Class Of 96': 1994 (BxB Mystery)

Chapter XXXV - "Fireflies."

We ran, and ran, and ran.

    No, we weren't being chased. We were chasing something. At least I was. I was chasing after Ollie Blossom's heart.

    He laughed until we were outside the school, breathless, full of energy.

    He just kept laughing, his head tilting down with his cheeks cutting into creases.

I helplessly sighed.

    Ollie squeezed my hand and started running again. And so we were giggling, hollering like children. We sprinted into the woods. He was leading me to his hideout, I thought.

    We dashed past trees, twigs, bushes, and logs, filling the forest with our glee. In the distance, I saw firefly lights.

    And we finally reached his place, wheezing for air with our hands bound. He chuckled at a loss of breath and looked at me, eyes blazing. The lights were on, the candles were burning, and the radio was playing It's been a long, long time. Everything was . . . prepared.

    "Hahaha!" He slumped down on a log. "God, Stephan! I thought I had to ask you myself to a dance!"

    My heart spiked. "You were going to ask me for a dance?!?"

    "Why wouldn't I? Sit with me."

    And so I did.

    Time with Ollie was weird. It wasn't awkward, no. It was like a blissful pause in reality. We talked for a long while. About prom, about cameras, about the way he smiles, about the way I blush. And we never got tired of listening. I could listen to his voice for hours.

    The song drifted into the air.

    Kiss me once and kiss me twice and kiss me once again . . .

    "Stephan," He tugged my shoulder. "Stephan, look!"

    He pointed at the night sky. There were small specks of light, flying and floating around. Were they stars? They seemed so close. One of these balls of glimmer landed on Ollie's nose. Soft and gentle.

    "A firefly . . . " I smiled, cherishing him.

    "I love fireflies . . . " He watched it tickle his skin, glowing like an angel. "My mother used to say fireflies were good luck."

    He paused. The tip of his pinky brushed my hand and I just wanted to . . . I just wanted to hold his hand without shame.

    "Ollie," I slowly stood up as he did too, curious. "Ollie I— . . . "

    The firefly on his nose flew away. Ollie was looking at me with such anticipation and admiration. I don't want to lose him. How do I ever weave my feelings for him?

    "Ollie . . . do you ever wonder what we would be . . . if we were more than friends?"

    A tender, closed smile cast before him.

    "Like what, Stephan?" He teased.

    . . .

    "I . . . When I'm with you, Ollie, I just feel like . . . like it's okay to screw up. But I-I also feel like I'm about to explode!"

    He giggled. "And?"

    "And I just . . . when you laugh, that's all I hear." I sighed. I felt like crying. All this emotion bottled in me for years and now? I don't know if I can go on. "Ollie . . . what if we were more than friends?"

    "Like what?"

    "I . . . " My words trailed off. Don't cry. I can't cry. Please don't cry.

    "Show me, Stephan. Show me how we can be more than friends."

    I froze. The night was silent as the candles crackled and the fireflies flew.

    "Close your eyes." I told him. And he did.

    There he stood, eyes closed and waiting. All this trust in him and all this love in me.

    Before I knew it, my lips were on his. His lips were warm and soft. I was scared but oh. How gentle our kiss was.

    I didn't want to pull away. I wanted to stay like this forever. Our kiss, the cold blistering beneath our suits, the radio playing, our eyes closed, savoring the moment.

    But all things come to an end.

    I slowly pulled back, watching Ollie's eyes flutter open with such surprise. His lips were red as he felt it with his fingertips.

    " . . . "

    A sudden jolt of terror shot through my body. He looked into my eyes with shock. The kiss had left our throats closed. We didn't know what to say.

    A bubbly, excited laugh escaped Ollie's mouth. He was smiling. He grabbed the back of my neck and crashed our faces together.

    I gasped through the kiss and felt his lips in a grin. I froze like an idiot. Yet my hands found that familiar spot on his waist and pressed against it.

I was kissing him too.

We nearly tumbled into the ground together. But I didn't care.

He was kissing me.

He was kissing me and I didn't care about anything else.