ALLUSIVE AFTERSHOCK (21 page)

“I’m not as stupid as
you think I am.”

“Aw, don’t pout those
luscious lips at me. I don’t think you’re stupid.”

I stared, dumb-stuck by
his “your luscious lips” remark and couldn’t say anything.

“I take that back,” he
said and took another sip of the wine. “I did think you were stupid to hang
around Maxen Wendell most of your life, but other than that, I think you’re
very intelligent in a magnificent sort of way. You are also very pretty. Too
intelligent and too pretty for Max. Guys like Max, they just use women. I bet
he never told you about Chelsea Arden.”

“What about Chelsea?”

“Chelsea was my friend.
But like you, and every other girl in school, for that matter, she swooned over
Max Wendell.

“I don’t swoon,” I said
defensively.

“Ooookay.” Court
grinned. “Anyway, Chelsea told me he asked her out. She invited him over one time
when her mom and dad were out. Well, she didn’t really invite him. She said he
just showed up at her door. She told him he couldn’t come in but he talked his
way in anyway. The guy’s a charmer, that’s for sure.”

I wanted to add, “Well
you are too, if you only knew it,” but I kept it to myself. Court was without a
doubt a hottie, but he never flaunted it, wasn’t an in-your-face kind of guy
like Max. Court didn’t need to be the center of attention, so his rugged
handsome features didn’t overpower the rest of him. He kept a low profile,
blending in like wallpaper.

“They were sitting on the
sofa kissing and watching TV,” Court continued. “He tried to do other things
and when Chelsea said no, he tried harder. She kept telling him to stop but he
wouldn’t listen, kept copping feels of her breasts. Luckily, her little brother
was home and just happened to come down the stairs at that time. Max got mad
and left. Then he never talked to her again.”

“Wait … she told you
all this?” He was talking about Max, the boy I’d known and loved practically my
whole life. Max who told me everything, I thought. But then, sex was a topic
that had always been off limits. I knew he and Chelsea had gone out for a while
and then they stopped liking each other—I just never thought about why. I
figured Max discovered Chelsea’s flighty and rude disposition and decided he
didn’t like her anymore. I never dreamed Max could do something like what Court
just told me. “I am having a hard time believing this. Why would she confide
something like that, something so personal and humiliating to you, a guy?”

“I told you. We were
friends.”

“But, still.”

“She trusted me and
needed to tell someone. She knew I’d never do anything to hurt her or spread it
around. But somehow, I think her secret is safe with you.”

“Well, I won’t tell
anybody, but shouldn’t she have?”

“Probably, but she wasn’t
ready and I had to respect her wishes.”

I shook my head. “Max helped
me get here. He could have left me stranded at school.” I whispered.

He smirked. “Right. I take
back every bad thing I’ve ever said or thought about Maxen Wendell. I should
get down on my knees and thank him for saving you.”

“You’re drunk, so I’m
going to try not to let you hurt my feelings.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t
mean to hurt your feelings, but Adela, you would not have been stranded. I
wouldn’t have let that happen. As long as I can breathe, I would never let
anything bad happen to you, because … because I love you.”

I don’t think my mouth
could have dropped open any further than it did then.

Court looked at me and
grimaced. “I shouldn’t have said that, but there it is. I love you, Adela
Casteille. I’ve been in love with you since the very first time I ever laid
eyes on you, the day you moved here. We were in fourth grade. You had a few
more freckles back then. My mom used to say that every freckle a person had was
a kiss from an angel, so I figured you’d been kissed by tons and that was why
you were so beautiful.”

I didn’t know what to
say. The dark cellar suddenly felt very cold and I shivered. Breath came out of
my mouth in small white clouds as it hit the air and I just sat, listening to
Courtland Reese confess his undying love for me.

“My freckles show more
in the summer,” I whispered, not liking the silence that coated the air between
us.

“Maybe someday you’ll
let me kiss you. If we ever get out of here.”

What were the chances
of us actually getting out of the cellar? I could die down here, having never
been kissed. As if I’d been possessed by some alien whose sole purpose in life
was making sure I kissed Courtland Reese right then and there, I leaned toward
him and pressed my lips right to his. After a couple seconds, I quickly pulled
back, knowing I lacked any experience. Figuring he must think me an awful
kisser. I sat against the wall looking everywhere, anywhere but at him and
said, “Thank you for saving me,” as if that was the reason I’d kissed him.

I had to admit, I don’t
know what came over me. I’d never been one to act on impulse—at least not that
I would ever admit—and I had never kissed a boy before. No boy had ever kissed me
either. It was the truth. I know, I was pathetic, but I hung out with Max all
the time and never ever looked at another boy that way. Unless you counted the
time at Max’s thirteenth birthday party when, during a game of spin the bottle,
it pointed straight at me on Miles Stonewell’s turn and I had to kiss him. It
was more of a quick peck and then he wiped his lips off with the back of his
hand. Humiliating, to say the least.

Then the most amazing
thing happened. He reached out, and pulled me close to him. This time, when his
lips touched mine, a little slower and a little softer, I nearly melted in the
warmth of his arms. The taste of wine lingering on his lips wasn’t bad at all.
I almost pulled away when his tongue slipped between my lips, but he tasted
good, sweet. Dizziness swept through me, stealing my breath and my heart
palpitated against his. 

When we stopped
kissing, I sat up straight, not sure what to do. I touched my fingers to my
lips wondering how they existed so long in this world without having had that
done to them before.

“How was that?” he asked.

Court’s question
startled me and my cheeks warmed. “I don’t know. I guess it was good, but I don’t
have anything to compare it to.”

“Really?”

“Why is that so hard to
believe?”

“Max has never kissed
you?”

“No.”

He smiled like he was
proud that he’d kissed me first.

“So I guess that was my
first.”

“Your second.”

“What?”

“That was your second
kiss.”

“How do you figure?”

“You kissed me first.
Then I kissed you.”

“Oh.” I smiled.

“Want to try for a
third? You could compare it to the second one.”

I nodded and leaned
closer. Using his uninjured hand, he held the nape of my neck and pulled me in the
rest of the way. This kiss was a little different, prolonged, deeper,
intensifying the longer it lasted. My body reacted with a jerk, my stomach
fluttering, my mind going places it had never been before. He kissed me for a
long time and when he released me, I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped with
my exhale.

When I opened my eyes,
he asked again, “How was that?”

“It gets better each
time.”

“Good. Let’s give it
another shot.”

“No.” Did I just say
that? As much as I wanted to, something told me that if we continued kissing it
was going to lead to some other things and I definitely wasn’t ready for that.

“Why not?”

“Um … I think you have
had enough kisses for one day.”

“Never enough, but you’re
the boss. You just let me know when, and I’m there.”

I was the boss? I liked
that. I thought about what Court told me about Max and Chelsea and I did sort
of remember hearing something about it, but as usual when people talked at
school, I tried not to pay much attention. Especially about Max because it
always hurt too much.

I remembered Max telling
me that he liked Chelsea and then all of a sudden, he hated her. I didn’t
usually ask him about the girls he went out with. I didn’t want to know because
I always wished I’d been them. But now, maybe not so much anymore.

A damp cold stillness
permeated the cellar and my teeth began to chatter. I rubbed my hands up and
down my arms trying to warm my blood. “How about that game of Scrabble?” I
asked.

“No. We’re both
freezing. How about you snuggle up close to me and read to me some more. I like
listening to your voice.”

I was freezing and the
idea had a great deal of appeal. “Yeah, especially when I stumble over some of
those Gaelic words. How about I try reading with a little Irish accent?”

“Sure. A good laugh
ought to warm us right up.”

We snuggled close under
the sleeping bag and I leaned back reveling in the memories of the kisses. Adela
could have read aloud in Japanese and I wouldn’t have cared. All I wanted to do
was think about kissing her again. I couldn’t believe she actually let me kiss
her. I closed my eyes and remembered her mouth on mine, or was it mine on hers?
I knew those lips would be tasty. I wanted more and wondered if she would ever
give me more. I would never take any from her. I had never taken a kiss from
any girl. Of course, I’d kissed a couple, but never any girls from our school, never
without their permission, but enough to know I’d found the best. There was
something in those kisses from Adela. More than just lips. That was all I’d
felt from the other girls I’d made out with, nowhere near the same intensity as
Adela’s kisses.

Soon I stretched out
completely, listening as Adela read. I laughed when she mispronounced
Mullaghtinny. I didn’t correct her, though. She was so into it by then and I
didn’t want to spoil any of it. Her horrible Irish accent tickled my ears and I
couldn’t help but chuckle each time she pronounced another word incorrectly while
trying so hard to be serious. After all, Yeats was serious stuff.

She yawned then stopped
reading and closed the book. She took the empty cup from my hand and placed it
on the floor. Without saying a word, she snuggled down next to me, tugging the
sleeping bag over our bodies and resting her head on my chest again. Her
breathing became heavy and I figured she fell asleep.

I stroked her hair
until I, too finally drifted off.

***

I awoke to the faint smell
of Adela’s hair as it tickled my nose. Her head lay against my chest and quiet
breathing sounds escaped her lips, the same lips I’d kissed just a few hours
ago.

I glanced around the
cellar, having no idea what time it was. It was dark. It was always dark down there.

I needed to get up and stretch
my body but I didn’t want to wake Adela. She slept so peacefully. I carefully
lifted her head, placed it gently on the sleeping bag beside me and slowly
shoved the covers off my legs. I was feeling much better. The burns were
beginning to heal and the stinging had stopped. I pulled back one of the strips
of gauze from my hand and took a peek. The blisters appeared to be way smaller
than they were the day before. I glanced at my ankle. The swelling had gone
down, almost to nothing.

I stood up and walked
to the back of the cellar behind the wine barrels to visit the bucket, limping
only slightly. I was a little groggy and had a slight headache from the wine I’d
drunk, only a minor discomfort compared to the pain I’d experienced from the
burns.

I stared at the wall in
the dark, wishing I had a cup of coffee when something shiny sticking out from
behind the barrels caught my eye, so I limped over to check it out. Leaning
against the wall, right behind the barrels stood a shovel and a pick ax.

“Court? Courtland,
where are you?” Adela sounded a bit frantic. I chuckled to myself. I didn’t
know where she thought I could go.

“I’m over here. Are you
okay?” I asked, walking back to her as fast as I could go.

She gave me a sleepy
grin. “Oh. I was worried.”

“About what?”

“You. I woke up and you
were gone.”

I joined her on the
floor, placing my leg over her lap again. “Where did you think I could go? We
are trapped down here, you know.”

“Right. How could I
have forgotten?”

“Well, I’ve been
thinking about that. I think now that I can walk, we should try to start
digging ourselves out.”

“With what, our hands?”

“I have a surprise for
you. I saw some stuff over there.” I pointed to the wall behind the wine
barrels.

“What did you see?”

“Go look.”

Adela removed my leg
from her lap and stood, walking to the spot behind the wine barrels. “Oh my God!
How did we not see them?” She ran back and hopped onto the sleeping bag, pounced
on top of me and kissed me.

She’d caught me off
guard, but I quickly gained my wits, held her close and kissed her back.

“They were behind the
barrels. Somehow I noticed the edge of the ax sticking out.”

“We are going to be
okay, aren’t we?” she said.

“Yes.” I wondered if
this was how it would always be, Adela running to me with excitement and
showering me with soft kisses. I blinked, coming back down from that daydream
and said, “I’ll take the first shift digging. Where are my pants, anyway? I don’t
want to get too much dirt on my leg while I’m digging.”

When Adela handed me my
jeans, I gingerly stuck my bad leg in first, then the other, slowly pulled them
up, zipped them and buckled my belt. I was pleased that it didn’t hurt my
fingers at all.

“Why can’t we both
dig?”