Starving

Starving

“Kate…” She froze, her right leg halfway out the window. “What are you doing?”

The brunette slowly tilted her head to look at me, an innocent look on her face. “Just going to grab a late night snack?”

“By climbing out of a second story window?” Sometimes I really wasn’t sure what to think of my childhood best friend. “What are you really doing, Kate?”

Laughing nervously, she slowly climbed the rest of the way back into the hall. “Well, Greer, Franny, and I were talking about the Bell-”

“Again? Wait! You’re not going to do what I think you are.” The sheepish grin answered all of my questions as I groaned.

“Ah! Come on, Val! What’s the worst that could happen?” The glare she got in response was clearly plenty to express my opinion on that as she flinched back from me. “Right… A lot.”

“Every time you get into one of your moods, you end up in trouble. Especially with those two.”

“But WE used to get in trouble all the time when we were younger too!” She quickly shot back, a pleading look on her face.

“But we never got caught or they didn’t have proof it was us.” I reminded her as she suddenly started nodding her head quickly.

“Exactly! Without you, I’m hopeless!” I grimaced slightly as she ran the few steps between us, grabbed my shoulders and lightly shook me. “Come on, Val. You’ve been studying too much these days! Take a break and have some fun!”

Groaning, I glanced up into her eyes and instantly knew I had lost. I should have known better; Kate’s eyes were literally windows into her soul, they express everything she’s thinking and feeling. My resolve dissolved into nothing almost instantly. I quickly ripped my eyes from hers, afraid she’d see the truth in them as I felt my cheeks lightly heat up.

“Fine…”

“YES!” Kate started jumping up and down in pure joy until I reached out and grabbed her hands.

“Kate! Shhhhh!” She quickly quieted down, looking around frantically.

“Right. Sorry.” Sighing, I shook my head in exasperation.

“Now, quietly, tell me exactly what you guys were planning on doing.”

“Well, I’m going to shoot arrows at it.”

I think my brain was stuck on the loading screen for a minute, her smile turning nervous. “Right, ok. Why were you climbing out of the window then?”

“Oh! I need to get somewhere higher and you know, after what happened the last time with the roof, they put that camera up above the stairs… So…”

“So you were going to climb… to the roof… from the outside wall…” Kate crossed her arms, slightly shrugged, and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she gave me a sheepish smile. I instantly felt the tug and pooling heat from the look and quickly closed my eyes, reaching up to grasp the bridge of my nose in a desperate attempt to hide my reaction. “Right…”

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I reached out and grabbed her hand. “Come on. We’ll use the fire escape.”

_________

I stood near the door, keeping an eye and ear out for trouble as she did her little experiment. Everything was fine… Until it wasn’t… We both just stood there, staring, open mouthed, at what used to be the school’s bell tower. I’m not even sure when the Security Officer arrived, I was still processing everything that had just happened.

It wasn’t until Kate turned to look at me that my brain seemed to start working again. The first thought it processed slipped through my filter, which was still loading.

“I still swear that you’re a living, breathing, Superpower for accidentally causing Chaos and Mayhem… It’s adorably problematic…” I felt my brain finish rebooting in that instant as Kate went stiff out of the corner of my eye, turning to face me.

“What?” Shocked laughter dripped from her voice. At first, I thought maybe I’d get away with it, but when I turned to her, I realized I was screwed. Her eyes were wide in shock, a small dusting of red on her cheeks and her next words sealed my coffin. “Did you just say that my ‘Superpower’ is attractive?”

“No!” I instantly shook my head and took a step back. I could feel my face heat up; I knew I was caught. Kate has known me long enough that she understood exactly what I wasn’t saying with that sentence.

“No? So, you were saying you’re attracted to me?” I could feel the panic of what was about to happen start to set in, I think she could see it on my face too. She suddenly stepped forward and lightly cupped my face in her hands. “Hey, Hey, its ok.” Touching her forehead to mine, she slowly began breathing in and out. I could feel my own instantly attempting to match hers. It had been a long time since I’d gotten anxious enough that I needed her help to calm down, but my body hadn’t forgotten.

“It’s not ok.” I whispered more to myself than to her, but I knew that she would hear me. I felt her pull her head away from mine and I resigned myself to what I knew was going to come next. Just as I was about to step back to give her more space, she slid one of her hands back around my neck, holding me in place as her other moved to lift my chin.

My eyes snapped open, shock freezing me as her warm breath ghosted over my lips. Her eyes locked onto mine as she closed the last of the final gap. I couldn’t stop the small whimper that echoed from me as the warmth of her soft lips moved against mine. Instinctively, I reached out and tangled my hand into the bottom of her shirt as my eyes slipped closed once more. Her fingers tangled in my hair as she tugged lightly, a small gasp escaping me in that instant. It was all the time she needed. Her tongue slipped between my lips, the moment it touched mine, the taste of her exploded across my tongue, ripping a moan from deep within my chest.

Reaching out, she wrapped her arm around me and pulled me closer, flush against her chest. Her scent, her warmth, her taste… All of her wrapped around me. The coil that had been building in my lower stomach all these years released, a rush of searing heat beginning to drip from my lower lips.

“Ahem…” The sound of someone loudly clearing their throat, forced her to pull back. A soft whimper escaped me as she lightly nipped at my bottom lip before pulling away to glance over what turned out to be the Security guard. She pulled me closer, tucking my head under her chin as she glanced at him. I was so lost in the fog of her that it took me a moment to realize that his face was a bright tomato red. “Ladies…” He cleared his throat again motioning toward the roof door. “After you…”

Kate pulled back enough to glance down at me, a soft smile tugged at her lips as she leaned her forehead against mine once more. “We’ll continue this later.” I slowly nodded, not even fully sure if I hadn’t fallen asleep while studying again.

Stepping back, she moved to clasp my hand in hers, leading me toward the door. We both hesitated and glanced back at the rubble that was the Bell Tower one more time, wondering how the night could have possibly ended up like this. Of all the things I thought could happen, ending up in Kate’s arms… tasting her…

A light tug on my hand and the happiest grin I’d even seen on her face pulled me back to the present. “Come on, Val.” All I could think was how I just wanted to kiss her again and never stop. I knew I’d been in love with Kate for a long time, but…

I didn’t know that I was starving until I tasted you.