c a l v i n *
"Cal?" One of my best friends, Olivia, asks me.
"Yeah?" I reply, not looking up from what I'm doing.
"Why is Braeden Jenkins looking over here?"
I look up and find Braeden's eyes staring me down, almost as if they were trained to be there.
"Umm...I have no idea, Liv," I say.
Braeden Jenkins. The most popular kid in class; the one who absolutely hates my guts.
"Let's go," I say to Olivia, getting up from the table and walking off. I can practically feel his eyes on me as we walk off. On our way from walking away, we run into another one of our friends, Mariah.
"What's up--" she says, but stops as Olivia grabs her arm and practically drags her off.
When we get to the rest of our friends, we explain what's happened.
"Cal, I don't mean to alarm you, but, that just sounds kind of creepy," Scotty says.
"Yeah, Cal, be careful. I don't want you to die." Landon says.
Jordan looks up from her paper. "I really don't know what to tell you,"
I sigh and sit down.
At the end of the day, I'm standing by my locker packing my stuff up when I hear a voice beside my ear. I look up, jumping, and accidentally hit my locker so that it flings all the way open and hits the closed locker beside it. Braeden is standing at my locker.
"I need to talk to you," he says.
"Wh-why?" I ask, feeling scared.
"Meet me behind the school in ten minutes." He says, ignoring my question and walking away.
I know that I probably shouldn't go, but my curiosity gets the best of me, and I go anyway. I pocket my phone and take my stuff to my car before going to meet Braeden. When I get there, he's already standing there, his hands in his pockets, and his legs crossed in front of him. He looks up as I approach.
"How did you know?" he asks me.
"How did I know what?" I ask, wholly confused.
"That you liked boys."
"I-I-I..there were a couple of signs...but do you want the real main one or another one that I'm going to lie about?"
"Let's not lie to each other."
I walk closer to him, stopping a few feet in front of him and stare him in the eyes, saying simply, "You."
He looks at me, moving so quickly it's a wonder his neck didn't snap. I cross my arms and stare at him, but he starts walking forward. Instead of turning around and running away, which is what I want to do, I stand where I'm stood. He comes close to me, putting his hands on my crossed arms. I look at his hands and then I look back up at him. He stares at me intently. I'm not really thinking--as we all know or could guess-- when I step forward. I'm so close to him that I can feel his breath on my face. It's a split-second decision, yes, but I do it anyway. I get closer to him and press my lips to his. Instead of shoving me off, like I thought he would, he moves his hands and wraps his arms around me, drawing me closer. I break the kiss, pulling back and looking at him. He stares at me for a few seconds before he leans down and kisses me again, softly.
When he pulls away, he meets my gaze. "Come to my house." Is all he says, and then he walks away. I take a deep breath and walk to my car, driving to Braeden's house, which is a little way into the forest-y area; his house looks like a log cabin. I pull in his driveway and find his car already here. I get out of my car and the front door opens. He grabs my arms and pulls me in the house, slamming his lips against mine. He wraps his arms around me and breaks the kiss momentarily to whisper something.
"Jump," he whispers quietly.
I comply and he catches my legs, putting his arms under my butt to support me and I wrap my legs around his waist and feel him walking backward, going up the stairs and into his bedroom. He lays me down on his bed and runs his hands down my sides.
"I don't know what I'm doing, or why I'm doing it, or how to do anything, but--" he begins but I cut him off.
"Ssh..." I shush. He looks shocked at being told to 'ssh' but a faint smile appears on his face.
"Tell me what to do then," he whispers huskily, bending over me and grabbing my waistband.
I wake up the next morning curled up in Braeden Jenkins's arms. I momentarily forget what happened, but it all comes back. His eyes flutter open and he looks at me, grabbing my face and drawing me close to kiss my lips.
"Did anyone ever come home last night?" I ask him confusedly.
He shakes his head. "No, but I'm not surprised."
"I don't want to go to school," I whine.
"What about your parents? Shouldn't you call them or something?"
"No, they don't care,"
"Let's not go then," he says softly. "Come on, let's go make breakfast."
He pulls me out of bed, we put some clothes on and go downstairs.
While he starts breakfast, I stare at him.
"What are we?" I ask. "What is this? We can both pretend like nothing happened last night, but we both know that it did."
"Even though it was just one night," he says softly, coming towards me and kissing my lips lightly. "I can't go back to the way things were before."
"I can't either," I admit. "But your friends...your reputation..."
"People are going to talk, Cal. They will, but I want you, and I'm prepared for the talking. I'm prepared to sacrifice my reputation for you."
"But why? It was only one night..."
"No, it was one night that we were together, but I've wanted you for so much longer,"
I look at him incredulously. "Really?"
He nods and kisses me again.
"So...does that mean...does that mean we're trying this?" I ask him.
"It means I belong to you," he says softly, eyeing me warmly.
After we eat breakfast, we go back up to his room and fall back asleep, waking up around lunchtime. We go back downstairs, and I watch as he turns the stove on to prepare lunch.
"Are you sure you want me?" I ask him. "I have trust issues, I'm broken, I need a lot of reassurance--"
He turns to me and puts a finger against my lips. "You're not broken," he whispers. "And as for the other stuff, give it to me, I promise I'll be there for you. I won't be like others, I'll stay and I won't leave..." He pulls me into his arms and kisses my head.
The next day, I walk into school with Braeden a little ways behind me. I'm not ready for this, but at the same time, I'm more than ready. I walk over to my locker, where my friends are standing and they all breath a sigh of relief.
"You didn't text or call or anything!" Mariah reprimands me, sounding like a scolding mother. "Neither you or Braeden were at school yesterday!"
"I know," I state simply.
"What do you mean you know?" Olivia snaps at me.
"I was with Braeden." They all stare at me and I walk away, walking towards Braeden, who smiles as I approach him. He pulls me into his arms and presses his lips against mine softly. I hear gasps breakout through the hallway, and the whispers start. He pulls away and looks at me.
"It's going to be okay." He whispers in my ear. "I promise it will,"
"They already started," I whimper.
"That's okay. I'm here. We're going to be okay. Look at me, we're going to be okay."
I meet his eyes and nod.
I spend the night with Braeden again that night. I drive over after school.
"How was today?" He asks me softly as I walk in the house, pulling me into his arms.
"It was hard," I admit. "There were so many whispers and points. My friends won't talk to me now..."
"I'm sorry,"
"Why? You don't need to be sorry, it's their fault, isn't it? That they stopped talking to me? I have you, and if that's how they're going to act, I don't need them."
I pull him down to me and kiss his lips softly. He kisses me back, putting his hands on my waist.
"If I have you, I'll be okay," I say when we pull apart. "You're all I need."
He kisses me again, harder this time, and pulls my body against his. I curve my body into his, feeling like I'm home. He feels like home. He is home. Maybe we've only been together for two days, but it feels like a lifetime because how both of us felt beforehand.
"I love you," he says, breaking the kiss.
"I love you too, Brae," I whisper, going in for another kiss.
And I do. I truly love him, and he truly does feel like home.
12/14/19
