a hidden kiss {matt ; asehfkuygyuwrgtafuigv!!}

[wendy]

It was sunny and warm. There was a gentle breeze, enough to keep her cool but not enough to require a jacket (she had, however, brought one in case they stayed until night fall and it got a bit chilly). It was the perfect day to go to a carnival on Coney Island with your best friend. It was summer time! It was required that one goes to a carnival at least once during the summer. Well, it was for her, anyway. It was sort of a tradition. No matter how many times they’d moved, Addison had always made sure there was a carnival in town or a few towns over for them to attend. It just wasn’t the same if they weren’t going on a Ferris Wheel and eating cotton candy every summer.

She’d already gone with her family, though. As she hadn’t had anything planned for today, she’d suggested to Matthew that they go to Coney Island. For having lived in New York for so long, she hadn’t gone very often. Especially with her best friend. She planned to remedy that and today was just the first of many trips to Coney Island. Well, she hoped so, anyway. Matthew was supposed to be in California with his stepmother this summer, but he had stayed in New York under the false pretense of attending summer school. Addison just hoped he wouldn’t get caught. … That almost made her laugh. Matthew? Get caught? Right. Ha ha ha.

They’d already been on two roller coasters, the Ferris Wheel, bumper carts, and and the carousel. She had enjoyed the last one, as usual (carousels were her favorites for some reason) but Matthew had been rather bored because it was a slower ride. Still, she was having a fantastic time. They’d just gotten off of the Tagada and she was still a bit wobbly on her feet. Addison bought ice cream cones for the both of them, feeling generous, and enjoyed the brief break from rides. “What should we go on next?” She asked, catching some melting ice cream with her tongue before it could get onto her hand.

notes; SO EXCITED OMG.
outfit; voila!

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

He really was quite clever, if he did say so himself. Granted, his dad and Michelle (especially Michelle) were complete idiots if they’d actually thought for a second Matt was planning on going to the stupid summer school math class they’d signed him up for in the first place. But despite that glaringly obvious fact, Matt found himself extra sneaking for managing not to set foot in the building for a single time in the past two weeks. They’d probably dropped him from the class by now. Which was much better, because summer was a time for playing, not learning. Really, all the time was time for playing in Matt’s mind, but summer especially. You couldn’t get bored in the summer. Only idiots managed that. Matt was no idiot.

The weather was sunny today—the kind of day that made Matt sort of think the sky glittered if he looked at it too long too close to the sun even though Addie always told him not to and it hurt his eyes anyway. Ice cream—“blueberrywithcotton-candycoatingandsprinklesinthechocolatedippedcone” (Matt had been very excited to order)—dripped lazily down his fingers as he licked, trying unsuccessfully to scavenge every last drop of sticky-sweet goodness before they inevitably landed on the ground. Or his shoes. He’d gotten several dips there, as well.

“ ‘Disers grafe!” Matt exclaimed loudly as he smacked his lips together. They were, as usual when encountering anything remotely resembling frozen dessert, surrounded by a thin layer of ice cream. Napkins were for losers and girls, after all. Matt was neither. And this ice cream was positively delicious; almost as good as the roller coasters, and infinitely better than that stupid caro-whatsit Addie’d made him go on earlier, with the horses that didn’t even neigh or run or spit fire or do anything remotely exciting.

He shrugged at his friend’s question, proceeding to take a gigantic bite out of his ice cream. Almost instantly, his face scrunched from the following brain freeze he’d been in no way expecting, thus delaying his answer another thirty seconds. When he finally felt steady enough to talk (a fairly relative expression, as he was still slightly wobbly from the ride they’d last been on, not that he’d ever admit it), he practically bounced up and down. “That one! Duh,” he pointed eagerly (with his empty hand) towards a large set of swings twirling wildly in the air above them, just a few hundred yards off. Before he’d even thought about waiting for her response, Matt was already making his way impatiently through the crowd, pushing and shoving several adults aside whilst waiting relatively patiently for their children to make the journey out of his path. Eventually, of course, he got fed up with the whole concept of patience and decided to simply walk the small, one foot brick wall surrounding the carnival tightrope-style.

Again, waiting for Addison was the least of his concerns. If she could keep up, she would. He hopped down from the barrier after a moment or two, taking one final victory crunch of his ice cream cone seconds after he landed, delighted to find the last ride had just ended. He turned to Addison then, thankful she’d made it all the way over here, and grinned, wiggling his eyebrows in a manner not quite as challenging as he’d hoped (the ice cream smears didn’t add much). “I picked the ride. You pick the seats,” he nodded in the direction of the gate, eager as ever.

[/blockquote]

[wendy]

Addison had never been good at the talent of understand and speaking the language of ‘mouthful,’ but upon becoming Matthew’s friend, she’d gotten rather good at it. Well, rather well at understanding it. She still followed the manners her parents had taught her and did her very best to finish eating before she spoke. Addison didn’t exactly find it as rude as she used to, but more so distasteful now. She expected it from Matthew, though; it was different if it was your best friend and somebody you’d just met. She nodded, “it’s not just great. It’s fantastic.” Ice cream had never tasted so good, in her opinion. Somehow, having an ice cream cone on a hot summer day at the carnival was different than any other time.

When she didn’t receive an answer, Addison looked at him, wondering why he wasn’t saying anything. She had closely been watching her step as it was quite busy and she didn’t want to bump into anybody. Heavens forbid she step on somebody’s sandal and run into a child! The reasoning to his silence was what she assume was brain freeze. Addison covered her mouth with her hand and tried not to laugh too loudly. Hadn’t she told him before to be careful when eating ice cream? At least there was a sort of cure to brain freeze. She got throat freeze and there was nothing to get rid of that. “It helps if you put your tongue to the roof of your mouth,” Addison suggested before again watching where she was going.

She looked to where he was pointing. Oh! Addison had always loved the swings. She always made sure to go on them whenever she went to a carnival, and she definitely made sure her brothers were on it, as well. Her father was not one for heights and her mother preferred the flying rides that were a bit more… tame. Before Addison could say anything, Matthew had taken off through the crowd, not having a care for anybody else. Well, so much for making sure not to tread on anybody’s shoes. But… well, if he was making a path of surprised people, who was to say she couldn’t use it? Muttering the occasional apology, she hurried after him, trying to finish her ice cream at the same time. She was quite sure they wouldn’t let her take it on the ride.

Having kept up with him as best she could, Addison opted to walk beside the brick wall; “why, you’d be the best tightrope walker ever.” He had no fear of heights, after all, with some of the trees he climbed. Once they’d reached the ride, she led the way through the ropes making up the line. There were only a few people ahead of them and she was happy to see that they’d make it on this next round. Having polished off her ice cream just before entering the line, Addison happily skipped into the open area. She paused for a short second, looking around for a seat. “There!” She said to him, pointing to a two-seater swing. She slipped her jacket on, not wanting to risk it getting away from her while in the air. Addison quickly claimed it for the both of them and chose the inner seat, figuring Matthew would have wanted the outer one anyway.

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

Matt shook his head at her advice, both because he simply didn’t believe it would work and because he absolutely refused to do anything she said would help him feel better after the whole medicine incident, never mind that it had happened months ago. He could never forgive her for that. And whether she knew it or not, he’d been organizing a silent, one-boy protest ever since.
Good. He’d thought she’d like the swings…Granted, Matt would have insisted they go on them even if she hadn’t; but it still felt nice knowing she was looking forward to the adventure as well. He didn’t so much as glance in Addison’s direction as he balanced on the wall, instead opting to hop on one foot for the next five feet or so, just to see it he could. And maybe to show off. But mostly just to see if it was possible. Naturally, it was. Tongue tucked in his cheek as he concentrated, Matt made sure to hop from one brick to another, never landing on the same one twice and (obviously) avoiding any and all cracks he came across. “Wouldn’t I be?” it came out a question, but was obviously more of an absent-minded statement than anything else. If there was one thing Matthew Peterson never questioned, it was his greatness.

Matt followed just as happily into the roped-off area of the ride, hardly caring where they sat so long as they got to go up in the air soon. The bottoms of his feet were beginning to itch—they’d been doing that a lot, lately, when he’d be about to climb something really high. It was a funny sort of feeling, bordering on pleasant. He shrugged as she pointed, bounding up beside the swing as she sat down, glad to see she’d left the outer seat open for him; Addie was good at remembering things like that. Plopping himself down eagerly, Matt (as usual) forgot to buckle himself in, instead turning to grin at Addie, his feet swinging merrily a goof two inches above the ground. “I like this seat,” he remarked, twisting around impatiently to see where everyone else was sitting. “It’s good. How much longer?” his wide eyes begged for the answer, round and eager and impatient as a seven year-old asking the very same question.

[wendy]

Swinging her feet back and forth, Addison looked around. They were taking much too long to find their seats. Not to mention, the operators of the ride would have to check to make sure everybody had buckled. Had she? Oh, oops. Addison did her buckle and squirmed a little. Now they were one second closer to getting this ride started. “Matty, you aren’t buckled!” She exclaimed, giving him an almost alarmed look. She didn’t even want to think of what would happen if somebody went on this ride without being safely tied down. Normally, she found Matthew to be very impressive and all that, but not even he could be invincible from a fa—Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Happy thoughts helped lift you into the air. She needed to think happily on this ride. Well, she didn’t need to. It probably wouldn’t do anything. Maybe make it more fun.

“It’s the best,” she agreed, twisting around much like he was. Addison was looking for the person who checked restraints; by the time she turned around, they had just walked by. Oh! Well, good. That meant they were good to go. “Just a few seconds,” she told Matthew. “Count to…” she paused, glancing towards the ride operator as best she could. “Ten.” She suggested, figuring it was the best bet. It couldn’t be longer than 20 and 5 wasn’t enough time. Addison counted in her head; one Mississippi, two Mississippi, and so on. However, the ride began to move when she reached eight. “It was early!” She said excitedly, wiggling in her seat. Addison had always loved the swings and climbing trees and hanging out on the roofs of buildings. She liked being high up in the air. For some reason, though, she wasn’t feeling the same enjoyment that she usually did.

Her smile fell quickly and she shut her eyes as tightly as she could. Addison shook her head a little, gripping the metal bar tightly. “Bad idea, bad idea. This was a really bad idea.” Addison was muttering and she was quite sure Matthew wouldn’t hear her over the sound of having fun, which she was fine with. The last thing she wanted was to a) ruin his good time or b) have him ridicule her about this later. Ugh, hadn’t she just told herself a mere minute ago to think happy thoughts? What had happened to that?

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

“Well sure I--! Oh,” Matt chuckled his moment of indignation away, squirming backwards in his seat as he glared down at the treacherous buckle that should obviously have done itself. Even if Addie wasn’t really mad—he didn’t like being yelled at by her. It made him feel cold and prickly inside. Or slimy, like a grape. Yeah, that was probably a better way to say it—she made him feel slimy when she yelled.

He stuck his tongue out at her and snapped the belt into place, giving a definitive nod to no one in particular as he tightened it just enough to not make Addison suspicious. The truth of it was that Matt was quite certain safety belts were only for idiots. If you thought you were going to fall out of the seat while you were in the air, then you would. If you thought you were going to stay in the seat, well, by golly, then you’d do that too. It was quite a simple concept, in Matt’s opinion, and he could never seem to fathom why he was the only one living in accordance to it. Happy thoughts. They always helped. Thankfully, Matt was constantly bursting with them.

“Alright, fine. One…twooo…” he began, long and drawn out as he swung his legs back and forth over the ground, stomach filled with butterflies as he waited to get in the air. “Threefourfive—“ he continued, sending Addison a wicked grin as if to test what exactly her reaction would be to his speeding up. Just as he turned back to begin counting however (after a few seconds’ pause) there was a lurch beneath them. Matt’s stomach shot up to his throat and instantly he was flying. Lifting his hands high into the air, he let out a loud whoop of joy followed by a laugh, long and wonderful as he closed his eyes for a moment, imagining he was actually flying.

Until Addison’s voice snapped him out of it. Well, sort of—there was only so far Matt could be snapped out of his general fog of euphoria. “Aw, c’mon, Addie! Just think happy!” he urged, bringing his right hand down to grab hers and lift it off the bar she was clutching, hardly bothering to understand what it was she was so upset about. “It’s easy! Promise,” he glanced at her, grinned, and turned to face forward once more, looking down at the carnival-goers below and laughing—stupid people always stayed stuck on the ground. “Watch me!”

After a good two seconds or so of that (it got boring quickly, as did every activity Matt engaged in) he turned back to Addison, grin slightly different than before—slightly more…curious. He scooted a bit closer, almost completely unaware of what he was doing, whilst silently egging himself on, as if showing someone up on a new dare. Except this dare was inside his head, and he didn’t quite think his heart had ever thumped that fast before. “Sorta like…this,” then, before he could even begin to think about talking himself out of it (impossible, really, as again the idea of his actions in general had hardly begun to cross his mind), he puckered his lips up and planted a kiss right smack on her cheek, in the right hand corner. It was a bit wet. Not to mention all of a millisecond long. Still, he was beaming brighter than the hot July sun when he pulled back, waiting for whatever it was came next after these sorts of things.

[wendy]

Addison gave him a nod of approval, almost sticking her tongue out as well but deciding against it. “That’s better,” she said teasingly before looking around again to see how much longer until the ride would start. Everybody else seemed excited; they were squirming in the seats and swinging their legs, waiting as patiently as they could. Much like Matt, she thought, looking back to him. She’d been about to count aloud with him when he rushed through counting. Addison laughed, nudging him with her elbow, “that’s cheating!” It wasn’t exactly what she thought. It was mostly that she didn’t want him to get to ten before the ride actually started.

The last thing she’d wanted was to let go of the bar. Squeezing Matt’s hand as tightly as she could and still gripping the bar with her right hand, Addison kept her eyes closed and her head lowered. Oh, she was being so stupid. There really was no reason to be so worried. Not once had she had a disaster with a ride like this, nor had she read anything like it. Matt was right, though. While there was no way she could actually get herself to look at him right this moment, he was right. She just had to think happy. The wind in her hair, sitting here with her best friend, a perfect day thus far. She opened her eyes a fraction. Fluffy clouds and a bright blue sky. Right. Happy thoughts. Matty kissing her on the cheek.

…

Wait.

Matty kissing her on the cheek. Addison turned a little, her eyes a bit wide. He’d just… but Matt never… he wasn’t the sort… Her stomach was in knots but it wasn’t the terrified way from a few seconds ago. It was a butterflies sort of feeling. It was… nice. While no immediate response came to mind, she somehow knew what it was she wanted to do without thinking about it. She smiled a little, one of those ‘oh, matt…’ sort of grins. “You missed.” She said after a few seconds, as if there wasn’t any time to be wasted. Without a second thought, Addison leaned closer and pressed her lips against his. It being her first kiss and all, Addison didn’t really know how to go about it and so after maybe a second and a half, she pulled back, feeling entirely too sheepish and also quite proud of herself.

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

Well, this was easily the best feeling in the whole entire world. Better even than climbing a tree all the way to the very top and taunting the world from up there. Better than eating all the ice cream in the world and not feeling sick. Better than all the treasure hunts and all the sword fights and all things he’d ever done just for fun. This was flying, really and truly, and he couldn’t think of a happier thought in the world than flying with Addison.
Innocent grin plastered on his face, Matt couldn’t help but shrug a little bit when Addison looked at him, as if to claim he hadn’t done it. What if she hadn’t liked it, after all? That’d certainly be a bad thing. The grin began to fade. Well, then he could just blame it on Wilbur, he supposed…yes, telling Matt to kiss Addie was just the sort of vile, disgusting, sick, nasty, gross—

Before Matt had time to think of any more adjectives to describe just exactly how horrid this supposed dare had been, Addison was closer. Much closer than she’d ever been before. He didn’t move. Didn’t so much as close his eyes when she planted her lips on his, although he certainly smiled beneath them. In that small instant—that short, less than two second kiss—Matt felt as though his entire world was shattering in the most pleasurable way possible. Everything seemed brighter when she pulled away, the carnival glowing with a sort of something he couldn’t have described any other way than golden. And then there was the feeling deep inside him; like somewhere, very far back in his mind, a very small box wrapped in twine was beginning to open. And the drawer the box was locked in…well, he was beginning to hear it rattle deep within him, as if his whole self would somehow change from it—there was a laugh, too, coming from the drawer. It sounded an awful lot like a baby’s laugh, perhaps even the first ever baby’s laugh, and it made him want to skip. Or hop. Or jump. Or fly. Actually fly, as if he’d be able to undo the harness strapping him in and jump and be perfectly and utterly fine, or maybe even better for it. It was wonderful, feeling light as air and being twice as full of it.

Beaming with a solid pink tint in his cheeks, Matt looked at Addison, biting his lip a moment before he spoke. “You were hiding that, weren’t you?” he spoke softly, as though this was all one big secret game between the two of them. There was a cockiness to his grin, amplified from its usual impishness, but somehow made all the better for it. It certainly suited him, whatever it was her kiss—thimble insisted a small, boyish voice from inside that twine-wrapped box—had done. “Right…” he reached his hand out then, the one that wasn’t holding hers, and pointed to a spot on her lips, perfectly conspicuous in the right hand corner, that he couldn’t believe he’d never noticed before. “There. I knew it.”

[wendy]

Despite feeling more than a little embarrassed, Addison didn’t regret her split-second decision. It really wasn’t anything to be embarrassed over. If he completely turned her down, at least she could say that he’d started it. Because he had. He’d kissed her first. … Which was still so not like him. It didn’t really matter if it wasn’t like him or not; she liked the different behavior. In fact, she appreciated it. She had, of course, been slowly realizing that she saw Matthew as more than a best friend. Sometimes, she scolded herself for even thinking of it because a boy-who-didn’t-want-to-grow-up certainly wouldn’t want a relationship.

Why was he taking so long to say something? Had it even been that long? The ride hadn’t stopped; a collection of noises and colors all blurring together into the same joyous experience that Coney Island was. Happy thoughts. That’s what places like this were for, after all. Happy thoughts. With that, a big smile replaced the nervous nibbling of her lower lip. No matter what happened, she’d think happy thoughts and she’d enjoy the rest of her time here. Matthew seemed to change. It wasn’t anything anybody else would have noticed, but being his best friend and sitting so close, Addison noticed. She had no idea what it was, only that it was nice. He seemed to be glowing.

Finally, he said something. Hiding what? Her smile only fell a bit and for a moment, she looked confused. There was definitely something different about him. It would bother her later, she just knew it, if she didn’t figure out what it was. She became aware then that they were still holding hands, as his free one pointed to the right hand corner of her mouth. Addison raised her own hand and gently felt where he was pointing. Had she been thinking clearly, she’d have thought this was all too much like her favorite story, but her mind was racing, too busy to worry about something as silly as that.

Addison giggled, lowering her hand. Everything seemed better, the wind in her hair and the colors whizzing by them. “You’re only noticing now?” Not that she’d ever noticed it either. She tilted her head and thought a moment (did this change everything?). “Feels like we’re flying,” she commented, finding a lack of words. Later, she’d pick up her favorite book and eventually start to wonder, but for now she didn’t mind being blissfully unaware.

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

He’d known, of course, that she’d been hiding it. Whether from him, the world, or herself, Matt didn’t really know or care. He’d found the kiss and taken it, right there off her lips like he’d taken so many things from so many people before, only this was different and far better for its intangibility. This feeling, whatever it was, he loved it. He loved the way his stomach felt like it was soaring up into his chest, and how his lungs lifted themselves until his entire body carried the same weight as the air. He loved the wind whipping in his hair and the feel of Addie’s hand in his even, if his palm was a little bit clammy. Somehow, he didn’t think she minded. Really, he hardly even noticed.

Far more important, insisted the voice in the back of his head, was the fact that he’d gotten the kiss and was keeping it all for himself. Of course, he’d have to put it somewhere safe. Perhaps tied with a knot, attached to his belt. But that was silly. You couldn’t tie up kisses any more than you could hide them. They just were, like he and Addie just were, spinning and soaring above the rest of the silly little people with silly little thoughts that kept them tied to the silly little ground. Didn’t they know they could fly too, if they wanted? All it took was a happy thought. Just one, and they’d be lifted up into the air.

At the moment, Matt was bursting with happy thoughts.

“Nah, I knew before,” he responded with a chuckle and a shake of his head, believing the words the moment he said them, “I just didn’t know if you wanted me to have it, that’s all.” Pausing for a moment, he leaned closer to whisper in her ear, not wanting to yell this over the din of the carnival. “I’m glad, though. That you did.”

He waited a moment before pulling away, somewhere between how close they’d been when they kissed and sitting normally, he answered her with a chuckle, because he knew deep down that he’d planned this all along. “Well, that’s cause we are. We’re flying, far as we want to. You like it?”

And then he leaned back, still smiling at her like she was the sun, and he was the first boy to look at her in the history of the whole universe, because he’d been the only one to dare fly straight on ‘til morning.