Hallmark Moments

The Drama

Two days later, I found myself dreading seeing Parker. The night before, we had agreed that today would be the day we would publicly display our…love? Whatever you might want to call it, I still dread it. I was at my locker at the time and the thought of banging my head into it was appealing.

'Hey, Delaine.' I turned and frowned slightly when I saw that Lucas was standing behind me, smiling. I forced a smile on my face and gave him a little wave. 'Hey, Lucas.'

'Listen, about the other day? I'm sorry if I did anything to put a dent on your relationship.' He's apologising? Too little too late, buster. But of course, being the reformed sweetheart of the school, I smiled. It also gave me an idea. 'You didn't do anything to the relationship. In fact, you pretty much saved it.' Lucas' eyebrows shot up.

'Really? How so?'

'Well, we got to talking and Parker and I came to the agreement that we really should just disclose to everyone about us. I mean…what's the use of having a boyfriend or a girlfriend if you can't flaunt them, right?' I laughed lightly. Lucas laughed with me and nodded. 'Yeah, I did find it a bit weird. But hey, if I've saved your relationship…that's good right? Shouldn't you be thanking me?' Lucas gave me a suggestive smile as he placed his hands on the locker behind me and leaned forward. I backed up a little. 'Lucas, come on…I love Parker. I don't want to do anything to hurt him.'

'Parker doesn't have to know.'

'I don't have to know what?' I turned and saw Parker standing beside Lucas with a deep frown on his face. Whoa…talk about being angry. Oh wait…we are acting. Brownie points, Parka.

Lucas hastily removed his hand from the locker and backed away from Parker and me. He raised both his hands up in mock surrender. 'Sorry man. I didn't do anything.' He said. 'You better not have, Adrian. Now walk away.' His voice was deeper than usual and I swear I could detect a growl under it. Wow…Brad Pitt move over. A new rising star is coming just round the corner.

With that, Lucas was gone and Parker turned his attention to me. The frown was still there but it wasn't as deep. He placed his hand on my arm and I detected a look of concern on his face. 'You okay?' he asked gently. I nodded and hugged him. 'I'm fine Parka…' I smiled against his cotton T-shirt as his arms circled my waist. I gave him that nickname when we were in the third grade. The reason I gave him that nickname then was 'Because you make me warm when the weather is biting cold'. I was nine then, sue me.

I felt his lips on top of my head and he murmured something I couldn't hear. I tilted my head in such a way that our eyes met and I was surprised to see that his eyes were actually a very light shade of grey. It was almost silver. Damn it…how did I ever not see this? I mentally shook my head before asking him what he said. 'I said I'm glad you're fine.' He said with a slight smile.

'You know…everyone's looking at us…' I stated. His eyes turned a bit to his left and then to his right before settling on mine again. The smile he had on before grew into a smirk. 'So they are.' He said before closing the gap between us by placing his lips on mine.

I was surprised by how soft his lips were as it moved to close mine. I was also surprised by the deafening silence around me. It was as though no one was there, just me and Parker. Before closing my eyes and accepting the kiss, I saw that everyone behind us were reacting rather positively to us.

It was funny how I could be thinking about everybody else when the lips on mine were giving me a slight pleasure in which even I couldn't deny. I knew that it was Parker and I knew that this was going to be the pivotal moment in my whole life but the satisfaction of knowing that everybody now knew that Parker and I have kissed overlapped the sensation I was feeling kissing Parker.

But of course, the feeling did hit me. Like a ton of bricks. And I was suddenly pulling Parker closer to deepen the kiss. It was gentle and sweet and satisfyingly deep. Parker's hands around my waist moved up and his hands cupped my face. I shivered the entire time his hands travelled up.

What was going on? Am I lusting for my best friend? I mean…I like this feeling when I'm kissing him. In fact, I loved it. I could feel my cheeks burn in his palms and I felt such a rush throughout my whole body that I shivered. I couldn't understand this but…this was my first kiss and it felt magical. I didn't want it to end. Because I know that if it did, Parker and I would still be friends and nothing more. I knew that to Parker, all of this was to prove to Phoebe that he was off-limits. But to me, right at that moment, this moment was something that I was going to treasure my whole life. Oh God…I've turned into a sap. My best friend, ironically, has melted me. He doesn't even know it.

It ended gently and Parker leaned his forehead on mine. The breath that came from me was shaky and I couldn't look at Parker at all. I removed my hands from his waist and pulled his hands from my face downwards. He placed a kiss on the side of my nose. 'Thank you Camryn.' Was what he whispered before walking away.

The screaming in my ear should have woken me up from whatever trance I was but it didn't. I felt like crying and screaming and bashing someone's face in all at the same time. But I straightened myself up and turned to the gaggle of screaming girls and joined in their enthusiasm, closing my mind of the event that had shaken me up, and went on with the day with a dazed smile on my face.

The drive back home was another silent one. The song 'I Wish You Love' by Rachael Yamagata was playing. This time, Parker was the one doing the singing. I couldn't help but smile. He had a deep and clear voice that sounds really good.

When the song ended, Parker switched off the radio and pulled to a curb. We were far away from home so I asked him why we were stopping.

'Camryn, about just now…'

To avoid any confrontation, I started babbling. 'Dude, we completely convinced everybody! Hayden was harping on and on about it during lunch and almost all the girls in our form were asking what it was like to kiss you and of course, I told them I didn't kiss and—' I was completely cut off by Parker's lips on mine. This time, the kiss wasn't gentle. It was demanding, rough and passionate. I couldn't do anything, not deepen the kiss nor push away because Parker pulled away so fast and he turned to look out the window. 'Tell me you didn't feel anything.'

Even I'm not that good an actress and I stumbled over my words to say that I didn't. 'Don't be stupid, Parker. What was that about?' I asked him.

When he turned to look at me, there was a smile on his face. 'We convinced everyone, didn't we?'

Okay that was frustrating. What the hell was that about?!

'Yeah, we did.' I laughed nervously. 'I bet Phoebe would get off your back. She must be steaming right now.' I shook my head laughing.

Parker ruffled my hair and started driving again. I leaned against the window, collecting my breath silently. Ugh! What was that?! Why did he have to be such a painful mystery? I thought I had stamped the fact that I knew Parker like the back of my hand and now this?

Oh jeez...am I falling for my best friend?