On Thin Ice

15

"Play the game with us!" Johnny exclaimed, tugging on my arm. "It's fun."

"No thanks," I replied, moving away from him to sit on the couch next to Holly, Trevor moving to sit beside me.

"Boo!" Nadia yelled with a thumbs down.

"At least they'll sleep good tonight," Trevor mumbled, staring at his friends with a dreadful look.

I chuckled and playfully shook my head as I watched Nadia secretly glanced over at Johnny's cards while he was taking a long sip of beer.

"Good game tonight, Elijah," Claudia spoke up, grabbing my attention.

I turned to face her with a tight lipped smile. "Thanks."

"I guess you are as good as they say," she said with a teasing smile.

All I could do was smile because I had no idea what to say to her. Being around Claudia unsettled me and I couldn't pinpoint exactly why that was.

Trevor had the TV on, but none of us were really paying attention to it. We watched as everyone eventually began to fall asleep on the floor. Austin was the first after Lexa, and Nadia and Johnny were quick to follow. Claudia and Holly slept on the couch and that left Trevor and I to be the only two awake.

"I didn't think this is how this night would go," Trevor suddenly admitted in a whisper. "They're not usually like this."

I shrugged. "It's better than them fighting."

Trevor laughed and nodded. "That's true."

We sat in silence for a few more moments, the quiet TV being the only sound in the room along with Nadia's light snores. I felt Trevor's eyes on me, but I stayed facing the TV.

"Are you tired?" he asked me.

I shook my head, turning to face him. "Not really."

Trevor bobbed his head lightly in a nod, his eyes never leaving mine. It was like his eyes were trying to tell me something, but I couldn't decipher what it was. They were pulling me in, making it hard for me to look away. Before I could avert my gaze, Trevor leaned in and captured my lips in a kiss.

The kiss was timid and scared, his lips light as a feather on mine almost as if they weren't even touching. It caused a feeling of confusion to consume me and I began to be suffocated by my own dreadful thoughts of the kiss. I pulled away and stared at Trevor with a shocked look. I knew everyone joked about him having a thing for me, I just didn't think it was actually true.

"I... uh..." I trailed, looking anywhere but him and awkwardly scratching the back of my neck.

"I'm sorry," Trevor blurted, looking panicked. "I shouldn't have done that. I don't know what I was thinking."

"It's alright," I assured him, "but Trev... I'm not... I'm not ready for anything."

"I know, I'm sorry," he apologized again.

I felt as though I was drowning. Trevor's obvious affections for me were finally catching up with me as I thought back on all of the hints he had dropped since I met him. I wanted to believe that he was being nothing more than friendly, but I was wrong, and now I was stuck in an awkward situation that I didn't want to be in.

"You don't need to apologize," I told him with a sigh. "I should go."

Trevor looked at me with a troubled expression. "You don't need to. We can just forget about it and stay friends, okay?"

I nodded. "Of course we can stay friends," I assured him, "but I was going to go home anyway."

That wasn't a lie. I had never planned on staying the night at Trevor's and now was a good time to leave.