"Are you guys official?" I ask Simone as I flip over the pancakes on the pan.
"Well, he asked me out a week ago and I told him I needed time to think. And then this morning I went to his room wearing his sweater and I was like 'hey, do you like this sweater?' and he was like 'yeah' and then I said 'thanks, it's my boyfriend's'. Then he smiled and like picked me up and hugged me."
"Oh my God, that's so sweet."
"That's so cliche," Lacey forks a pancake into her mouth.
"I say you're jealous," Simone crosses her arms over her chest. "I say you probably met a good guy too but the Dora in you still want to explore."
"Did you just call me a hoe?"
"Maybe I didn't. Maybe I did."
Lacey's eyes narrow into slits. "Well, fuck you too."
She forks another pancake into her mouth and walks out on us, slamming the kitchen door in a loud thud.
"Did you see that? What's wrong with her?" Simone
I have come to the conclusion that I'm not the sporty type.Sporting requires so much strength and body fitness. I lack those two terms.In high school, I once joined the junior soccer team because Simone always spent too much with basketball and I didn't want to feel left out. Shane Dawson, our soccer captain, kicked me out just a week later after I kept running from the goal post instead of stopping the ball from going through the net.I never gave up though.I signed up for cheerleading auditions next. Lacey was the cheerleading captain back then and I knew she was going to take me in because I always let her copy my history homework. The audition was going successfully until she told me to do a split.I couldn't do a split. I wasn't about to tear open my anus because I wanted to hang out with some group of cheerleading bimbos.Long story short; she didn't take me in, I no longer let her copy my homework, she
If I could turn back the hands of time, I'd rather choose to stay in my room, have girls night with Lacey and her girly girly friends instead of having a gun pointed at my head in the middle of the night at someone's else's house.I would've been less freaked out if that was Miss Renee's voice. But it's not. It sounds more deep and masculine that I'm starting to fear if I'm facing a real burglar here."Where is the money?" The voice asks, with the gun still pressed to my head.Yep. That's a burglar. And I would've readily shown him where the money is except for the fact that it's not my house and I don't know what money he's talking about. I only have two cents in my pockets, but I have a feeling the burglar wouldn't be too satisfied with that."Are you deaf or stupid?" He says again when I'm taking too long to reply as he presses the gun tighter to my head. "I said where's the money.""I... well, you see-"A smash cr
I try to think of something to say, but my mind comes up blank. Everything is just a mixture of jumbled up words in my head that if I were to say it aloud, it wouldn't sound English."Does Jane have an imaginary friend? She says she can't sleep without Mr. Lulu." Noah's footsteps thunders down the stairs as he stops on his tracks, pausing to notice the room's awkward atmosphere. "Did someone die?"It feels like I'm riding a roller coaster. All twists and turns with uphill climbs that sends me plummeting to the bottom at dizzying speeds. I can't even begin to imagine the sort of childhood he must have had.I don't want to make any assumptions yet. Though it's tempting to do so.With a frown, Noah raises his gaze above our heads to the picture on the wall. I see his eyes darken, his jaw ticks."We talked about this." He slowly grits out through clenched teeth, shooting Miss Renee a deadly glare."She needed to know!"
"The bedroom's that way," Noah points upstairs and joins Miss Renee in the kitchen.Taking the will power in me not to eavesdrop on their conversation, I head towards the stairs and mount them two by two. At the top, I hit a switch. A stream of slightly yellow illumination cast shadows on the walls.The three bedroom doors yawns wide-open. One door is painted pink with a paper sign glued to it that reads: JANE'S TERRITORY. STAY OUT. How friendly.I slip into the last room I'm guessing is Noah's, hugging the shadows while my gaze roves the space before slapping the wall switch. The large room is a hedonistic delight to the eyes. I survey the room, taking in the small details as I do so. It seems like it's been years since someone had stayed in the room, yet it's so fully decorated and warm.I stride into the bathroom next. The tub sprawls on a raised dais, twice as wide and half again as long and deep as a normal tub. Jets a
"You led him on, and then you pushed him away? How monstrous can you get?""I... I didn't exactly lead anything on. We were kissing this second, and the next...""There's a difference." I stare at Lacey in bewilderment. She's making this whole thing confusing for me."What do you mean there's a difference?" I ask, shuddering as she digs her hands up to her elbows inside a cow.We're currently in the hotel's barn I didn't even know existed till today. The woman in charge of the barn took a leave before one of the cows went into labor. No one had the courage to drag out a newborn calf from a huge cow which may or may not be taller than I am. Lacey was the last person I thought would take up the job. Turns out she has a little cowgirl in her.Never thought I'd see her in ugly brown boots that are covered in dirt and mud."There's a difference between 'kissing' and 'making out' alright? Just like how there's a difference
It's a gentle kiss, lips slightly parted.His lips meld into mine and I'm awed by the way they feel. They're soft, but firm- and it follows the trace of my own lips, like he's tracing them, mapping them out.Kissing Cory is warm and simple, unlike Noah's possessive and demanding one that steals the breath from my lungs.Holy shit.I can't believe what's going on. I'm kissing Cory.I'm kissing Cory.I'm... wait. What the fuck. I'm kissing Cory!Suddenly, an image of Noah flashes through my mind in a blur, startling me for a moment that I pull away from him so fast I almost trip and fall. Before I can do that, Cory circles his arms around me and catches me before I can stumble. We stare at each other, breathing heavily as I try to figure what the hell that was about.I should be happy Cory kissed me, it's what I've always dreamt of. Then why did I see Noah's face when he kissed me?
TWO YEARS AGO.Simone thought I'd gone insane in the head. Sometimes I felt like I had."Clarke's three years older than you. Don't be stupid. He's in College, you're a junior in high school," she sighed heavily. "Be reasonable."She kind of flipped when I told her about my new relationship with Lakeview's high former golden boy, Clarke Sherri. I thought she was just being jealous I got a boyfriend and she didn't."Age doesn't matter when two people are in love." Was my only valid excuse. She looked like she was tired of hearing that. "You should try it sometime, falling in love.""I can't even fall asleep. Look..." she was interrupted by some group of students in the cafeteria who repeatedly banged on their table to the tune of a song while singing. "HEY! No singing in the cafeteria. This isn't high school musical or some shit."They all stopped at once. Almost everyone felt intimidated by her height. I also wa
If I knew it was going to hurt this much, I wish I never laid my eyes on him.I see Noah's nostrils flare, and his eyes go a deeper shade of red than his usual blue-grey. All he needs are fangs to complete the look and bite my head off my neck.I've never seen him this angered, and I've never cried so much that my throat feels sore."You let him go to jail for something he didn't do—" He trails off, and a weird strangled sound comes from the back of his throat. "Do you have the slightest idea how much guilt I felt when I thought my brother went to jail because of me? All the months of being a family pariah..." He pauses, as if trying to get his emotions back in check.My hands are shaking as they try to pull the hairs out of my head. It feels like I'm drowning underwater, with air being knocked out of my aching lungs."I always wondered what happened that day, but he'd never tell me the full story.""I... I was scared—" I f