Sky had come into the library to search for a book she needed to write her history paper, but as she was scanning the books on the shelf, she noticed Eli, Demetri, and Miguel sitting at a table nearby.

The boys were talking about Karate and then about superpowers, and Sky couldn't help eavesdropping. The sound of Eli's silent, raspy voice went straight into her gut like a punch, and she pressed the books against her chest, hardly able to breathe.

After Halloween, she'd been avoiding Eli as much as possible.

It had been such a stupid thing to do, to go and talk to him at the dance. Yes, it had been the only part of that evening she had actually enjoyed, but still - these couple of days since the dance had been awful because Yasmine wouldn't stop making mean comments and stupid 'Beauty and the Beast' jokes about her and Eli.

She doesn't know shit! Sky thought angrily. Besides, the Beast was hot in that movie. And Eli is hot too–

And Yasmine was a cruel bitch.

Sky felt miserable realizing that cruel bitch happened to be one of the only friends she had, and even if the thought of what Eli had said at the party - You could hang out with Miguel and Demetri... and me - haunted Sky when she lay in the bed at night and couldn't sleep, she still wasn't ready to take the leap into being a loser and an outcast.

But I really like Eli. Like, maybe I like him more than just a friend. And I think he likes me too. And I want to find out if this is for real. And I want to stop being so scared all the time, scared of something bad happening–

If only she could call Kat and ask for advice.

But she knew what Kat would say - she'd tell her to go for the cute nerd and stop being such a pussy.

She took a deep breath and tried to decide what to do - to go and join the boys, or to walk away before they ever knew she was here, but as she was pondering on this, she saw Kyler and Brucks approaching from the other direction. Sky's gut turned into a tight, cold knot because she knew that whatever they had in mind, it couldn't be good.

I should do something. I should say something–

But she didn't.

She stood between the shelves, holding the books against her chest, her feet glued to the floor.

She saw how Kyler grabbed Eli, saw Eli's hunched shoulders, and almost tasted the fear in the air. Kyler's fingers gripped Eli's face hard, and Eli winced.

"Look at this freak! Oh, shit! What kind of a girl would ever kiss this shit?!" Kyler mocked, and something shattered in Sky's heart.

How could Kyler say something like that? Something so cruel and hurtful and so utterly untrue?

Eli was kind. He was shy, polite, funny, and cute and she fucking liked him. And she wanted to kiss him so badly, she wanted to feel that rough, scarred lip on her mouth, she wanted to taste his breath on her lips, she wanted to open herself to him and feel his tongue inside of her mouth–

That realization hit her like a wrecking ball, making her tremble, but still, terrified of Kyler, she couldn't do anything. She watched how Kyler finally let Eli go - poor Eli, whose whole stiff posture told of his agony - and turned his attention to Demetri. Demetri's backpack was thrown in the trash, the boys fled the room and still Sky couldn't move.

Only when Kyler and Brucks walked out of the room, could she draw in a shaky breath.

It was like a spell had been broken.

She dropped the books she'd been holding, grabbed her backpack, and went after Eli.

She ran through the halls that were swarming with kids, but he had managed to get all the way out of the building, and Sky didn't catch up with him until outside. Stepping out of the front doors, she saw him in front of her. He was walking alone, with fast, long strides, almost running, his shoulders tense and hunched, as if he was trying to hide from the world.

"Eli–!" Sky called out, and he started, glancing over his shoulder.

His gaze told of hurt and despair, and Sky could tell he was almost crying, his vast blue eyes were full of tears.

Her heart in her throat, Sky rushed after him, the determination burning in her chest like a flame.

"Eli, wait–!"

But he turned away, gripping the straps of his backpack that was hanging over one shoulder, and kept on walking, clearly anxious to flee the school as quickly as possible.

Sky ran past a couple of teenagers, almost bumping into them, and finally caught up with Eli.

"Hey, I saw what happened in the library–" she said, and began walking by his side, even if it meant that she needed to jog, for where his long legs took one step, she had to take two.

"Just leave me alone–" Eli muttered, his voice thick with tears.

"Kyler is an idiot." Sky stated. "You know that, right?"

That's when Eli finally stopped and turned to face her. His chest was heaving with deep breaths, his fists were clenched tight by his sides.

"He's right, though."

"Right about what?"

"You heard what he said!" Eli spat the words out. She had never heard him speaking so loudly, so clearly. "That I'm a freak! That no girl is ever gonna kiss me--!"

He flinched when Sky grabbed his shoulders but didn't resist when she kissed him.

He was so much taller, that it wasn't easy - she had to tiptoe to manage to do it, but after a heartbeat or so, he let out a trembling sigh and bent to meet her.

A wave of heat and sparkles rushed through Sky's body as he pressed his lips tight against her own, and she breathed in his scent of books and boy. He tasted like tears, salt, and iron and the taste went straight into her bloodstream, making her weak in the knees.

The scar felt rough against her upper lip, but otherwise, his mouth was so fucking soft, so fucking hot–

A need that almost swept her off her feet, flushed through Sky's core in a heartbeat.

High-headed, her heartbeat hammering in her ears, she broke the kiss and took a step back.

"Just that you know–" she breathed. "There's nothing wrong with your lips."

Eli made a sound that was no word, a dry, throaty sound of wonder and wanting, which was by far the most arousing sound Sky had ever heard.

It was really, really hard to start walking away from him.

But this was not the place, nor the time. People were already staring, some were laughing and pointing fingers, and for a short moment, Sky wondered about the wisdom of her split-second decision to kiss Eli. But the look in Eli's eyes as she started walking away, made her heart flutter inside her chest, and she knew she'd kiss him a thousand times, just to see him looking at her like that.

Even if it destroyed her chance of ever being a popular kid.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Eli stood on the sidewalk and didn't even notice as his backpack fell from his shoulder and hit the ground.

His lips were burning, his heartbeat was fast and uneven in his ears and his whole body was tense, like a fucking string. And Sky was walking away from him, her high ponytail bouncing with the brisk steps as he just stood there like an idiot staring at her backside.

"Dude, what was that?"

Demetri's voice brought Eli back to the surface of this planet, and he swallowed to clear his throat.

"I... I don't–"

"Sky kissed you?" Demetri asked wide-eyed. "Seriously?"

Eli felt his cheeks heating, but couldn't help a small smile that spread on his lips. He bent to pick up his fallen backpack, to swing it over one shoulder again.

"I guess so."

"Why?"

"Don't know." he shrugged. "To prove Kyler wrong, I guess."

"Ah," Demetri said, as he began walking by Eli's side - just like they had walked home from school every day since the first grade. "Well, even so, damn Eli - you're a lucky dude. Sky is really hot."

Eli didn't reply but almost grinned.

Demetri was so right. Sky was hot. Smokin' hot. And even if she had only kissed him to prove a point, or maybe because she felt sorry for him - he didn't care.

Eli felt like his feet weren't even touching the ground.

The heat that had rushed through his body when their lips had met, had been fucking unbelievable. Better than anything he had ever imagined. It had made him forget all about Kyler and Brucks, and Yasmine and her cruel words, and all the times he'd been told he'd never ever get to kiss a girl, that he was a freak, that he'd be better off dead.

Sky had kissed him, and it made something lit and burn inside of his soul.

When kissing her, he hadn't thought about his stupid lip at all.

___________________________________________________________________________