Learning to Fly by Misha Elliott

caught; he knows I’ve been staring at him.  He smiles, licks his lips, and I bite mine.
    “You have to stop doing that if you want me to kiss you; do you want me to kiss you?”  Kiss me?  Do I want him to kiss me?  Uh Hells yeah!  I definitely want him to kiss me.  What if I suck at this?  I have no clue what to do and the ramblings in my head aren’t helping.  I pull myself together and nod affirmatively.
    Alex removes his seatbelt and slides toward me; my eyes widen when he shortens the distance between us to disconnect mine.  “Close your eyes, Sophie.” His words are quiet, making my heart thump again.
    I release my bottom lip and he presses his lips to mine. He kisses me gently at first and then, when I kiss him back, he becomes more forceful, pulling my lip into his mouth. I reach up with my left hand and slide my fingers into his wavy hair.  I lift my lids to peek at him. He strokes the side of my face and then stares into my eyes.
    “Kissing you feels as good as I thought it would; like I’m flying.” He says and trails his fingers down to my ear tracing the outline of it.
    “It is amazing.”  I say and I want him to grab me and kiss me again. Instead of waiting to see what happens next, I take the cowards’ way out, “Thanks for the lift, Alex, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I say to him as I open the passenger door.
    “I’ll text you later,” he says.
    I get out of the car and make my way down the sidewalk in front of the house. I open the front door and my feet feel so light, like they are walking on air.  All the romance stories and movies never truly prepared me for how I would feel the moment it actually happened to me: the day that you fall in love at first sight. 
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
    “What are you smiling about?” Angie asks, as she prepares a salad at the kitchen table.
    “I just had a good first day.”  I pick one of the plump red cherry tomatoes off the top of the salad and put it in my mouth just to stop myself from smiling.
    “Go get cleaned up, dinner will be ready in an hour.” I head back to my room replaying the events of today.  Today was a day of firsts; first day of senior year, first boy to hold my hand, and first kiss. I want to share this with someone, if only to make it real, otherwise, it will seem like a very vivid dream.
    “Heidi, hey, you have a minute to talk?” I can hear chatter in the background.
    “Hold on a sec.” she says.  “Ok, I can talk now,” she’s breathing heavy in the phone.
    “Are you alright?”  I ask.
    “Yes, we were playing the Wii.”
    “I need to ask you for some advice about guys. I think I might like someone,” I tell her tentatively.
    “This doesn’t sound like you at all. First off, has he given you any signal that he might be interested in you, too?”
    “Well... he helped me find my classes today and we ate lunch together.”
    “He sounds nice, but Soph, you know they have designated people that welcome new people to school and show them around.”
    “He wasn’t assigned, he volunteered for the job.”
    “I’d still play it cool for a bit and see if he approaches you tomorrow before you make a move.”
    “There is one more thing.”
    “What’s that?”
    “He kissed me.”
    “Tell me everything!”  She says excitedly
    “It was the most amazing kiss ever. I melted in the passenger seat and there was nothing left of me but a puddle.” I say, and I can picture her excitement as she squeals into the phone.
    “So, what’s he like; a big science buff like you or is he into history?” 
    “Well, for starters, he’s the quarterback of the football team.” 
    “Wait, you said he’s the quarterback?”
    “Yep,” I smile, thinking about watching how his body moved this morning throwing the football.
    “Hold on a minute.”  I hear a door open and shut and her moving around and I wonder what she is up to.
    “Alright, I got it!” She shouts in the phone.
    “What are you doing?” I