Chapter 15: Forbidden Kisses

            Weeks passed without a hint of any danger to come for Chance. She and Darren had begun recording the tracks for his CD during that time, and were becoming closer to the music instead of a relationship. On the other hand, Chance and Scott had become inseparable, spending every waking moment together in secret. Scott had his doubts, though. He was beginning to think that Brad was catching on to the relationship. Scott had been ditching most of the meetings Brad planned to spend more time with Chance. Brad confronted him after the forth missed meeting that month.

            “Where the hell have you been?” Brad asked Scott in the hall before third period three weeks after the attempted attack on Chance.

            “I’ve been working my ass off these last few weeks. My boss over extended my hours now that the busy season has begun. Sorry if I can’t make it to the meetings,” Scott lied as he fiddled with his locker combination.

            “I don’t believe you,” Brad replied, closely watching Scott as he pulled his books out of the locker.

            “I can even prove it to you. Call up my dad and he’ll tell you where I’ve been during all those missed meetings,” Scott defended, slamming his locked shut and walking down the hall towards his next class.

            “Fine, but you’d better make it to the next meeting. It’s important. We’ll be discussing the plan,” Brad told him as he walked off in the other direction.

            Scott continued to walk towards his class until someone pulled his arm and dragged him back. He looked over his shoulder to see Chance, a worried look apparent on her face. She had seen Scott and Brad talking by the lockers.

            “What’s going on?” she asked, concern building up in her voice. Chance knew something was going down soon, she could feel it buzzing in the air all around her and throughout her body.

            “Brad wants me at the next meeting. Apparently he’s got a new plan he wants to tell everyone about,” Scott said.

            “Fuck,” Chance replied. “I knew it.”

            Scott wrapped his arms around her and lightly kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry,” he comforted. “Everything is going to be okay. I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

            Chance held onto him even after the bell rang. Anger and fear began to build as she thought about the last ambush. She didn’t want to let go of Scott until everything was over. His arms were the only place she felt safe. There was no other place on earth Chance wanted to be more.

~~~~~~~~~~

            Darren sat beside Chance in the booth of Studio C as he had done for the last few weeks. When Chance walked in that afternoon, she seemed distant. Her eyes were far from the sheet music in front of her on the stand, and she wasn’t singing her best. He was ready to yell at her when she missed one of the lines in the song, but knew that if he did, she’d end up crying.

            Darren told the tech behind the console that they needed a break and that he could leave. When he and Chance were alone in the studio, he turned to her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

            Chance looked over at him with large brown eyes. She looked as if she were about to cry. The day’s events were running through her head over and over again. She didn’t want to say anything, but when she saw the warmth in Darren’s smile, everything flooded out.

            “Brad’s planning another attack on me. This time I know he’s going to make his goal and kill me,” Chance cried out, her head falling into her hands. “Why does this have to happen to me, and one week before my 18^th birthday. It’s not fair. What did I ever do to him, to anyone, to deserve this?”

            Darren stood up and wrapped his arms around her neck. He ran his fingers through her silky black hair to try and calm her tears. The wall he had built to withstand whatever Chance threw at him began to crumble after he saw how fragile she really was. Holding her in his arms, keeping her safe from the evils of society, this was why he had been brought to her, he finally realized. Darren’s sudden revelation sparked something deep within him, something he had been hiding ever since the first day he met Chance. It was the love that he felt for her, the need to be with her, the need to protect her from all these things.

            Darren stepped back to look at Chance. Her usually chocolate brown eyes were deep red from crying, her face was pale white, and her lower lip trembled. Darren gently lifted her chin with his hand to look her in the eyes. His thumb tenderly massaged her lips, ending their quivering. Slowly, he bent down, closing his eyes as he descended closer to her mouth.

            Chance could feel Darren kiss her, but she didn’t back away, She barely moved from her seat as his tongue caressed the inside of her mouth. The deeper they kissed, the further away her problems seemed. Her right hand reached around to his neck as she pulled him closer and she placed her left hand on his chest. Chance didn’t want to let go of the surreal moment. It was what she had fantasized about ever since she saw a picture of Darren.

            A low moan escaped Chance’s mouth as Darren’s lips journeyed away from hers and traveled down her neck. ‘This is so wrong,’ she thought. ‘But it feels so right.’ She reached down and grasped his hand, interlocking her fingers amid his. Darren moved back to her lips as she debated whether or not to stop him. His kisses were so tantalizing, so breath-taking, she couldn’t bring herself to let go.

            The minutes that passed felt like an eternity. Chance knew it was time to stop. She let go of Darren’s hand and pulled away from his lips, as hard as it was. An intense moment of silence passed between. Both stared wordlessly into the other’s eyes trying to figure out what they were thinking. Chance blinked; she wanted to pinch herself to make sure this wasn’t a dream. She couldn’t believe her most hidden desire had been explored that afternoon.

            Darren finally spoke. “I’m so sorry,” he said, turning away from Chance. “I just… I couldn’t help myself. You looked so… oh, God. I’m so sorry. You probably want me to leave now that I’ve violated every single rule of our friendship.”

            “How did I look?” Chance quietly asked.

            Darren paused for a moment to look at her again. “You looked so hurt and vulnerable,” he replied. “I’m going to go now. I know you don’t want me here anymore.”

            “No, stay,” she said, taking a hold of his arm just as he was about to walk out of the booth. Her hand once again clasped Darren’s and she entangled her fingers between his.

            He turned around and asked, “You’re not mad at me?”

            Chance shook her head and smiled. “No.”

            A puzzled look came across Darren’s face. “How could you not be mad at me? I just kissed you even though I knew you were in a relationship.”

            “I know, and I kissed back,” she replied. “I’m just as guilty as you are.”

            Looking at it from her perspective, Darren began to understand why she wasn’t so angry. “This is our secret. Everything that happened today in this room is never to be talked about by either one of us,” Darren said as he stuck his hand out in front of her.