chapter 7:The first 💋 kiss
1044 Words
It was one of those strange afternoons — where the light outside was soft and golden, the kind of light that made everything feel possible.
The sports field was noisy, chaotic with students practicing for the upcoming inter-house competition. But Elisa wasn’t there. Neither was Alex.
They’d snuck into the old music room.
No one really came there anymore, not since the school had moved the instruments to the new block. The old piano stood in the corner like a forgotten monument, dusty but dignified. One key was broken. The stool wobbled.
Elisa played anyway.
“Why do you keep coming here?” she asked as she hit a few off-key notes, head tilted in thought.
Alex was sitting on the window ledge, arms crossed, watching her like she was some strange, beautiful mystery he hadn’t figured out yet.
“Maybe I like the way you pretend to know how to play piano,” he said.
She looked over her shoulder. “Maybe I like the way you pretend to know how to flirt.”
“Oh, I know how to flirt.”
“That’s not flirting,” she said, grinning. “That’s bullying with eye contact.”
He laughed — one of those deep, boyish laughs that made her insides tangle.
She hated that laugh.
She hated how it made her feel like it was okay to want him.
She played a soft tune, real this time.
Alex stood, walked over, and sat beside her on the bench — just close enough to make her heart stutter.
“You remember when we first met?” he asked.
She blinked. “Unfortunately. You threw sand in my lunch.”
“It was an accident.”
“You said I looked like a grumpy goat.”
“You were chewing like one.”
Elisa laughed. “You’re lucky I didn’t punch your nose.”
“I would’ve let you,” he whispered. “Even then… I think I already liked you.”
Silence.
Something thick and hot settled in the air between them.
Elisa stopped playing.
Alex turned toward her — slowly, cautiously, as though afraid of ruining whatever was building between them.
“Elisa…”
She met his eyes.
And just like that — he kissed her.
---
It wasn’t fire.
It wasn’t thunder.
It was something softer. Deeper. Realer.
The kiss was slow — like they both needed time to believe it was really happening. Like the world had stopped for a second and leaned in to listen.
His lips moved gently against hers, unsure but hungry. Her hands trembled as they gripped the edge of the piano stool. She tasted nervousness. Warmth. Him.
And something inside her cracked open.
When they pulled apart, she was breathless.
Alex rested his forehead against hers, smiling a little. “You kissed me back.”
“I’m not dead, am I?”
“No. But I might be.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”
“I just kissed the girl I’ve liked since I was twelve,” he said. “Let me have my moment.”
They both laughed again, quietly.
Then Alex turned serious.
“Elisa…”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want this to be just… some almost-thing. Not anymore.”
She stiffened slightly.
He didn’t notice.
“I mean… we’re growing up. Next year we’ll be in SHS. We’ll be older, smarter, more—”
“—depressed and sleep-deprived,” she added.
He chuckled. “Still. I want us to try. Officially. You and me.”
She pulled away a little.
“I mean it,” he said. “I want to call you mine. I want to walk through school holding your hand without feeling like it’s a secret. I want—”
“Elix,” she cut in.
Only she called him that.
“Elix, stop.”
He blinked. “Why?”
“I can’t.”
He looked confused. “You just kissed me.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“You laughed with me. You looked at me like… like you felt it too.”
“I do,” she said quickly. “I feel all of it. You have no idea how much. But I can’t be in a relationship. Not now.”
His shoulders dropped. “Why not?”
“Because I break things, Alex.”
“Elisa—”
“You don’t understand.” She stood now, pacing. “I don’t get to love something and keep it. Not my parents. Not my home. Not my childhood. Everything I love leaves. And I’d rather lose a maybe than destroy a sure thing.”
Alex stood, frustrated. “You think this is a maybe?”
“No,” she said, almost tearfully. “That’s the problem. It feels like everything. And I’m not ready to hold ‘everything’ right now.”
He stepped closer. “Let me hold it with you.”
“I’ll drop it.”
“Then I’ll pick it up.”
She shook her head. “Why are you always like this?”
“Because I’m stubborn. And stupid. And in love with a girl who calls me names but cries when she’s alone and still remembers every little thing I draw.”
“Shut up,” she said, smiling through the ache.
He smiled too. “Make me.”
She punched his shoulder lightly.
“Violent,” he muttered, rubbing it dramatically. “You see? This is emotional abuse.”
“Oh please.”
“Don’t touch me. I need therapy.”
She laughed now — loudly. That real kind.
The one that made his heart leap.
---
When it was time to leave, they walked in silence.
Alex shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, just to confirm… we’re not dating.”
“No.”
“But I’m allowed to like you?”
“I can’t stop you.”
“And you like me?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Maybe.”
He grinned. “That’s enough for now.”
---
But as she walked away, Alex didn’t see the tears forming in her eyes.
Because even though her heart wanted him,
her soul still carried storms.
And storms don’t always wait until you’re ready.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD