And so They Kissed.

It was a moment of enlightenment; a brief, hot flash of mutual understanding.

The girl smiled at the boy - albeit shyly, with her hand pushing back her falling hair - and the boy smiled back.

It was pretty darn awkward too.

The boy was leaving; he said bye to the older girls, hugging them as they took turns to tease him one last time before he left for Atlanta. There was no romance in those hugs, no love in their playful banter. When the boy came to the girl, though, it was a different matter entirely.

The girl was younger than the boy.

It is considered social death for any older girl to date any younger boy, which is why the older girls could safely hug the boy without coming off as flirty. The girl, on the other hand, was younger than the boy. It would be mean if the boy singled out the girl and left without hugging her; on the other other hand, hugging her would mean one thing:

Awkwardness.

But the girl smiled at the boy, and the boy smiled back, and they hugged.

She felt his lean, warm body press against hers through that orange t-shirt, his scraggly hair scrape gently over her cheek, he wiry arms wrapping around her in that brief second. One, two, no - three seconds of absolute bliss.

And then he pulled away, to Atlanta, to a far away place, to a place out of her life.

A few moments of silence.

Suddenly, as if on cue, everyone resumed their banter about which movie to watch, which nail polish was the best, oh by the way have you seen 127 hours?, you have to! James Franco is way hot in the movie, OPI is always the best, are you invited to tanisha's party? oh that's too bad...

So bloody trivial.

The hug meant so much more to the girl. She was falling for him. Hard, too.

A split decision - she'll chase him down.

The girl caught a taxi, willed it to keep accelerating, keep going, NOOO don't turn red yet, bend the corner quickly bend bend bendbendbendbendben--ah yes that's right, c'mon...

"We're at the airport." A gruff taxi driver's voice.

The girl stuffed a fistful of bills into his hands and flew out of the cab, her face flushed with anxiousness. Run, she commanded herself. Run. Run. Run. Run. Just. Run. The whole airport became but a blur of passing faces and shops, zooming by her with a speed that always seemed to be too slow as she constatnly instructed herself to pick up her pace.

ba-bump. ba-bump. --- Her heart stopped when she saw a familiar silhouette. She stood there, rooted to the ground, unable to move. It's quite funny how she could run so fast for him, and yet remain completely motionless when he wass right in front of her, in her grasp...

"BOARDING. ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS. CX1230897 IS BOARDING." That woke her up from her reverie.

She dashed forward, time tumbling over the minutes, in a heart-stopping, terrying minute. What was he thinking?

What was SHE thinking? Coming all over here, not even knowing if he liked her or not?
Oh god. The mortification of it all. I'm an idiot, she berated herself, her cheeks all hot and red.

"Why are you here?"

"I..I..I came to...say," she swallowed, mind racing. "...uh, I came to say goodbye." Internally, she hated herself for being so gutless.

"Really." The boy looked at her.

And it was as if some celestial being had orchestrated this very moment, because they both seemed to feel that undeniable attraction that drew them - literally drew them - to each other. In an instant their mouths mashed, and the world became a black hole of pure ecstasy. All the social qualms, fears, worries - everything was gone, and there was just the two of them - and amazing, amazing exhilaration - alone, in this world.

Of course, after 10 seconds, they pulled away again.
She had hoped for a happy ending.

But in real life, there is no happy ending.

The boy looked at her, wide-eyed, still unable to comprehend what they just did.

Everything returned to normalcy. Their was the fluorescent light, the ridiculousness of the situation, the airport hostess looking at them bemusedly and muttering to her friends.
 

The spell was over. The boy pretended nothing had happened, and said, "Bye."

He walked to the boarding gate and that was that.

*epilogue*
 

The girl never saw the boy again. What? I told you there wer no happy endings in real life. There is onl ythe journey, which is a happy ending in itself. Just be glad that the kiss happened at all. Grab life and live it, because if you stand there waiting for the rewards, when there are none forthcoming you will be nothing but a defeated soul.