FIRST LOVE

Chapter 12

I walked into my last class with the feeling that no matter what happened I wouldn't allow anyone to make me feel anything less than joy. Mr. Tane, our computer professor, looked at me before turning back to his documents. I took my famous seat at the front and turned my vision to the window when Deon walked in.

I felt his eyes on me but didn't give him the time of day and seconds later the bell rang. We were seated in an entirely white room only separated by two long desks at the far ends of the room. On each desk had about forty systems and almost every seat was occupied. Professor Tane cleared his throat as he began his lecture, pulling me from my trance.

We mostly dealt with algorithms and programming and since I knew what to do and finished my work first I spent the remainder of the session drawing artwork. The class flew by pretty quickly and before I knew it the final bell rung. I gathered my belongings and waited patiently for the class to empty.

Big mistake.

Deon took it upon himself to wait behind and I rolled my eyes as he cautiously approached me.

"Hey Apples can we talk?" Deon asked in a voice unlike his own.

"First off my name is Lillian not 'Apples' and secondly, I have better things to do."

I grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulders fully intending on walking out with a satisfied look on my face.

Luck was forever not in my favor.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." He said stopping me once more. "Lillian can you just stop for a moment so we can talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about." I responded and was about to walk off but I had a burning desire to say something else.

"But I'm sure Heather is available to listen."

"Okay, I don't know what it is you think you know but just stop." I waited for him to explain. He sighed and ran a hand through his braids.

"Heather and I have nothing going on App-Lillian."

"Really?!" I folded my arms "Tell that to your dick cause apparently it thinks differently." I half shouted as images of the two of them lip locking flashed before my eyes.

I suddenly had the urge to throw up or better yet, hit something...hit anything... Hit him and I'm normally not a violent person.

"What! Apples I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

I angrily glared at him, forgetting briefly the name he used and instead focused on the 'blank' expression he was proudly wearing. Damn, he was dumber than a sheep crossing the road.

"I saw you in the hallway kissing Heather, so don't you dare deny it!" I shouted at him and he had the decency to look shocked.

"Heather?"

"Yes Heather!" My face morphed into anger as his changed to humor.

"Yo girl chill, it's not like that." I watched as his shoulders relaxed as though he was forgiven and he sat on the edge of the desk.

"Oh really? So what is it like? Why don't you enlighten me huh?"

"It was her birthday and we kinda have history so I didn't sweat it when she asked for a kiss. Plus we've known each other since preschool."

My face slowly shifted from anger to denial, confusion, realization and finally humiliation. My shoulders sagged in shame as the truth finally dawned on me. I can't believe I was behaving like a mad woman when I didn't even get the whole story and actually listened to Rae. I mean RAE of all persons. Red lights should have been going off... And they probably did but I was just too dumb to notice. I turned guilt filled eyes towards his and opened my mouth to say something but couldn't.

"You wanna tell me why you got so worked up over a kiss?"

"No, not really!" My voice was a raspy whisper filled with shame.

I shivered when his hand found my face and his fingers lifted my chin to reach his gaze.

"Do you really think that I'm the kind of guy to screw with a girl's mind and body and just leave her?" He asked softly, his lips inches away from my own.

I shivered and had to give my brain a moment to recover from his voice.

"Well we didn't actually..." My voice trailed off and I looked away but he was having none of that.

With his hand still on my face and his other gently wrapped around my waist, he pulled me closer forcing my eyes back to his.

"Hey, don't feel shy about what we did... I don't."

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I stared dumbfounded into the deep dark coals that were his eyes. Before I had a chance to process what was happening his lips were crashing against mine.

Oh how I've missed them.

I inhaled sharply as I felt the softness of his lips over mine and the sweetness therein. His touches were so gentle that it seemed as though a fire had been ignited in me and there was no way that the flames could be extinguished. A moan escaped my mouth as his fingers gently started to trail shadows of circles across my lower back and the thick material of my clothing did nothing to stop the burning. It always amazed me how with just one touch he was able to awaken parts of me that I didn't even know was asleep. The tip of his tongue slipped and touched my teeth and I opened my mouth to let him in. Our tongues merged in secret symphony and soon we were both panting for air. I looked up into his dark orbs and he looked down at me, smirking.

"How is it that you always seem to take my breath away?" He asked as he once again pulled me closer.

The door swung open cutting my reply and in walked Marcus and Scott. I shot away from him so fast that I literally saw Brownian motion in air take place. My stomach was flooded with butterflies when I registered that Deon was reluctant to let me go.

"Hey man, we've been looking everywhere for you-" Marcus said but stopped when he noticed Deon wasn't alone.

"Oh..." He started then stopped. "Ohhhhh! I didn't know you were 'busy' he air quoted before nudging Scott and he in turn just shrugged.

"I was just leaving." I half stuttered half whispered as I walked towards the door.

"Hey no, don't leave on our account. Marcus here is just being an ass."

This time it was Scott who spoke and his voice was enough to make me halt my steps. It was unusually deep but at the same time it had a gentleness to it. An invisible shiver ran through my body and I was grateful no one else noticed.

"Yea Apples, I was just pulling your legs. You don't gotta go."

I looked up at Deon and he was just sitting on the desk staring at his feet.

Boys.

"Am... No, it's already late and I have to do some studies for finals."

"You do know finals aren't until the next two months right?!" Scott interjected.

I dared to let my eyes meet his and he was giving me that look. You know the look. That 'you're too smart for planet earth' look. I knew in that moment he and I would be great friends if ever the opportunity arose. He was handsome and tall with broad shoulders and a look that said 'mess with me if you dare'. The only difference between him and Deon was that Deon had the laid back, heartbreak, drop dead gorgeous look that just made you want to test the waters before you go for a swim but still end up jumping in no matter the degree. Scott had that slightly playful but mostly strict, brooding, no nonsense but completely comfortable to talk too look. I snapped back to the present and offered him a small smile.

"Yeah but it's never too early to start."

With a nod from the two boys and a weird look from Deon I walked out and headed to my dorm.