Hit & Run

Chapter Nine: Kissing Boys

Piper Belle-Harwood.

Kissing Boys

.Seventeen Years Ago.

“Ryder Rustin! If you don’t get down here right now, I’m going to tell your Mommy that you’re the one who let your stupid dog out of the yard last week!” I yelled, looking up towards the top of the slide.

His brunette head suddenly popped into view and he glared at me.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

For a moment, I thought that he was right and I wouldn’t…but stupid Jessica Lang and her friends were all laughing behind me and I felt my resolve harden.

“I would too! And I’ll tell her that you’re the one who accidently broke Fleur’s arm when we were at the park the other day!”

Beside me, Fleur sniffed and frowned at her cast-covered arm.

“It was an accident! And I said I was sorry!” Ryder cried. I didn’t respond and his face flushed red before he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and slid down the slide to meet me.

Alex soon followed.

Ryder and Alex walked right up to me and Ryder’s face was the reddest I’d ever seen it.

“Ryder, don’t do it…we can run away!” Alex tried to whisper, sounding desperate for his friend. “Our parents are all over there…we can leave the park right now!”

Jessica and her friends were still laughing and I heard Fleur ask them to leave me alone.

They promptly ignored her.

“No boy will ever kiss Piper!” They taunted, never mind the fact that none of them had ever been kissed either. For goodness sake, we were only in the second grade! I was only seven!

“No, Ryder. You better stay and kiss me right now!”

And before he could argue, I leant forward and quickly pressed my lips against his.

His eyes widened and Alex and Fleur and every other kid gasped moments before Ryder and I hastily pulled away from each other.

He was wiping at his mouth while Alex patted him on the back and tried to calm him down. Meanwhile, Fleur had grabbed me and was checking to make sure I was okay.

“I’m so mad at you, Piper! You better forget this ever happened!” Ryder yelled as Alex dragged him away.

Unfortunately for Ryder, no one would ever forget my first kiss because, while Ryder and I had shared our first (and only) kiss in the busy park, an unnoticed flash had gone off a short distance away.

My first kiss was displayed across the front cover of People Magazine the following week and the photo became a national phenomenon.

My parents thought the scenario was so funny that they had the cover framed.

My first kiss was the most seen, most adored, and most popular first kiss in the world.

Take that, Jessica Lang.

xx

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.Present Day.

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“Piper?” I peeked out of my walk-in closet to see Rowan and Ryan standing at my bedroom door.