Chapter Twenty-Three: Love Bubbles:

“That was so amazing!” Julia shouted to the night sky. She twirled around, laughing. To any normal person passing by, you would’ve thought that she was drunk, high, or both. Wallace walked behind her with a little smile. He couldn’t get what happened moments earlier out of his head. She’s acting like it didn’t happen. But she wasn’t offended by it either.

“Those dancers were so beautiful!” Julia said. “Sometimes, you just don’t need special effects to throw a great performance.” Wallace lifted his chin.

“Julia,” he said. His crush whirled around.

“What?” she asked. The country boy stood looking awkward. How was he going to bring this up to her? There didn’t seem to be a nice way to do it. Might as well just come out and say it.

“I am so sorry!” he shouted. Julia tilted her head.

“For what?” she asked. Wallace gulped.

“For touching you without asking!” he blurted out. Julia blinked for a moment.

“What do you mean?” she asked. The country boy stared at her.

“When I held your hand,” he said. “I’m sorry about that.” Julia smiled and shook her head.

“No, it’s fine,” she said. Wallace stared at her.

“It is?” he asked. Julia gently touched his cheek.

“Yes,” she said in a low voice. His cheeks turned bright red. His eyes trailed to her hand on his cheek.

“You are so close,” he managed to say. Her lips curved into a little smile.

“I know,” she said. He felt so smell in her gaze. He couldn’t figure out what was going on. Wallace almost wished that he could read her mind at a time like this. What were they doing? Julia looked like she was about to kiss him. But that wouldn’t make any sense. This had to be a dream somehow.

Suddenly, Julia leaned in and kissed him. Wallace’s heart pounded against his chest. Okay, this had to be a dream. The country boy reached up and pinched himself in the cheek. No, Julia was still kissing him. Wallace had no choice but to kiss her back. This moment felt more like a dream. The country boy kept expecting to wake up from this.

Then it was over just as quickly as it started. Julia gently pulled away. Wallace stood, blinking.

“That was my first kiss,” he confessed.

“Is that right?” Julia asked. Wallace nodded. She broke into a little smile. She took him from the hands.

“Now we are even,” his crush said. Julia let go of his hands and turned to leave. Wallace stood there blinking. Uh… what just happened? What did all of this mean? Did he have a chance or not? The country boy was just left standing there trying to put the truth together in his head. He ended up wandering back to his apartment with that same confused look on his face.

Julia wouldn’t be done with him there either.