The Choice (a Painful Past)

14

Those damned blue eyes wouldn't stop staring at me. They almost made me want to drown in them. 

Whoa! 

No, Callie, those eyes belonged to a kid. Colby was a whole two years younger than you. A lowly freshman. 

I leaned forwards quickly, fully intending to simply press my lips to his, then back away. Instead, something strange happened. Something I was not prepared for. 

As soon as my lips touched his, a spark passed between us, sending a tingling sensation all the way to my toes. His full lips were soft, timidly pressing against my own. I forgot who I was kissing, and only focused on the feeling that was going through my body. 

Flames erupted in my belly, as I let my hand travel to his hair. I gripped it and deepened the kiss, just a little. I felt his hands press into my hips, with his fingers digging in a little, as he pulled me closer to him. His tongue slightly swiped at my bottom lip, asking permission to go further. I opened to him and let his tongue dance with mine. 

When cheers erupted around me, I fell back to reality in shock. I jerked away from Colby and put my hand over my mouth. His blue eyes held mine, in a gaze that had me feeling things that I wasn't sure that I wanted to feel for him. This was too weird. 

"DAMN, now THAT'S a KISS!" Logan yelled, then let out a loud, shrill whistle through his fingers. I knew that my face was so fucking red, as I shuffled back over to my spot. What the hell had just happened? 

I looked away from Colby's burning gaze and caught Kat's eye. Her lip was curled in disgust and my stomach dropped. I knew that I was never going to hear the end of this. Knowing my luck, everyone in school would know that I made out with a freshman by the end of the school day, Monday. 

"Okay, okay, Colby, spin the bottle before we all erupt into flames by how hot that was," Dana said, fanning her face with her hand. I looked down and avoided everyone's eyes. I wanted to steal another glance at Colby, but I heard the bottle start to spin. Thankfully, it never landed on me again. 

We only got to play a few more minutes, before Dana's parents told everyone it was time for bed. Their famous words were "You ain't gotta go home, but you gotta go to bed." Stupid, right? 

"Do you want a ride home?" Derek asked me, when we all stood up. I glanced over, and saw Mitch and Kat sharing a passionate kiss, with Sherri standing to the side of them. I had promised that I would go back to Kat's...plus, what would my mom think if I showed up back at home at 3 o'clock in the morning? I shook my head at him. 

"No," I sighed. "All of my things are at Kat's. I'm supposed to be spending the night with her tonight." He grimaced and made a face. "Good luck," he muttered. I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Hey, you're the one who dated her," I retorted, lightly. I saw the slight pain flash in his eyes and immediately regretted my words. 

"Derek, I'm sorry," I replied, softly. "I didn't mean-" He shook his head, stopping me. "No. It's fine. She's not that girl anymore. I don't know who that person is, standing over there." He motioned towards her with his head. I wrapped my arms around his neck for a comforting hug. 

He was right. Kat wasn't the person that we had all known. Her looks hadn't changed. She still had short brown hair that angled off with her jawline, a pretty face that lit up when she laughed, and a tiny body with a big butt. Her personality though...that was completely different. She wasn't the sweet girl that giggled when someone gave her a compliment that she didn't believe. No, now she would flip her hair and say thank you, knowing that what they had said was true. 

She thought that every boy wanted her, and she was probably right. Instead of wearing normal clothes that we used to wear, like jeans and a t-shirt, she had switched to wearing crop tops and miniskirts that she would get written up for every day at school. She used to be nice to everyone, including the weird kids, and even the freshmen. Now, she acted like she was above them, and would just lift her nose like she was better than them. 

"You deserve better," I whispered in his ear, before I let him go. He smiled at me and nodded. "Yeah, I do. And you deserve a better friend. Not everything can be fixed, Callie. Remember that." I nodded slowly, then threw my hand up in a wave before he walked off. 

"Callie, we still up for next weekend?" Will popped up beside me with one of his friends that I didn't know. I saw the little girl from earlier giving me the death glare again. I crossed my arms and stared him down. "Will, is she your girlfriend?" I asked, nodding towards the girl. He glanced back at her, then back to me with a smirk. "No, but she wishes that she were. I told her that I don't feel that way about her. That kiss probably didn't help any though," he replied. 

"Kiss?" I asked. I didn't recall them kissing. His mouth fell open a little and I could've sworn that I saw anger flash in them. "Seriously? Right after your little freshman had his spin. We let the ones who hadn't spun yet have their turns and hers landed on me. You really didn't see that?" I scrunched my face up, trying to think. "No, I guess I wasn't paying attention," I replied, softly. 

"Wow. Guess that little freshman's tongue really had you out of it, huh?" he spat out. I looked at him in confusion. "Why are you angry?" I asked. Instantly, the heat was gone from his voice. Had I imagined it? "I'm not angry," he laughed. "It was just a game." I nodded. "Yeah, it was and you're just a freshman too, so why do you keep saying that?" He was a freshman, but only because he had failed a couple of years from not attending classes. He shrugged. "Technically, but I'm supposed to be a junior, with you guys." 

"Hey Cal, you ready to go?" I heard Sherri calling me from across the room. I looked over and met her gaze. "Yeah, I'm coming!" I replied, loudly.