He’s not alone.
Natalie is next to him, and they look too close to each other for my taste, their cheeks almost touching in order to appear in the selfie. Her hashtags only make the situation worse: #WithTheHidalgo, #FutureDoctor, #HotterThanEver, and #WhatHappensHereStaysHere. I feel heat wash over my face, and my stomach clenches with what I recognize as jealousy. Dani reaches over to scream in my ear over the music.
“I’m sure she did it on purpose.”
Oh, I know she did, but I’m still seething. Jealousy is so nasty. It fuels my imagination and different images of the two of them kissing, touching, and dancing together cross my mind. I shake my head because I’m sure that won’t happen, and I trust him. However, I can’t deny the discomfort I feel because I know they have a history together.
We leave the dance floor, and I grab my phone.
Don’t act immature, Raquel, I think as I compose a text to Ares.
Me: How are you doing?
He doesn’t reply immediately and that bothers me even more. He must be having such a good time that he’s not responding to me. God, I have to stop thinking like that.
My phone vibrates with a response:
Ares <3: Cool, I only need you here to make everything perfect.
Me: Who are you with?
Ares <3: With the entire school . . . ?
His sarcasm doesn’t make me laugh, but I don’t know how to ask him exactly who he’s with without sounding intense. I don’t answer him, and he texts me again: Ares <3: We’re almost out of here to go to the after-party.
The after-party will be at Ares’s house, of course. I don’t answer him because I know I have to trust him, and I think he’ll notice my discomfort if I talk to him right now. I decide to push the image of them together away from my mind and focus on having a good time with my friends. We start dancing as a group, taking turns to move to the middle and show off our dancing skills, which are not very good, but with the disco lights on us we look like experts.
I must say that whoever is adding alcohol into what is supposed to be the fruit cocktail is going a little overboard; it’s getting stronger and stronger. I’m afraid that one of the chaperons will try it, and we’ll get in trouble. However, that worry disappears with the fourth glass.
After a while, my phone vibrates in my hand.
Incoming call: Ares <3
I turn away from the music and walk out of the gym into a quiet hallway. Seeing his name on the screen reminds me of that picture with Natalie again. Swallowing with difficulty, I answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, everything okay?”
“Meh, yes.” My voice sounds strained.
“You’ve never been good at lying, Witch.”
“I’m fine.”
“You know how you tend to twist your lips to the side when something bothers you?” That makes me frown. “You’re doing it right now,” he says, and I look up to see him walking toward me down the dimly lit hallway. If he’s beautiful in plain clothes, in a suit and tie he looks out of this world.
Ares takes the cell phone from his ear and gives me a smile. It’s not loaded with mischief or arrogance. It’s a genuine smile, and it disarms me. He looks so happy to see me that I forget about Natalie or any of my doubts.
He loves me. It’s written all over his face, in his eyes, in his smile. And I feel foolish for doubting that for a second, and all because of a single photo. What he and I feel is so genuine and pure. He reaches his hand to my face and gives me a short kiss to whisper against my lips: “You look beautiful.”
“You’re not bad yourself,” I admit.
“What happened?” His thumb strokes my cheek. “What upset you?”
Honestly, nothing bothers me anymore; I only care about him and this moment. So, I stand on my tiptoes, grab his tie, and kiss him, taking him by surprise. It’s not a gentle kiss. It’s a kiss where I let out all my feelings, all this love that consumes me. It doesn’t take him long to keep up with me, our mouths moving together, our breath quickening.
When we separate, I take him by the hand to an empty classroom on one side of the hallway and close the door behind me. Ares watches me, amused and hungry for my kisses, for me. Biting my lower lip, I face him with the teacher’s desk right behind me. Ares doesn’t dissimulate; I know this is turning him on as much as me. His eyes scan me in an unabashed way.
“Almost the last day of high school,” he says, grabbing my hips. “And you’ve never fucked in this place.” He lifts me up, so that I’m sitting on the desk, and moves between my legs, his thumb caressing my mouth. “That’s about to change, Witch.”