Part 15 (2/2)
Leo laughed, a hearty laugh, which p.i.s.sed me off . ”What?” I demanded.
”I just like how you used the words 'c.u.n.t' and 'camel toe' in a sentence.”
”Oh.” We were both quiet, so I pulled a Tempest from atop a pile and fl ipped through the pages. A dried crumble of a page withered in my hands. I returned the book to its deathbed.
”Come here,” Leo beckoned. Maybe I was making the face again, or maybe it was the romantic nature of locked rooms and interroga- tion lighting, but I suspected what came next. At least the fi rst part.
I obeyed Leo and walked up to him at the door. He wrapped his -1- lithe arms around my waist and pulled me against him, leaning for- 0- ward to meet my lips. We kissed urgently, tongues reaching for each
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other's, nibbling at one another's lips. I rubbed my hand along the back of his hair, the short pieces tickling my palms and making them tingle. He took his hands off my back, and I felt them wrangling with the b.u.t.ton on the front of my jeans.
Were we about to have s.e.x in a book closet? My body would have said yes to anything with Leo at that moment, probably most moments, but my head did the talking. I pulled away from his lips.
He switched to kissing my neck, my cheek, my ear. I could hardly speak. ”I don't want to have s.e.x right now.” When I heard the words, they sounded so uns.e.xy, such a complete pa.s.sion killer. But they were true. He didn't seem to mind.
Breathing in my ear, he whispered, ”We don't have to,” and gen- tly bit my earlobe. My legs could barely stand anymore.
We continued to kiss each other anywhere we could reach while he unzipped my jeans. I believed him when he said we didn't have to have s.e.x, so I didn't stop him when he slid his hand into the top of my undies and moved a skilled fi nger in circles in exactly the right spot. I stopped my kisses and leaned into his soft t-s.h.i.+rt, inhaling his deodor- ant smell as I tried to command my legs to remain upright. With his free hand, he willed my face toward his again, and we kissed in rhythm with his fi ngers. I gripped the back of his neck to hold myself up, and his fi ngers moved faster. This was nothing like the poking of Davis, and I tensed my body as I had done uncountable times alone in my bed. I lost the ability to kiss, to control anything, and I bit his s.h.i.+rt to stop myself from screaming and calling attention to the book closet.
We stood against each other once it was over, still but breathless.
The faint sound of the school bell rang outside the metal door. Qui- etly, Leo said in my ear, ”AP History. I have to go.” He held me by --1 the side of my arms and gently pressed me away from him. I steadied -0 -+1 8 9.
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myself against a small spot of cinderblock wall, zipped and b.u.t.toned my jeans.
Before Leo opened the door, he walked over to me and gave me a last gentle kiss on the lips. ”Feel better?” All I could manage was a nod.
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CHAPTER.
15.
Becca was nowhere to be found online, and my texts weren't returned until Friday morning. According to Becca's mom's report she was home after three days in the hospital and would get oral che- motherapy at home for several days. She wrote that nausea was her worst side eff ect. I emailed Becca a lite version of the Lottie McDan- iels story, focusing more on the nice things Lottie said about Becca rather than the a.s.sayed things I managed to say. As I was leaving for school, my phone buzzed. A text from Becca read, ”I'm sorry. Just h.o.a.rked on Mr. Toad.”
Mr. Toad was a stuff ed animal I bought for Becca when my fam- ily visited Disneyland a few years ago. She had told me how Mr. Toad's Wild Ride terrifi ed her as a kid, so naturally I had to buy the toy.
S'OK. U can borrow my Chuckie doll LOL.
--1 How r u?
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B thankful you cant smell over the phone When can I c u?
Dunno. Call me after school.
m/ I left for school with a spring in my step, or at least more springy than my normally springless body was. Becca was alive and well enough to joke- text, and that would get me through the day. I man- aged to nicely avoid running into Lottie McDaniels when I saw her striking fi gure in the hallway and turned around, only to knock into Leo again. I smiled at him, and he looked leery.
”Did you poison someone?” he questioned.
”Why? Because I'm smiling? Give me some credit. My a.s.sa.s.si- nations would be much more subtle than that. No, just kind of having a good morning. Are you stalking me again, by the way?”
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