Last Round Romance

When Kaylie finally pulled back, Curtis wouldn’t let go of her, he just looked at her with a challenging and childish grin on his face. Kaylie laughed and rested her chin on his chest. She listened to the fast thudding of his heart and couldn’t help but to smile. She wrapped her hands around his neck again and closed her eyes. Curtis rested his hands on her hips and kissed the top of her head. They laid like that for a few minutes before Kaylie finally sat up straight and smiled as her hands traced down the muscles on his arms. Curtis chuckled as he slid so he was sitting cross-legged in front of her, “So much for just like old times.” Kaylie laughed and gave him a playful slap, “Oh shut up.” He laughed as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her onto his lap. She turned her head and looked at him and gave him a quick kiss before putting her own hands on top of his.
After a few minutes, Kaylie asked, “So, are you okay?” Curtis rested his chin on her shoulder, “Right now? Yea, I’m pretty good.” Kaylie smiled, “That’s good, but,” she paused and gently ran her thumb over the scars and marks on his arms, “I meant in general.” Curtis sighed and leaned back against the headboard, “Things have been…rough lately. Nothing too different since we last spent time together. Maybe a little worse, a little more screaming and items being thrown and hit, but nothing much has really changed.” Kaylie turned her head so she was looking at him, “What happened?” Curtis shrugged, “Life.” She gave he a soft kiss on the cheek before turning around so she was facing him completely, “Are you gonna be okay?” Curtis gave her a reassuring smile, “I’m always okay.” She smiled but Curtis could see it in her eyes that she didn’t believe him. He nudged her shoulder, “Hey, don’t worry about me alright? I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.” She looked at him, “Promise?” He nodded as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, “I promise.”
After they sat there for a while toying with each other’s hands but not saying much. All of a sudden, Curtis looked up at her, “Hey, I have an idea.” Before Kaylie could ask him what it was, he pulled her up off the bed by her hands and brought her down the hallway and back down to the front door. He slid his sneakers on and waited for her to put her sandals back on. He told her to follow him as he went outside and walked around to the back of the house where he kept his bikes. He pulled two of his old bikes out and dusted them off. Kaylie was looking at him with a smile and a look of slight confusion, “What’s your idea?” He looked at her with a smile, “Hop on.” She covered her mouth with her hand, “Are you serious?” He nodded as he swung his leg over his bike, “Yea I’m serious. One more ride Kay, for old time’s sake.” She smiled and bit her finger nail nervously, “Where are we gonna go?” Curtis shrugged, “I figured that we could go down to the old bridge. You know, like the last time we hung out.” Kaylie smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, “Sounds like fun.” She swung her leg over the seat of the bike that she had always used when they hung out in the past and started to pedal away, “Catch me if you can Curtis!” Curtis laughed and pushed off and started to race after her.
They flew down the street and the old trails in the woods just like they had when they were younger. They hit the same bumps and flew over the same ruts that they had so many times before. The trees flew past them in a blur of green and brown. Curtis had finally caught up to Kaylie and was pedaling right alongside her. He looked at her, she was smiling and her hair was flying back in the wind the same way it had when they raced home from the skate park together. Curtis sped in front of her and beat her to the bridge. He pulled back on the breaks and skidded his bike sideways so he blocked her way to the small wooden bridge. She braked her bike right before it ran into his. She whipped the hair out of her face and flashed a smile at him that he hadn’t seen in years. It was the same challenging smile that she gave him every time that they went to the skate park together, or started to race back home.
She put the kickstand on her own bike down and hopped off. She walked over and leaned onto the handle bars of Curtis’ bike and smiled at him. “So,” she said with a laugh, “are you going to move or…?” Curtis laughed, “Nah, I don’t think I will.” Kaylie laughed, “Oh really?” Curtis leaned forward mockingly, “Try and make me,” he challenged. Kaylie chuckled and took a step back and waited for a moment and looked at him. His eyes had the same insane sparkle that they used to when they hung out together. He had the same crazy, jittery disposition that she thought he might have lost over the years of problems he’d had. She stepped forward again and kissed him from the other side of the handlebars on his bike. She pulled away just far enough so that their lips weren’t touching; she looked at Curtis and his eyes were still closed. “So,” she whispered while trying to keep from laughing, “are you going to move?” Curtis looked at her and couldn’t help but to laugh, “Damn, I guess it can’t be exactly like old times haha.” Kaylie laughed as she stepped back and he parked his bike off to the side of the trail.
They both kicked their shoes off and dangled their feet over the edge of the bridge so that they were just above the water. They sat there and looked around at the woods that surrounded them. It hadn’t really changed. The light breeze ruffled the new leaves and tousled Kaylie’s hair a little. She tucked it behind her ear as she watched a leaf get blown into the stream beneath their feet. It got gently taken downstream and it flowed flawlessly through the rocks without getting caught on anything. Birds fluttered across in front of them and skimmed the tips of their claws on the surface of the water.
Kaylie leaned her head on Curtis’ shoulder, “Can I ask you something?” Curtis nodded, “Of course.” She looked down at their feet that were only inches from touching the ice-cold water, “Do you ever miss what we had? Like, back when I used to hang out with you and Zach and Elliot?” Curtis looked at her, “Of course I do. All the time as a matter of fact. It’s been weird not having you around all the time,” he paused, “Do you ever miss it?” She nodded, “Yea, a lot actually. I miss being able to just joke around and pull stupid shit with you guys.” Curtis swung his feet a little, “Why don’t you hang out with us anymore?” She sat up again, “I don’t know, I guess I figured that you guys kinda got over having me around. You seemed to be doing just fine without me,” she paused, “That, and, well, I don’t know, I guess it was kinda fun to be a girly-girl. I loved hanging with you guys, but ever since I started hanging out with the girls, people have been treating me different. I guess, I don’t know, I guess it was nice to be seen as a girl instead of “one of the guys” you know?” Curtis looked at her and cracked a crooked smile, “Well, not really haha. Being seen as one of the guys is kinda what I go for.” Kaylie gave him a playful slap to the arm, “Oh shut up, you know what I mean.”
They sat on the bridge and talked for a little while about how much they’ve changed since the last time they hung out together. Curtis realized that one of the only things that had changed for him was his family; he hadn’t really changed, just the people around him. Of course he didn’t say that. Kaylie realized that on her own though. “You’re still the same sweet and insane guy that you’ve always been,” she told him, “maybe a few more bumps and scratches, but you’re still the same underneath it all.” Curtis smiled and shrugged but didn’t say anything. When he thought about the girl that was sitting next to him then, and the girl who had been sitting there a few years ago, he couldn’t believe how much she had changed. He still liked her and cared about her the same way he had from the start, but it was weird to see how much she had really changed.
A red haze started to fall over the trails where they were. Curtis stood up and helped Kaylie to do the same. He grabbed their shoes and they both got back on their bikes and raced back to his house. They skidded to a stop in his driveway and he saw that his mom’s car was in the driveway. He sighed as he got off his bike. Kaylie look at him with concern, “You sure it’s okay for me to come in?” Curtis nodded, “Yea, you’ll be fine.” She hesitantly followed him inside. His mom was sitting at the kitchen table and when she looked up and saw Kaylie standing there next to Curtis, she smiled at her, “Hey Kaylie, long time no see.” Kaylie smiled and gave a small wave, “Hi Mrs. Groff.”
Curtis reappeared with Kaylie’s backpack and he handed it to her, “You want me to walk home with you?” Kaylie gave a small smile, “That’d be cool.” He looked at his mom and she gave him a nod of approval. He held the door open for Kaylie and they started to walk to her house. They kicked a pebble back and forth as they walked down the sidewalk to her house.
When they got to the end of her driveway, Kaylie turned and smiled at him, “Thanks for letting me come over today.” Curtis looked at her, “No problem. Thanks for going riding with me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear nervously, “Anytime. It was nice to be able to go biking again.” They stood there looking at each other for a moment before Kaylie broke the silence. “So, talk to you later?” Curtis nodded, “Sure thing.” She leaned forward and kissed him, “Goodnight Curtis.” He smiled at her, “’Night Kaylie.” He watched her as she disappeared into her house before turning around and heading back home again.
By the time he got back to his house there was a pickup truck in the driveway and Curtis figured that his dad had gotten home. He walked inside expecting to hear screaming but was greeted by only silence. At first he wasn’t quite sure if it was a good thing or not. His mom was still at the kitchen table and his dad was sitting across from her. Curtis picked his bag up and jogged upstairs without saying anything to either of them, he was afraid to ruin the apparent peace that had settled over the household.
He walked into his room and tossed his bag onto the floor next to his bed. He was about to change into his pajamas when he saw that Kaylie had left her headband on his dresser. She hadn’t picked it up while he was dragging her out of the room. He smiled to himself and put the headband into his backpack so he could give it to her the next morning before study hall.
He had just sat down on his bed and was about to pull the covers up over himself when he saw that his mom was standing in the doorway. He let out a quiet sigh; he knew the silence in the house was too good to be true. God only knows what she would want to talk to him or argue with him about. His afternoon had been so perfect, and he didn’t want it to be ruined by an argument with his mom.
She must have read the look on his face because she put her hands up in seeming surrender, “I’m not here to fight with you Curtis. I just want to ask you something.” He sat up straight in his bed and looked at her with a shrug, “Okay, what’d you wanna ask me?” His mom looked down at the floor in hesitation for a moment before finally meeting his eyes again and asking, “Whatever happened with you and Kaylie? I mean, you guys were practically connected at the hip for a while and then she just, disappears from your life for a few years. And now poof she’s back again. I was just wondering what happened.” Curtis sighed and put his face in his hands; he didn’t want to explain the whole story to his mom. It was none of her business what had gone down in school between him, Kaylie, and Harrison, and he didn’t want her to ever find out. She knew that he had gotten into a fight with Harrison, but he had told her it was because Harrison and Shawn had been just harassing him in general, not because of Kaylie. He didn’t want to burst the bubble of oblivion that he had built around his mother. He looked back up at her with a calm expression, “We were both going through stuff and she made some new friends and we just drifted apart for a while,” he paused, “We’re in high school…it happens.” His mom nodded and it seemed as though she was convinced, “Okay. Well, I’m glad you two are friends again. I liked her,” she looked down at her hands for a moment, “Are you two…?” Curtis gave an exhausted laugh and shook his head, “No Mom, we’re not dating. We just started talking again. Jeeze, slow down.” His mom smiled and shrugged as she turned around and walked back down the hallway to the stairs, “Give it time.”
Curtis waited for her to disappear down the stairs before getting back up off of his bed and shutting the door again. That was one of the things he hated about his parents going into his room: they never shut the door. The only good thing about it was that he could tell when they had gone into his room and through his stuff or not. He flopped back onto his bed and reached over onto his nightstand and picked up his iPod. He scrolled through the songs and finally found a mellow one to listen to so he could start to relax and try to fall asleep. He plugged it into the speaker so it could play and charge at the same time. He pulled the covers up to his chin and shut his eyes. A small, nearly nonexistent smile crept across his face as he felt himself drift into unconsciousness.
He nearly fell out of bed. He stopped a scream in his throat before it came out and woke up his whole house. He looked to the side and saw that half of his body was already hanging off the edge of the bed. He pushed himself back to the center and put his hand on his chest, his heart was racing and it felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the room in order for him to breathe properly. He was broken out into a fierce cold sweat and shivering like he had been locked in the freezer all night. He ran his hand through his hair and wrapped the blanket around him and just sat there for a minute like that. He looked around the dark room, only slightly lit by the faint blue light coming from the iPod speaker. He tried to calm himself down a little bit but he couldn’t.
His dream had never ended like that before.