cheerful manner.
"Lauren hey! How is the college life?"
"Hey Jason! It's good...I'm doing pretty good in all of my classes. Are you still enjoying medical training?"
"Of course. I can't wait to become an actual doctor. And you'll never guess who I bumped into today."
"Who?"
"Grace," he responded in an excited tone.
It was no secret that Jason used to have a thing for Grace, but she couldn't be quite sure if he still liked her.
"You mean Grace Bowman right?"
"Yup. It's really good to have a familiar face around here you know?"
"Haven't you been making friends?"
"Oh yeah of course but still, I don't really know them as well as I know Grace."
"Well of course not," Lauren chuckled, "Because you didn't kiss them all at Med Camp."
"Shut up Lauren!" he responded in a playful manner.
"So do you still have a thing for Grace?"
"...I'm not sure, but right now that's not what I want to focus on. Anyway I didn't even call you to talk to you about Grace."
"Oh...then what is it?"
"It's about mom and dad-"
"Did something happen?"
"Oh yeah something definitely happened...Something big Lauren."
"Is it bad?" Lauren asked timidly. Her parents had been fighting for such a long time, which was the reason for their divorce in the first place.
"No, it's not bad," Jason chuckled, "They're getting back together."
Lauren didn't say anything for a moment, but she was grinning from ear to ear. She couldn't believe it. She never thought that the two of them would get back together.
"Jason that's...That's great. So they're getting remarried?"
Jason laughed, "Well I mean they just started seeing each other again so I doubt it. They have a lot of issues to work out, as well as understanding why they fought in the first place."
"Yeah that's true."
Lauren and Jason talked for a few more minutes until Jason said that he had to leave. She smiled as she said goodbye to Jason and then ended the call on her phone. Things were definitely looking up for her.
Lauren had spent most of the time studying. She had a test in Chemistry as well as one in her Creative Writing class. She barely even heard the knock on the door, until it became louder and louder to the point where she had to open it. She got up and walked over to open the door and she saw Madison standing there with an excited look on her face, and a few bags of clothing.
She knew that this couldn't be good.
"Ah! Lauren I'm so excited! Now about the whole money thing I think I have-"
Lauren waved Madison's statement off, "Don't worry about it. I have us covered...or Dante has us covered at least."
"Ooh, he's getting us in for free? This guy must really like you Lauren!"
"I don't know about all that, but come on let's get ready."
Madison threw a couple of bags on Lauren's bed, "So I figured I could do your makeup first, and then get mine done. Have you picked out a dress?"
Lauren shook her head, "I figured I would just throw on a skirt or something."
Madison pouted, "This isn't the type of party where you just throw something on."
"It's just like going to a club Madison. I don't see the difference."
Madison rolled her eyes at Lauren's attitude, "Come on let's just get you ready."
...
As Madison applied makeup onto Lauren's face she heard Lauren's phone ring. Lauren's eyes were still closed because Madison was putting eyeliner on her and so she remained there. Madison grabbed her phone quietly and looked at the message on the screen. She smirked.
"Ooh, it's from Dante."
Lauren's eyes opened almost immediately and she looked at Madison with a warning face, "Don't you dare read that Madison!"
"Why? You said you didn't like him."
"Just give me the phone."
Madison giggled, "Dante says-"
Lauren snatched it before she could even read the next line, "That's invasion of privacy Madison."
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry gees! You need to lighten up."
Lauren was barely listening though as she read Dante's text.
From Dante:
To Lauren
Call me when you get there so I can let you in...You sure you don't want to ride the motorcycle? ;)
Lauren chuckled at this, "He's so stupid."
"Mhm," Madison smirked, "Now let's finish getting you all dolled up."
They arrived at the party a little late, and they could hear the music from outside the building. Dante let them in easily, and Lauren was curious as to how he got them in for free. Madison was wearing a knee length black dress with heels to match. Her hair was curled to perfection and she wore light makeup. Lauren was wearing a red dress that went a little past her knees with black heels and curled hair.
"How did you get us in here without paying?" Lauren asked, or rather screamed over the loud music.
"I'm the DJ!" he responded.
"Oh, that's cool."
When they finally made their way inside the building fully, Madison smiled at the two.
"This must be your friend. Nice to meet you," Dante flashed her a toothy grin and Madison smiled.
She leaned over towards Lauren and whispered something, "Oh my gosh Lauren! He's hot!"
Lauren giggled, "You have Jack remember?"
When they pulled away Madison winked, "Don't worry I wouldn't even try to do that to you, first come first serve after all."
Dante looked at the two of them quizzically, but Lauren didn't bother to let him in on their insider.
"It was nice to meet you Dante. I'm gonna go get some drinks."
"But not too many!" Lauren warned her.
"I won't make that same mistake again, honest. I'll see you later Lauren! Have fun!" And with that Madison walked off, joining a group of strangers in some innocent dancing.
"You're the DJ shouldn't you be up there?" Lauren asked.
"Trying to get rid of me already?" he grinned.
"Of course not," Lauren laughed.
"I got someone to fill in for me actually...Did you wanna dance?"
Before she could respond he continued talking. In a teasing tone he asked her, "Can you dance?"
Lauren scoffed at this and he laughed at her reaction, "Of course I can dance. I took years of ballet."
He was surprised at this, "Wow...I guess I should have seen that coming. You do seem like you would do ballet."
"Why? Because I'm 'white washed'," she rolled her eyes. It brought her back to the days when she was always called white washed in middle school, just because she didn't act ghetto.
Surprisingly he laughed at this, "Gees Lauren, you're really defensive. That's not what I was going to say at all. I just assumed you were in some type of dance. Dancers always have nice bodies."
She could feel the blush forming on her cheeks, and she was just thankful that she was dark enough to the point where it didn't show, "Thanks."
"So what do you say? Let's test your dancer skills."
"Alright...you're on." And with that she grabbed his hand and they made their way to the dance floor.
Lauren was like a goddess on the dance floor. Dante could barely keep up with her. He was in awe. The way she moved so gracefully, no matter what kind of music was playing, or what kind of dancing she did, she had a way of making it look elegant and hard-hitting all at the same time. For the few weeks that he had known Lauren, he never saw her so confident, and so free. It was a side of her that Dante could definitely get used to.
Across the dance floor Madison was still having the time of her life. But she kept wishing that Jack was there. She was falling for him almost too hard, and she didn't know how to stop it. She was just hoping that he felt the same way, but she guessed that she would see next week when he came to Berkeley to visit.
Lauren and Dante were still dancing, they had barely taken any breaks. Lauren had almost forgotten that a very attractive guy was standing in front of her. She wasn't so nervous anymore. Dante was surprised that he hadn't had a drink yet. He would usually drink to get drunk at parties like this, but he didn't want to leave Lauren for even a second. He saw a few people eyeing her, and he didn't know why he felt the need to say something to them. After all Lauren wasn't his girlfriend. The two of them were just friends, if they were even that.
"I have to admit, you out-danced me!" Dante shouted over the music.
Lauren smiled, "Well I tried to warn you."
Before he could say anything more the mood in the room switched. They were slowing the songs down, and everyone was starting to slow dance. Lauren felt like her heart was racing to the point where it wasn't even funny. She was searching for some type of excuse to get out of this, but he held her by her waist before she could escape.
For a second she didn't move, until he tipped her chin up with his finger and made her look at him, "What happened to your elegant dancing? I mean you did do ballet, and this is a much slower pace than before."
She wanted to laugh at this, but she still couldn't find the voice to say anything. So he tried to calm her down.
He knew the song that they were playing by heart, and as he leaned in closer towards her, he started to sing.
[I would recommend playing Yo Excuse Me Miss by Chris Brown - I did skip some of the lyrics to fit the story though.]
Whoa Whoa
Do do do do do
Yeah
Yeah
Yo,
Tell me fellas have you seen her? (Seen her)
It was about five minutes ago
When I seen the hottest chick
That a young'n
Never seen before
She was surprised to say the least. His voice was amazing! And he was really blowing her away. Of course she and Madison sang too, but this was just beyond what she expected. She wrapped her arms around his neck as they moved to the music, "You sing!"
He laughed, "Yeah...In fact I'm working on a few of my own albums."
I said Yo,
Tell her girls I want to meet her (meet her)
On second thought that ain't the way to go
I got'a give her game proper
Spit it so she'll get it
There she is I got to stop her
Or should I talk about her smile? (It's been said before)
Or what about her style? (Too obvious)
I'm out of time
She's out the door
I got to go for mine
I think I'll say
She couldn't help but smile as he continued singing the song. Madison had stopped dancing for a while and went to grab another drink, this time of soda, when she saw Lauren and Dante dancing together. She couldn't help the awe that slipped out of her mouth as she watched the two of them. After everything that she'd gone through, Madison honestly thought that she deserved someone like Dante. She didn't know much about him, but he seemed like a nice guy.
Now shorty grab hold of my hand
And let's pretend the floor is ours
You say you don't really dance
Don't worry about it
We'll just 1,2 step
1,2 step
Now if the music is moving too fast (too fast)
Grab my hand a little tighter (tighter)
Don't be afraid to move a little closer
Girl, there is something about you that makes me want to say
She was lost in the music once again. She just couldn't help it.
"Lauren," Dante said in a barely audible whisper, "...Lauren?"
Lauren looked up at him, "Sorry, what is it?"
"I have to tell you something."
She was nervous again, as she drew in a deep breath and looked at him, "Ok...what is it?"
"I just know how to say it..." he admitted.
Lauren had never seen Dante so nervous before. She waited for him to talk as they stopped dancing.
"Lauren...you're one of the realest girls that I've ever met and I...I know I probably don't deserve it. But will you go out with me?"
She stood there, completely stunned by his question. She hadn't expected him to say anything like that. And now she had a decision to make. But she wasn't sure what to do. She had only known him for a few weeks. She wasn't even sure if she could trust him. She thought that she could trust Jesse, but she was wrong about all of that. But at the same time everything was pulling her towards him, and although she'd never admit it to Madison, she did like him. Or what she knew of him at least.
"Lauren? Are you ok?"
I want to be where you are
Ain't nothing wrong with dancing
Baby it's so romantic
Baby I can be in your heart
"...Yeah," she gulped, "I'm fine."
"Ok," he chuckled nervously, "...Are you just gonna keep a brother waiting?"
She chuckled at this but upon closer inspection he could see that there were tears in her eyes. He looked over at her, concerned, "Did I do something?"
"What? No, no you didn't do anything...I just...I don't trust people that easily. I guess ever since Jesse-"
"Jesse?"
"He's my ex-boyfriend. He cheated on me with...this girl at a party," she explained. She didn't want to say that it was Madison because she was trying to move past all of that.
"Lauren I swear I can be ten times better than your ex."
"It wouldn't be that hard. He was a terrible boyfriend," she laughed as she wiped her eye and then it hit her that she was wearing makeup. She looked at her hand, there was only a bit of mascara on it but she was a girl so of course she freaked out, "Ugh, I guess I should fix this." She turned to head over to the bathroom but he chuckled.
"Wait, Lauren," he tugged on her arm gently and brought her closer to him. She would never feel any less antsy under Dante's gaze. He grinned, "I don't care about your makeup. You don't even need it."
She was about to throw some sarcastic remark his way but she was cut off from any of that as he brought his lips to hers.
And if your shorty in the house tonight
Just grab her by the hand homie
Make her understand you all was made to dance like this (like this)
You all was made to bounce like this (whoa like this)
Just let her know she was made for you.
And you want to do everything she want to man.
A/N: So I'm not sure if I'm going to add another chapter or not. I kind of want to do the whole Valentines Day thing even though I'll be a few days late. So we'll see. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed.