The Roommate Down The Hall

Chapter 11: Confessionals

"So, what have you two been up to?" Austin asked me, cracking into a fresh beer.

All of us were of drinking age, aside from Veronica. She was going to be turning 21 in a few short days. I had been thinking of how the day would go and what we would all do. I had some ideas, but we really hadn't talked about it. I wondered if it would go smoothly or if we would end the night with hair holding and hugging a the porcelain thrown for dear life...

"Nothing really. we drove up here the other day and today we went to the store.That  was a trip! It was tiny. We needed to stock this place up.  There was Even  this old little couple that walked by. They laughed at us, but we did look pretty funny," I gave a small snort.

"Wait, what? Why did they laugh at you, dude? I mean, I guess you're pretty funny looking, but Veronica is pretty attractive," He threw back.

I gave him a dirty look.

"First off, I am a catch and you want me." Austin choked on his beer. I let out a cackle.

"And secondly, Veronica decided it would be a splendid idea to grab a pack of glitter and throw it at me. Well of course, I wasn't going to take that lying down. So I grabbed another one and started to throw it back at her. Of course, the couple saw us. And they clearly thought that we were funny looking. Once they saw us, we ran out of there, trailing the glitter behind us. Its probably safe to say that we shouldn't go back."

He blinked at me and was silent for what seemed like an ages. I finally raised my eyebrows to coax an answer out.

"Dude, what the heck happened while we were gone?"

**Veronica's POV***

"You cuddled with him?" Allison asked for the second time. She was still baffled by this simple fact. I grew a deeper shade of crimson, shaking my head meekly. She just sat there. She had a hand on her face as her mouth gaped open. She was now giving me a blank stare. I sat in silence, glancing from her to the floor. I was playing with the loose fibers on my clothes. I wasn't sure that I could reach her gaze.

"Well, did you like it?"

That took me by surprise.

"No" I retorted quickly. I paused, thinking about it for a second. Did I? I had tried to push it away for a little while, not wanting to read into it.  I felt my chest tighten. maybe her question put me on the spot. Yeah that had been it. I was surprised..

"Maybe... I really haven't thought about it. I have been trying to avoid any sort of feelings like that, with anyone. I really don't know if my heart is open to that yet. i'm not even certain my brain wont reject the thought, in fear of pain.. I've had a lot of trouble in my past with this." 

She sighed and leaned over drape an arm around my shoulders. I rested my head against hers with a sigh.

"You need to tell me everything..."

***Kyle's POV***

I spilled my guts to Austin. He listened to everything, taking it all in. He had asked me what I was feeling towards her. TO be honest, I had no idea what I was feeling. I mean, I knew I had a great time when I was with Veronica. But then again, I had a fun time with Alli too. Did that mean that I had feelings for her? No; But there was something that I couldn't put my finger on with Veronica. I always thought that time seemed to be a movie stuck on fast forward.I could hardly keep track of time. On one hand, I could tell that I was physically attracted to her. I mean, who wouldn't be? Sure, she wasn't stick thin, but then again, she had these curves to her body that I know some girls would go under the knife for. She had a sweet, round face, with big eyes that looked turned from moss to sea foam in the light. Nevertheless, Veronica had just poured her heart out to me, opening wounds that were sown shut for some time now. If I admitted that there may even be the slightest thing there, no matter what the reasoning, it could ruin everything. She may feel that I was taking advantage of the vulnerability. I was just getting to know her, we all were. I didn't want to be the reason that she went running for the hills.

***

When it got to be  really dark and the sun dipped behind the horizon , we all went down to the fire pit. It was a couple feet away from where the beach was. You could hear the waves crashing onto the shoreline before rolling back into the rest of the mass. The sound would soon mix with the sound of nightlife and the crackle of the kindling fire, creating a soundtrack of relaxation.

We had placed chairs all around the fire pit earlier before when we had been down by the dock. Austin and I were bent over the hole in the ground, trying to get a flame. Allison and Veronica were sitting behind me off to my right, talking.  The were just outside of hearing range, but I thought I heard something about the upcoming week. We finally got a spark which turned into a flame that caught.  The flames licked the sides of the wood, trying to catch more wood on fire. I poked at the embers, trying to get more warmth to peek out. The heat crawled over the ground inching  up around us. The warmth was a welcoming distraction from the cold that had began to swirl around the waters edge. I stood up, dusting my hands and my knees off. The dirt fluffed down in a small cloud.

"Hey guys, I brought some stuff to make s'mores," Ronica chimed, pointing to the items in her lap. "However, I did not bring the metal pokers..."

"Dude! What the Hell? What are we supposed to do? Put them on our fingers?" Alli snapped. She clearly was joking, trying to fain anger.

"No. We just need to find sticks and do it the old fashion way." I pointed out

"Let's just go get sticks." I suggested. Before I could say anything else, Allison jumped up and loudly said "I call Austin!"