Parties

Part Two

Once inside everyone parted ways. Jason and Nadia went in search of beer, Tanya went to look for the friend that invited her, with Lucas in tow, and I followed Ivy and Matt to the large crowd of people who were putting the music to good use and embarrassing themselves with various made up dance moves. I glanced around, almost everyone had disappeared into the throng of people, the only one I saw immediately was Zack, his unusual hight literally made him stand out against everyone else. The music made my mead hurt at first, but after about ten minutes I got used to it, which was normal, when you're used to the eerie quiet of a catholic boarding school, then even something like the TV being on too loud can make your head hurt.

I checked my watch, we'd arrived about twenty minutes ago, which meant that Jason would be coming over soon to join in whatever I was doing for about ten minutes before dragging me away to find some kind of private space. I heard Ivy make some kind of weird yelp sound next to me and turned to see her giving the evil eye to Jason, who had most likely snuck up and poked her in the side, in keeping with his usual greeting for her. "Where have you been?" she asked, his only response was to raise his cup in the air as a sort of mini toast. "Where?" he pointed the the direction he had come from.

"Just go straight that way, you'll come to the kitchen eventually," he explained. She nodded and went on her way, Matt followed. Once they had blended and disappeared onto the crowd Jason grabbed my hand and lead me through the maze of people until we entered a hall that was only populated by small groups of people chatting, and a few couples who were avidly making out, blind to the rest of the world. It wasn't that long, and at the end of it was a door that no doubt lead to some kind of back porch, yard, or both. We slipped through it, no one noticed. I was right, it was both, a large wrap around porch that looked over an even larger yard that was-much to my surprise-empty. He put his cup down on one of the porch chairs and laced our fingers together, letting our arms swing ever so slightly as we walked lazily around the grass.

"Did you actually give them the right directions?" I asked, it would be like just him to trick them just for the fun of making them look harder than they had to.

"Of course I did, they would figure out too quickly if I didn't, then they would come looking for me, and if they found me it would not be good. My brain isn't turning to mud that fast," he said, faking offense and smiling at the same time.

"So it is turning to mud. I knew I was right about something." He rolled his eyes. "What? You said it first."

"I did, I admit it. I have to be careful what I say around you," he muttered, shaking his head.

"I know all your secrets."

"You are all my secrets," he corrected.

I looked at him, "Is that romantic?"

He shoved me playfully, "Yes Peter, it's romantic."

I held up my hands in surrender, "Just making sure, I never know with you."

"I thought you said you knew all my secrets," he had that grin on his face again, the one that told me he knew what I was thinking.

"Your personality isn't a secret, that doesn't make you any less unpredictable," I pointed out, "But that doesn't mean I can't read you, I know what you're thinking just as well as you know what I'm thinking."

"Are you sure you're not contradicting yourself?" Jason asked.

"Yes, I'm positive. Stop trying to make everything make perfect sense, it isn't going to. You should know, we're the walking definition of something that makes sense and doesn't at the same time," I was going in circles, I knew it, and I was beginning to get dizzy, but it was true.

"You're insane."

I smiled, "I know."

"Come here." We stopped and Jason leaned against a tree, taking hold of my wrists and pulling me closer before placing my hands at the back of his neck. He put his own hands first on my shoulders, then slowly slid them down my back until he was touching the hem of my shirt, he lifted it ever so slightly and let his hands rest on my lower back. He didn't go any farther, just stayed right there, holding me, letting me hold him. His touch was calming, comforting, telling me that he wasn't going to go anywhere, telling me that we would always have this, and that we really didn't need anything else. Slowly, slowly, he leaned in to kiss me, and I-as always-met him halfway.

Kissing him was like something out of a story, I don't know how I can survive the entire school day with out feeling his lips on mine, but then again, we usually leave lunch early for exactly that reason. I've never known what if feels like to kiss someone other than Jason. As far as I know most people have their first kiss when they're between ten and twelve, when I was between ten and twelve I was wondering what the big deal was, simply because I didn't see what was so great about girls, I wasn't interested in them, I didn't have crushes on them, and therefore didn't understand why I would want to kiss them. So instead, I had my first kiss when I was fourteen, I had been crying and he'd wanted to comfort me, so he kissed me, and it was amazing, and all I want to do is relive it again, and again, and again. Just. Like. This.

I pulled away and we sat down in the grass. I leaned my head on his shoulder and smiled when I felt him rest his head against mine. This was my favorite part, because in moments like this it felt like we were just another boring, everyday couple, one that didn't have to deal all of the crap that we did, one that didn't have to take a deep breath every time they opened the door in the morning, one that wasn't so damn interesting.

"Peter?" I looked up at him. "Relax."

"I am relaxed."

"No you're not, you're all tense. You just think too much, don't think about anything," he said, rubbing my back in slow, calming circles.

"I think too much?"

"And I do too, I just know how to turn it off. Now, relax." I rolled my eyes, but gave into the fact that he was right. I sighed and looked up at the sky, it was cluttered with stars and the moon was hiding behind a cloud.

"You want to watch for shooting stars?" I suggested.

"We're not going to see any."

"How do you know?" I asked, lying down and fixing my eyes on the sky.

"You never see shooting stars when you're looking for them," he said matter-of-factly, I rolled my eyes.

"Do you always have to bust my bubble?" I asked, searching the sky for constellations.

He laughed, "Every time."

I sighed, "Fine, will you at least lie down with me?" I patted the grass next to me.

"The ground is all wet," he complained.

"No it's not, and even if it was, you can't use that excuse if you're already sitting in it," this time I looked at him, I knew I'd won this battle. He shook his head and glanced upward before looking back to me and sliding down onto the grass. I smiled and scooted closer to him, wrapping myself in his arms and settling my head on his chest. "There's one!" I said, pointing.

"That's an airplane."

"How do you know?"

"It's moving very slowly, and it's red." I sighed, he was right.

"Do you think I can still make a wish on it?" that was the fun part anyway.

"You want to wish on an airplane?" I could practically see him rolling his eyes.

I shrugged, "Why not?"

"What would you wish for?" Jason asked.

"I can't tell you that," it wont come true if you tell anyone, he should know that.

"Don't you think different rules apply of you're wishing on an airplane?" I pondered this.

"No, those rules aren't just for wishing on stars, they're for any kind of wishes, at least, any kind that I've heard of," it seemed like a reasonable argument.

"Have you ever heard of airplane wishes?" his tone was challenging, and the plane was completely out of sight by now, so the conversation had turned to just being about him wanting to know my wish. In truth, I didn't having anything in mind, but it was still fun to mess with him.

"Do you really want to know?" I asked.

"Yes, I really do."

"Fine, I'll tell you," I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "I wish that Jason would stop pestering me about my wish. There, now you know," I giggled and rolled away, getting a jump start on the chase that I knew was going to happen.

"Why you little..." he scrambled to his feet and tried to tackle me to the ground, but I took off running to the other side of the yard. He ran after me, never far behind, never quite catching up, he almost had me a couple of times but I managed to dodge his attempts and keep going. I was getting tired, I was running out of breath, I would have to stop soon, but I didn't want to give up, I refused to let him win. This was the game we played, the constant competition, the camera, the wish, it was all part of it, and it was extremely fun.

Finally I slowed down and leaned against the tree, trying desperately to regain my breath. Jason however, didn't stop until he was right in front of me, also breathing heavily, our faces inches apart, his hands on my shoulders, pinning me where I was. "Tell me your wish." I shook my head and smiled, this round was still mine. "Then tell me something else."

"I love you."

"Something I don't know."

"But you know all my secrets," I pointed out.

"Then tell me again."

"Are you really that full of yourself?" I asked, grinning.

He thought about it for a minute, "Maybe, but it's not everyday that I get to hear someone confess their undying love for me."

"Well for one thing, you do get to hear it everyday, many times in fact, and for another, who said it was undying?" I was finally starting to get my breath back, the only problem was that my resolve was wavering, I did a good job of hiding it, but I knew he could tell.

"First you did, and then I did, and then we had a whole conversation about it and came to the conclusion that if I love you when I die, and if you love me when you die, then it really is 'undying'," he said it casually, as if we were talking about the weather, but he fixed me with this intense, irresistible stare, that I knew without a doubt would be my undoing. I remembered that conversation, it had also been surprisingly casual, used at the time to avoid working on a history paper, but ending with our notes strewn on the floor as we curled in my bed, kissing every now and then, but mostly just lying there, thinking about what we had just said to each other, knowing that every word if it was true, and liking the idea very, very much.

I smiled and he leaned in so that his forehead was resting against mine. I closed my eyes, memorizing every detail, the tree, the grass, the music vibrating from inside the house, Jason's touch, Jason, me, everything, I refused to forget it. I felt his hands leave my shoulders and grip the sides of my face, tilting my head up far too slowly so that his lips brushed ever so slightly against mine. I leaned in and tried to deepen the kiss, but he pulled away. I looked at him and he kissed the top of my head, "Close your eyes," he whispered. I did. He kissed my head again, then my cheek, then my lips. I kissed back, but let him lead. It was gentle, feather light kisses supported my his hands softly cradling my face. It was something we hadn't done before-not at parties at least-it felt new, and new felt good.

There was a sudden chorus of screams and laughter, accompanied by all too familiar voices yelling our names into the dark. We sighed and broke apart. Jason slid his hands up and down my arms before grasping my hands and pulling me away from the tree towards the front of the house, where the van was parked and our classmates were waiting. He grinned at me, "Time for school."