[Vulvacious]

EMILY'S POV

I did not know what to do, my heart was racing and my cheeks were flushed. I was touched and flattered; it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever given me. I felt silly then when I actually found tears forming in my eyes. I mean I have never held a non-living thing that is so… adorable (?) in my hands.

Caden was undeniably a great catch. And it was not as if I was still holding on to feelings for Jacob. (We actually ended on a pretty bad note, so if any feelings for him still existed within me, it would probably be my distaste for him).

I could definitely picture us together. In fact, thinking back, I had always looked forward to studying and going home with him. Perhaps, I was too focused on my studies; I had mistaken his niceness for simple friendliness. In short, I never knew he felt the same.

I knew I had to reply but all I could do then was stare into space, a dreamy look on my face. It just felt so surreal, almost laughable, having the best catch in school hooking me up.

A message came in.

C: Are you home safely?

Me: Haha dude, you left me at least half an hour ago and I was just DOWNSTAIRS.

C: No harm making sure (: Have you opened it yet?

Me: Yup

C: And?

Me: And yes

I like to imagine that he was doing a celebratory boogie at this point, but I never did find out.

We carried on the conversation with some coy flirting which eventually ended up with us agreeing to meet up for a date.

***

Our first date was just a casual meetup after dinner. It was spent over cups of ice cream, as we walked his dog through a park connector nearby.

The beauty of our first “date” lied in the simplicity of it. It was not the least bit awkward as we had started out as friends. And I went home feeling all warm and fuzzy until our next meet up, which happened to be the night we shared our first kiss.

***

It was New Year’s Eve and I had agreed to attend a party at his friend’s place together with him.

His friend lived in a mansion.

When I stepped through the gates, the sight of 5 cars greeted me. As they were all neatly parked in their respective lots, I was pretty sure they all belonged to the family. There were 2 more empty lots, I wouldn’t be surprised if those were usually filled too. I’m hardly into cars, but one need not be a connoisseur to tell that they were all of high prestige.

The house was crowded and there were yet more people mingling out at the pool. This was my first time attending a house party and at a house that was this grand.

His friend, Dylan, came to greet us. Dylan was from Caden’s secondary school.

D: Hey man, glad you could make it. Is this the girl you were swooning about?

Caden smacked him on the shoulder and gave him a sort of bro hug. Dylan winked at me over his shoulder.

He extended his hand to me and I shook it.

D: I’m Dylan, you’re Emily right. Nice to meet you. Please make yourself comfortable yeah? There’s a lot of food and drinks just help yourselves, no need be shy!

I thanked him for inviting us.

As he sauntered away, he patted Caden on the back and said, “Use protection ah!” by his ear. Caden smacked him again and I pretended not to hear.

I learnt that Dylan was Indo-Chinese and his elder siblings were studying overseas while his parents were always flying to Indonesia for business. So he pretty much always had the house to himself, oh and the maids of course.

Moments before the countdown, Caden drew me away from the crowded house and suggested taking a walk outside.

As we left, we could hear the chorus of “30, 29, 28…”

The cool air made a nice contrast to the atmosphere in the stuffy and crowded house. We walked a few paces, before he took hold of my hand. I was surprised but his warm hand offered a nice comfort to the cool night. I squeezed his hand and smiled up at him.

In the background, the crowd was counting down the last few seconds, “4, 3, 2, 1…”

And as they erupted in a cacophony of “Happy New Year”s, Caden stopped and turned to me.

He leaned forward and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. He looked me in the eye and asked softly, “Can I kiss you, Emily?”

Even though it was only our second date, I felt that we had been together for a long time.

I nodded and closed the distance between us; meeting his soft parted lips.

It could be due to the festive mood, the few drinks we had back at the party, or simply our striking chemistry, I would never know for sure. But the kiss was perfect, to me.