Chapter 13: Kisses

The first time they kissed was in ninth grade. It was the first time either of them had kissed, or been kissed by anyone, other than their parents. It was awkward trying to figure out what to do with lips and hands. Once they got the hang of it, they never wanted to stop. Until they did, stop. When they broke up everything stopped.

Time stopped. Life stopped. Truth stopped. Everything stopped. The two of them were living, but not actually living their best life, or being the best versions of themselves. But when they kissed on the deck, for the first time in years, it's like something inside of them said: "welcome home". If ever a kiss was a life-changing experience it was this one.

And it was full of words they didn't need to say. It felt easy. It felt right. It felt like they were two people put together deliberately over time and space. The heart knows when the search is over. It's so weird how a person in almost two months can make you feel so much of what a person in two years couldn't. Time means nothing, but the right person means everything.

Once they got over the hurdle of their first kiss, the rest fell into place. It seems like years of repressed emotions and feelings tumbled out. Because they could not stop kissing and touching. If they weren't kissing then they were touching: massaging the neck, holding hands, a little brush of the hand on the arm or the leg, running their fingers through each other's hair. It's all super sweet. Or as Tommy likes to say "Sickening".

They've definitely made up for the lost time. And they do things for each other without asking because they know the other person needs it. Ava will bring Johnny breakfast because she knows he doesn't eat at home as much anymore, due to bypassing Sid. She's also taken to making him lunch as well, twice a week. On Wednesday and Thursday, she noticed he would pick at his meal. Never really eating it. Not asking why, because who needs to ask why when it's gross Salisbury steak? She takes care of him that way.

For her, Johnny makes sure she stays hydrated especially on the day she has a match. He'll stop by a store and buy the biggest bottle of water they have.  He also gives her neck massages after her practices and golf games. Knowing her muscles are tight and tired he just does it. And because he knows she likes it, he'll write her love letters. It's true writing love letters don't come easy to him, but he does it. For her.

They haven't said the actual words I love you, yet. But they're always there on the tip of the tongue. They're also in every kiss, action, and look. When he looks at her, it's like he just realized what love is. And her face lights up every time she sees him. Every single time. When they talk about each other, it's like they hung the moon in the sky. That's how they look at each other too.

Dutch even told him "She makes you smile like a complete loser. It's disturbing." He may have received a kick to the leg for that in practice.

But what Dutch doesn't know is, she looks at him like there's something inside him worth looking at. And that makes all the difference. In fact, his grades have improved all around. His attitude has grown leaps and bounds, he even tries to be polite to Sid (which is seriously hard to do). He's not even fussy with Sensei when he tries to correct his form. So much so, that Sensei asked "What's gotten into you? Lawrence whatever it is don't stop it." He doesn't plan on stopping it for a LONG time. Maybe ever. If this is what love can do, then his friends need the same thing too.

For weeks it's been like this. When he's treated right and loved properly, Johnny Lawrence glows. And it's beautiful because he's calm. He's secure. People have been talking about it. They've never seen him this way. The only Johnny they've only ever seen is the anxious, insecure, loud, angry one. People can't help but wonder when the old persona will be back. They're just waiting for him to mess up. But people will always talk about you, no matter what you do. Johnny could care less. He's finally got his shit together. It means he's growing as a person. October has been a great month!

Sitting with Ava in history class, he doodled in her notebook. He wrote out "Are you going to the Halloween dance tomorrow?" She wrote "Yes. Are you?" In response, he scribbled "We'll talk after class." Her face shined bright as she sent a radiant smile his way. He couldn't help but return it with a beautiful one of his own.

They tried to listen to Mr. Harris drone on about the Battle of Little Bighorn, but he's boring as dirt. How anyone can find him amusing is smoking something, a lot of something. When the bell rang, relieved sighs were heard throughout the room. Plus they'd been assigned pages to read and questions to answer. Ava knew she and Johnny would do them together.

She reached for her ESPIRIT shoulder bag, only to notice Johnny already had it. He was putting her books inside. Standing she kissed his cheek "Thanks Hot Shot." Walking hand in hand they discussed the dance. "What are you going as?" she asked. "If you don't already have a costume we dress as a couple's theme." He hasn't mentioned Halloween to her, not even after they helped his mother decorate the front porch.

With his quintessential Johnny Lawrence smirk, he admitted "The guys and I are going as a group theme. We're skeletons complete with creepy face paint. It'll be badass. What about you?"

Yes, what about her? "Skeletons huh? That sounds bone-chilling." She chuckled and saw him shake his head at her pun. "My friends are not doing a group theme. I'm actually going as a witch. Not a bad witch, or a sexy witch, just a cute witch." He raised his eyes at the word sexy. "I have this pretty black hat with feathers around the bottom, a black tulle skirt, and these fun black and orange striped tights. I think the whole look will be entertaining."

He disagreed. "No, you'll still be a sexy, hot witch no matter what." They stopped on the way to their next class, French II (her) and Typing (him), to kiss. It wasn't long, just short and sweet and to the point, especially since she feels weird about long displays of PDA. The best kisses are better left private.

"I think you'll be a sexy bag of bones. If skeletons can be sexy," she told him.

Bring her hands up to place a kiss on each one, he said with a mischievous look "Oh they can be. You'll see." He winked at her and left to go to his class.

On the way, she passed a group of Junior girls. They were whispering, loudly, and talking about Johnny. "What does she see in him? He's a hothead with a temper problem." Another girl said "Yeah he is. He may be good to look at, but there's not much else there." Still, another spoke. "I agree. A leopard can't change his spots. Sooner or later Johnny will be back to the angry messed-up version we all know and love to hate. Even Ali saw through him. Which is one of the reasons they broke up."

The fire of a thousand suns burned in her chest. How dare those twits say that about her boyfriend? They don't know him. They have no clue who he really is, inside. He's only shown them the version of himself he wants them to see. Her hands shook as she walked. By the time she arrived at her French class, she had calmed down. Why is she wasting valuable energy on those girls, whose opinions don't matter? This is her thought as the bell rang. That and the desire to defend him.

Coming into class late is none other than Susan and Barbara. She likes to forget those two are in her class. They're the equivalent of a bad mood. They took their seats, not too far from her own, and gave her questioning looks. It's weird, usually, the three of them have zero contact. Not because they're mean, just because they have nothing in common. Plus the fact she had dumped Johnny and their best friend was dating him made it awkward at best. Her thoughts were interrupted when Mrs. Collins had them conjugate verbs.

After class ended, Ava gathered her belongings as usual. However, her packing up was disrupted by Ali's friends. "Hi, Ava. How are you?" Barbara asked with a sugary voice.

She kept on packing up. "Fine thanks. How are you?" Taking her notebook, she placed it in her bag.

Susan stated with authority "We're good. But we're wondering something. What makes you different from Ali? What makes you think he'll change for you? We just don't know what you see in him. He's bad news."

Oh, this... Like she has time for this. But considering how annoyed she is currently why not? It's time to defend her man. "Interesting you say those things. Ali and I could not be more different if we tried." She smoothed her polka dot, overall, denim dress out and fixed her tall black boots. Everything about the two of them is different. That's a conversation for another day.

She stood up and the three girls walked out of the classroom together. "I've seen the ugly parts of Johnny and I've seen the good too. We broke up for a time, but time has a way of working things out. He's different with me. I can't explain it. He just is. He makes me laugh more than anyone else and makes me smile more. We're the best version of ourselves when we're together. We're happy together. We're all... the... things together." She smiled at spotting him and Bobby across the way.

Continuing she spoke "You're right though. He's not perfect. He messes up, a lot. But who doesn't?  I don't want perfection. I just want someone who treats me right and loves me regardless of my own messiness. I have that with him. We balance each other out. And that matters. I hope this answers your questions." She smiled at the both of them, then walked off to her boyfriend.

She sped her walk up. They both caught each other's eyes and couldn't help but smile. When she was super close to him, she threw her arms around his neck. They held each other. She kissed his neck and held his face in her hands. Eye-to-eye she stated "I have completely fallen for you, Johnny. That's all. I've fallen for your flaws, mistakes, smiles, laughter, jokes, sarcasm, everything that makes you, you."

Of all the things he expected her to say, that's not it. He hoped she might, one day, but to hear her say it is everything. Not yet able to voice the three words on the edge of his heart and tongue, he said something different. "I hope you want to stay with me for a long time because my heart really likes you." No, it doesn't. It loves her. He wonders if she knows just how much of him belongs to her.

Bobby coughed and the two broke apart. The three of them walked to lunch together. Ava thought it an appropriate time to ask Bobby something. "So Bobby, Johnny told me you have some doubts about Rachel. What are thoughts about her?"

Massaging the back of his neck with his right hand, he explained. "I'm not too sure. It's just a vibe I'm getting. I can usually read people's character traits very well. It's a blessing and a curse—-"

Interrupting him Ava said "You're a sensor feeler. You think more with your heart and your emotions lead you to discern the intentions of others. That's a true blessing Bobby." She patted him on the arm.

"Thanks for saying that. It's because of my intuition I feel like she's not totally honest and trustworthy. I hate to say it but I think she's two-faced. I don't have any proof, but I just feel it." There he got it all out, now he can breathe easier.

When Johnny isn't upset about something, his intuition is similar to Bobby's. "Johnny, what do you think? Do you feel the same?"

He feels the same as Bobby. Something is off with her. "I don't need a ton of sugar. Too much of it makes me want to vomit. She's all sugar, all the time. It means she's faking something. You can't be sugar all the time. At some point, the spice has to come out. The question is when. Just watch your back Buttercup. How did you become friends with her?"

She mentioned to them, "Mainly because of Kara. She and Kara joined the school Sophomore year. I haven't had reason not to trust her, but if the two of you are suspicious then I'll be more cautious." Now her own senses are raised.

The day of Halloween brought out ghouls and goblins of all kinds. The day started with a terrible trick. She was taking her shower as normal. Everything is normal. Nothing unusual about waking up and showering. She towel-dried her hair and left the towel wrapped around it. She threw her underwear and bathrobe on, then went downstairs to eat breakfast. Totally normal.

"Morning Dear," her mother greeted. She hugged her daughter. "Happy Halloween." She passed Ava a bag of "treats".  This is one of her traditions. She puts together little treat bags for each child on Halloween. It's filled with candy and one small "big" ticket item. Inside Ava's bag, this year is chocolate truffles, chocolate coconut candy, and a dainty diamond open circle necklace.

She admired it in her hand. "Mom, thank you. It's so pretty." She hugged her mother and in the process dropped her napkin. Bending over to get it, the towel slipped a little from her head. Standing back up, she placed the napkin on the counter and continued to eat.

Her mother stopped what she was doing and stared at her daughter. "Baby, did you do something different with your hair?" She knows Ava probably didn't but she needs to ask anyway.

The spoon stopped in front of her mouth. "No. I just washed it. Why?" She shoved the spoon into her mouth, cereal and all. She went ahead and took the towel off her hair and set it aside.

"Oh, oh my," her mother responded. She's a little unsure how to proceed. But then her husband entered the room. Without warning, he let out a big "Whoa!" Linda made a gesture to be quiet.

Ava saw her mom's hand motion and her dad's reaction. Something is up here. She grabbed the first thing she could find that has a "mirror" effect, the toaster would do. Looking at the side of the toaster, she died. "Oh," she weakly said. "Oh," she said again. Her hands raised to her mouth. "Oh, my hair! My hair is blue! My hair is blue!" she cried. "I have blue hair!" she shreiked. "The dance is tonight!" she freaked out. "Tonight!"

Tears streamed down her face. "I look like a Smurf. A smurf!" How could this happen? She was taking her shower. That was it. Oh. Oh, she knows. The only one in this house... As it happened the evil child walked into the kitchen. Whipping her head around in a move the Exorcist would be proud of, her finger pointed at him. "YOU! You did this."

He had the nerve to laugh. "Nice look Sis. You going as Cookie Monster this year?"

That was it. She jumped up and tackled him to the ground. Her father pulled her up before she could hurt him. Tears continued to pour from her eyes.

Giving his son a hard expression, the one that means you're in so much trouble, Nick asked "Did you do this to your sister?"

"Of course I did. It's Halloween. Trick or Treat Sis," Chase admitted. Nick Green took his son, by the collar of his shirt, out of the kitchen into his study.

She's so upset right now, she can't think. Her hands are shaking and her heart is heavy. She literally can't breathe. Her mother handed her a paper bag, that she immediately began to blow into. "It's blue. My hair..."

"It will be OK Baby. It's six-thirty. The salon opens at nine. You can stay home from school today. We'll get this fixed. You'll see. Although, it is Halloween. You could just go with it. Let it be part of your costume. It's up to you," Linda threw her arms around her daughter. Oh, she's SO mad at Chase. What a dirty trick!

Johnny will be here in forty minutes. What to do? He can't see her hair like this. He can't. "Johnny can't see my hair. It's ugly! It's blue. My hair is blue Mama!" She thought she was all cried out, but she's not. Then a thought occurred to her. "Mom, what if the salon can't fix it? What if I have to wait because of hair processing and dyes. Oh God! I'll be stuck with this for a week won't I?" She openly wept now and ran back upstairs into the safety of her bedroom.

Hurling herself onto the bed, she thought about what to do. Keep it like this for tonight or get it fixed. Keep or fix. Her mother entered the room holding a tube. "Your brother turned over the dye. It says it should come out in about five washes. But I'm certain my stylist can fix this in no time. Sure you may have to have it bleached, but then he'll dye it back to its lovely brown hue."

Sitting up, Ava responded. "Mom, I really want to get this fixed. But I also don't want to miss my first and second-period classes. Can I do half a day? Can we do that?"

"Of course Baby. You can do that. I'll make the appointment first thing and explain this is a dire circumstance. He just has to fit you in or we'll go elsewhere." Linda sat on the bed and hugged her daughter. "Your brother is in so much trouble it isn't funny, by the way. Your father took his allowance away, put him on yard duty, grounding, and a whole host of other things."

Good, he deserves it. She hugged her mother one last time and went to get dressed. What does one wear with blue hair? Something that won't clash obviously. Life was so much easier yesterday.

She wore black skinnies and a grey polka dot sweater, with her tall black boots. Saving her hair for last, she dreads looking into the mirror. But she must. Raising her eyes, she noted it wasn't all blue. It's partly blue. But blue enough to be noticeable. It's awful! She hates it! Mark it down her brother will pay. If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger...

At fifteen past seven-thirty, Johnny pulled into Ava's drive. He's bringing her a treat of pink dahlias and roses. They're her favorite. He got out and knocked on the front door. Ms. Linda answered. She pulled him into the house and into her confidence.

"Johnny I have to tell you something. It's important. Ava's brother Chase did a nasty trick this morning. He put blue hair dye into his sister's shampoo bottle. Well, her hair... Her beautiful hair is"—- she whispered this last part —-"blue".

This is unexpected. "I'll try not to act surprised," he assured her. However, nothing could have prepared him for actually seeing his girlfriend's hair. She came down the stairs, her usual way. Her outfit is normal. Shows off her cute butt, but normal. Her smile for him is normal, but her hair is not. Yep. It's blue.

He presented her with the flowers. "For you Buttercup." Her face sparkled and she pulled him in for a hug.

Whispering, she expressed her thanks. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I needed this." Her eyes filled with unshed tears. She went to the bench by the door and took her school bag and purse. Before she left, she gave the flowers to her mother who put them in a vase.

He carried her bag to the car. Once they both got in, he turned to her. "It's not so bad. And it's Halloween, so people will think it's part of your costume." His hand went to touch a strand.

Totally disagreeing, she remarked "Not so bad. Please. It's awful. It's blue! My hair is blue." The unshed tears spilled out.

His fingers wiped the tears away. "It's true. You could give Smurfette a run for her money. But even still, I don't like you for your hair alone. If I did I'd have to dump you for a chick with purple hair."

Despite feeling, well... feeling blue, she laughed. "You make me laugh even when I'm not in the mood to smile."

He wiped the remaining tears away, then kissed her. Their hearts beat fast and in rhythm with each other. At the touch of his lips, all of her sadness melted away and she bloomed like the flowers he gave her. His kisses are the cure for any type of heart sickness or any type of poison. Even the poison of wretched blue hair.