“Whatcha gonna do when you catch me?” he taunted,
keeping just out of reach.
“Wouldn’t
you like to know!” Belle laughed. David circled around the redbox and stopped,
right in front of her. She had never been this close to him before; her heart
was thumping, but she knew it wasn’t from the running. Belle could feel his
warm breath getting closer until their noses were almost touching.
“Yeah,
I would,” he responded, inches from her face. Then, before Belle could think
of a smart comeback, David tilted his head and kissed her. Goosebumps surged
up her neck and arms. He pulled back slowly and, from that close, Belle could
see a little bit of stubble above his top lip. He leaned in to kiss her again
but Belle’s phone went off in her pocket, making them both jump. She wasn’t
quite sure what had just happened, but she wasn’t going to say she hadn’t liked
it either. Belle pursed her lips and answered.
“Where
are you guys?” It was Cinderella’s voice that met her.
“We
just got to the redbox,” Belle responded. “We’ll be done in just a sec.”
“Hurry
back, Ari already started the popcorn.”
“I’m
gonna eat it all!” Belle could hear Ariel’s voice through the phone.
“K,
see ya soon.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
David
Prince or Dave, as he preferred, had spent almost every night with the Princess
sisters since the day he moved in, a few weeks before. At first it was weird
for the cousins to have anyone else around, but Dave’s laid back personality
quickly broke through the barriers surrounding the tight-knit group. The girls
discovered how fun it could be to have someone new to talk to, especially
someone with such a great smile and who always smelled so good. They enjoyed
showing him around their town and introducing him to new things. The Princess sisters,
for one thing, were avid movie watchers. They introduced Dave to an assortment
of movies, both old and new. Every night they would meet at one of their
houses and a couple of them would run down to the corner and pick out the movie
for the evening. While they were gone, the others would raid the cupboards and
fridge gathering snacks.
It
just so happened that on this night, Dave offered to pick out the movie and
Belle quickly volunteered to join him. So the two joked and talked, like they
had many times before, as they walked the half mile to the corner McDonalds.
Only tonight had been different.
Now
Belle stood leaning against the redbox and staring at her silent phone.
“Are
you making phone calls telepathically now?”
“No…I…”
“I
made you uncomfortable.”
“Please.
Do you really think you’re the first one to ever do that?” Belle asked, trying
to regain her confidence, which seemed to have melted away with her lips.
Belle reached up and softly touched her own lips to make sure they were still
there. The truth was Dave was the first guy Belle had ever kissed. She
quickly tried to recover from her shock and delight over what had just
happened, but it was hard to do when her hands were still shaking.
“Why
yes, I believe I am,” he said, noticing her hands. He covered them with his
own and the pressure made her hands stop moving.
“You’re
a little cocky, don’t you think, Mr. Prince?” Belle emphasized the ‘Mr.’ as she
spoke in mock politeness.
“Not
at all, Ms. Princess,” he retorted in similar tones. “I am merely confidant in
my ability to make a young girl weak in the knees.” Belle jumped to her feet
and whacked Dave on the shoulder again.
“You
jerk!” she said with a slight smile. Dave reached for her and Belle turned to
run. Dave grabbed her around the waist in one swift motion and had her over
his shoulder in the next. Belle started screaming and kicking, but David
battled this with tickling and her yells quickly turned to laughter. He
finally set Belle on her feet again and she gave his shoulder yet another