We sat quietly in James' car as he pulled out of the parking lot at the funeral home. Somehow he had snagged a better parking spot than I had. I was just glad that I didn't have to walk far out in my heels. The heel wasn't very tall but my feet were killing me nonetheless.
The music from his car stereo was blasting on some rock station and he turned it down quickly, apologizing as he pulled out onto the road."It's okay, I don't mind.""It's alright, it was too loud to begin with. Michael f*cks with my sh*t all of the time.""Where is Michael, anyways? I thought he came here with you.""We both left to grab some lunch and he decided to go home afterwards. I came back because if I went home, my mom would probably be pissed.""Damn. I'm sorry. You didn't have to come back. You could have driven around a little bit until school let out.""Yeah, well I really came in the first place because I noticed Chloe was at school. IJames I hated wearing anything with a collar. I felt like a stuffed sausage, all tight and uncomfortable. But I needed to do it for Kelly. She hadn't asked me to come to the funeral, but I knew it was going to be a pretty bad day and if I could cheer her up, then why not? Admitting to her that she was all I could think about was risky, but knowing that she felt the same had felt like I won the lottery. The only thing that was bothering me was that Michael didn't know. Michael and I had been best friends since I moved to Vegas when I was seven. We told each other everything even if it was disgusting or private. It had always been why we worked out so well as friends. There were never any secrets. Except, now, the one I was keeping from him so that I didn't hurt him. "Dude, chill. You look fine. Stop pulling on the damn tie. It took me forever to copy it from YouTube." Micha
After the service ended the family was called back to a limo to ride to the cemetery but again I watched her talk to her uncle and point back at me. I lifted a hand in a small wave and hoped that he wouldn't come and strangle me. While they spoke, Kelly's mom came and stood next to me."Hey, lover boy. You're stirring up some sh*t aren't you?"I looked up at the older version of Kelly and shrugged. She had Kelly's blue eyes and her mouth. Her hair looked more white than it did blonde, but seeing as she was in her sixties, it made sense. She was probably really beautiful when she was younger. I could see a lot of Kelly's looks came from her. "I'm not trying to. I'm just here for support.""Oh trust me, baby, you are stirring it up. Joe is going to have a conniption if Kelly doesn't straighten up." She nodded over at Kelly and Joe arguing silently. People were filing out of the church behind us, going to their cars to follow the procession line.
James I watched her eat her sandwich quietly and wondered if she knew that I was just as selfish as Dexter. Only my selfishness was just seeing her. I tried not to dwell on it, but I knew that I needed to tell her the truth. " I wouldn't thank me, Kelly. I haven't really done anything I didn't want to do, you know? Like...I wanted to see you, so I went to see you, even if it meant being at your dad's wake or his funeral." She smiled and shrugged. "I know. But the point is that you subjected yourself to all of these boring events just to see me. It means a lot." "It's just me being selfish." "Well then I'm selfish too because I wanted you to be there even though I should have been concerned about the funeral stuff." "Yeah that is pretty selfish. I should probably ask you to leave." I watched her face and she busted out laughing. "Alright, smart a*s." She took a bite of her food an
JamesI groaned and glanced back downstairs. I could just barely make out the edge of my bed. I couldn't see her at all. All I wanted to do was go back to her. My d*ck was uncomfortably huge in my pants and I couldn't let Michael see. I sighed and thought of all of the most disgusting things I could think of as I opened the door. I hoped that he couldn't see my erection. Michael furrowed his eyebrows at me as he passed me going down the stairs and stopped dead at the bottom. I wondered what he was seeing. Was it her lying in my bed half naked like earlier? Thinking of him seeing her like that made me see red. I rushed down the stairs and stopped next to him. Kelly was laying under my comforter with her back turned to us. I glanced at Michael and he raised his eyebrows at me. "You taking in strays now?" I elbowed him, still pissed that he pulled the c*ck block of the century. "Shut up. What's up?"
Going back to school felt strange. Everyone was the same. No one seemed to have changed, yet I felt completely different. I walked through the hallways in a daze and when people would talk to me, I hardly listened to what they had to say. After spending the rest of the weekend dealing with my mom after my uncle left, I was exhausted. He had left after we had a screaming match in the middle of the living room after I got home from James' house. He said that I was acting like a spoiled brat and was very disrespectful to my father's memory. I told him that he hosted the whole funeral to look more likable because he was an old dried-up prune that no one wanted to re-elect. His face had turned tomato red and he slapped me roughly across the face. My aunt and cousin took him to another room and yelled at me to go to my room. I stayed there until they left later that night, crying because I couldn't believe everything that had gone on. I admit,
I was thoroughly bushed after practice. Taking a week off without sleep was not good for cheer. Now I sat in my kitchen staring at the pile of paperwork that I needed to get done. I separated everything that needed to be turned in sooner in one pile and later in another. As I began working on some calculus homework, my doorbell rang and I jumped up. Feeling a horde of butterflies erupted in my stomach. When I opened the front door he gave me a tight smile and raised his eyebrows. "Hey." "Hi. I'm set up in the kitchen. It has more surface area to set my work on." I let him in and shut the front door. I led him into my kitchen and watched him set his book bag down on one of the empty stools and sit down on another. I sat down opposite him and chewed on my bottom lip. There was a weird energy between us and I wasn't quite sure how to address it. "I have this pile that needs to be turned in these next couple of d
For the remainder of the week, James continued to come over to my house after practice to help me with my homework and to work on his own. During school, for some reason, neither of us acknowledged that we were seeing each other after school or friends of whatever it was that we were. It didn't stop me from giving Pink Streak a dirty look now and then. Especially when she would laugh loudly in the halls and touch his arms or when she would run and jump onto his back and climb onto him. It grated on my nerves, but I never let on to him that she bothered me. Instead, we would talk about schoolwork, he would ask about my mom and we would talk about people at school. We never dove into anything too deep. I felt like doing that would open up the book of emotions I had kept hidden away for another day. He would stay for a couple of hours and then leave and when he would leave, I would feel reality slap me in the face. Wi
"Yes!" We drove around a little in silence. Las Vegas was always lit up, no matter what time of day, so I was enjoying the lights from a distance. It made me think of the times when Dad and I would sit outside and just talk about our days and my competitions and boys. We were quiet for a while but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It felt good. I felt like I could just relax and not say a single thing and he would be okay with it. After a while, if just driving around our neighborhoods, he parked at the park near my house and laid his seat back. I followed his lead and I turned to face him. It felt a lot like the first night we were acquainted and I let those memories drift to the forefront of my mind. "What was your first time like?" "Sex?" "No, Skiing. Duh! Yes, sex!" I giggled and even in the dark I could see his cheeks darken. "Well...we just wanted to get it done and over with, so it was