Page 32 of Love Hollow at Last
“Yeah, well, it’s all Nobu.He said he’s going to bring some folding chairs up for the party, but he expects people to be mostly dancing.”
“What about the elders?”
“I don’t know.He’ll just ask them to sit seza?He’d better bring a rug, though.These floors are brutal.”
“Yeah,” Aya said then took a deep breath.“Want to hear my plan?”
28
Aya
Aya was confused when they left the party.The tradition in Love Hollow was for the teenagers to continue to party the entire night of prom.The compromise that had been reached over the years was that there would be plenty of designated drivers, and any partying would take place at specific homes, not in random places.So Aya and Noah had both been at the nerdier of the large parties.Dane Woodson’s parents had opened their house but made it clear that they were staying with a neighbor, and it was where many of the A-Wing kids decamped to after the official dance was over.Many stargazed in the backyard, but because they were the more academically inclined crowd, it involved actual stargazing, complete with an impressive telescope Erica Smith’s dad had lent them.The yard was filled with lots of sleeping bags and deck chairs.Many of the attendees had fallen asleep, and as the sun was rising, Noah shook Aya awake.
“Let’s go,” he said.
She blinked.She had tried to take off her makeup at one point, but she hadn’t done the greatest job with her eye makeup, and her lashes still felt heavy.“Go where?Isn’t there going to be breakfast here?”
“I grabbed a couple of things.But I know where we can get a better breakfast.”
The car ride up to the cabin was one of the most beautiful of Aya’s life.The sunrise, as weak and unimpressive as she had thought it at first, let the light gather in the valley.And for a moment, talking and joking with Noah, she was able to forget Nobu’s warning.Of course, he hadn’t been the first one to warn her.Noah was an attractive guy, so her senses were already on alert.She had to wonder if he would be like Preston Winters, who had jilted her two years before.Well, not jilted her, not exactly.He’d just flirted shamelessly with her every single day in second period.And since she was an impressionable sophomore and he was a senior, she had made something of it, fully expecting him to ask her to prom.She eventually learned that he had a girlfriend thirty miles away, whom he had conveniently forgotten to mention during every single one of their frequent interactions.
At the time, she’d tried to laugh it off.Her three best friends as well as the twins they sometimes hung around with refused to speak to him.Preston was probably slightly confused though not innocent.He’d most likely convinced himself that he hadn’t done anything wrong, and if he’d raised expectations, he seemed ready to forget.But Aya had gotten one clear lesson from that—she was neither pretty nor skinny enough to have a legitimate boyfriend.Guys like Preston would flirt with her, particularly when she was two years ahead in math and could help them with every problem set.But any commitment from them was reserved for the girls who were beautiful and popular.She hadn’t been able to see Preston’s girlfriend’s MySpace page, as it was set to private, but the profile picture was of a blond woman smiling amid a crowd of friends.
The car made its way off the mountain slowly.Noah wasn’t a bad driver, although he tended to play his music too loudly.Aya wanted to ask him if he was going to come to her graduation party.But she didn’t dare pressure him quite so directly.She would sound desperate.
“Did you change your mind about having a graduation party?”she asked.“My mom was really hoping you’d do it.”
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, not answering.For a few minutes, on the way out of town, he had held her hand.But now that they were close to the cabin, he kept both hands on the wheel, carefully climbing up from the valley.It was even more exciting than holding hands.Aya had been to the cabin many times, and she knew exactly how abandoned it was.
She was so distracted that she didn’t ask Noah again whether he was having a graduation party, though she found his lack of response pretty odd.Nobody loved academics more than the Kato family, and it was unfathomable that they would want to skip that milestone.
When they got there, she went over to the deck as he unlocked the doors.She didn’t want to go in at that moment, when the sunlight was at its most beautiful.She was wearing fleece leggings under a formfitting red dress, one that worked with a black cardigan over it.All of her friends had also planned party outfits for post-prom celebrations, as Idaho nights were too cold to wear a prom dress, even with a good jacket.The May sun had started bringing a touch of heat into the day, so Aya unzipped her jacket.Noah walked over then placed his hand on hers.
She looked up at him.
His embrace took her by surprise, his touch decisive but respectful.
“Aya,” he began then seemed to be having trouble getting the next word out.
But she didn’t have to be a psychic to guess what he had been going to ask.
“Yes,” she said, “you can kiss me.”
Then she made the decision for him, kissing him with her back pressed against the railing, the rising sun and her own feelings warming her.
They were teenagers, so for what felt like an eternity, they only kissed.There was none of the urgency that a suaver person would have had to break away or change it up or do anything to alter the insane moment in which they found themselves.
But eventually, Noah broke away and led her inside to the couch.Aya had a jittery feeling in her heart.She’d had crushes before, and that hadn’t been her first kiss.But it was the first time she had even considered progressing to anything else.She wasn’t shocked that Noah had kissed her, but she was surprised that she wanted to throw the idea of virginity down into the valley.What was the good of it, when she wanted Noah so badly?She was pulling his body closer, ready to take a step that she both anticipated and feared.
Her jacket was long gone, and moaned.He was just as hot as she was, and just as she was wondering how any of her clothes would come off, he lifted her up.
They sat on the couch like that, facing each other, panting.
“Are you really going to Chicago?”he asked.
It wasn’t the question Aya had been expecting.She thought he might have asked something about condoms, and she very much hoped he was better prepared than she was.
“What do you mean?”It took her a moment to tear her mind from the body of the man in front of her.He had not changed into comfortable clothes.Noah always liked to look good, and his tux was still managing that for him.But his tie had come off, and a couple of his shirt buttons had come loose where her hand had been.
