The Kids Don't Stand A Chance
Chapter VIII
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!” Exclaimed Kylie the next day in school. I continued to walk down the sidewalk at the same pace, forcing her to increase her speed to keep up with me.
“Really?” I asked, twisting the ends of my shirt in one of my hands.
“Well, yeah,” she responded with a bit of a ‘duh’ tone to her voice. “You’ve been spending so much time on your own lately.” I swallowed the guilty lump forming in my throat. If only she knew I wasn’t alone.
“What’ve you been doing, then?” I asked, changing the subject abruptly.
“Oh, you know,” she began, a silly little grin beginning to adorn her face. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Brad and –“
“Wait, what?” I asked incredulously, and stopped walking immediately.
“Yep,” Kylie said, popping the ‘p’ in the slang word. “We never said it was against the rules to spend more time with your boy.”
“What do you do with him?” I questioned softly, beginning to walk again as our school came back into view.
“Not talk, if that’s what you’re asking,” she scoffed with a smirk. “Just like fool around and stuff.”
“Have you… had sex?”
“No,” she responded, rather calmly. “But just you wait, Ava-ave. It’ll happen eventually.” The maniacal grin reappeared. “I’ll text you tonight with the new task. I haven’t decided on a deadline yet, but it’s going to be a good one.”
“Okay,” I said softly.
Why did I still feel guilt about leading Zack on like I was doing? Kylie obviously had no hard feelings about the way she treated Brad. Was it because they were hooking up? I know I was being a hard-ass about letting Zack touch me, but I felt like I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want to give Zack the wrong impression.
Because I hadn’t done that already.
------------
“Alright, can you make the crust?” I asked, dropping a few boxes of graham crackers on the counter in front of Zack.
“Wait, pie crust is made of graham crackers?” Zack asked, examining the boxes.
“The crust for our pie is,” I responded, next setting down an unopened bag of sugar and some butter that would eventually to be melted.
“And you promise it’ll all taste good in the end?” He muttered, beginning to open up one of the boxes.
“Zack, it’s just key lime pie,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m not asking you to make something particularly complex.”
“I know, I know,” he insisted. “But key lime pie just doesn’t seem like something that’s… homemade, you know?”
“Well, everything’s homemade, I suppose. I mean, you don’t just get food from thin air, do you?” Zack didn’t respond, instead heavily focused on breaking the graham crackers into small bits.
As I began to whisk the condensed milk and egg yolks, my eyes continually wandered across the kitchen to Zack. I could see him biting his lip in concentration, pounding the graham crackers into little bits as if his life depended on it. There was something so… innocent about him. But it was obvious as to why, wasn’t it?
“What’re you staring at?” Zack teased lightly, catching me off guard.
“Oh, uh, nothing,” I muttered, a blush creeping up my neck and on to my cheeks.
“’Cause I think you’re… whatever that’s in there is mixed pretty well.” I glanced down into my bowl, and like Zack had said, it was all mixed. I set it aside and helped him with the remainder of his crust: melting the butter, mixing in the sugar, and preheating the oven. As we stood around and waited for the oven to reach the desired temperature, my mind continued to wander elsewhere, until I felt a sticky glob on my nose.
“Zack, what –“ He cut me off my flinging a bit more of the unbaked crust at my face. I smirked and reached into the bowl and threw some at him, and it landed on the side of his shirt.
“Hey!” He exclaimed. “That’s my favorite top!”
“So you won’t mind if I do this, then?” I asked, mashing a bit of the cream that would be used later for the topping on his face.
He smiled from underneath the white substance, and suddenly tackled me to the floor. His rubbed his face against mine, the cream spreading itself all throughout my hair and face. We both laughed as I tried to pry him off of me, but it was no use.
When our laughter had subsided, we stared at each other for a moment. Covered in cream and graham cracker mush, he had never looked so attractive. Within an instant his lips were on mine, and I lacked the control to tell him to stop. My fingers wound themselves in his hair, his tongue gaining entrance in my mouth.
He still wasn’t a fantastic kisser, and once again I felt like I was choking on him, but at least he didn’t taste like beer this time.
We remained like this for a few minutes, until a vibrating in my pocket snapped me back to reality. He pulled back with a hint of sadness in his eyes, but I opened my phone anyway. With a gulp, I read and reread the text that I had received.
To: Ava
alright, heres the task: get a baby picture of your guy from his bedroom. you have until monday morning. thats nearly five days – plenty of time.
“Really?” I asked, twisting the ends of my shirt in one of my hands.
“Well, yeah,” she responded with a bit of a ‘duh’ tone to her voice. “You’ve been spending so much time on your own lately.” I swallowed the guilty lump forming in my throat. If only she knew I wasn’t alone.
“What’ve you been doing, then?” I asked, changing the subject abruptly.
“Oh, you know,” she began, a silly little grin beginning to adorn her face. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Brad and –“
“Wait, what?” I asked incredulously, and stopped walking immediately.
“Yep,” Kylie said, popping the ‘p’ in the slang word. “We never said it was against the rules to spend more time with your boy.”
“What do you do with him?” I questioned softly, beginning to walk again as our school came back into view.
“Not talk, if that’s what you’re asking,” she scoffed with a smirk. “Just like fool around and stuff.”
“Have you… had sex?”
“No,” she responded, rather calmly. “But just you wait, Ava-ave. It’ll happen eventually.” The maniacal grin reappeared. “I’ll text you tonight with the new task. I haven’t decided on a deadline yet, but it’s going to be a good one.”
“Okay,” I said softly.
Why did I still feel guilt about leading Zack on like I was doing? Kylie obviously had no hard feelings about the way she treated Brad. Was it because they were hooking up? I know I was being a hard-ass about letting Zack touch me, but I felt like I was doing the right thing. I didn’t want to give Zack the wrong impression.
Because I hadn’t done that already.
------------
“Alright, can you make the crust?” I asked, dropping a few boxes of graham crackers on the counter in front of Zack.
“Wait, pie crust is made of graham crackers?” Zack asked, examining the boxes.
“The crust for our pie is,” I responded, next setting down an unopened bag of sugar and some butter that would eventually to be melted.
“And you promise it’ll all taste good in the end?” He muttered, beginning to open up one of the boxes.
“Zack, it’s just key lime pie,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m not asking you to make something particularly complex.”
“I know, I know,” he insisted. “But key lime pie just doesn’t seem like something that’s… homemade, you know?”
“Well, everything’s homemade, I suppose. I mean, you don’t just get food from thin air, do you?” Zack didn’t respond, instead heavily focused on breaking the graham crackers into small bits.
As I began to whisk the condensed milk and egg yolks, my eyes continually wandered across the kitchen to Zack. I could see him biting his lip in concentration, pounding the graham crackers into little bits as if his life depended on it. There was something so… innocent about him. But it was obvious as to why, wasn’t it?
“What’re you staring at?” Zack teased lightly, catching me off guard.
“Oh, uh, nothing,” I muttered, a blush creeping up my neck and on to my cheeks.
“’Cause I think you’re… whatever that’s in there is mixed pretty well.” I glanced down into my bowl, and like Zack had said, it was all mixed. I set it aside and helped him with the remainder of his crust: melting the butter, mixing in the sugar, and preheating the oven. As we stood around and waited for the oven to reach the desired temperature, my mind continued to wander elsewhere, until I felt a sticky glob on my nose.
“Zack, what –“ He cut me off my flinging a bit more of the unbaked crust at my face. I smirked and reached into the bowl and threw some at him, and it landed on the side of his shirt.
“Hey!” He exclaimed. “That’s my favorite top!”
“So you won’t mind if I do this, then?” I asked, mashing a bit of the cream that would be used later for the topping on his face.
He smiled from underneath the white substance, and suddenly tackled me to the floor. His rubbed his face against mine, the cream spreading itself all throughout my hair and face. We both laughed as I tried to pry him off of me, but it was no use.
When our laughter had subsided, we stared at each other for a moment. Covered in cream and graham cracker mush, he had never looked so attractive. Within an instant his lips were on mine, and I lacked the control to tell him to stop. My fingers wound themselves in his hair, his tongue gaining entrance in my mouth.
He still wasn’t a fantastic kisser, and once again I felt like I was choking on him, but at least he didn’t taste like beer this time.
We remained like this for a few minutes, until a vibrating in my pocket snapped me back to reality. He pulled back with a hint of sadness in his eyes, but I opened my phone anyway. With a gulp, I read and reread the text that I had received.
To: Ava
alright, heres the task: get a baby picture of your guy from his bedroom. you have until monday morning. thats nearly five days – plenty of time.
♠ ♠ ♠
I know this chapter is on the shorter side, but it is by no means a filler. If you forget some of the things that have happened in this chapter, it's going to bite you in the butt later =]Feedback?