Kiss Me

Ville clutched his books to his chest as he walked. He didn’t look up when someone called his name, didn’t lift his hand in greeting. It wasn’t out of rudeness or disrespect. He simply did not hear them. His mind was somewhere else.

Everyone who knew him understood this about Ville. Sometimes, he just wasn’t there in spirit. It wasn’t a bad thing; really, it was just the way things were. He continued down the hall, eyes dreamy and glazed over.

His mind was not on school. His mind was not where it should have been, going over formulas and the table of elements for the chemistry test he had in his next class. No, of course not. He was thinking about The Boy.

The Boy with the beautiful blue eyes that had nearly swept him off his feet with just one glance. The Boy who had the rough hands that he was aching to feel against his hips again.

The worst part of it all was that Ville was sure he’d seen the boy somewhere else before. Most likely it was at the club and they just hadn’t had a chance to see each other up close, but there was the sinking feeling in his stomach that it was somewhere else. Somewhere more personal, somehow.

He dropped into his seat in chemistry, smiled softly at the teacher and pulled out his sketchbook. While he waited for the rest of the boys to come piling it, he turned to a familiar page.

It was a picture of The Boy. He was trying to get every detail perfect. Every last hair on his head, the way his lips curved when he smiled. Ville didn’t want to lose the memory, and so he did what he always did to preserve something.

He drew it.

The rest of the boys came in, and Ville did not notice them. He tried to perfect the shape of those eyes that seemed to stare right into his soul when the teacher closed the door and cleared his throat for attention.

**

The test had been easier than he expected, and so he finished sooner than planned. Ville didn’t mind, if nothing else he’d have more time for the sketch. As he turned the paper into the teacher and turned around, the man tapped his shoulder.

“You’re not in any trouble, but the
counselor wants to see you for something. Probably just to hand you some college pamphlets or something.” He smiled to relieve any tension the young boy might feel.

Ville collected his things and made his way to the counseling office. He’d never been in here before, other than for career day to hand in his aptitude tests. What was the problem now?

To tell the truth, the school hadn’t even had a real guidance counselor before now. Before the principal just went through everything himself. Wonder where they got the money to pay for this, Ville wondered.

He knocked shyly on the door with the word GUIDANCE on the frosted glass.

“Come in!” a friendly voice called.

“Hi,” he stepped in shyly, clutching his books to his chest again. The man sitting behind the desk had to be the secretary or assistant or something. He was quite young and rather nice looking. His warm brown eyes looked softly at the thin boy
before him.

“I’m Ville Valo. I was told you wanted to see me?”

“Oh, yes, yes.” He stood up and held out his hand. The hand that he should was delicate with long fingers.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many nice things about you.”

“You have?” they both sat down.

“Oh, of course. Everyone says such nice things about you. You’re so kind and smart.” The counselor smiled as he toyed with a pen on his desk. “But there was one thing I wanted to ask you.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to be in the new drama club?”