"I can't believe you lost," Alex mocked, snickering as she looked at Kyle, who was strangely quiet. "So much for the king of chicken fight."
He shrugged his shoulders, wrapped his hand around the bottle in his hand tightly, sank lower in the camping chair and lifted his eyes to me. "I let her win," he mumbled. "It's the least a gentleman can do."
"You a gentleman?" Alex howled. "That's rich."
"Think what you like, Alex," he huffed, moving closer to the bonfire.
After a long time in the water, my bones were frozen to the core, and my nose pounded. If Mum weren't going to kill me for piercing it, she was sure as hell going to for getting it infected. Harley had given me some antiseptic, and Alex insisted chilling by a bonfire would help ease the pain. I was the first to jump at the chance to roast marshmallows, providing that no singing was required. And when Kyle came over and sat with us, I was slightly surprised. And, despite his presence, I sat, slumped in the chair, warm, at ease, and dry.
"Ashley, we're going in the tent. Are you coming?" Emily said as they stood, yawning. I looked up at her and nodded.
"I'll nip to the bathroom, then be there," I said as I rose to my feet.
I glanced at Kyle, sitting alone, and part of me wanted to stay, though I knew I shouldn't, perhaps more so for my own sake than for Olly's.
His head was leaning comfortably against the neck of the chair, and his eyes were closed. I was unsure if he was asleep, so I said nothing.
Quietly walking past him, he exhaled profoundly, "I'm sorry about what I said at Lewis's," he mumbled. His eyes were still shut, and his hands were tucked under his armpits as they firmly crossed his body, "I was out of order and didn't mean it."
I swallowed hard, replaying the abuse he gave me and inhaled as my chest tightened, "It's okay; forget about it."
Kyle fluttered his long, dark eyelashes open and glared up at me. His misty, alluring stare swallowed me whole, taking any following words. He relaxed his arms and reached for my hand, fiddling with my fingers as I lost all sense of reason, "No, I can't; you didn't deserve it."
His clutch grew tighter, and he tugged me closer, nodding his head to the chair beside him. I looked to the tent across the garden, then at him, and the mystery in front of me won.
I sat down, unsure, and for a moment, nothing but silence surrounded us.
"Why did you do it?" he gently asked, and I knew what he was referring to without saying the words.
I hadn't spoken to anyone, not Mum, Dad, Olly, or the GP, about it. But then again, no one had point-blank asked me the question like Kyle did. I didn't know him; he was a stranger to me, and considering the constant warnings, I felt like I could talk to him about anything. It came easily; he seemed somewhat familiar and unnervingly trusting.
I crossed my fingers over one another, twiddling with them and looked away. "I don't know," I quietly said. "I thought it would take away my problems. I hated school. I hated being invisible, laughed at, and different. I got to the point where I was fed up with not being good enough and thought, seeing as no one would notice, I wouldn't be missed." My emotions choked me; the backs of my eyes were pinched by forming tears, and I was trying my hardest not to look at Kyle, who I sensed was burning me with his gaze. My throat bobbed as I gripped the chair tightly, scratching my nails along the fabric.
"Is that really what you believe?" he said softly, moving his chair closer to mine before grabbing my hand.
My eyes lifted to his, and how he looked at me was like nothing I had seen before, a rarity. His gaze was almost delicate, gentle, and safe, and so was his slight smile, which creased his cheek. It enhanced a scar embedded in it, and I wanted to know how he got it; I wanted to know how he got all of them. He was covered in secrecy and an untold story.
Kyle pulled the metal in his lip between his teeth and held it there momentarily as I watched his chest puff out hard. "You couldn't be more wrong if it is," he muttered, squeezing my hand. "A lot of people would miss you. You have been hanging around with all the wrong people all this time, that's all. The likes of them, the popular girls, may look incredible and well-liked, but to girls like you, or boys like me, they are toxic and undermining. You don't need them in your life."
"Lauren has been my only friend for my entire life. Without her, I wouldn't even be on the map."
He tsked, "And look where that got you. Stop kidding yourself and be who you really are. Forget about Lauren, Sophie, and the rest of them. Be the Ashley I have seen today, the fun, confident, pretty Ashley who won't take shit from no one." Kyle blushed, jaw clenching and chest puffing.
I tried to hide my smile; I had just made Kyle blush, a badass skater who makes his own rules and has zero respect for anyone, and no one here to witness such an achievement.
"Did you call me pretty?" I muttered, and he let go of my hand, looking down at his feet.
"Do you want to end up in the pool again?" he smirked, and I grinned. "You know, I'm not as bad as everyone makes out."
"Right, like I believe you." He took a sip from the bottle and offered it to me, but I declined, so he put it down.
"You don't know me to say that. No one does." Kyle's altered tone caught me off guard, making me look him up and down past the charisma he carried, and I attempted to dive into his soul. Beyond the danger, the fearless attitude and the rebellious streak, I questioned if this Kyle, the one who was holding my hand, was the honest Kyle no one knew. Was he a genuinely nice guy, charming inside and Dorian Gray on the outside?
"Let me then," I warily said, and the garden lights suddenly turned off, leaving only the spotlights in the pool, which barely lit the garden. I looked around and could hardly see anything, and when my eyes returned to Kyle, he was gone.
"Kyle," I whispered loudly, suddenly frightened. I then heard him breathe and saw him on the poolside, taking his vans off. His pencil dive made no sound, barely rippling the water.
"Kyle," I said again, rising from my camping chair and peering in. I couldn't see him; it was so quiet I couldn't shout.
"Kyle," I grunted, pacing up and down the edge. "It's not funny, and I'm not coming in after you."
No response came.
I stood shivering and unexpectedly worrying.
"Kyle."
"Ashley," he said, making me jump as he then placed his hands on my shoulders.
I went to turn, but he didn't let me. His wet hands slowly moved down my arms, soaking my skin and making me tremble. His touch took my waist as he wrapped his arms around me tightly. Protectively. I breathed in, unsure if it was to conceal my body or because he'd stolen my breath.
"Relax," he whispered, and I did nothing but obey, having lost all control and power of my mind, body, and soul.
I leaned my head back against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart, which quickened the minute I let my guard down. We stood in silence for as long as it took for me to forget about everything and focus on nothing but the oxygen filling and escaping his lungs.
"Get in the water," he said, and again, I was in no place to deny him. The way he talked to me was compelling, hypnotising in such a way it seemed he knew what he was doing and knew whatever the outcome, I trusted him.
I found my bearings and turned as he let me go, not taking my eyes from him as I stepped back and lowered myself into the pool. He climbed in after me, and as I leaned against the edge, instantly shaking, he moved in front of me. He placed his arms on either side of my body, locking me in. I was trapped in no place to move; even if I could, I knew I wouldn't.
"What do you want to know?" Kyle asked, his warm breath reaching down my neck, standing every hair as he leaned closer.
I gasped, pulling my lip between my teeth and ignoring the sensations running through my entire body, right down to my every nerve, "Anything."
"That's not specific enough," he said, and as I failed to respond, it appeared he'd lost interest, which scared the hell out of me.
I grabbed him, taking my hand to his waist as he moved away and muttered, "How do you have tattoos when you're only sixteen?"
Kyle looked back at me, "I have my ways of persuading people to do what I ask," he smirked. "Why? Do you want one?"
I laughed a little, "God no, my parents would kill me. I'm yet to face the wrath I will get for getting my nose pierced first, let alone if I got a tattoo."
"Chicken."
"But seriously, how?"
He looked into my eyes, "With parental consent, some places let you at sixteen."
"I didn't know that," I muttered. "What does the bull mean?"
As he bowed his head and flicked the water, I realised my grip was still tightly on his waist, gripping his shirt as my fingers turned to prunes. I let go, nervously threaded my hair, and my teeth chattered.
"It's your turn to tell me something."
Pulling my lip between my teeth, I toyed with the water, trying to think of something.
"Something real," he insisted, and his eyes had me swimming in them, diving as far as they would allow. I suddenly wasn't scared anymore. Scared of whether I was skinny, good enough, and well-liked. The only thing I worried about was him disappearing and not being with me in a raw moment like this again.
It was then that I realised something had changed the day I first saw him across the school grounds. Kyle had gained every ounce of my attention, and I didn't care about anything or anyone else. It made me a traitor. It made me something I never thought I would be. But it was like he knew me, really knew me, when he didn't know me at all.
"I want to know everything about you, past that scary bad boy persona you try to portray."
Kyle straightened his posture, knitting his brows together, "So, you don't find me scary?" he asked.
I shook my head with a small smile, "Do you hate that? Is that why you are so mean to me and unwilling to tell me the truth for one split second."
His thumb reached my quivering lips, holding them still, and I swam in his stare as I fell into it, "If only you had noticed me before Olly showed up," he muttered. "Then I would have all the time in the world to tell you what you want to know, all my secrets and show you who I really am, but seeing as I don't, I'm not going to."
"What? Why are you like that?" I asked. "Why are you nice one minute, then ruining it the next with some snide, uncalled-for comment?"
"It's the easiest way," he muttered, stepping away, ripping my heart from my chest as he took his touch with him.
"The easiest way to what?" I asked, moving towards him. "You do know everything you say makes no sense to me."
He scowled, an expression I had seen before, and I knew it was time to back off, but I couldn't. He was hiding so much, and I wanted to know what it was. I thought I saw an opening, but then he mentioned Olly, and it reminded me I shouldn't have even been there. I shouldn't have been with him. I shouldn't have been thinking what I was or feeling what I had been.
One more word would take my curiosity too far, and I was in trouble if I took one more step. Kyle had made one thing clear. He was particularly good at persuading people to get what he wanted. And with the glistening in his dark, mysterious eyes and his irritated expression, me begging for answers was what he wanted. Even an unpopular, kept-in-the-dark girl like me could figure that out.
"The easiest way to what?" I repeated as he said nothing.
He stared down at me, squinted his eyes and clenched his jaw. His hands moved swiftly beneath the water and grabbed my forearms tightly; it hurt, and as he lifted me a little, it frightened me more than I would admit.
"Kyle," I gulped as I tried to deny the thrill rising in my body as his hands roughly held me.
"To stop people getting too close to me because when they do, when everything seems perfect, everything changes," he growled and let me go, pushing me back a tad. "If I gave you a chance, it wouldn't be any different. I already know how this is going to end."
"How, what is going to end?" I asked, unable to stop with my million questions.
"Ashley, stop it. Why are you still here? I saw the fear in your eyes just then. You should be backing off like everyone else," he snapped, then climbed out of the pool.
I exhaled, watching his mesmerising body exit the water, fascinated by how it washed over his muscles and dripped down the perfect crease of his spine. I owned the moment with my stare as if it was the last time I would.
"You already said I'm different to everyone else, you know it, and so do I, and believe me when I say it, you don't scare me, so get used to it."
I stayed, frozen to the spot, looking at the silhouette I could barely see and rang the water from my hair. Kyle left without saying a word, bursting the exhilarating bubble he effortlessly built every time I saw him.
*
I returned to the tent, soaked again and late, dreading explaining myself to the others for my disappearance. It wouldn't take a genius to work out where and who I was with, seeing as they left me with him in the first place.
I tried to think of a logical explanation, but nothing came to mind, and why should it? I should feel guilty. I deserved to. I was letting Kyle, a rude, disrespectful, angry boy I barely knew, get in my head. And no matter how much I hated his bad attitude, I liked it when he lost his skater-boy personality and was honest and pure. Something about him had hit me like an Ollie gone wrong on the sidewalk, hard, fast, and painful. It was wrong, lousy timing, and ruthless, but it felt right. Terrifyingly right.
Creeping up to the tent, attempting not to trip over the cords, it was dark and still, and when I entered, everyone was asleep. "Damn it," I muttered. I missed the end of the night and hoped it didn't last too long.
I clambered over the sleeping bags, sprawled out girls, and found my bed. Standing up, I tried to take my clothes off, but as they clung to my body with no space, it was tough to balance after drinking too much. I wobbled all over the place, stripping down to my undies; they weren't that wet, well, they were, but I'd been cold for that long; I'd already risked my health.
I fumbled in my bag and found my phone, turning its pathetic torch on, noticing many messages and missed calls.
Olly
Olly
Olly
Olly
Olly
Olly
My stomach flipped, and my heart sank into the acid forming in its pit as I suddenly felt nauseous.
I ditched the idea of finding clothes and got into my sleeping bag before reading them all. What further could a night in the bare minimum clothes do? Anything Olly had to say was more important.
R u having a gd time?
U nva told me u knew Kyle.
Ashley, txt me bk!
Dn't listen 2 anything he says.
Ashley!
I'm sorry
"What the hell?" I gulped, trying to relieve the dryness in my throat as I started to panic. Something was wrong. What had happened? Was Olly okay? And Kyle? What? What? Just what?