Chapter 84: First Kiss

The next day, I received a text message.

“Come to the base,” Zak? How did he know my number?

I can’t believe I’m back in this room again. It was not a dream; this room is really a garbage dump.

“Hi, Natalia. Welcome to Prince Zak’s secret base…although you probably think it looks more like a garbage dump…” said a guy that I saw with Zak very often. He’s the student council president, Bryan.

What world am I living in? The student council president is part of this secret base scheme and is acting like a servant to Prince Zak.

“Hi, I’m Natalia. Nice to meet you,” I greeted him a little nervously as I tried to smile at him.

“I should leave…Zak probably wants to be alone with you,” Bryan mumbled almost as if to himself as he headed for the door.

“What…did you say?” I asked curiously.

“Huh? Oh…nothing…” He said while waving a little and then he was gone.

What do I do now? I sat down and looked around the room. There are no cockroaches here, right?

A few minutes later I heard the door open, and Zak walked in after locking the door behind him.

“Wow! I didn’t think you’d really come,” Zak said as he sat down opposite me. He flashed me his charming smile.

“What if I didn’t come?” I asked. It never crossed my mind that not turning up was an option.

“hmm…I would have carried you here…probably,” Zak replied indifferently. So, I wasn’t wrong, I didn’t have a choice but to come here.

“So…why did you call me here?” I asked suspiciously. Over the years Zak has never met and spoken to me in person before so meeting him two days in a row was sort of too much.

“I’ve decided to help you. I’ll make you the number one girl in this school. I’ll make you the most beautiful, the smartest and the most desirable. You’ll be my graduation project,” Zak proposed cockily as he looked up and down as if appraising me.

“No! You don’t have to do that. I’m fine the way I am now,” I refused immediately. Zak is crazy, I knew it.

“Didn’t you say that you wished someone would help you? I’ll be that someone, I’ll help you,” Zak said with determination in his eyes as he took my hand in his before bringing it up to his lips to kiss it.

I pulled my hand back in shock. Prince Zak just kissed my hand against the backdrop of a garbage dump. This can’t be real.

In the end, Zak refused to take no for an answer, and I failed at convincing him to step down.

“Come to the base” became a text message that I received first thing in the morning every single day until at some point, I lived and breathed for the arrival of that text.

…

From that day onward, I spent everyday at school with Zak. One day, I convinced Bryan to help me clean out that room. Since I knew that I would be in there with Zak every day from now on, I might as well make the room livable. Zak was shocked the first time he entered to find the room clean and orderly, but he didn’t complain about it.

“My first mission is to make you smart. Actually, I think you already are but being in the top ten and being first is different. So, from now on, I will tutor you on all subjects,” Zak began to explain his Natalia-reform plan to me.

“Aha…” I nodded. I’m not sure if his words and implications had sunk in yet.

“Well, there’s actually two ways to get you to number one in the exams. The easier way is for me to threaten the teachers for the exam questions and answers. I’ve never tried it, but I’m sure it’s possible.

The harder way is for me to spend time teaching you everything every day. So…which do you choose?” Zak asked with an innocent smile. This guy is crazy. Is that even a real choice?

“Umm…I will let you tutor me,” I replied in resignation. Secretly, deep down, I wanted to be number one. More than anything else, I wanted to see the person I could become with Zak’s help.

…

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. From a stranger, Zak became my friend and soon, without me realizing it at first, he became my world. True to his words, I started placing first in almost all of my exams the next time they came around and then placing first in all of them in the next round.

Needless to say, between tutoring me, skipping his classes, drinking and playing games with his friends, Zak placed first in all of his exams.

“…and then if you substitute this value here in place of x, you’ll get…” Zak explained as he directed my gaze to the textbook.

However, today, I couldn’t concentrate on anything, and his words flew over my head. I couldn’t understand anything, and I felt so distracted. I’ve been like this for a while now whenever we were together but today was unbearably bad. I felt so aware of how close he was to me, his scent, his voice, his gestures, and how his clothes brushed against mine. I was so aware of everything, and I couldn’t control how my heart throbbed when he came near.

“Natalia…Natalia,” Zak is calling my name. I need to respond.

“Yes? Sorry, I…was distracted. You were saying?” I said apologetically as I turned away from him. I couldn’t face him, why was he sitting so close? Was he always this close to me? Why is my heart beating so fast?

“Natalia…Natalia…” Zak called my name. I knew he wanted me to turn around, but I couldn’t face him.

Then, I felt his warm hand firmly on mine. Shocked, I turned around abruptly to face him.

I felt Zak’s fingertips lightly on my chin and then suddenly, his face was so close. My eyes opened wide in shock as I took in the sight of his long light blonde lashes, his closed eyes and his beautiful nose.

Then I felt the softness and warmth of his lips on mine and realized that Zak was kissing me softly. I froze in shock. Zak was already pulling away from me slowly when I came back to my senses. The kiss was over.

“Concentrate. If you don’t, I’ll kiss you every time you lose focus…” Zak said teasingly.

I was shocked and dazed from his kiss. Why did he kiss me? Did I want him to do that to me?

“Don’t make a face like that…it’ll make me…” Zak murmured softly but didn’t finish his sentence as he held my face in between his palms before leaning in to kiss me once again.

This time it was different. His kiss was firm, and his lips were hotter than before. I closed my eyes and focus on the sensation of his lips on mine. So, this is what a kiss feels like. This is what Zak’s kiss feels like. Zak’s lips lifted from mine a little before he continued to kiss me from a different angle. My heart was pounding harder and harder now and I couldn’t breathe. Then I felt a warm and teasing wetness on my lips. Is that his tongue? His tongue slowly licked my lips sensually and it gave me goosebumps.

“Open you mouth, Natalia,” Zak whispered patiently against my closed mouth. Hesitantly, I slowly parted my lips apart a little.

“Mhmmm…” I heard a moaning sound as I felt Zak’s hot tongue slowly sliding past my parted lips into my mouth. Did I just moan? Zak’s fingertips held my chin to guide my mouth closer to his as his tongue dipped deeper inside of my mouth. I felt his tongue on mine as he thrusted his tongue against mine and then sucked on my mouth. His hand played with my long hair while he continued to mingle his tongue slowly with mine. My heart was beating unbelievably fast, and I was breathing hard. My body felt hot like I had a mild fever. I’ve never felt like this before and it was scaring me.

I pushed Zak away without thinking. I had to push him away before I went crazy. I can hardly control my hot body anymore.

“Sorry…” I whispered. Ignoring Zak’s stunned face, I got up and ran from the room.

What just happened? Why did Zak kiss me? Why is this driving me crazy?

I pushed Zak away…how do I face him tomorrow?

…

Zak watched as Natalia ran out of the room.

“Hahahaha! I just kissed Natalia…I just kissed my sister. Well, this is fucked up…of all the people, it just had to be her…” Zak said as he laughed at his pathetic self.

Well, since I did that to her, I don’t need to worry anymore. She won’t ever come back here…

--To be continued…