Second Chance

Second Chance
by Minky


It was a normal day before school started. Leeanne was changing into her workout shorts for Physical Education. She bought a bottle of gatorade at the vending machine and headed towards the pool room.


" Hey, Beautiful"


Leeanne whirled around to face Tyler, the most sought after guy in 9th grade. He was leaning against a wall at the end of the hallway leading to the gym.

" Um. Hi."


Leeanne thought he was cute and could understand why so many girls wanted to be with him. But she wasn't obsessed.


" Why don't you come over here?" He spoke in a seductive, mesmerizing voice. He walked towards a door to the janitor's closet.
Uh oh. A janitor's closet?


But Leeanne knew her friends would be angry at her for not taking up this chance to hang out with Tyler.


Leeanne hesitated thinking that she didn't even like this guy. What if he tried kissing her? Would she kiss him back? No. No, she wouldn't. She could handle being in a closet with him...Right?


Tyler smiled at her and opened the closet door. He motioned for her to come. Leeanne walked slowly towards the door. He opened the door wide enough for her to walk in and reached out to grab her wrist. She dropped the Gatorade. He laughed and pulled her in.


The lights were off but the light from the small window allowed Leeanne to make out a tiny room with brooms, mops and cleaning solutions lined up neatly on the walls. The smell was really strong. Leeanne heard the door close. She turned around to face Tyler. Either he wanted to kiss her (which she wouldn't allow) or he would ask her to be his girlfriend (to which she hadn't decided whether to say yes or no).


It seemed the first was what he had in mind. He locked both his hands around Leeanne's wrists and cornered her against the wall.


" I've had my eyes on you for a while." Tyler spoke before Leeanne could pull away. He came closer, his eyes a few inches from Leeanne's.


" Uh. Um. I don't--" Leeanne was cut off by the feeling of Tyler's lips on hers. He pushed her hard against the wall and locked Leeanne's arms so that she couldn't move. Leeanne tried turning her head but Tyler only followed the movement, he lips still pushing her head back. Finally, Leeanne knew that the only way she could stop him was by using her feet. She pulled her knee up and connected.


The results were immediate. Tyler pushed away from the wall and crumbled to the floor, his face in shock and pain. Leeanne ran out of the closet and went straight back to the locker room. The locked herself in a stall and silently went over the events.


She had shared her very first kiss with the hottest guy in school and he had made it the worst experience ever. She would never be able to face him again. Leeanne stayed in the Locker room until the bell for second period rung. She had avoided P.E. because of Tyler, but 2nd period was Art and he didn't have that class. She decided that she could make it through the class without thinking about the kiss. She was wrong.


She worked on her artwork for a while but suddenly she got a lump in her throat. There was no way the she was going to let her gossipy Art class see her cry. She made her way quickly to the wash up room that noone ever used. The wash room connected with the art classroom next door and there were two sinks and a counter on the other side. She closed both doors silently and sat down on an supplies box.


She had expected it to be so romantic, maybe in the rain or at the movies, or even in a car. But, in a janitor's closet? She had wanted it to be special, and warm and soft, not nasty, wet and hard. Her eyes watered up. Crying over a stupid kiss? she asked herself. You're stronger than that.


Suddenly the door from the other Art room opened. Houston walked in. Leeanne didn't know Houston very well but he always was friendly to her and treated her with respect. She thought the sophomore was really cute and tall and she liked his red hair and cute freckles.


She dried her eyes quickly and looked away when Houston looked at her with a concerned expression. He stepped towards her slowly but Leeanne stood and started for the door.


" Hey." He murmured softly. Leeanne stopped but didn't look at him. " What's wrong?" He stood in front of her and lowered himself to her level. Wow, he was tall. Leeanne was so embarassed. What was the chance that her only crush would walk in and see her crying over a stupid kiss?


Houston lifted her chin with his hand and gently forced her to look him full in the face. " Tell me what happened." His voice was silky and it was obvious he was worried that someone had hurt Leeanne. Well, that was only half-true. Leeanne didn't want him to worry so she concentrated on not letting her voice shake.


" Someone called me a name." she told him. He looked at her unbelievingly.


" I know you well enough to know that you're lying. You wouldn't stress over something like that. Tell me the Truth."


Darn, he didn't buy it. No choice but to tell him. The dreaded lump came again. She choked on it.


" Tyler...he..." Leeanne's voice faded. Houston's face turned chili pepper red to match his hair.


" What did he do to you?!"


" Nothing! Nothing. It's just that he...kissed me..." Leeanne finally felt the full blow of the situation. Why couldn't I have shared my first kiss with Houston? He would never have hurt me. Houston suddenly dropped the hand that had been holding up Leeanne's chin to his side. He looked dissapointed.


" And...did you...want to kiss him?" he sounded hurt, as if Leeanne had just told him that she never wanted to see him again.


" NO! He...forced himself on me." Leeanne hadn't thought about it that way until now. Houston's face reverted to it's red state again.


" He WHAT?!" Houston yelled loud enough that Leeanne was sure everyone in the two connecting art rooms could hear them. " I'm gonna KILL him!" He headed angrily towards the door to his own art classroom. Leeanne was suprised at Houston's reaction. It was just a first kiss, right? No big deal. Well...to her it was, but to some boy she barely knew? Surely, it was nothing to get into a tizzy about.


" Shh! Please. It's no big deal!" Leeanne grabbed Houston's arm to keep him from leaving to beat up Tyler.


" I'm not just going to sit back, knowing what he's done to you, Leeanne!" Houston turned back to face Leeanne. He was furious and out of breath.


" I told you. It's no big deal. Why do you even care what happens to me?"


" Anything that makes you cry is a really big deal!" He avoided the second question.


" Please. It was just my first kiss. I just wanna forget it." Leeanne's voice broke and she started tearing up again. Houston's face softened.


" Hey, don't cry. I'm sorry. I just--I really like you, and--I don't want to see you get hurt." He likes me? He bent to hold Leeanne's hand.


" You're first kiss, huh? It must have been pretty bad." Leeanne, teary eyed, looked up at Houston's smiling face. Right then, she fell in Love. Just looking at those gorgeous green eyes made her stomach somersault. Houston leaned forward slightly. Her stomach fluttered.


" If you want, we can try to make your second kiss a better experience." Houston breathed. Leeanne smiled shyly at him.


" I'll take that as a 'Yes' " He took her other hand in his own and pulled her closer to him. Leeanne pulled her hands out of his light grip and wrapped them around his neck instead. He looked suprised so Leanne began to withdraw. But instead, he slipped his hands behind her waste and pulled her against his chest. She could feel his sweet, warm breath on her face.


" You know, I've liked you ever since the first day of high school." Houston said, barely a whisper.


" Me too..." and Houston kissed Leeanne. It was the perfect second kiss. Third kiss, fourth. He didn't press her against a wall or pin down her arms or even press his lips hard against hers. It was sweet and warm and soft. And Leeanne realized that it didn't matter where she got kissed. Whether in the art class's washroom or in a smelly janitor's closet, it mattered more who the person was that kissed her.


They kissed for a while but then Leeanne remembered that they were in school. She stopped kissing him and Houston looked at her with a lovingly curious expression.


" Art class." she explained.


" Oh yeah." He seemed like he wanted to be with Leeanne longer but she told him that she would meet him after school.


" Maybe I can walk you home?" He seemed scared of rejection but, of course, Leeanne told him that it was a great idea. She gave him one last kiss on his cheek and left the wash room.


" What were you doing in there?" asked Bea when she had sat down and resumed her work. Leeanne smiled secretively.


" Oh. I was just getting a second chance at a one time experience."