The Chase

Some people have been experts on how to woo girls their whole lives. There was one person I knew who was like that. His name was Sebastian Fitzgerald, and he was probably the biggest douche in this entire town. He’d broken so many girls’ hearts I’d lost count. He was the topic of conversation between my friend and me most of the time. Today wasn’t any different. We were sitting at our lunch table near the main stairs in the cafeteria. Our school was bigger than most around here, but it had only been built a few years ago. When other students came here for competitions they’d say it looked like a maximum security prison. In a way I guess it did.

We sat at the very edge of the table, one friend across from the other. Jane and I had been friends for as long as I could remember, and Kyle was a good friend of ours too. He didn’t have the same lunch as we did, so he didn’t sit with us every day. It was the many heartbreaking factors of being a junior here at this school. We never knew if we’d have a class together or not. There were too many classes to take, opportunities to seize in the hopes of getting into a good college. But someone that did have the same lunch as us was Sebastian, and we both watched as he put his arm around yet another victim.
“He’s at it again,” Jane groaned as she sat down.

“I know. Poor girl, she doesn’t even see it coming.” We glared at Sebastian as he whispered something funny in her ear, and how she laughed at every word that came out of his mouth. The jerk. Who did he think he was to do that to her? She was a nice person, and I knew her sort of. We’d had a history class together here, a science class there. She was quiet, but I could see how much he’d changed her already in the past few days.

“What do you think is going through his head when he does this to other girls?” She asked as she picked out the tomatoes in her salad.

I shrugged. “It’s always about the next girl, never about the present one. It seems like he’s always one step ahead. This is a game to him. He wants you until he’s got you then once you’re in love with him, he disappears.” I turned back to Jane, grossed out by the looks of him.

Jane nodded. “Sounds about right. Oh crap…” One of her tomatoes slid off her fork just as she was about to pull it out.

I stopped. “What?” She darted her eyes to the right, motioning me to look over without being too obvious. I glanced out of the corner of my eye, and sure enough, Sebastian was looking right over here. His eyes were on me, boring into my skull. Then I saw it. I turned back to Jane. “Did he just wink at me?”

She stood up rather quickly, gathering her things to make a break for it as fast as she could. Her lips curled into a frown. “You have my sympathies.” As soon as the words left her mouth she was gone, speeding in the other direction.

“Jane! Don’t leave me with—“

“Hey,” I felt his breath on the back of my ear, “You’re Lily, right?”

“What’s it to you?” I asked with my eyes firmly glued to the table. He sat down next to me, putting on his best smoldering look. It didn’t fool me.

“I’ve seen you around here…”

“Makes sense. We go to the same school, moron.”

“I don’t think you understand what I mean—“

“No,” I picked up my bag, “I understand perfectly. I just don’t care. Goodbye.” I sped out of there as fast as I could without full on sprinting. I let my back hit the wall, and I closed my eyes to catch my breath. His sights were most likely set on me now and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. I’d just ignore him, and he’d get the hint right?

I went to my next class a little early, history 6th hour. That was one of the three classes I shared with Sebastian Fitzgerald, and I certainly wasn’t looking forward to him arriving. There were no assigned seats, so he’d probably be the one to sit next to me. Our desks were partner style, two people to one long desk. Turns out I was right because when everyone started to file in, he took the seat that was next to me before anyone else could. I put my head deeper into my books, making a point to look busy.

The next thing I know he has his hand on the edge of my chemistry book and he’s slamming it shut. “Hey!” I glared at him.

He clicked his tongue. “Can’t make any friends with your face so deep in the books now can you?” His laugh was sickening. My stomach tightened into thick knots.

“I have all the friends I need. Now if you’ll excuse me,” When I opened my book I crushed his fingers, making him wince,
“I’m going to study. Go sit by some other girl.” Sebastian had to grab his hand and pull it to be able to get his fingers out. I didn’t care. If he was going to be a jerk to other girls, that gave me the right to be a jerk to him. The bell chimed three times before I heard our teacher shut the door.

He said that we were going to be learning about World War 1 today, which I thought was really interesting. This was my favorite class before Sebastian had to go and screw it up. All I wanted to do was get out of here now. “We’re going to do a project on World War 1, class. This is going to be a partner assignment so I will be assigning the partners. Ok….Jake Altman and Carter Anderson….Karina Barton and Jayden Berry…”

The moment I realized he was doing it in alphabetical order my heart sank. My name was right before—“

“Lily Freeman and Sebastian Fitzgerald.”

Oh dear Lord.

I felt him next to me as snickers sounded around the room. “You hear that, Lily? We’re partners.” He laughed in my ear and I cringed. Before he could realize I was up to anything suspicious I let my hand drop. Once I found the leg of his stool I yanked as hard as humanly possible. Not only did he get away from me, but he tumbled to the floor. Everyone in the class laughed.

“Guess she doesn’t like you, Sebastian!” Someone in the front teased.

He scowled at me when I patted his head, a smug grin on my face. That’ll teach him. I arranged who had to do what on our project and as I was leaving class he grabbed my shoulder. “Don’t think you can embarrass me like that anymore, Lily.” His charismatic smile contradicted his words. He was still pissed.

“Who said I was embarrassing you? Besides, don’t you already have a girl in your clutches?”

“I wouldn’t say that—“

“Of course not…but we all know you do so there’s no need to bother me. I have all of our stuff sorted out for this stupid project. Once we’re both finished we can collaborate on our presentation. I don’t need you pestering me.”

He let his fingers trail down my arm. “But I like you…what’s the harm in that—“

I stomped on his foot. “There is a lot of harm in that. Screw off, Sebastian.” I turned the other way, fully aware that he was staring after me, wondering how I could resist his devilish charm that swayed so many other hopeless girls. I’d seen his romances firsthand; they were nothing special. I wasn’t going to be another name on his list of past relationships. I couldn’t be.

Jane rode home with me in my car that day, so there were plenty of things to talk about. I hadn’t seen her since lunch, which was normal, but I’d never been so happy to see her in my life. “So he tried to hit on you in history class? That’s a little low, even for him.”

I scoffed. “Tell me about it. Now we have this project together and he’s doing everything in his power to make me like him.”
Jane leaned forward as we neared my house. “Um, Lily? You might want to look in your driveway.”

My eyes followed hers. Sebastian was leaning on his car with his arms crossed, looking as nonchalant as possible. Acting like it was no big deal that this was borderline stalking. I slammed my hands on the wheel. “You have got to be kidding me. Is no place sacred anymore?” I yelled.

“Apparently not.” She sighed. I pulled by the curb because his car was taking up my spot. I was furious when I slammed the door. Jane had decided she was going to stay in the car while he and I talked. Maybe it wasn’t going to be a calm conversation; in fact, I was betting that it wasn’t.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I came up to him.

His lips curled into a flirtatious smile. “You said we had to collaborate on our presentation, right? Well….I’m here to collaborate.” He explained simply. I was tempted to punch him right there.

“Do you have any idea how creepy this is? I never told you where I live!” I yelled.

Sebastian shrugged. “You didn’t have to. This is a small town where everyone knows where everyone lives. Simple logic, Lily. I bet that you know where I live too huh?” To be totally honest, I did. I didn’t want to say that though, because that would only prove his point. There were a lot of things I wanted to scream at him, most of them involved curse words. I wasn’t below shouting vile things at a guy I didn’t like; he deserved it. I bit my tongue, but only because little kids lived next door. I babysat them from time to time, and I didn’t want their parents to get concerned.

“Look,” I pinched the bridge of my nose, “if you really want to collaborate on this project that let me remind you, we just started today, then fine. I’m not going to stop you. I’m going to drive Jane home and if you’re still here, I’ll do it. I have other things to do today, so there won’t be a lot of time. Can you live with that?”

“Can’t wait for you to get back.” Sebastian said with a provocative drawl. I almost gagged.

“Kill me now…” I cringed as I walked back to my car. I started the engine and sped out of my neighborhood. “It’s worse than I thought, Jane.” I complained.

“I saw that. He doesn’t seem to give a damn that you’re not interested at all. He’s going to keep hitting on you till you succumb to his dastardly charm.” She clutched her heart, and then rolled her eyes. “I don’t see how you haven’t killed him yet.” Jane surveyed her nails, disappointed that some of the blue polish had chipped off. I could never keep my nails painted long enough for them to look good. I always bumped something and messed them up, so I gave up trying.

“He’s driving me nuts. I pulled his chair out from under him in history and when he confronted me after class I stomped on his foot.” She held her side as she chuckled, barely able to contain herself. I pulled into her driveway, a bit sad that we’d gotten here so fast. That meant that I’d have to go back and be with him for at least an hour.

“Here’s the thing,” Jane turned towards me, “What if you just act like you like him and once he thinks he’s got you, he’ll let you go. Isn’t that the way it is with everyone else?”

I smiled. “That’s a brilliant idea! Why didn’t I think of that in the first place?”

She shrugged as she opened the passenger door. “I’ll come over tomorrow ok? You can tell me about your encounter with the womanizer then.” Her laugh chimed as she shut the door. I pulled out and started to drive, dread filling my veins. Sure enough, he was still sitting there when I got back. I sat in my car, savoring the last few seconds of freedom. The silence was soothing, but it was over as fast as it had begun. He was standing next to my car, opening the door for me.

“Hey, partner.” A smile was plastered on his face.

“Screw off.” I shouldered past him and up my driveway. I turned the key to my front door, tempted to slam it right in his face. I pointed to the dining room table while I got a notebook and two pencils. I opened my laptop, typing the password quickly so he wouldn’t see it. I got two bottles of water and threw his at his face. He caught it with ease and nodded his thanks.

“I feel a very hostile energy coming from you right now, Lily.” Sebastian said as he poked his chin.

“And why do you think that is?” I sneered. I leaned over his shoulder to reach the keyboard on my laptop. He ran his hand down my side. I recoiled, slapping him right in the eye.

“Ow! What was that for?” He rubbed the left side of his face for a little bit as I crossed my arms.

“Just because I let you in my house does not mean you can do that to me, understand?” I raised my eyebrows.

Sebastian grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh hell…” I shook my head. “Look Sebastian, I have to work on my piano piece so you can think of ideas for the presentation while I do that.” I went upstairs to grab my sheet music. When I came back down he was busy scrawling things on the paper I gave him. His ideas were pretty good, but I was shocked that he was getting any work done at all. Maybe I misjudged him. When he looked up he winked at me.

Nope. Definitely did not misjudge him. He’s still a freaking jerk.

I sat at the piano bench, placing my music on the stand as I did so. My recital was in a week or so, and I needed to get as much practice in as possible. That was all I planned to do today but with him here, it changed things. I couldn’t relax enough to be able to lose myself in the piece. I couldn’t let my mind focus completely enough on one thing, which is really what I needed to do anyway. I rolled my eyes. Why did he have to complicate things so much? “Play.” He said.

I turned. “What?”

He shrugged. “If you’re going to play you better be able to do it in front of people. Especially that song…you don’t want to embarrass yourself now do you?” When he came over he took the spot next to me. “Oh yeah…I’ve played this before. Last year I think. Let’s see…” He placed his fingers on the keys and played with ease. My jaw hit the ground.

Of all the things he could do, he had to play the freaking piano?

“I…”

“You should really close your mouth; it makes a man think things.” I snapped my mouth shut when he chuckled. A wave of pain ran all the way down to my nerves and it took everything I had not to moan.

When he finished he stood up and went back to his chair like it was nothing. “I had no idea you could play.”

He nodded. “Been playing since I was like four. Don’t tell anyone though; it’s bad for my reputation. I’m sure it would make the girls swoon but it’s not such a hit with my friends so…” Sebastian went back to writing things down on his paper. Maybe I would tell them. I’d like to see him become the laughing stock of the school. The tough, bad boy wouldn’t be so bad anymore if something like that were to get out.

“Fine…but one day I might just slip and spill your big secret.” I warned.

“Don’t you dare.” He scowled.

I laughed and went back to playing. He seemed to enjoy the music while he was sitting there, watching me. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought. Maybe there was more to him than just hitting on girls. I stopped my train of thought short. What was I thinking? I’d only spent an hour with this guy and already he was influencing me. I shivered. I had to get him out of my house before it was too late. I closed my laptop. “Don’t you think it’s time for you to go?” I asked.

He checked the time. “It’s only 5:30.”

“Don’t want to be home too late, do you? Now come on, get out of my house.” I shooed him away with my hand. I went into my kitchen, expecting him to be heading out. I was wrong. I grabbed a glass, but when I turned around he was inches away from me. The glass slipped out of my hands, crashing to the ground. It shattered everywhere, and I cringed.

“Nervous much? Geez…let me help.” I bent down when he did to pick up the glass. I didn’t realize how sharp one piece of it was, and a red scarlet line popped up on my finger. I sucked in a breath. I hated seeing blood, especially my own. “Oh.” He said softly. He took my hand and stuck the tip of my finger in his mouth. He stared straight at me, but he didn’t do anything to be a jerk.

“Um…thanks I guess.” I said when he finally let go of my hand. He looked around for another sharp piece of glass. When he did he took it and drug it across his index finger in the same place I’d cut mine. He stuck his finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding.

“I’m assuming you’re squeamish because of your reaction to cutting your finger but… alright. It’s not so scary now is it? We’ll have matching scars and everything. I’ll pick the rest of this up.” Sebastian ignored my silent protest and put each piece of glass in his hand. I watched him, but stayed silent. If he had left already I wouldn’t have broken that glass. Stupid jerk. I was still on the floor when he came back from throwing the shards away. He offered his hand to me. I took it and stood up.

“Why did you sneak up behind me?”

“I was just coming to tell you thanks for today. I wasn’t going to do anything, but then you dropped the glass and cut your finger so I felt like I needed to—“ I held my hand up.

“It’s fine. I’ll talk to you about the project on Monday I guess.” I didn’t ever meet his gaze but I felt him nod at me. He stepped away, and walked out of the kitchen.

“Bye, Lily.” He called. I waited for the door to shut before I moved. He’d cut his finger so I wouldn’t be scared of the blood? That was the most considerate thing I’d ever seen him do, and I’d know him forever. This was the first time he wasn’t a total douchebag to anyone. I shook my head. I wouldn’t have my opinion of him changed by one single encounter.


Jane came over the next day, just like she said she would. I could rely on her for things like that, especially when I needed to talk to her. I showed her the cut on my finger and she narrowed her eyes as she examined it carefully. “So you’re saying he’s going to have a matching scar on the same finger in a few weeks.”

“He told me he did it so I wouldn’t be so freaked out. You know how I hate blood. He stuck my finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding.”

“Ooh romantic.” She waved her hands around.

“It kinda grossed me out. I slapped him across the face when he touched me before that.”

Jane smiled, nodding her approval. “Good job. I wish I could’ve been there to see that. We went out to the movie theater in the next town over to pass the time. It was some action flick I’d never heard of but Jane was dying to see. I knew she’d talked about it coming out for the last few weeks, but I’d been so busy that I barely listened. I felt a little guilty for doing that to her, so I was making it up by coming with her to see it. Hopefully it wasn’t one of the films that I could see what was going to happen in the first few minutes of it. It’d keep me interested.

We got popcorn and drinks and got our seats towards the back. The theater was filling up quickly, so I assumed it was a popular movie everyone was talking about. I wasn’t into action as much as Jane was, so I never heard anything about it other than her talking about the characters. That’s the only way I knew who they were. She did this so I wouldn’t be asking questions throughout the whole thing. She was considerate like that. There was a tap on my shoulder, but I didn’t look over. “Is this seat taken?” A voice asked.

“No. Sit.” I turned to see who it was, and my heart sank. “Sebastian what are you doing here?” I asked, a little bewildered if I might add.

He shrugged. “I’ve wanted to see this movie ever since I heard about it. What about you? I didn’t have you pegged for a Marvel action movie type of girl.” He took my drink out of the cup holder and took a swig. I snatched it back from him and he laughed at the look on my face. I could only imagine what he was seeing.

“I’m not,” I put my drink back where it was supposed to be, “Jane is.” She peered from around me with a smirk on her face. I knew she didn’t want him here, and neither did I. It was just the matter of getting him to leave that was the problem.

He nodded and took my drink again. “Makes sense. Oh yeah by the way, how’s your cut doing? Mine happens to be scarring quite nicely.” He held up his finger, showing me a dark raised scar on his index finger. I stared at mine, and it was much the same. Apparently I didn’t heal as fast as he did. I shrugged. What made him think he could just show up whenever he wanted? I didn’t even want him here anyway, so why wasn’t he getting the hint.

“Why are you here?” I questioned.

“Like I said before…I want to see this movie. As an American I think that’s my right. You just so happen to be here too. Is that a problem?” Sebastian clicked his tongue.

“I think it is.” Jane chimed in from beside me. I smiled at her remark.

He ignored her. “The movie’s starting so be quiet. Don’t you dare ruin this for me.”

“Or what?” I retorted.

Sebastian leaned forward. “Or I’m going to kiss you in front of everyone.” That made me shut up for the rest of the film. He sat there, looking smug the whole time.

When we walked out of the show room Sebastian was sauntering beside us with a smile on his face. I was annoyed by his presence. I knew Jane wanted to leave as fast as possible because of how uncomfortable he made both of us. “Hey,” I touched his shoulder, “I have to talk to you for a second.” He nodded when I pulled him off to the side away from Jane.

“What is it?” He asked.

I crossed my arms. How do I say it without sounding like a tool? “Look, Sebastian. I don’t want you around my friends anymore. I understand that we’re doing a project together but that’s no excuse to show up everywhere ok? I have a life, and so do you. So…stop it.”

He cocked his head to the side, amused by my words. “Oh, you think I’m following you, right? Let me tell you something,” Sebastian bent down till our noses touched, “I can get anyone I want.” He whispered.

“Not me.” I shook my head.

He stepped back, a little surprised by my words. His laugh was strained, like he had to choke it out. He wasn’t going to even have a shot with me. “You think so? Why?” Sebastian asked, intrigued.

“I’ve known about your relationships since we got into high school. You’ve had more girlfriends than I could count. You like chasing them, and then once you have them, you toss them out like it was nothing. The girl is heartbroken, and you’re already looking for someone else to love you. Not me, Sebastian. You’re not going to do that to me. I’m not going to fall for your charm and your good looks. There is no way in hell… now I’m gonna go.”

When I turned to leave he grabbed my arm and spun me around. There was this look of panic in his eyes when he gazed at me, like he didn’t want me to leave. There was something different about it; I’d never seen him so anxious. “Let me prove to you that this is different.” His voice was careful, quiet.

I ripped my arm away. “No, Sebastian. Goodbye,” I left him standing there and walked out with Jane. I knew he was staring after me, but I never looked back. I wasn’t going to let him think he actually had a shot at breaking my heart like he had everyone else.

For the next two days I obsessed about the movie encounter with Sebastian. I’d noticed at school he’d stopped messing with the usual girls he flirted with. Was it because of what I said? Did it seriously damage his ego? I hoped so; he needed to be taken down a few pegs. There was no better way to do that than honesty. When we were in history class he was silent the whole time, even the kids around us seemed to notice. They teased him about me making him fall in the chair, and asked if that had done something to his manhood. He ignored them.

I only started to feel bad when the girl he’d been flirting with came up to him and wrapped her arms around him at lunch. He pushed her away and left the cafeteria. I wondered if it was because of me. Jane stared after him. “Man, what did you say to him? He looks pitiful. Even I feel bad for him.” She shook her head as she once again picked the tomatoes out of her salad. Why didn’t she just tell them she didn’t want them in there? She got the same thing every day, so it would be less of a hassle.

“I think that I really did a number on his ego. Should I go say something?”

“He looked like he was about to cry…or maybe he’s crying right now. I’d like to see that…” She trailed off. Then she realized that she hadn’t answered the question. “Oh…yeah sure. Go see what’s got him so worked up. It might not even have been your fault. I’ll be here…like a loner.” Jane waved me off in the direction he’d gone. I was glad that she understood, so I went after him.

My footsteps clicked down the hall, but I didn’t see him anywhere. When I went to turn the corner I didn’t have enough time to stop. My nose hit his chest, and I winced. “Ow.” I rubbed my face. He tried to get past me, but I stood in his way. “Hey.” I waved my hand in front of him.

“I don’t want to talk to you, Lily.” Sebastian groaned, but didn’t try to get past me anymore.

“Are you mad at me for telling the truth? That’s the only thing I did. Since when is that an issue?”

“It’s an issue when you don’t even understand me at all! Are you stupid? Do you know me? No. I don’t know you either, but let me assume something here ok? You’re a stiff, Lily. You’ve never had a boyfriend and when I came into your life you freaked and the only possible explanation was that you were just like everyone else. It made sense didn’t it?”

“Well, you tell me. Am I or not?” I crossed my arms.

He threw his arms up in the air in an exaggerated way. “You’re freaking crazy, Lily! Quit making assumptions about me and my love life! If you’re going to do that, at least get to know me first. Do me that courtesy. Then after, if you decide what you think is still true, you can leave. I don’t give a damn.” Sebastian pushed me out of the way and started down the hall. I waited until he was a good distance away from me to get the nerve to say something.

“Fine.” I called.

He turned. “What did you just say to me?”

I rolled my eyes and took a step closer. “Fine.” I repeated.

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” He came back, closing the space between us. “So you’re saying you want to get to know me. Do you even understand how much of a stretch that is? I’m a very complicated person…a force to be reckoned with.” He still seemed a little mad, but I didn’t care.

“So is everyone else, Sebastian. Don’t think you’re different just because of that. Come over later…and I’ll see about this whole getting to know the real you thing. I just might barf.”

“Doesn’t that sound appetizing?” He groaned.


My mom had gone out somewhere, so it was just Sebastian and me at my house. I was sitting on my kitchen counter while he rummaged through the cupboards. “What are you doing?” I peered over at him. He ignored me for a long time, just kept pushing things around. He’d raise his eyebrows every now and then, satisfied with something he’d found, or maybe disappointed. I couldn’t read his facial expressions that well since he wasn’t looking straight at me.

“You’ve got some strange food here, Lily. How do you live?” He shook his head and closed the cabinet.

“It’s organic stuff. I go out and get normal food any time I can. I have a stash in my room because my mom’s a health nut. Come on, there’s better stuff up there.” I led him up to my room. There was a mini fridge at the edge of my room and a chest filled with junk food. You could swear an obese person lived in here with all the stuff that was in there.

“Wow…you really weren’t kidding.” Sebastian laughed and pulled something out that looked good to him.

“Don’t tell anyone…my mom would kill me if she knew about this.”

He glanced over, stopping what he was doing. “What about you Dad? Where’s he?”

My stomach tightened. “They’re divorced. I don’t know where he lives, or not anymore. I’m sure he wouldn’t care though.”

“Really…cool. My parents are divorced too.” Sebastian grinned.

“How is that good? Don’t you miss the parent you don’t live with?” I asked.

“I mean I guess. My Dad was a total deadbeat so I didn’t care when they decided to cut each other loose. Ok…marriage is like making the stupid decision to bet half your stuff in the hopes that it’s gonna last. Total waste of time.”

“So you don’t believe in marriage then?”

“Not even when my parents were married. I saw how unhappy it made them so I was like why would anyone want that for themselves? I was seven years old when they called it quits. Even then I knew that marriage was never something I wanted for myself.”

‘”What about kids?” I asked, interested on his point of view of things. I’d never even thought of marriage that way, and it made me question if I agreed with him. In a way I guess I did. His thinking was based off of feelings and not knowledge. It was intriguing.

Sebastian turned. “Are you kidding? I’d love to have kids. Who said you had to be married to have a kid? If two people who don’t believe in marriage want a kid, then they should damn well be able to have one right? I get that some people look down on others who have them when they aren’t married, but I could care less. I totally want kids when I’m older.” His smile was giddy. He seemed excited about growing up and having a family. “What about you?”

“What?” I asked.

“Do you want kids when you’re older?” His eyes were bright, excited even.

“Of course…I don’t know who wouldn’t.”

“You do that a lot.”

“Do what?”

“You compare yourself to everyone else. Stop that. You’re different from everyone else, so why should everyone else play a part in that?” His words astounded me. Why was he noticing something like that in the first place? Sebastian stood up and sat by me on my bed. He stared at me for a long time, long enough to make the air stiff. It made me uncomfortable, like I couldn’t breathe. When he broke his gaze I heaved a sigh of relief. “I know you hate being stared at… that’s why I did it."

I narrowed my eyes. “You seem to think you know a lot about me, huh?” I said quietly. Then I got an idea. “Have you ever been in love before?”

Sebastian’s face fell like he was remembering something. His exterior was cracking, and I knew this was the thing that made him the most uncomfortable. “Once,” he started, “it wasn’t too long ago. There was this girl I met while I was on vacation in California. We were together all of two weeks, but she never seemed to act like she liked me at all. I was so in love with her it made me crazy to have to leave her. Kind of like you actually….only that’s the only thing that’s similar about the two of you. She had blonde hair and you have this weird kind of auburn hair.”

He reached out and ran in through his fingers, all the while he was smiling at me. I found it kind of odd that he would do something like that, but I didn’t push him away. Maybe he was really remembering the girl and not me; he wasn’t really seeing me while he was doing that. I pulled away, my feelings a little hurt. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Sebastian scooted closer to me, and I had the gall to panic. I stood up and went over to the mirror. What was staring back at me wasn’t anything special, I was just some girl. I saw him come up behind me and grab my shoulders.

“If you were to fall in love with me….it wouldn’t be like everyone else you’ve been with would it?” I closed my eyes, afraid to hear his answer.

He made me turn around, but I didn’t open my eyes. “Why would you think it would be the same? If you like me…then all you have to do is say it.” His voice was low even though there was no one else in the house. “Do you?”

“I don’t know.” I said.

He sighed. “Let me make your decision clear then.” I felt his mouth on mine and a chill ran down my spine. Was he seriously kissing me right now? This jerk that had the reputation of kissing every girl in the school made the decision to kiss me too? Was I just another one of those girls? I had to admit he was a good kisser though. Needless to say I’d never been kissed in my life. He had no idea that he was my first kiss, or even the first guy to think of me in that way. He pulled away, and I opened my eyes.

“I…”

Sebastian covered his mouth. “Oh God, don’t tell me you’ve never kissed anyone before…” I shrugged and he hit his forehead with the back of his hand. “I’m so stupid! Why didn’t I ask you first? I just made a complete idiot out of myself—“ When I came up to him I wrapped my arms around his neck. He went silent when I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him. Even then I wasn’t tall enough. He leaned down with a suspicious look on his face. It melted away pretty soon after that.

“Promise me it’ll be different.” I leaned against him.

“Wow…you’ve seriously never done this before? There are some girls who’ve been having make out sessions since they were twelve and they can’t even do it like that. I’m impressed.” He nodded.

“Sebastian.” I prompted.

“Yeah…I promise. But, how about this? We’ll keep it a secret and surprise everyone at the end of the year.” He suggested. A weird feeling tugged at me. Was he just doing this so he didn’t have to tell everyone that he’d kissed me? I nodded, even though I was still unsure. “Ok, good. Now…what do you say to going to a movie? I’m really not in the mood for studying.”

To be continued....