Three O’Clock :
Kissing the Clash

-

It was almost three o'clock. Five minutes to go. Five minutes of tumultuous struggles against algebraic agony. Five minutes until the end. Five minutes until she saw him. Five minutes. Five more minutes…

--

He swaggered down the hall. That’s the only way she could think to describe it. “If I had confidence like that maybe he’d notice me,” she thought pessimistically. She was lying to herself. He noticed her already, sure. But he must see her as nothing more than some girl to talk to after school. She was someone to help him pass the time. Just some quiet girl to try and get to talk.

She wanted to talk. She wanted to talk to him about everything. She wanted to do more than talk to him. But not that it really mattered anyway.

--

“Have you ever heard of the Clash?” he whispered.

“Duh, who hasn’t heard of the Clash?” she whispered back, her heart racing.

“Okay, I want to take a poll,” he said, his voice suddenly loud in the half full lunchroom. “Who here can name three songs by the Clash?”

“The who?” retorted a freshman at the table over.

“Not the Who, the Clash,” she said, which earned a laugh from the boy.

--

“Kiss me,” he said suddenly.

“What?” she almost screeched from shock and exhilaration.

“Do it, quick, my ex is coming. She wants to get back together.”

“Umm... okay?” And she kissed him. And she was kissing him. And suddenly she wasn’t in a nearly empty gymnasium, but she was flying. And then she broke it and slammed back into reality.

“I’m not going to help you every time you see her. I’m not going to help you make her jealous.”

“Who said I wanted to make her jealous?” he said, suddenly angry.

“Don’t get angry at me because you want her back!” she cried, turning on her heel and leaving.

--

“Tell him.”

“No!”

“Isa, you’ve known him forever. You’ve been in love with him for a while, even if you hadn’t admitted it. Just tell him.”

“He’ll just freak out and not talk to me.”

“You don’t know that. He could be like, I’ve secretly been in love with you since we were little and I want to ravish you right here but there are too many witnesses.”

“Doubt it.”

“You never know, dah-ling. You know what I think about this whole thing.”

“Trust me, you’re wrong. He’s still in love with Laurie. He made me kiss him just because she was walking by. So now we’re in a fight because of that.”

“He made you kiss him!” she shrieked. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“Well, we got into a fight afterwards, so, you know, I figured it didn’t really matter.”

“Andrew and you can never stay mad at each other, and you know it.”

“I don’t know. He got mad at me when I said I wouldn’t help him make her jealous.”

“Maybe because he wasn’t trying to make her jealous!”

“Now you’re just being stupid.”