A Stranger's Kiss

It was about five months into the school year before Stranger made his move. The kids had all been hanging out after school every day since the day they met, with most weekends being spent with each other, too. It was as if Shadow and Ghost had been there their entire lives. Violet and Stranger were the ones who gave Shadow and Ghost their nicknames, as everyone agreed they suited them much better than their birth names. On one particularly chilly day after school, Stranger was able to catch up to Ghost before Violet and Shadow arrived so that they could all walk home together. Giving him a small sideways grin, he asked coyly, “What size coat do you wear?”

Ghost furrowed his brows in confusion, “Why?”

“‘Coz, I’m making my brother a coat for Christmas and I think you’re about his size.”

“Oh.” Ghost was quiet for a moment, “What does that have to do with me?”

Sighing more out of fear that he might lose his nerve than anything, the words flew from Stranger in a rush, “I was wondering if you’d stay with me after school tomorrow so I could make some final adjustments on it. With you. Using you. NOT using you. I mean, like, you model it for me? Please?” He could feel the heat prickling from the top of his head down his neck and he cursed his English tan for its betrayal of how he was feeling.

Ghost inhaled sharply as he, too, felt the color forming on his cheeks, “Oh. Uh..” He pushed the hair from his eyes coolly, as if he could just wipe the rose-tint from his face, “Yeah. Sure. No problem.”

“What’s no problem?” Shadow and Violet had caught up to them. She cast a look from one boy’s flushed face to the other, landing on her brother with a quirked brow. Ghost knew he’d be getting a full interrogation when they got home.

“Ah, I’d asked him to hold somethin’ for me while I ran to the loo. “ Stranger gave her a mischievous smile adding extra emphasis on the final word of the sentence.

Shadow scoffed and rolled her eyes, “Okay, Simon Cowell.”

The tension was broken. The group resumed as if all was normal and began their walk home.

***

Ghost stood with his bag over his shoulder, leaning against the wall outside of the Home Economics classroom. He tapped his foot against the floor absent-mindedly and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it back and out of his eyes, although it promptly fell again as soon as he did this. He was nervous. He couldn’t get over the way Shadow had reacted when he told her he was meeting Stranger after school. The look in her eyes was too knowing and the way she smirked and laughed so giddily made him want to slap her and throw up simultaneously. She was the only one who knew he was gay, but he hadn’t thought she’d known he had a crush on Stranger… Yet, now…

“Ugh.” He groaned, his stomach flipping as he recalled this.

“Oi! You’re here! Sorry I’m late!” Stranger’s voice wrenched him from his thoughts as he came rushing down the hall, a flurry of fabric and wild hair, his long coat whipping around him like some kind of comically large and misshapen bat wings.

Ghost leaned from the wall and opened the door for him. Stranger barrelled past him and unceremoniously ‘plopped’ his items on the nearest desk. Ghost lingered in the doorway for a moment, watching the smaller boy. Even when he was rushing around and being scattered, Stranger possessed so much… grace. He was like a little faerie flitting about, his pixie dust making everything around him come to life.. or something like that. Ghost wasn’t particularly poetic.

Stranger paused and gave him a look, “Going to come in?”

Ghost let out an awkward laugh and nodded, stepping into the classroom and shutting the door behind him quietly. He stepped over to the grouping of desks where Stranger’s things were and dropped his bag on the tabletop.

“Soo… what do I do?”

“You just stand there.” Stranger came toward him with what looked like a ball of leather in his arms and held it out to him, “And put this on, if you don’t mind.”

Ghost took the bundle from his arms and held it out in front of him. It was a jacket, alright.

“You made this?” He began to slip it over his bony shoulders.

Stranger, a needle clenched between his teeth as he dug through a bag for the right spool of thread, nodded, “Mmhm.”

“It’s nice.” Ghost was admiring the sleeves of the jacket, the stitching along the edges. He knew Stranger made most of his clothes, but he’d never seen him work with anything like this before, “Where-”

His words caught in his throat as he looked up and straight into Stranger’s bright blue eyes. While he’d been admiring the jacket, Stranger had pulled a chair up in front of him and climbed atop it.

Ghost cleared his throat and swallowed hard, “Where’d you get the material?” His voice was choked, half-hoarse, half-whisper.

Stranger flushed at his friend’s nervousness and he couldn’t help but also whisper, “There’s this shop outside of town.” His words felt thick and stupid. He cleared his throat and shook his head gently, speaking in a more even tone again, “I just have to check the collar. Make sure it’s lined up properly. Should only take a minute.”

Ghost nodded and stood up straighter, leaning his head back so that Stranger could see the collar better. As Stranger leaned toward him, Ghost couldn’t help but note the scent of his shampoo. Something sweet but also deeply earthy. He couldn’t place it, but he knew right then that it was the most delicious thing he’d ever smelled. As he felt the other boy’s nimble fingers moving over his shoulders and near his collarbones, he tried to look anywhere but in his direction. His heart raced and he could feel his palms getting sweaty. Although he didn’t believe in God, at this moment in time, he prayed so hard that Stranger couldn’t hear it thumping wildly… but, at the same time, longed for him to notice. The silence between them was palpable and throbbing in his ears.

“Hey.”

Stranger’s voice was right in his ear. Ghost jumped and slowly looked to him, meeting his eyes again, “Y-yeah?” He barely got the question from his lips before Stranger was pressing his own against them. There was a blinding light and Ghost thought for a moment his heart had exploded. Without thinking, he brought his hands to the sides of Stranger’s face and any walls he’d been trying to keep up came crumbling down. He kissed him back deeply.