It Was Hard to Deny
“Are you going to Kassie’s party, dude?” Ian was laying on my bed, head upside down and staring at me. In his hands was a powered-down GameBoy. I suppose he had grown tired of the annoying little song is plays every time you loose- which he had been profusely since he started an hour or so ago.
“I dunno.” I swung back in forth in my computer chair, tapping away absentmindedly on the keyboard. We were currently coming up with ideas for this new hobby both of us had- making internet videos. A lot of people thought it was stupid or weird, but it was fun. Just something crazy to do with my best friend. Plus, we actually had a little bit of popularity on the interwebs.
“It sounds fun. She’s invited, like, half of our class.” Ian flipped himself over and his face immediately paled from the blood rushing back down from his head. His ridiculously long bowl shaped haircut lay down obediently, perfectly sculpted as always.
“Yeah, I guess that sounds cool. Kassie’s pretty hot, right?”
Ian gave me a look of disbelief. “No way man, she’s fugly as hell. Now her friend Samantha is hot.”
It was my turn to look at Ian like he had twelve pikachu heads growing from his neck and chest. “Easy Sam? She’s a walking STD, man.”
He laughed and propped himself up by the elbows. “True. But I never said I wanted to do her. I just thought she was hot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I guess I’ll go to it if you do.” I opened up a tab on my computer and brought up this site called YouTube. I checked our most recent video, which we had been noticing was blowing up. Who would’ve guessed how much the world loved two guys lip synching to the Pokemon Theme Song?
“Well, duh, of course I am. Its our senior year, we might as well go out with a bang.” He turned back to try to conquer the GameBoy game, and by that I mean smash buttons and swear profusely.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Ian was the more outgoing one, I liked keeping to myself a little bit more. And not openly making an ass out of myself. Unless it was on video, that was a different story.
Ian glanced up at me and dropped the GameBoy onto my bed. “You just have to be open to the possibilities!” He accented his last word with a rainbow hand motion.
“Yeah, yeah.” I turned back to the computer and opened up MySpace.
***
“Dude,” I pulled Ian aside, interrupting him and another girl who was talking to him. “This party is fucking stupid. I’m having no fun whatsoever.”
“Ant, I was talking to her!” He exclaimed, turning his head back to flash an apologizing look at the girl.
“Deal with it. I think I’m going home.” The party hadn’t been that much fun so far. Really terrible and overly loud music made talking hard. And even the little bit I was doing was awkward and strained small talk with mostly my guy friends. Girls had come up to me, but I didn’t really feel in the “flirting” mood. There wasn’t much else to do.
His eyes changed and he grabbed me by the shoulders. “Ohhh no you aren’t. I’m not allowing it!” He steered my towards a table at the far end of the room. With horror, I realized where he was taking me. Ten or so girls and guys had actually set up a game of spin-the-bottle.
“No, dude, fuck that! I’m not fourteen years old and desperate!” I struggled against my surprisingly strong best friend.
“Hey, I’ll sit down with you, no worries.”
He forced me down on the floor and took his own seat in a beanbag chair next to me. A girl I recalled as Amy smiled at me and fluttered her eyelashes in the most spastic manner. I nodded at her and turned my head to give a look of pure hatred to Ian. He stuck his tongue out at me and kicked my leg.
“Ian, Anthony” Kassie smiled at the two of us. “You made it just in time we’re starting a new round! The rules are- just to make it more fun- that it has to be on the mouth and you have to make it interesting.”
Three or four rounds went by without much incident. Then Amy spun and the cruel gods had to cause the bottle to land pointing at me. She reminded me of a slobbery puppy, I was glad when it was over. My turn was uneventful, causing me to share a quick kiss with some shy girl named Emily. It wasn’t too bad. Not exciting but not terrible.
“Iaaaan” Kassie sang, tipping her red cup at him “Youuur turn!”
He nodded and got up, Giving the bottle a good spin which sent it the head of it sailing around eight or ten times. Only to point at me.
“Woah, woah, woah!” I backed up from the floor, shaking my head as hard as I could. “I am not kissing Ian. Hell to the no!”
The rest of the circle was cracking up and I could feel my face turning an completely attractive shade of deep red.
“Nu-uh, you guys gotta do it! It’s the rule,” Kassie smiled devilishly. I mentally stabbed her multiple times in the back with a sharp and rusty knife.
Ian crept towards me and met my eyes. Our faces were red. We were both holding back sprays of laughter. This was absolutely ridiculous.
He quickly pecked me on the side of the cheek and scurried back to his seat. I sighed and settled back down. Over and done, and not too gay.
Amy piped up next to me with her annoyingly shrill voice. “Heyyy that didn’t count. You guys gotta make it interesting!” I mentally stabbed her too, several times.
“Fuck this. I’m not gay!” I shook my head and started to get up.
“Come on, Ian and Anthony” Kassie whined, “do it for me!”
“Yeah Ian, do it!”
“Just do it dude”
The whole crowd erupted in a ridiculous “do it, do it, do it” chant. I rolled my eyes. What were we? A crowd of clichéd teen movie teenagers?
Ian shrugged, crouched before me, and forcibly took my chin in his hand. Before I could react or say anything, his lips were suddenly on my own.
My first thought was how soft Ian’s lips were. His smell was familiar and musky, a mix of fresh cotton and a deeper woody scent. I was shocked by the sparks I could feel from the contact of lips against lips. They were moving against each other too, I had apparently lost my paralytic nature and was actually responding. To me, there was no one else in the room, no other thoughts in my head. Suddenly, he forced my lips open ever so slightly and his tongue slipped past my teeth. A gasp escaped my mouth and I jerked back.
The red came back to my face as I took in the sight of every single person in the entire room- not circle, room- just staring at us. The only sound was the constant pulse of some crappy pop song. I’m sure I wasn’t even red at that point. Deep purple seemed more accurate judging by the heat I felt coursing underneath my skin. The room was so silent. I would have loved to just disintegrate right then and there. Cease to exist.
Ever confident Ian shrugged his shoulders, stood up, and collapsed back into his bean bag chair.
“That wasn’t too bad, Ant” He claimed loudly, brushing his hair back dramatically and looking at everyone else in the circle. “Maybe I should kiss you more often” He lisped enthusiastically. The silence shattered and the room broke into a laughter. The chattering began again and the girl next to Ian stood up to spin the bottle.
But Ian and I shared a quick glance which spoke in silent communication. His crystalline blue irises met my own, and we could both observe the confusion dancing in the depths of each of our eyes.
…And maybe a more hidden look of wonderment.
Because, it was hard to deny, but that kiss had felt… perfect.
“I dunno.” I swung back in forth in my computer chair, tapping away absentmindedly on the keyboard. We were currently coming up with ideas for this new hobby both of us had- making internet videos. A lot of people thought it was stupid or weird, but it was fun. Just something crazy to do with my best friend. Plus, we actually had a little bit of popularity on the interwebs.
“It sounds fun. She’s invited, like, half of our class.” Ian flipped himself over and his face immediately paled from the blood rushing back down from his head. His ridiculously long bowl shaped haircut lay down obediently, perfectly sculpted as always.
“Yeah, I guess that sounds cool. Kassie’s pretty hot, right?”
Ian gave me a look of disbelief. “No way man, she’s fugly as hell. Now her friend Samantha is hot.”
It was my turn to look at Ian like he had twelve pikachu heads growing from his neck and chest. “Easy Sam? She’s a walking STD, man.”
He laughed and propped himself up by the elbows. “True. But I never said I wanted to do her. I just thought she was hot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I guess I’ll go to it if you do.” I opened up a tab on my computer and brought up this site called YouTube. I checked our most recent video, which we had been noticing was blowing up. Who would’ve guessed how much the world loved two guys lip synching to the Pokemon Theme Song?
“Well, duh, of course I am. Its our senior year, we might as well go out with a bang.” He turned back to try to conquer the GameBoy game, and by that I mean smash buttons and swear profusely.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Ian was the more outgoing one, I liked keeping to myself a little bit more. And not openly making an ass out of myself. Unless it was on video, that was a different story.
Ian glanced up at me and dropped the GameBoy onto my bed. “You just have to be open to the possibilities!” He accented his last word with a rainbow hand motion.
“Yeah, yeah.” I turned back to the computer and opened up MySpace.
***
“Dude,” I pulled Ian aside, interrupting him and another girl who was talking to him. “This party is fucking stupid. I’m having no fun whatsoever.”
“Ant, I was talking to her!” He exclaimed, turning his head back to flash an apologizing look at the girl.
“Deal with it. I think I’m going home.” The party hadn’t been that much fun so far. Really terrible and overly loud music made talking hard. And even the little bit I was doing was awkward and strained small talk with mostly my guy friends. Girls had come up to me, but I didn’t really feel in the “flirting” mood. There wasn’t much else to do.
His eyes changed and he grabbed me by the shoulders. “Ohhh no you aren’t. I’m not allowing it!” He steered my towards a table at the far end of the room. With horror, I realized where he was taking me. Ten or so girls and guys had actually set up a game of spin-the-bottle.
“No, dude, fuck that! I’m not fourteen years old and desperate!” I struggled against my surprisingly strong best friend.
“Hey, I’ll sit down with you, no worries.”
He forced me down on the floor and took his own seat in a beanbag chair next to me. A girl I recalled as Amy smiled at me and fluttered her eyelashes in the most spastic manner. I nodded at her and turned my head to give a look of pure hatred to Ian. He stuck his tongue out at me and kicked my leg.
“Ian, Anthony” Kassie smiled at the two of us. “You made it just in time we’re starting a new round! The rules are- just to make it more fun- that it has to be on the mouth and you have to make it interesting.”
Three or four rounds went by without much incident. Then Amy spun and the cruel gods had to cause the bottle to land pointing at me. She reminded me of a slobbery puppy, I was glad when it was over. My turn was uneventful, causing me to share a quick kiss with some shy girl named Emily. It wasn’t too bad. Not exciting but not terrible.
“Iaaaan” Kassie sang, tipping her red cup at him “Youuur turn!”
He nodded and got up, Giving the bottle a good spin which sent it the head of it sailing around eight or ten times. Only to point at me.
“Woah, woah, woah!” I backed up from the floor, shaking my head as hard as I could. “I am not kissing Ian. Hell to the no!”
The rest of the circle was cracking up and I could feel my face turning an completely attractive shade of deep red.
“Nu-uh, you guys gotta do it! It’s the rule,” Kassie smiled devilishly. I mentally stabbed her multiple times in the back with a sharp and rusty knife.
Ian crept towards me and met my eyes. Our faces were red. We were both holding back sprays of laughter. This was absolutely ridiculous.
He quickly pecked me on the side of the cheek and scurried back to his seat. I sighed and settled back down. Over and done, and not too gay.
Amy piped up next to me with her annoyingly shrill voice. “Heyyy that didn’t count. You guys gotta make it interesting!” I mentally stabbed her too, several times.
“Fuck this. I’m not gay!” I shook my head and started to get up.
“Come on, Ian and Anthony” Kassie whined, “do it for me!”
“Yeah Ian, do it!”
“Just do it dude”
The whole crowd erupted in a ridiculous “do it, do it, do it” chant. I rolled my eyes. What were we? A crowd of clichéd teen movie teenagers?
Ian shrugged, crouched before me, and forcibly took my chin in his hand. Before I could react or say anything, his lips were suddenly on my own.
My first thought was how soft Ian’s lips were. His smell was familiar and musky, a mix of fresh cotton and a deeper woody scent. I was shocked by the sparks I could feel from the contact of lips against lips. They were moving against each other too, I had apparently lost my paralytic nature and was actually responding. To me, there was no one else in the room, no other thoughts in my head. Suddenly, he forced my lips open ever so slightly and his tongue slipped past my teeth. A gasp escaped my mouth and I jerked back.
The red came back to my face as I took in the sight of every single person in the entire room- not circle, room- just staring at us. The only sound was the constant pulse of some crappy pop song. I’m sure I wasn’t even red at that point. Deep purple seemed more accurate judging by the heat I felt coursing underneath my skin. The room was so silent. I would have loved to just disintegrate right then and there. Cease to exist.
Ever confident Ian shrugged his shoulders, stood up, and collapsed back into his bean bag chair.
“That wasn’t too bad, Ant” He claimed loudly, brushing his hair back dramatically and looking at everyone else in the circle. “Maybe I should kiss you more often” He lisped enthusiastically. The silence shattered and the room broke into a laughter. The chattering began again and the girl next to Ian stood up to spin the bottle.
But Ian and I shared a quick glance which spoke in silent communication. His crystalline blue irises met my own, and we could both observe the confusion dancing in the depths of each of our eyes.
…And maybe a more hidden look of wonderment.
Because, it was hard to deny, but that kiss had felt… perfect.