Anna and the French Kiss

We spend the rest of dinner talking about his mother. And when we leave the restaurant, we keep talking about her. We walk along the Seine. The moon is full and the lamps are on, and he talks until it’s as if he weighs an entire person lighter.

He stops. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

I breathe deeply, inhaling the pleasant river smell. “I’m glad you did.”

We’re at the street we’d turn on to go back to the dorm. He looks down it hesitantly, and then blurts, “Let’s see a film. I don’t want to go back yet.”

He doesn’t have to ask me twice. We find a theater showing a new release, a slacker comedy from the States, and stay for the double feature. I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard, and beside me, St. Clair laughs even harder. It’s two in the morning before we get back to the dorm. The front desk is empty, and Nate’s light is off.

“I think we’re the only ones in the building,” he says.

“Then no one will mind when I do this!” I jump onto the desk and parade back and forth. St. Clair belts out a song, and I shimmy to the sound of his voice. When he finishes, I bow with a grand flourish.

“Quick!” he says.

“What?” I hop off the desk. Is Nate here? Did he see?

But St. Clair runs to the stairwell. He throws open the door and screams. The echo makes us both jump, and then together we scream again at the top of our lungs. It’s exhilarating. St. Clair chases me to the elevator, and we ride it to the rooftop. He hangs back but laughs as I spit off the side, trying to hit a lingerie advertisement. The wind is fierce, and my aim is off, so I race back down two flights of stairs. Our staircase is wide and steady, so he’s only a few feet behind me. We reach his floor.

“Well,” he says. Our conversation halts for the first time in hours.

I look past him. “Um. Good night.”

“See you tomorrow? Late breakfast at the crêperie?”

“That’d be nice.”

“Unless—” he cuts himself off.

Unless what? He’s hesitant, changed his mind. The moment passes. I give him one more questioning look, but he turns away.

“Okay.” It’s hard to keep the disappointment out of my voice. “See you in the morning.” I take the steps down and glance back. He’s staring at me. I lift my hand and wave. He’s oddly statuesque. I push through the door to my floor, shaking my head. I don’t understand why things always go from perfect to weird with us. It’s like we’re incapable of normal human interaction. Forget about it, Anna.

The stairwell door bursts open.

My heart stops.

St. Clair looks nervous. “It’s been a good day. This was the first good day I’ve had in ages.” He walks slowly toward me. “I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to be alone right now.”

“Uh.” I can’t breathe.

He stops before me, scanning my face. “Would it be okay if I stayed with you? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable—”

“No! I mean ...” My head swims. I can hardly think straight. “Yes.Yes, of course, it’s okay.”

St. Clair is still for a moment. And then he nods.

I pull off my necklace and insert my key into the lock. He waits behind me. My hand shakes as I open the door.

chapter twenty

St. Clair is sitting on my floor. He tosses his boots across my room, and they hit my door with a loud smack. It’s the first noise either of us has made since coming in here.

“Sorry.” He’s embarrassed. “Where shall I put those?”

But before I can reply, he’s blabbering. “Ellie thinks I ought to go to San Francisco. I’ve almost bought the plane ticket loads of times, but it’s not what Mum would want. If my father doesn’t want it, she doesn’t want it. It’d put too much additional stress on the situation.”

I’m startled by the outburst.

“Sometimes I wonder if she—Ellie—if she, you know ...” His voice grows quiet. “Wants me gone.”

He never talks about his girlfriend. Why now? I can’t believe I have to defend her. I line his boots beside my door to avoid looking at him. “She’s probably just tired of seeing you miserable. Like we all are,” I add. “I’m sure . . . I’m sure she’s as crazy about you as ever.”

“Hmm.” He watches me put away my own shoes and empty the contents of my pockets. “What about you?” he asks, after a minute.

“What about me?”

St. Clair examines his watch. “Sideburns. You’ll be seeing him next month.”

He’s reestablishing . . . what? The boundary line? That he’s taken, and I’m spoken for? Except I’m not. Not really.

But I can’t bear to say this now that he’s mentioned Ellie. “Yeah, I can’t wait to see him again. He’s a funny guy, you’d like him. I’m gonna see his band play at Christmas. Toph’s a great guy, you’d really like him. Oh. I already said that, didn’t I? But you would. He’s really . . . funny.”

Shut up, Anna. Shut. Up.

St. Clair unbuckles and rebuckles and unbuckles his watchband.

“I’m beat,” I say.And it’s the truth.As always, our conversation has exhausted me. I crawl into bed and wonder what he’ll do. Lie on my floor? Go back to his room? But he places his watch on my desk and climbs onto my bed. He slides up next to me. He’s on top of the covers, and I’m underneath. We’re still fully dressed, minus our shoes, and the whole situation is beyond awkward.

He hops up. I’m sure he’s about to leave, and I don’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed, but . . . he flips off my light. My room is pitch-black. He shuffles back toward my bed and smacks into it.

“Oof,” he says.

“Hey, there’s a bed there.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“No problem.”

“It’s freezing in here. Do you have a fan on or something?”

“It’s the wind. My window won’t shut all the way. I have a towel stuffed under it, but it doesn’t really help.”

He pats his way around the bed and slides back in. “Ow,” he says.

“Yes?”

“My belt. Would it be weird ...”

I’m thankful he can’t see me blush. “Of course not.” And I listen to the slap of leather as he pulls it out of his belt loops. He lays it gently on my hardwood floor.

“Um,” he says. “Would it be weird—”

“Yes.”

“Oh, piss off. I’m not talking trousers. I only want under the blankets.That breeze is horrible.” He slides underneath, and now we’re lying side by side. In my narrow bed. Funny, but I never imagined my first sleepover with a guy being, well, a sleepover.

“All we need now are Sixteen Candles and a game of Truth or Dare.”

He coughs. “Wh-what?”

“The movie, pervert. I was just thinking it’s been a while since I’ve had a sleepover.”

A pause. “Oh.”

“...”

“...”