"Don't think," he whispers into my ear.
I hesitate.
"I-"
His lips on mine silence the rest of my words. He sucks on my bottom lip, nibbling it until moving up to the top one. After that, he kisses both. I whimper involuntarily, the sound unfamiliar...
That's another thing about Raven. She doesn't give a shit about money. Yeah, her parents might, but she doesn't look twice at any status. She looks at the person themself.
I grab the flowers I picked up for her from the counter and check the time on my phone for what seems like the 100th time. I don't normally put effort into my dates, but this is one I want to go smoothly.
"Archer? Hello?" I hear a voice vaguely familiar.
I freeze, walking into the foyer opening and looking over the staircase balcony. My brows raise and my arms cross when I see who's standing in the doorway.
"Annie Cross," I say, surprised.
"Oh, thank god you're here. Please tell me it's just you?" she asks.
"Hey, it's nice to see you too, sis," I scoff.
"Mom...she's not home, yeah?" she asks again.
"No. She won't be back until the end of the school year. She took a trip to the islands and is coming back for the summer a little bit," I say.
"I need someplace to stay," she says, dropping her bags with a thud.
For the first time in four years I talk with my sister, and it has to be about her skipping out on seeing my mother. I take a look at her, seeing as she looks almost as tired as I am.
"What happened to your girlfriend?" I ask.
"Phoebe? Oh, yeah, that's been over," she says, taking a seat in the middle of the foyer.
I make my way downstairs, taking her bags and bringing them to her old room. Annie and I never had any bad blood, although I was a little offended she took off and left me behind. After Annie left, I became the prized possession for my parents to groom and train and show off. It was excessive before Annie ditched, but after she left their efforts were tripled.
Annie never had that. Annie rebelled. Annie escaped.
When Annie came out to our parents, it was met with the coldest response one could receive. Our parents oppressed her, throwing her into a pit of depression and shame. We always talked, but I was only fourteen, talking to my sixteen year old sister about liking girls. I didn't understand much at the time, but I sure as hell understand everything now.
Let's just say that made my relationship with my parents even worse, if it could even get there.
"Why do you have flowers? And you look nice?" she says, following me up the steps.
I sigh, setting the bags down and checking the time. Still have about fifteen minutes if I'm pushing it until I should head out.
"I've got a date. I've actually gotta go soon so don't do anything," I say.
"Bossy, bossy, little brother," she says.
I roll my eyes.
"So, who's your date?" she asks.
My mind flashes back to the times I talked about Raven with her. We worked on projects all the time in eighth grade, and that's when Annie and I really started talked about girls and stuff. She always told me to go for it, but I insisted I was too cool for that.
Four years later and it's actually happening.
"You remember Raven Micheals?" I ask.
She perks up.
"Fat Raven? I thought all the kids picked on her and you were too embawassed," she says in a little kid voice.
I roll my eyes.
"She's different now. Especially after the summer. Everyone's treating her different now," I say.
"But you got her to date you? Weren't you always mean to her too? I mean, how the fuck did this all turn around?" she says, making animated hand gestures.
"You've been gone a long time, sis," I say, sighing.
"Damn right. Well, I'm sticking here throughout the school year," she says.
"Yeah, yeah. I gotta go, but just don't ruin everything okay?" I ask.
"Yeah, yeah. You know, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be giving the disciplinary last words to you," she says.
"Any words?" I say, sarcastic.
"Don't fuck her. It's too fast for the first date-"
"Alright!" I call over my shoulder as I head downstairs to my car.
I hear her laughter follow me out.
• • •
So Archer's getting a little spiffy for the date ;)
I hope you all liked this chapter! There's so much to be explained in this crazy plot but you'll find out!
Thank you for reading!! Please show your love
Jasmine Croft xo
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
