Free Falling

20|Fireworks

"...and then Drew punched Troy and we all jumped in. It was the most chaotic moment in my life but honestly, it was f*****g awesome!" Tommy animatedly waved his hands around as he spoke, baring his teeth widely at Preston who tried keeping up him but failed miserably.

Eli and I hung back, trailing at a slow pace behind them, watching the couple with grins on our faces.

"He's so nervous that it's disgustingly adorable," I mused with a sigh.

"I've never seen him like this, and I dared him to make out with a girl named Madeline in fourth grade," Eli said, looking at the two in astonishment.

I quirked an eyebrow. "And he actually did it?"

"Guess he didn't want to be teased," Eli sat with a shrug. "Looking back on it, I wish I hadn't done it."

I frowned and grabbed his arm, making him stop and turn to me. "Don't do that. You can't go through every interaction or conversation you had with Preston and wonder if you could've spotted the signs. Because there were none. So stop and enjoy the night."

Tommy then swiveled around and waved us over. "We're going to Twisters," he yelled, pointing across the street to the old skating rink building. Not a lot of cars were in the parking lot, which wasn't unusual for a Friday night, so the chances of seeing someone from Marionne High were slim to none.

The four of us looked both ways before mad-dashing across the street, Tommy's light laughter bouncing around the quiet, evening air as he caught Preston's hand with his. Preston stumbled over his feet before balancing himself, a sloppy grin forming over his face as he glanced at Tommy.

Twisters looked like an abandoned building on the outside, but the inside was filled with neon strobe lights and decorated carpets and walls. Flashes of purples and blues sprinkled over the huge rink that took up more than half of the room. As we walked up to the counter to pay for our skates, I noticed that majority of the people on the dance floor were adults. I assumed as much since teenagers usually went on the weekends, leaving adults free to skate during the week.

Tommy paid for Preston's skates despite his protests and they headed to the locker room to switch into their skates and place their regular shoes in the lockers.

"Size?" the woman nasally asked, baring giving us a glance.

Eli and I told her our sizes and she went into the back to collect the roller skates. I pulled out a ten and drummed my fingers on the marbled counter, waiting for her the woman to return.

"I'm paying, put that away," Eli said, gesturing with a nod to the crinkled ten-dollar bill.

"I can pay for my own skates, Eli."

"I know you can, but you don't have to because I'm paying."

I opened my mouth to fire back a retort but stopped short when the woman returned and dropped the skates on the counter. "That will be ten fifty each."

I reached out with my money in hand when it suddenly disappeared. My head snapped to Eli with breakneck speed to see him handing the woman a twenty dollar bill. Narrowing my eyes, I watched as he accepted his change and grabbed our skates, taking my hand to guide me to the locker room while I sulked behind him.

Preston smiled at us but instantly frowned when he saw my facial expression. "What's wrong?"

"She's mad I paid for her skates," Eli answered, shaking his head with a smirk on his face.

"Women and their independence." Tommy chuckled and grabbed Preston's hand. "See you guys on the rink."

"I'm not mad that you paid for my skates," I began, pulling my shoes off and tucking them in a locker. "I just like paying for my own things. Gives me a sense of self-sufficiency."

"Sorry for trying to take away your self-sufficiency," he mocked. "I was just being chivalrous."

"You didn't hold the door open for me. Not very chivalrous on your part," I teased, hiding my smile behind my fingers.

Eli only chuckled and stood up, balancing on his four-wheeled roller skates. My skates were on as well, and I turned to see Eli riding over to me with a mischievous look on his face. Before I could backtrack out the room, he had me caged between his arms, my back pressed against the metal lockers, and his body firmly shoved against mine.

"I can show you just how much of a gentleman I can be," he whispered in my ear, his stubble brushing against my cheek.

All hostility thrown out the window, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him impossibly closer, depleting the space in between our bodies.

"And I can show you just how much of a lady I can be." Flicking my tongue out, I ran it against his lower lip before pulling at it with my teeth. Before he could react, I pressed my hands against his chest and pushed him away. "But I'll save that for another time. Let's skate."

We rode hand-in-hand to the rink, and I have to carry Eli's weight as he continuously stumbled on the slippery surface. He was terrible skating as he was skateboarding.

I spotted Tommy and Preston breezing throughout the crowd of people as if they were professional skaters. I almost wanted to leave Eli so I could skate freely without the hassle of his inability to keep both his feet planted on the floor, but as I glanced at him, I couldn't help but feel obliged to stay by his side. Maybe it was the attraction or maybe I wasn't an asshole like everyone perceived.

"Sorry," Eli mumbled when he almost crashed to the floor again.

"I got you." My grip around his waist tightened as I straightened him.

"Shouldn't this be the other way around?"

I shrugged. "I prefer it this way."

"You just like to be in control."

"Maybe."

A woman bumped into Eli, and instead of apologizing like a normal human being, she sneered at us and skated off. Eli clung onto my arm as he fumbled for his footing while I glared at the back of the woman's head.

"You okay?" I averted my gaze to Eli who nodded and sighed.

"Forgot how rude people are," he grunted irritatedly, but it was nothing compared to my seething rage.

"I hate childish adults. Like what's so hard about saying sorry?" I grumbled as Eli struggled to find his footing again.

"Some people never get it." His voice sounded distant as I was still glaring at the rude woman who was laughing with her group of friends, but when I turned my head, Eli bent down and nipped at my neck. The words I was about to say got stuck in my throat, and immediately I skated backward, adding distance between us like he was a lit match and I was drowsed in gasoline.

"Preston could see us," was my brilliant excuse as to why I didn't let him continue.

As if he could see past my facade, a smirk curled at his lips. "Tonight should be fun."

On cue, Preston swirled over with Tommy hot on his heels. "Guys, we need to leave like now!" he urged.

I frowned. "What happened?"

"Tommy spilled his drink on some guy and now he's after us, so I think we can cut this date short and go. Like now!"

My gaze fell over his shoulder and across the rink to see a guy with muscles bulging out of his thin, white T-shirt barreling towards us with a not-so-friendly expression on his face. He spotted Tommy instantly and increased his pace, taking long and meaningful strides.

Eli and I exchanged expressions. "Let's go," we said simultaneously.

~

"I had fun," I said as Eli and I walked down the sidewalk.

"Me too," he replied, shooting me a soft smile.

We walked in silence towards his apartment complex since Preston took the car to drop Tommy off. I didn't mind the exercise because it gave me time to sort my thoughts out, but being near Eli somehow caused them to be distorted.

My attraction towards Eli was more than just physical. I knew it from the moment he kissed me, even though I hadn't reciprocated the action. What I felt for him was dangerous. I told myself that I only felt this strongly because I wanted him sexually, not intimately. Not in the way I deeply desired.

"What are you thinking about?" Eli asked, his voice carrying out into the quiet night.

"Just things."

He quirked an eyebrow. "What sort of things?"

I shrugged noncommittally. "The past mostly. Wondering how different I would be if some things in the past hadn't happened. Like would I still be with Brent? Would I still believe in love or openly giving yourself to another person without thinking about the consequences?" My eyes slid over to him. "Would I be brave enough to let someone back in?"

Eli stopped walking and turned to me. "You want to know what I was thinking about? I was thinking about how lucky I am to have met such a beautiful and intelligent girl like you." He took a step towards me. "I was thinking about how you appear to be this tough force of nature with all these walls built around you, yet every time I touch you," he trailed his finger down my cheek, "you collapse instantly."

"Eli..."

"I think that you still believe in love but you're afraid of showing it to the wrong person, again." Eli was so close that I could feel his breath on my lips. Instinctively, I inched my head up and my eyes fluttered closed. "I think that you will be my undoing just as I will be yours."

With that said, he clutched my chin and intertwined our lips, instantly drawing all the air out of me and forcing it into the heated action. I had kissed Eli multiple times, yet this time was different. It was almost romantic with an aroma of blazing passion mixed with the usual lust, but it didn't overpower the sense of euphoria I felt.

People described kissing to be the equivalent of watching fireworks explode in the night sky, the sound creating tingles in the pits of their stomachs, the different colors illuminating the sky to generate romantic memories. Such an overwhelming feeling of intense desire, but they weren't wrong. In fact, as I kissed Eli, I couldn't help but feel as though I had just bared my soul to him, leaving me naked and vulnerable.

I desperately clutched onto his shirt, scared that if I were to let go then I would fall to the ground. Using my free hand, I grabbed the back of his head to deepen the kiss. Easily, I slipped my tongue inside and dominated his mouth, grinning in satisfaction when I received a moan.

"We haven't even...made it...to the apartment," I said in between breaths, clinging onto Eli with every desiring need to feel his bare skin against mine. We were at the bottom of the stairs, two flights away from Eli's apartment, and we couldn't keep it in our pants long enough to actually make it there. I would've laughed had Eli's mouth not been glued to mine.

Suddenly, I was picked up bridal-style, and Eli began climbing the stairs two at a time. We reached his apartment door, and he unlocked it, shoving the door closed with his foot in record time to split down the hall. He finally placed me on the ground, and I took that time to plant my lips back on his, fiddling with the doorknob to his bedroom behind my back.

Finally, the door opened and we fell inside. Laughing, I climbed on top of him and removed my shirt, throwing it somewhere in the far corner of the room.

"We have seriously got to stop doing this," Eli said with a chuckle.

Leaning back, I smirked at him. "Why? This is the fun part."