Concrete Against My Cheek

“Wake up sleepy face.” Gavin said with a smile.

My eyes fluttered open to find his face inches away from mine. I glanced over his should to see that my bedroom window was wide open, the light breeze nudging the purple curtains.

I looked into his green eyes, the light hitting them just right.

“Ya know I’ve never told you this but…when the light hit you just right…you look like hammered shit.”

My hand hit his shoulder hard, sending him flying off the bed. He hit the floor with a loud thud and an oof.

“Damn, that hurt.”

“When are you going to realize that you have your own house with your own parents who are very capable of making you breakfast?”

“When you stop being such a boss ass cook. Now come on I’m feeling pancake-y this morning.”
I grumbled and threw the covers over my head, groaning dramatically. Even though I loved cooking I didn’t take kindly to being Gavin’s personal chef. He’s lucky that I’ve known him for years or I would’ve kicked him to the curb a while ago.

I got up and threw my robe on trudging downstairs to start on breakfast. When I got into the kitchen, I laughed at him sitting patiently at the table waiting. He held a fork and knife in each hand while his eyes shined patiently, his black hair spiked to stand straight up.

“You’re pathetic ya know? Do you know how many guys can cook their own meals?” I said getting the necessary items to cook. I set them out in the order I would need them in, then turned to the sink to wash my hands.

“I’m a high school junior Hay, that means I have until graduation day to act as childish and pathetic as I want to.” he smiled with pride.

I shrugged my shoulders, “I guess you have a point, since I’m in the same grade I guess I can be childish and just not cook you anything.”

“Oh come on!” he whined. “You know that girls mature faster than guys! Be a grown up a cook me something delicious!”

“Dammit where’s a tape recorder when you need one?” I laughed as I cracked the eggs into the bowl. “I would love to have that truth on tape.”

“I’ll say it a thousand times if it keeps the pancakes coming.”

“Well I guess I’m just your personal slave huh?”

“No, no…you’re my very appreciated employee.”

I stirred the mix together with a whisk. “You know you’re supposed to pay employees right?”

He held his arms out, “You don’t consider my friendship a form of currency?”

“No I see it moreso as a child support payment.” I smiled as I fired up the griddle.

“Hurt…keep the pancakes coming mama.”

I rolled my eyes and spread the nutmeg and butter across the grill before adding the right amount of batter. He watched me as I floated through the kitchen, frying bacon and sausage hen adding sage to the uncooked eggs that I was saving for later.

I was done half an hour later, letting him eat while I went upstairs to shower for school.

The smell of my food floated all through the house and it had my stomach growling the entire time I was getting ready. Throwing one of my dad’s Patriots t-shirts over my head and some leggings I headed back downstairs to find most of my food gone.

“Holy shit Gav, I was only gone for fifteen minutes!”

He burped, “What? I was hungry.”

“I cooked enough for the both of us! what the hell am I supposed to eat?”

“I’ll buy you some Starbucks on the way to school.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket and swung them around his finger. “Let’s go. We’re gonna be late.”

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the last three pieces of bacon then my backpack off the floor by the front door as I followed him to his Jeep.

He smiled at me as he turned up Sia’s latest album before pulling off. He kept true to his promise, pulling into the Starbucks by our school, ordering me a decent breakfast.

We pulled up to the school belting Free the Animal in perfect harmony and got out just as the song finished, meeting Katherine at the front door. She stood waiting patiently in her knee length cream dress with her blonde hair pulled into a bun that showed off the highlights on the underside of her hair.

She smiled when she saw us but it faded quickly as she sniffed Gavin. “I smell nutmeg…dammit Hayley, you cooked breakfast!” she pouted stomping her pink ballet flats.

“Is that all I’m good for is my cooking?”

They looked at each other, looked at me and said, “Yes.”

I rolled my eyes and trudged past them with a smile. As much as I complained about it, I loved the constant praise that they gave me for my food. It was their way of supporting me as was their constant requests for meals which I didn’t mind at all. I needed that if I was going to go to culinary school in a few years.

I made a beeline for my locker when the bell went off so that I wouldn’t be late to homeroom. I was almost there when someone came crashing into me. I fell backward, hitting the ground hard.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” a deep voice responded. I looked up and found myself staring into wonderful chocolate eyes. He smiled at me with thick pink lips set in his squared jaw. “I didn’t mean to…ya know knock you down, I was just in a hurry. Being late your first day doesn’t give the best first impression.”

I stood up and dusted myself off. “Right, I get it. I should’ve been watching where I was going.”
He held out his hand. “I’m Brendon.”

I took it, secretly admiring how soft his hand was. “I’m Hayley.”

“Hayley, that’s a pretty name.”