Chapter 9: 9__Now we have secrets

The moment of shock seemed to last forever. They lay there, mouths pressed together and eyes wide, the blue and green of their orbs clashing as the stared at each other.

In a split moment, their lips disconnected and Erin shrieked as she got flung across the floor, Braden's push as powerful as a T-rex.

He shot upright, glaring at her as she finally stop sliding through the dust and dirt.

"What the fuck's wrong with you?!" he roared, face turning red around his blue eyes. "Are you fucking crazy?!"

Erin stared blankly at him as he scrubbed violently at his lips.

"Urgh!" Braden spat, shoving to his feet. He pierced Erin with a disgusted glare and shoved a finger at his pink lips. "What are you gonna do about my lips?!" he demanded furiously. "Huh?! My goddamn lips!!"

Erin continued to stare at him, dumbfounded.

"Y-your… your lips?" she asked him with a frightening quietness.

"Oh, God, I'm going to fucking throw up," murmured Braden, closing his eyes.

Erin was shocked to see him actually go a little pale.

Braden looked at her again. "You're crazy," he snarled. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? To infect me with whatever you have! This counts as sexual harrasment!"

Erin's teeth gritted, the disbelief on her face growing by the second. What kind of bad luck was this?!

"Harrasment? You're the one who's crazy, Braden," she muttered. He glared at her as she shot to her feet, the left side of her clothes soiled with dust and dirt. "And, what? Your lips?! What about mine?! You're the one who dragged me down and THAT WAS MY F—"

Don't tell him that was your first kiss, you idiot!

Erin sealed her mouth shut, eyes still fiercely glaring at him. Braden narrowed his to blue slits. Erin could have sworn they glowed like burning sapphires.

"Your what?!" he demanded. "Fault? Damn right, it was!"

Erin made a sound of deep frustration and squeezed her eyes shut. If she stayed her a moment longer, she would explode.

Without another word, she spun on her heel and stomped away from him, eyes burning with tears.

"Where do you think you're going without finishing your chores?!" he yelled after her. "Idiot girl."

Erin ignored him.

If she didn't ignore him, one of them would be getting buried and the other going to jail.

And Erin knew the cutest poses for mugshots.

Erin sighed, sandwiched between Jackson and Phoebe at their lunch table, both her friends hugging the crap out of her.

"I'm sorry, Chestnut," Jackson told Erin sorrowfully.

"As you should be," Phoebe muttered from Erin's other side. "Next time, keep your inner cave man in check."

"You know I try to," Jackson murmured back, pouting.

"Try harder," Phoebe insisted. She sighed, softened her voice. "We know how much football means to you, Jackson. Don't lose your chance at the scholarship because of those four lumps of unintellectuality."

There was a pause.

"Is that a real word?" Jackson murmured.

I don't know," said Phoebe with a snort. She lifted her head from Erin's shoulder and looked at her. "Is it, babe?"

Erin only sighed heavily, looking soulless as she watched the crowds of students in the vast cafeteria.

"Sigh one more time and we'll have a tornado," said Phoebe.

"Was the punishment that bad?" Jackson asked, eyes pitifully wide. "It got you all dirty, didn't it? That's why you even had to change into your gym clothes. You even got that little cut you were bleeding from!"

His voice swelled with sadness and regret and Erin rolled her eyes, touching her tongue to the fresh cut on the inside of her bottom lip. "Relax, Jax. I just swept a bit and accidentally… fell. Cut my lip against my teeth. Got dusty so I had to change."

The explanation was full of giant holes, but Erin had no intention of filling them.

To assure Jackson, she reached over and gave him a pat on his thick mop of hair, satisfied when he smiled like a big puppy.

"Can you guys get off me though?"

They both eased away and gave Erin suspicious looks.

"I feel like something's wrong," said Jackson. He straightened, green eyes narrowed. "Who was it? Who made my Chestnut sad?"

Erin pursed her lips and silently eyed her French fries.

French fries? French?

French… kiss.

"Bluurgh!" Erin blurted suddenly, her eyes squeezing shut on the image in her head.

Both Jackson and Phoebe jerked away in alarm, looking at Erin with wide eyes.

"Girl, what the hell?" said Phoebe with a frown.

"Chestnut?" Jackson called when Erin just sat there with her eyes squeezed shut.

"I need to go and wash my lips again" she whispered.

Jackson blinked. "Why? Oh, don't tell me! A bird pooped on your mouth?"

Erin sighed, slowly shaking her head. "That would have been better…"

Jackson and Phoebe exchanged looks, best friend telepathy vibrating in the air between them before they both burst out in chuckles.

Erin froze. Had they figured it out? She hoped that they had, it would spare her the torture of saying it aloud.

"What?" she asked them cautiously.

Phoebe shook her head, laughing. "No way! You fell face-first onto a heap of elephant poop?!"

Erin's head snapped up to look at them in disbelief. "Where the hell would elephant poop come from on campus? You think this is a zoo?"

Phoebe nodded and pointed at Jackson. "Gorilla."

Jackson pointed at Phoebe. "Chewbacca."

"You little—"

"Guys!"

"Yes, Erin?" they both replied.

Erin bit her lip. I accidentally kissed Braden Stone.

She sighed. "Let's go to class."

Braden and Erin's evening home class came to an end and, stretching her arms, Erin hobbled her way out of their lecture room. Braden had left five minutes before class ended, and Erin didn't care why. She was just glad she didn't have to see him.

A twinge of pain pinched through her leg and she winced.

Her ankle had begun aching and Erin suspected she had hurt it when she fell over Braden in her heels at school.

The horrific memory sent a heavy feeling rolling through her gut.

With a sigh, she stepped into the hallway and, immediately, a hand slapped around her wrist like a cuff and jerked her around a corner.

She squeaked, rammed against a wall and caged in by Braden. With the breath knocked out of her, Erin just stood there in shock, her lungs receiving no oxygen as she stared into Braden's furious blues.

"You," he snarled.

Erin swallowed, her ankle throbbing harder all of a sudden. "What do you think you're d—"

"Shut up," Braden spat. "And listen."

"Braden—"

"Listen! I'm going to say this one time and one time only. Don't ever… talk about it."

Erin felt a spark of defiance flare up within her and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Talk about what? The kiss?!"

"Shhhh!" Braden hissed, his face going red. "Are you insane?!" What if someone hea—"

"What kiss is this?"

They froze.

The hallway became so silent, you could have heard an ant fart.

Both Erin and Braden turned to ice sculptures, frozen and staring at each other with wide eyes.

Slowly, they looked to their right and, if possible, froze even more.

Braden gulped. "G-grandpa!"