That Friday I sat with Sierra at the check-in desk while doing school. It was a nice change of scenery and I helped her on my breaks, giving me something to do during the day besides staring at a screen. 

I was still in crutches for at least another day until I could just wear a walking boot. So far I had gone through two breakdowns and one mini-tantrum the past week. Let's put it this way: getting hurt is not a bundle of fun—especially for Larissa Busy-body Taylor. 

"Ugh," I complained, "Sierra, I'm out of water. Would you be so kind as to get me more?" I raised the level of sweetness in my voice, remembering that the vending machine was all the way down the hall. 

She took her eyes off her computer and pulled down her glasses to give me a motherly look. "You can't walk?"

"No, I can, but it would be twice as fast if you could run and get me some. Plus, I'm not so sure I should be walking by myself all that way." I smiled in my cheesy way. It normally worked on my mom, so it was worth a try. 

Her face lit up and I thought for a second she was going to get up, but instead she reached out her hand and called, "Hey Devin, could you take Lissa to get more water?"

My head whipped around and I swear an audible growl escaped from my mouth. Devin came walking in through the glass door with a confident stride. He wore white khakis and a gray, nylon polo shirt—not his normal racing outfit. His sandstone-colored hair was masked by a charcoal ball-cap, and if it wasn't for Sierra's lovely welcome, I wouldn't have known it was him. 

I quickly turned to Sierra in desperation. "It's fine, I can get water myself."

She gave me a protesting look before Devin cut in. "I can get you a water. I'm already going there to get a Gatorade." 

"No, no," Sierra cut right back, "She needs to get some exercise after sitting all morning. Will you just make sure she doesn't fall?" 

My blue eyes flared into ice at her. Traitor. 

"Sure, I'd be glad to." 

I got my crutches and walked around the desk, refusing to look him in the face; afraid he would have that smirk curving up on his lips. 

Detesting the friendly act that he had put on for Sierra, I purposely went as slow as possible. Instead of making a comment, he just matched my pace. Him keeping the act up made me even more annoyed. 

"Why did you do this?" I muttered. "You know I don't need any help."

He hesitated for a moment. "She seemed worried about you."

I sneered. "She wasn't worried."

With his phone starting to ring, our conversation concluded as soon as it began. 

"Hey," he said into the phone. "Oh, yeah, tonight. Sure, we can go up there. No, I'm just going golfing down at Brickyard Crossing before my training session."

So that's why he's wearing the pretty boy outfit. I should've known he's a golfer. Golfers are always cute. Hold up, did I actually just think that? Ew Lis—bad, bad brain. 

"Alright, bye." He hung up and slipped the phone back in his pocket. 

"Here." His arm crossed in front of me and I absent-mindedly ran into it. I realized he was pointing to the vending machine alcove that I had started to walk past. 

"Oh, right." I turned to the vending machine with a faint tint of pink rising in my face. He made me so uncomfortable without even trying. I think I preferred the saucy Devin better. 

"What?" I exclaimed, "Water actually costs something now?" There was a makeshift pricing label of $1 taped beneath the water option. 

"Those snakes," Devin said, without any indication of sarcasm. 

"Well shoot-"

"I'll pay for it." 

"No," I argued, "Really, it's fine. I know there's a drinking fountain somewhere upstairs."

But he was already opening up his leather wallet. "It's only a buck; it's not worth going all the way upstairs to get some city water." 

I didn't say anything because I agreed with him. City water was disgusting compared to tap—I definitely saw eye to eye with him on that. 

He picked the half-sized water bottle out of the machine and handed it to me. 

"Thank you," I said sincerely. Those were possibly the first sincere words I ever stooped to say towards him. Or at least, the first sincere words my pride ever stooped to let me say.

"No problem, turtle." His mouth formed into that same old smirk.

Not about to let the name-call pass without consequence, I getting ready to fire back when my phone buzzed. It was a text from Michael. 

Hey Lis ❤ I've got a surprise for you tonight. Does 8 work?

Sounds great. Dinner?

Oof actually no. Kiera's back early from France and we're having dinner at 5.

Oh ok. I'll be ready at 8 then.

I phased back into reality and looked up to find Devin waiting patiently, looking at his phone as well. 

"You ready?" he asked. 

"Yeah."

~~~

It was 8:07. Michael must've been running late. I roamed over to my full-length mirror again to check my outfit. He'd told me to "dress way down" so I put on some black leggings with an oversize hoodie and blue, high-top Converse—except I only wore one shoe; whereas my right foot was clad in a lovely giant boot. 

A little worried that I had misinterpreted what dressing way down was, I took my hair out of its messy-bun and let it fall about my shoulders. Although leaving it down proved to be a hassle as it got caught between my arm and the crutches every time I tried to move. 

In the midst of my struggle, Dad yelled up the stairs saying Michael was there. 

He waited outside, leaning against his mustang in nice jeans and a sports coat. 

"Dressed way down, huh?" I said. 

His eyes landed on my extremely casual clothes and widened into realization. "Crap, I'm sorry Lis. I forgot I told you that." He slipped off the jacket as he spoke, revealing a black t-shirt. "We went out to eat and I didn't have time to go home before picking you up."

"It's okay." I situated myself into his car and he put my crutches in the back. 

The drive to our secret destination was a short one. Within a few minutes he pulled into the back way of the Speedway. 

"We're coming here?" I questioned. 

He smiled. "You'll see." 

Promptly after he led me out of the car,  I saw we were walking straight towards the Pagoda. Known as the place where all the rich people went to view the races, the Pagoda reached ten  levels high with a flat roof that overlooked all of the Speedway grounds and more.

"The Pagoda?" I asked, confused. "What are we doing here? It's closed." 

"I have access to the roof." He held up a key-chain full of keys. 

We took the elevator up nine levels before walking up the exposed stairs to the roof. Murmurings of voices could be heard above. I turned around to Michael and gave him a questioning glance. In return, he shrugged his shoulders.

Reaching the last step, I recognized both of the voices. My recognition was confirmed when Devin and Nicole both whipped their heads around at the arrival of two other people. They quickly stood up from the inner ledge they were sitting on. 

"Oh, hey guys," Michael spoke up behind me. 

Nicole looked mortified. For the first time in forever, she just wore Neiman Marcus joggers and a t-shirt, leaving me to be the one dressed nicer—if leggings could be counted as nicer than joggers. Besides her casual attire, her makeup was still plastered on perfectly in multiple layers. 

"Hey," Devin said hesitantly. "We were just about to leave."

Putting on an unmistakable look of surprise and disapproval, Nicole indiscreetly glared at him. 

"You don't have to leave because of us," I blurted out, seeing that Devin was in a sticky situation. I had no intent of trying to keep them there, but it seemed common courtesy to offer. At this, Michael gave me a look similar to that of Nicole's. 

"It's really okay," Devin said.

After a minute more of "you don't have to leave," and "it's fine, we'll leave," they finally left, awkwardly walking a foot apart from each other. 

Looking relieved, Michael helped me sit down on the inner ledge of the roof, right where Devin and Nicole had previously been sitting. The sun had already gone down, but soft streaks of pink and purple still lingered in the sky, each strip tainted with an orange hue. The wind blew around a little, making me glad I wore a hoodie. 

We sat there until nightfall, when the last remnant of light had diminished. "That was really pretty," I said softly, pleasantly surprised at the nice sound of my voice. 

"It was," he agreed. "We should probably go home now."

Feeling a little tired, I didn't try to argue the matter. "Yeah, we probably should." 

~~~

Michael parked his car and turned the ignition off. "Why'd you turn it off?" I asked. 

"You've been pretty up and at 'em with all the questions tonight, huh?"

My faced flushed and I pursed my lips. "Sorry."

He gave me a smile. "Lis, it's okay. I'm joking."

Hopping out of the car, he walked with me up to the porch the same way he had the Friday before, only this time I didn't have the luxury of being distracted with a carryout box. 

I could almost feel him strain his peripheral vision to look me and read my emotions. "Larissa?"

"Yeah?" My heart began to pound a little faster than normal and my eyes refused to meet his. 

"I had a nice time tonight."

My heart went back to its normal pace. Coast is clear. 

Within three seconds we ran out of sidewalk and it was time to... say goodnight. 

"Goodnight, Lis," he said quietly, picking up both of my hands with his.

"Goodni-"

My reply was cut off as his lips met mine in a more than brief yet innocent kiss. It took me a moment to recollect what had just occurred. Michael... kissed me. The flutters in my stomach dissipated and I relaxed after remaining stiff for a moment. 

"Goodnight, Michael."

~~~

Hey everyone, <3 thanks for reading. Believe it or not, that was actually my first attempt at writing a "kiss scene" I suppose it would be called. How was it? I honestly can't tell. XD  Remember to vote if you liked it and have a wonderful day!