Hurricanes

Before tonight, kissing was not a big deal. Before tonight, I thought of it as nothing but two moist, slug-like features pressed against each other. An exchange of breath. It was something others obsessed over, and I turned away from--conceptually. Before tonight, all kisses had been heartfelt, yet cold.
But tonight, I kissed a man on stage; for a play. The two of us, barely friends, hardly knew one another. And we were to kiss. No big deal, really. Right? Yeah.
I was ready. Sitting in the chair, the spot light hot on my cheek. His face full of conjured expression and fake emotion. Our hands met in a practiced manner. A silence hung between us, growing until it filled the stage, and then the whole hall.
Wait-- What was this feeling? I felt it in my heart so strongly, that it made my heart beat with a velocity to match a hummingbird. My hand reached to my chest, my gaze broke his, and in that moment, the viper struck.
My eyes exploded with light and heat. Blinded beneath the lids, my eyes moved rapidly. My breath raced back into the inner depths of my lungs. My heart, beating so furiously only a moment before, now ripped itself free from the confines of my ribcage. Tore each artery and ventricle from its rightful place, and in one forceful movement, collided with my brain, sending gray matter and pumping blood rushing past my ears. I was cold-- no, hot. I felt like I was falling-- or was it flying? I felt nothing, but his hand electrifying my cheek.
Then I was falling--crashing--back into reality and character. I pushed his terrifying lips away and gave his cheek a slap. I watched as he was surprised, and then as he looked away in defeat. For a moment, I felt guilty. But, remembering my stage business, I smiled. And with a quiver in my voice, laughed. I reached my hands out, one cupping the back of his neck, the other tightly tugging on his upturned collar. They shook, anticipating. He turned his glittering black eyes to me, and a smile began to grow. And there, in that nanosecond, my spinning brain-heart mess came thundering down my spine and crashed into the small of my back. The collision propelled me forward and all the comfort flew from my skin as my lips, still burning, joined his and the two became one.
All the explosions and whirlwinds heightened to an internal hurricane. I was lost in the black tundra of my eyelids. And in the darkness, red splashed and burned against my pupils. And his revitalizing hands touched my waist, my neck, and my cheek all in one fluid movement.
All of this motion turmoiled within. But the two of us, barely friends, sat frozen in place, pretending to act.