BLACKOUT

The demand that was kept forward by Jean did not feel awkward to Marie at all. In fact, it gave her the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She was expecting it, but she did not want to take the initiative herself. Instead, she wanted Jean to take the lead in their bond.

And now that the time had come with Jean asking Marie for a kiss, she did not want to delay it anymore. She started to think if it would be possible to kiss her at the party with everyone looking at them, especially after what happened just a few minutes ago when Jean almost confessed that Marie could be her girlfriend in the time to come.

Mind you, both of them were adolescents and did not understand figures of speech. For all they knew, just a mild peck on the cheek was a kiss, and that is what Jean meant when she laid down her demand. It was all new to the two girls because until now, only their family had kissed them. Getting it from their friend was pretty much a big deal for both, Jean and Marie.

“But where at the party that can happen? People are everywhere,” Marie expressed.

“First, tell me, do you want to kiss me?” Jean questioned.

“I want to,” Marie agreed.

“Then come with me,” Jean said, and she held Marie’s hand to lead her to yet another place, but this time it was outside the hall.

Again, she didn’t step out with Marie from the main entrance because that was guarded by the security guards of the town hall reception. Jean led her to a place which was behind where half their batch mates were dancing on the dance floor which was created by the LED blocks a little to the center of the hall.

There was a wooden door which was covered in the same wallpaper as the walls of the hall were decorated with, but it could open and led to some staircase which may have been for the staff of that place. The lights in that area were dim too so as to not create a sudden disturbance in case the door was opened by anyone while the celebration inside the hall was going on.

“How did you know this place?” Marie asked Jean with a lowered voice and in surprise because for the whole party she had been with her, and Jean did not leave her alone to go anywhere, not even to the washroom. Both of them had gone together to use the restroom just that one time after they had a lot of apple juice with the thought of it being champagne.

“Shhhhhhhhh..,” Jean shushed Marie and said, “Quickly do what you wanted to do because anybody might walk in here, and we can get caught. Hurry up!"

“Okay, close your eyes,” Marie ordered. She was shy to do whatever she was asked for as it was her first time kissing someone other than her family and someone she called only a friend; she did not want Jean to look at her while she did it.

Just as soon as she closed her eyes, Marie placed her hand on Jean’s chin and turned her face a little to the other side to have her right cheek exactly in front of her lips. She took a deep breath for something that she had planned for was going to happen at that moment. Taking a mental picture of her best friend’s cheek asking to be kissed made Marie do that gesture in a jiffy.

A very normal kiss which was also pretty decent is the right way to describe it, but then it is just that their intentions were not either of those because both of them were having the feelings of how the hero and heroine have in romantic movies since picturing that special scene in the movies. That is why Jean had asked Marie for a kiss.

They wanted to feel the romance between them the way they had always seen between a boy and a girl. Little did they know that it was going to be a disaster for the two young girls because their culture and the way of life which they followed did not understand how people of the same gender could fall in love. The worst, that kind of love was not recognized at all by the society they both lived in.

Since childhood they were taught that a girl gets married to a guy and then they have babies. Even any kind of boy-girl relationship before marriage was too big of a deal for all the people living in that country. It was just that very few of them had their minds somewhat open to accept the progressive transition that was being introduced in the contemporary world by the members of the younger generation.

As Marie kissed Jean and moved away to bring her hand back from Jean’s face, Jean also opened her eyes and, without thinking much, she also did the same to Marie. Both of them gave each other a peck on the cheeks. All this happened in just a fraction of a second before Jean caught Marie’s hand and led her back inside the hall where Derek’s party was happening.

The colors seemed brighter to both of them at the party after what just happened. They were happier despite not being together because Jean joined the boys and started playing around with them. Whereas, Marie sat in one corner to the side where the other group which was quieter was seated. Their smiles were a lot wider, but no one at the party knew the reason for it being from ear to ear.

Suddenly, a reason had automatically appeared before them for coming to the party. And because Marie was an over-thinker, she immediately started building up so many more thoughts in her mind than the ones that were actually required. She did not even once take time to think about if any of her wishes could come true. And if they were to come true, then how would she have made it possible in the conservative society she was living in?

Teenage is such a time when everything that happens probably becomes the reason that you live, and life becomes so much more beautiful. It takes many years from that time for the youngsters to learn and relate the dreamy world to reality. It is important to think in both ways, practically and logically because that is the way adults tend to agree with, and once you understand that, you become an adult.

When the beautiful birthday party was nearing its end, all of a sudden the lights went out. It was pitch dark. There was a lot of shouting and howling. It took a long time for the kids to keep quiet so that Derek’s parents could call the manager and ask him about the power cut. All the doors of the hall were also electronic and could not be opened for all of them to step out in the fresh air at least. What would happen now?