Present Perfect(10)

Noah was sitting very close to me. We were both wearing shorts and the feel of our bare thighs touching was something new and exciting. I noticed just before the summer, he had started being more affectionate with me. Noah had always been sweet, but recently he hugged me more, held my hand more, and sat closer to me. I liked it. A lot. My body tingled every time he was this close.

We were sharing his set of ear buds listening to music. Both of us were huge music fans; alternative, indie, punk, rock, etc. The music of our favorite band, Lifehouse, was pulsating through the ear buds.

“They’re awesome,” I said, swaying side to side, my eyes closed, letting the music flow through me. “The entire CD is brilliant. The song ‘Everything’ is my favorite.”

“Mine too. It reminds me of you,” he said.

I quickly glanced at him, not sure if I heard what I thought I heard. I looked down and closed my eyes again. When the song ended, I looked over at Noah and caught him staring at me with a slight smile across his face.

“What are you smiling at?” I asked.

“You, I like watching you listen to music. You get so lost in it.”

Our eyes locked as I sucked in my lower lip, running my teeth over it. I felt a warm blush start to creep across my cheeks. I smiled at him, as I handed back the ear bud.

“Do you think they’ll go on tour soon?”

Noah shrugged. “Maybe.”

“If they come to town we have go to see them. I bet they’re unbelievable in concert.”

Suddenly, he hopped off the table and stood in front of me. Reaching into the back pocket of his cargo shorts, he produced two tickets, and held them up in front of me. He tried to contain it, but the grin on his face was getting bigger and more adorable each second.

“Performing Arts Center, three weeks, you and me, Tweet,” he said excitedly.

It took a second for me to register what he had just said. This would be the first concert either of us had been to. It was hard to contain my excitement.

“You’re kidding?!”

“Nope.”

I jumped up and flew into his arms, causing him to stumble backwards, and fall to the ground with me landing on top, straddling him. We were out of breath and laughing.

“Noah Stewart, you are the bestest best friend a girl could have.”

“I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?” He shot a flirtatious smirk up at me and my insides melted.

“Yes you are,” I said in a low voice.

We laid there, so close our noses were almost touching as our eyes locked on one another again. Noah had the most amazing eyes. They were light blue and so bright, it looked as if they were lit from the back.

I wish I had eyes like that. Mine were a weird color. Mom always said they were teal. What kind of color is teal? I can guarantee the color teal is the least used crayon in the Crayola big box.

I realized I should have probably gotten off of Noah immediately, but I didn’t. He seemed perfectly fine with me staying put, straddling him. My palms pressed against his chest let me know how toned and solid his body was, under his t-shirt. Playing baseball since we were little kids had been very, very good to him. I could also feel how excited he was. I had never felt anything like that before pressed against me. Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared. It felt right.

My gaze fell to his mouth. When I saw his tongue dart out slightly and run across his lower lip, a warm sensation took over my body. The butterflies in my stomach were doing cartwheels. Our breathing had gone from shallow and quick, to deep and slow. I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. Noah was my best friend. I had always been excited when I saw him and wanted to spend all of my time with him, but what I was feeling was more than what I had experienced before.

Noah’s gaze dropped down to my lips, slowly moved up my face, and back to my eyes. Raising his hand, he tucked some of my hair that had fallen against the side of his face, behind my ear. My cheek and the shell of my ear tingled as the tips of his fingers skimmed across them.

“You were extremely sure of yourself, getting those tickets without asking me first. What if I didn’t want to go with you?” I said, teasing him. My voice was so quiet, it almost sounded like a whisper.

“Impossible. I know my girl too well,” he said, smiling up at me. I loved it when he called me his girl. He cleared his throat and then said, “I guess we better get up.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that.” A rosy blush took over my cheeks.

I rolled off of Noah’s body and sat up next to him. He didn’t stand immediately. I guess he needed a little time to calm down, so did I.

When he stood, he held his hands out to me, and helped me off the ground. Once I was on my feet, he pulled me in close against his chest, and said, “That was fun. What would you do for tickets to see Green Day in concert?” He had a smirk on his face.

The combination of our bodies pressed together, his bright blue eyes, and that smirk, had my head spinning, and my body experiencing sensations that I wasn’t use to feeling.

I wasn’t sure if it was my raging hormones or Beth drooling over Noah, constantly, but I had started looking at him differently. I didn’t like the way she looked at him or talked about his body parts. These new feelings were confusing to me. I knew when I was with him, I felt excited, happy, and safe. When we weren’t together it felt like a part of me was missing.

Since we shared all of our firsts together, I guess it was only natural that my first crush would be on Noah. Even though his body responded when I was on top of him, I knew teenage boys got like that for no reason at all. It was just the hormones flooding into his penis that caused it to react that way. Noah saw me as a friend, not a girlfriend.