Thanks To My Mates

Kallie’s POV

I run out of Will’s house, tears streaming down my face, making black track marks down my cheeks. I run down his street, past a man washing his car, and getting a worried stare. I ignore it and keep running, past my house and turning into the rich part of town. My legs carrying me, my brain numb from the fight with Will. He always was kind, what the hell happened? He can’t be jealous of James, why would he be? I’m nothing special.
I turn a corner and see the massive house that’s been in my thoughts all day. Earlier I swore to myself I’d never come back, but here I am, seeking comfort. I knock on the massive front door and hope to God that James’ mother doesn’t answer.

To my hope, James is standing there at the door; his nose is covered up with ice and a tea-towel. There’s a lump on his head and blood all over. He looks at me for a second and then grabs me and pulls me inside.

Maybe to make sure his neighbours don’t see him with a messed up girl. Again. He pulls me towards a bright red sofa and gets me a drink of water and a tissue. He doesn’t seem to be that good at comforting like Will is, but it could be worse. He pats my back as I sniffle and he gasps as he takes a look at my cheek. I give him a confused look and he grabs my hand and gently pulls me towards a grand mirror, that has a gold frame. Not too tacky. I forget about the mirror when I see my face.

My cheek is swollen, and slightly purple and my eyes are red and puffy. My nose is running and my hair is all over the place and crazy. Both boys have left their mark on my face.
I gag, and twirl to see James staring at me, his eyes glazed over, his face frozen in an ashamed expression. I move forward and take his hand which is clenched into a ball and smooth it out. He smiles timidly and pulls me into a hug. I rest my unharmed cheek on his shoulder. He puts his arms around me and his hands running along the plains of my back. We melt into each other and I lose track of where his body starts and ends.

I move my head to look into his eyes and he gently rests his forehead against mine. We stay staring into each other’s eyes for a long time and I can feel his heart thumping against mine.
I smile and he smiles back and gives me a kiss on the forehead.
We go into the den, and he sits me down.

“Hungry?” I shake my head.
“Want to watch a film?” He asks.
“Sure.” I smile and he opens the cabinet showing numerous DVDs. I sit forward on the sofa and take a look.

“Hey, no chick flicks, ‘kay?” He laughs. I smile and shake my head.

“How about... Chuckie?” He asks, obviously a joke, but I agree and sit back on the sofa, kicking off my shoes and tucking my feet under myself James comes and sits next to me. There’s a gap between us and his arms are by his side. Very polite. At the beginning of the film there’s already three killings, and seen as I’m not very big on death and murdering I find myself pressing my face into James’ chest.

My legs are across the sofa and my head propped up by my elbow, hovering over his lap. I look up just as the little guy sprays a lady with aerosol and then sets her on fine. Great, just my luck. James grins down at me and pulls my head to his chest.

He looks at my face and frowns, “Let me get you some ice” He says, lifting my head up.
I smile, then wince, a sharp pain streaking down my cheek. James comes back with the same thing he had on his nose earlier. I put it to my cheek, and it starts to ache badly.

“I thought this was supposed to make it better?” I ask him.

“It does, give it a while” He replies, grinning.

The black clock on the wall says It’s nine. It felt more like one hundred hours, instead of seven. James catches me looking at the clock and smiles; “Of course, I’ll take you home, I can explain to your parents about why you’re late if you want?” His look is questioning. I shake my head and smile reassuringly. He leads me to his car, which I’ve seen before. I get into the front seat and the drive to my house is quiet.