Amidst the celebration and among the chaos; drowned out by the seemingly endless cheering of the crowd haphazardly scattered throughout the field, Rudy found himself staring at a pair of bright, hazel eyes, stunned by the events unfolding before them.
The bright eyes belonged to a girl bearing a pink pair of bunny ears that he'd never seen her without. The ears were placed firmly atop her head, concealing all but her own pair of scruffy pigtails protruding from her dark, half-kempt hair.
He knew her well; the bright eyes and adorned, dark hair belonged to Louise, his closest friend since kindergarten.
Rudy had always fought against the odds to hold her attention, often putting himself in imminent danger without his inhaler – a critical tool for his survival – yet he considered every near-death experience unquestioningly worthwhile, just to talk with her or, under rarer circumstances, hold her hand.
Despite their history, Rudy's true feelings had never come to surface until the excitement and confusion of this very moment.
He wanted to kiss her.
Rudy pushed the thought from the forefront of his mind, calling it criminally stupid. Louise was always finding herself in trouble. In fact; she had, by a wide margin, the absolute worst record of conduct in the school's known history. If he acted on his urge, the most generous outcome he could picture was hospitalization. She was never athletic, but she was terrifyingly strong for her size, which happened to be no smaller than Rudy himself.
He focused on the sounds of the unrelenting crowd surrounding him, but still the urge lingered. The bright eyes were still returning his gaze, locked in a stalemate and accelerating his pulse.
In a sudden burst of stupidity and courage, Rudy broke eye-contact with the girl and searched for a visual of her lips; if nothing else, perhaps he could get a real sense of how they would feel, just by looking at them.
Rudy's eyes darted around in confusion, as the realization that he was standing much too close set in. Her lips resided outside of his field-of-view, his stare falling plainly on her cheeks which were flushed with the color of a newly-bloomed dahlia. His focus returned to the girl's beaming eyes, still firmly locked onto his.
The surrounding crowd continued in slow motion as Rudy's understanding of the situation fell rapidly into place, like a short row of dominoes receiving a gentle shove.
The reason for this girl's intense stare; the pretense for her scarlet complexion: before Rudy had made any conscious consideration of this girl, or his feelings for her, his lips were already pressed tightly against hers.
He closed his eyes and assumed the moment.
The girl wore no lip balm, but her mouth was soft against his. The only taste was a subtle layer of her saliva, a sweet nectar only she could produce, he was certain.
The gentle scent of the girl's freshly bloomed sweat carried pheromones from her mud-blotched, gold and black soccer jersey directly into Rudy's lungs, creating a sudden, welling tension in his groin, his grip tightening instinctively in the lowest recess of her back. Impulsively, he pulled her in close, their bodies pressing together without resistance.
Muscles tensed on both sides before butterflies filled Rudy's lungs. The relaxation of both parties told him that Louise felt it, too.
Giving conscious attention to the situation caused his cheeks to burn a fiery red. He had never kissed a girl before, but with Louise, it came as a natural compulsion.
A small hand began to travel slowly up Rudy's abdomen ,the sensual touch driving his fragile libido through the roof. He was certain she could feel his erection pressing firmly against her, but she gave no outward indications regarding the matter.
He felt a second hand following the first. Gently, and provocatively, her fingers traveled center-mass.
A sturdy, two-handed shove sent Rudy on the edge of his heels. Flirting with the tug of gravity, he regained his balance, opening his eyes to the sudden, unanticipated strike of the girl's dominant palm against the left side of his face.
It stung.
Her countenance teetered somewhere between rage and a sensual pout.
"Dammit, Rudy!" She gave a half-assed attempt of sounding genuinely angry, conveying an involuntary, shameful lust in the undertones of her trembling voice, successfully driving Rudy's fantasies deeper into the erotic. "Dammit, don't be gross!" Her small chest heaved with a sudden fault in her intonation, accenting a quiet, but indecent moan.
Grasping Rudy by the collar of his shirt, Louise pulled her band back once again, charging for a second open-handed blow.
Rudy shut his eyes in anticipation of the attack, wincing preemptively. His reflex was met with an unforeseen stillness.
His sight returned to the girl. By now, her cheeks were a dark crimson; a somehow angry and embarrassed expression decorated her innocent features.
"Dammit." This time, she whispered. Rudy's frame jolted in response to her sudden and violent tug. Before Rudy could prepare himself for the next assault…
Louise's lips were pressed firmly against his.