It Feels So Right // {open

i want to hold you close, skin pressed against me tight,
lie still, close your eyes girl, so lovely

July twisted the pen in her mouth, tongue slipping along the cap until it dropped against her molars. She squeezed down, chewing on it the way most people would chew on jerky. The pen was ruined, no way around it, but what did she care? She could get another dozen to replace it. July mashed the plastic together, hard, and then slipped it out of her mouth with one pass of her hand. She'd zoned out a bit while the cap distracted her, and so she was a little surprised - no, delighted - to recognize a familiar face in the crowd.

Of course the entire school recognized him too. July forced herself not to react to a squeal that cut through the afterschool excitement. Really? And despite her effort, the question appeared in the roll of her eyes, the press of her lips. You'd think the students would get used to the sight of his coiffed hair and classic roman features. But that didn't seem to be the case. She could hate the attention he got, and love it at the same time, because it inevitably rubbed off on her. And for all July's gossiping, she never bothered to set the record straight on whether or not she was dating Gaius. Their friends knew the answer, and as long as neither was interested in anyone else, what was the harm?

Oh the damage they could do together.

July dropped the pen cap casually to the linoleum as Gaius and verbosity came into focus. Displeased didn't give her any trouble. But what in the hell was anathemic? Her already arched brows lifted into her tanned forehead. "Yeah, sucks." She summarized eloquently, before pushing off of the lockers.

She snuck one slender arm through his, hooking him to her side. Did she want to talk? She actually considered it, because it was Gaius asking. "Nope. How's it hangin' with you, Longius?" And she flashed him a devilish grin over her knobby shoulder.

i want to hold you close, skin pressed against me tight,
lie still, close your eyes girl, so lovely

July guided them down the packed hallway, through the sea of teenagers who parted before their presence. Before their power. She didn't have to so much as look ahead to know that their path would be clear. And though July said nothing about it, she glowed, basked in the glory of being the queen bee. As Gaius chuckled, she took the pen in her right hand, and drew his arm against her lower ribs, to steady it. With a flick of her fingers, she exposed his crystalline skin, and began to gently doodle on it. She kept her wrist held just so he couldn't immediately see what she was writing, across the line of his veins.

"Ugh, tell me about it," July said, even though she didn't want to hear about his class, but rather simply wanted to commiserate. Not that she really believed him; Gaius had a knack for school, a natural intelligence. He probably loved it, but she wouldn't call him out, not there, not in a public hallway. They both depended on his image too badly for that.

She turned her gaze up to him, brows manicured in such a way that it made her eyes the center of her face. "I think you look good with your hair down. Or were you getting all metaphorical on me?" Ah, yes, there! A word with many syllables! The pride rolled off of her in big wave, touching her cheeks and smile. July returned his arm with care, patting the fresh ink which now read PROPERTY OF JULY JACQUEZ, the J's long and unadorned at the top, like hooks in his skin.

"I'm up for whatever you're doing. You already got something lined up?"

i want to hold you close, skin pressed against me tight,
lie still, close your eyes girl, so lovely

Words could be boring? People talking could be boring. Case in point: any and all of the teachers at school. But she had never one thought of a particular word as dull. Maybe as funny or cruel. But that was the best part about hanging out with Gaius; his mind was so sharp, you never quite knew where it would lead you. July shook her head playfully at him. "You are so academic." She stifled a giggle just as they passed through the last set of doors and into the sunshine.

Outside, the crowd dispersed, making it easier for everyone to move around. Not that they'd had a problem before, but it was still more open. The sunshine sang of freedom. July drew in a deep breath, enjoying the summer breeze before looking down at her handiwork. She gave it another quick rub with her thumb, just to check that the ink would stick. "Should stay for a few days at least. I guess you'll just have to show people your wrist." She paused, and then added, "Put some lotion on it. Should make it stay longer."

And oh those hooks, how she wanted them to stay in his skin. Yet at the same time, she really had no right to claim Gaius as her own. She cared about him, loved him even, but not the way most of the girls in school did. Not in the sort of way that she would trip over herself, push other suitors away. It was the realization of this feeling that forced to look at other recesses of her heart. To realize that things weren't exactly adding up as they should.

Still, she held fast to him. "Two in the - you plan things out for that late? Whatever, I'll still be ready to rage. And I'm a good sprinter. Maybe you should be worried." July waggled those perfectly lined eyebrows at him. "Where should I meet you? I'll have to wait for my parents to pass out."

i want to hold you close, skin pressed against me tight,
lie still, close your eyes girl, so lovely

Apparently they were two players at this particular poker game, and they both held pocket rockets. July didn't question him, didn't so much as nudge his side. Instead, she winked, pressed her lips together and blew him a quick kiss. And if that didn't set the gossip mill ablaze, nothing ever would. As she squinched her eyes shut to pucker her lips, July casually discarded the remainder of the pen. Let some underling find it, squee over it. That was a much better use for a writing utensil than homework.

In the sunlight they were so much prettier, although the great outdoors didn't have quite the acoustics of the interior, which is why she made a big show out of her response. It wasn't much good to tease him verbally if no one could hear it. But they could see, and he'd given her plenty to work with.

July guided them towards the main street, where the richest of the kids would be picked up in cars, and the rest would be made to hoof it home. If only - but no, she squashed the thought before it fully formed. A hook-up did not equal a relationship, and she doubted March would have invited her into his automobile anyhow. "Eleventh and Violet, got it!" She gave his forearm a squeeze and finally released him. Maybe she should have used sharpie, she thought as she looked at his bare forearm. "I'll bring what I can, but you think we should swing by Emaria's on the way home?" July quirked an eyebrow.