Tenth Grade was Fun!

18. LUCKY BASTARD

I have my dinner and get back to lounging on my bed, faintly surrounded by Nikhil's smell as his shirt engulfs me, succumbing into unconsciousness.

I groan as I wake up to the sound of our doorbell ringing, instead of something nice like one of my favorite alarm ringtones or any song. I frantically look around and relax when I recall earlier events and realize that I've dozed off on my bed after talking to Nikhil.

Sleepily, I rub my eyes as I walk to the door, unlock it and swing it open lazily to find Nikhil in his pj's with his hands mid-air, about to ring the bell again.

"Hey..." His voice trails off as he eyes me up and down before quickly looking away.

Too sleepy to ask him what his problem was, I suppress a yawn as I beckon him before locking the front door and walk to my room to give him his thermos, which has been kept near the foot of the bedside desk.

Bending down, I take it and turn back only to see Nikhil staring somewhere lower, his mouth slightly open.

I hand him the thermos which snaps him out of his thoughts and he grabs it from me.

Our fingers brush teasingly as he takes the thermos, sending shivers through my arms and my eyes immediately snap to his lips as I remember our kiss.

I look up to see him doing the same as he comes closer to me, taking my face in his hands, leaning in very slowly while searching my eyes for...hesitation or uncertainty maybe, which I'm sure he won't find at all.

In my half-sleepy daze, feeling a bit brave, I close the space between us, connecting our lips.

His lips move against mine in perfect synchronization, a graceful dance to a music only they know, intensifying the sparks within me.

But, we homo sapiens require oxygen to respire in order to live.

Breaking the kiss, we catch our breaths and without thinking what I was saying, I blurt out, "Fuck, I like you so much!"

Nikhil freezes and I realize what I've told as I slowly pull away from him and fumble for words to cover my slip-up.

Any trace of sleepiness I had had left me now if not before.

"I— I mean, I was just going to—"

Placing his finger on my lips and shushing me, he whispers, "Did you mean it?"

Wow that particular molecule on the floor is very interesting isn't it?

Yeah, really fascinating. It beats all the other molecules. We should probably name it—

"Hey look at me, Ritu." Cupping my chin, Nikhil lifts my face, forcing my eyes to look into his.

"Did you mean it?" He asks slowly this time.

Biting my lip, I contemplate on whether or not to lie and settle for the truth to test the waters at first, keeping the 'I was just kidding' as a backup plan.

"Yeah." I speak, my voice barely audible.

Silence.

Hey, look! A tumbleweed.

Unable to bear the silence, I look up to see him smiling at me.

My breath stutters as he leans in and whispers, "Me too. A lot. And you know it."

I turn sideways to see his face, only to end up placing my lips on his and this time the kiss is sweeter, more emotions put into it.

I run my hands through his hair as one of his hands pulls me closer by my hip and the other runs along my bare thigh—