🐺Wolf Creek:Volume One🐺

Chapter Eighteen: An Unexpected Kiss

          I hadn't made it that far through the parking lot before it had started raining. Every step I took caused water to splash up onto the cuffs of my jeans. I sighed in a mix of frustration and sorrow. My boiling anger had been brought to a simmer, and now all I could do was stare at the ground in shame as I walked. What I had done in the computer lab...whatever animalistic thing I had turned into...I hated it.

          "Kelsey!" A familiar voice called through the rain. I spun around in surprise. James sat in a car on the curb as he watched me carefully.  He could tell something was wrong as I walked to his car. Under his scrutiny I couldn't help but to start crying. Warm tears mixed with cold rain droplets, and I hoped it was enough for James not to notice. He did.

          "What is it?" He murmured.

          "I feel like I'm losing who I am, and I never even had it in the first place." I choked out. I tried to wipe away the moisture, but with the downpour it was no use. James beckoned for me to go around and come in from the rain. I circled the car and ended up in the passenger seat as he watched me with an anxious expression.

          If it's truly what you want then I can show you who you were, but I'd have to go to the manor."

          "...Okay."

          It was pouring by the time we got to the manor. We ran from the garage all the way to the back doors before scurrying inside. I tried to use my jacket to dry my hair, but it was too soaked to do any good. James took it from me and hung it to dry before disappearing to turn the heat up. When he came back he hooked his arm in nine and began to lead me upstairs again.

          "Why were you at the school?" I asked.

          "We hadn't spoken since our argument."

         I didn't respond. He wanted to check on me. My hair was slowly but surely drying along with my clothes. The heat was warming up my skin and loosening my muscles. I fought a yawn or two as we climbed the stairs. We walked past James's bedroom and to a door at the very end of the hallway.

          James opened the door, and suddenly I was wide awake. Curiosity captured my brain and made my legs start walking. We were in a room about the same size as James's bedroom, but instead had a desk, a stool, and stack upon stack of paper and canvas. The room was filled with art. My eyes softened. Not just art...

          Polaroid pictures held up with thumb tacks covered the walls like a collage. There were pictures of us, and a few others. It was like a mural of life before the crash. Some were splattered with paint, but none so bad that you couldn't make them out. The far wall held a window with thick, beautiful tree branches stretching just under it.

          A painting sat against the far wall as well. It was of me...or someone who looked mostly like me. The painting was much prettier. I sat barefoot in a patch of grass while wearing a green tank top and black jeans. My pink smile was soft and matched my blush, and my brown hair cascaded down my back in loose curls.

James picked something up off of the desk. It was a camera of his own. Only it was a video camera. He fumbled with the buttons for a minute before stopping in a specific video. Then he handed it to me to press play. With all the buttons correctly labeled-unlike mine-I found the right one quickly. I pressed play.

          "Come ooooon, James." I heard myself laugh. I was the one carrying the camera, and I was carefully treading through the darkness of the forest. Trees and undergrowth passed in and out of the lens slowly as I swept the camera side to side to mimic looking around. A rustling sound could be heard from the side of the camera, and I crept closer. Woosh! A brown blur burst from a bush, and I jerked back in surprise before laughing at myself. It was just a rabbit. All was quiet again.

          "RAH!" The camera was shaken as someone grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me. I screamed at the top of my lungs before the figure covered my mouth and started laughing. It was James! I playfully smacked his shoulder as I took turns taking deep breathes and laughing with him.

          "What's wrong, scaredy cat? Can't handle a little hide and seek? You'll wake up the other counselors screaming like that!" James chuckled quietly. "Come on! I have a surprise for you." He began to pull me through the trees.

          "What kind of surprise?" I asked.

          "Well if I told you then it wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it?" James replied as he swatted away the branches of a giant bush. He took the camera from me and swung the view over to a clearing. I gasped softly. A gigantic, thick plaid blanket covered the ground. An old fashioned picnic basket lay amongst battery-powered fairy lights and blankets.

          "Are those Lily's lights?" I questioned.

          "I may or may not have borrowed them from her room." James admitted with a mischievous grin. We giggled together as we walked over hand in hand before letting ourselves fall into the pile of fluff. The camera turns towards us, and we kissed passionately before the footage came to a stop. I grinned to myself. It had been a sweet video. It really showed how close we were. I didn't even realize I was crying until a fat tear drop splattered over the screen. I quickly bunched the collar of my shirt in my fist and blotted it dry.

          "Thank you, James." I smiled up at him. Then I carefully stretched up on my tip toes to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek. He froze for a moment before clearing his throat and nodding vigorously. I couldn't help but smile at the motion as he turned towards me. His smile was dazzling.

          "You're welcome Kelsey. I hope that made you feel better." He replied. I nodded and smiled at the ground, sniffling as I stared at my shoes. James put his warm hand under my chin before gently tipping my head up so that I was looking into his eyes. He used his thumb to wipe away my leftover tears.

James' eyes seemed to be lovingly gazing straight through my eyes and into my soul. My first reaction was to shyly look away, but with his hand under my chin all I could do was watch his ocean eyes with my own wide ones. A fierce blush crept over my cheeks. I glanced down at his mouth and instinctively wet my lips. They were quickly dried by James' breathe as it fanned my face. Was this real? Was I really letting this happen?

Suddenly James dipped his head, lowering his hot lips onto mine with a relieved sigh. I allowed myself to kiss him back, but the rest of me was frozen in fear. I wasn't sure what to do with my hands or even really how to kiss properly-I was just trying to copy him! James gently enveloped my hands in his and pulled them up until my arms were resting around his neck. Then he trailed his fingertips down my arms and around my waist before pulling away with a smirk.

"We have to get back. Gran will be worried if you're not back in time." James stated before moving out of my arms, grabbing my hand, and leading me out of the room. My head swam with euphoria. But why did he smirk? Perhaps I had been pushing him away for so long that he had decided to stop trying to get to me and start making me want him? I raised a couple of fingers to graze my lips. And how I did want him...