Donned out in jeans and a plain fitted black shirt, I sat out on the steps in front of my house. It was a beautiful night. The stars were shining brightly, and the breeze was light and cool, but not enough to make one freeze. Summer was approaching. I looked over at my neighbor's garden, filled with brightly colored flowers. A small smile made itself into my face as I spotted pots of orchids that hung lazily around the garden, lining the greens of grass and leaves with splashes of lilacs and pinks and whites. They looked absolutely exquisite. Too bad neither my mom nor I had a green thumb. I would've loved to have a garden like that. Nature's beautiful, isn't it?
Turning my gaze up at the star-filled sky, I looked for Orion. I had always looked for Orion. It was the first constellation my daddy and I spotted using my telescope when I was six, and it had been my favorite constellation since then. As I spotted the three stars lined up, making up Orion's belt, my smile widened a bit. I then decided that I was going to try to have as much fun as I could tonight.
Yes, it was Saturday, and I was waiting for Kyle to pick me up. I said yes to bowling after Cynthia wouldn't let me hear the end of it. Kyle was pretty, well, annoying (in an adorable way) too. Immediately after lunch last Tuesday, he walked me to class and told me how much more fun it would be with me going to the Bowl-o-Rama with them. I told him again that I still don't know if I would be able to go, using my mom as an excuse. Sure enough, Wednesday night, mom said I could go bowling with my friends. It was safe to say that I was so surprised that she knew, I stared at her wide-eyed long enough for her to actually slap my cheek gently. Then she told me that a certain someone called her at the museum and asked for permission if I could go out on the weekend. Mmhmm, you got it right! It was Kyle who called my mom.
It was sweet, kinda. I mean, he asked my mom for permission! It was just a night out with friends. It was bowling, for cheese's sake. But still. It was a nice gesture.
Feeling a slight crick already forming in my neck, I bent my head down from glancing at Orion and slowly moved my head from one side to the other. Yep, that felt better. Briefly I glanced at the watch strapped around my wrist. It was a six, and Kyle said he was going to pick me up by six thirty. I stuck a leg out to stretch, followed by my other leg. Instead of sneakers, I decided to wear flip-flops tonight. We would be renting bowling shoes anyway. I pointed my toes, loving the feeling of tension in my calf muscles as I stretched.
I didn’t know if Colby was coming. After that little moment between him and Kyle last Tuesday at lunch, Colby told me once again that I should come to bowl. There had been no news from Cynthia if Colby agreed to the bowling night, though. At chemistry class, things were normal. By this time normal included: Colby and Hannah being seatmates, Colby answering a few questions (Mr. Solis seemed to have an affinity for him now), Colby darting glances my way. It was a good thing that school would be out in a few weeks. No more chemistry class with Colby. My knees bent back up to my chest, and I wrapped my arms around my legs to keep them in place. Gazing down I saw a row of ants crawling into a crack on the step just below me. I watched as the little black dots bumped heads on their way home.
It was tempting to blow into the black dotted line, to disturb the ants’ pattern. I decided against it though. I was not one to disturb ants on their way to their beloved colony.
Just then, a black Ford pick-up rolled to a stop outside my house. I jumped up to my feet as the driver’s side door opened, revealing Kyle. He was ten minutes early. Upon spotting me, a smile made its way onto his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back. A red shirt clung onto his body, paired with black jeans and sneakers. His hair was slightly messy, and was a lot longer than I remember. I had always noticed that with guys, it seemed like their hair grew so much faster than girls’ do. Kyle’s hair was beginning to curl, and a few stray strands graced his forehead. It was the shine in his eyes though, that made him look absolutely gorgeous. As he made his way toward me with a wave, I felt my smile widened.
Kyle stopped in front of me, smiling still. Since I was up a step on the porch, I didn’t have to crane my neck up to look at him. Before we could say our hello’s, the front door burst open. Kyle bent a little to the side to look at who opened the door as my smile froze and my eyes widened slightly. Of course, I should’ve expected this. I knew it was a mistake when my stupid mouth mentioned to my mom that a boy was picking me up. My mouth’s stupidity increased several times higher when I mentioned it would be Kyle Pennington picking me up. Yes, my mother knew that Kyle’s the star of the basketball team. She acted a bit giddy for me when I told her about it, and from that moment, I should’ve known it had opened the gates to doom. Okay, that might’ve been dramatic, but I just knew my mom would make a big deal out of this.
“Hello, Mrs. Johnson. My name’s Kyle Pennington, Kayla’s friend.”
I felt Kyle move past me, making me look at what was happening. Kyle had his hand extended for my mom to shake, and from the beam in my mom’s face, I knew she found that Kyle was a really nice, good-looking, polite boy. My mother took Kyle’s hand and shook it, saying her hello and complimenting Kyle’s good looks. Yes, I did say that I had the coolest mom ever, but sometimes her coolness meter drops to dangerously low levels. That was my cue, better stop the torrents of embarrassing moments that I knew were going to pour down on poor me, kind of like when a dam breaks. I didn’t want to drown.
Kyle was smiling sheepishly while scratching the back of his head as my mom continued to tell him how nice of a boy he seemed to be. There were slight pink tinges on his cheeks, too. I bit back a giggle and let out a sigh instead. Even though Kyle looked so cute while being all embarrassed, I had to stop all of this before my mom does something that would totally embarrass me as well.
“Aright mom,” I said as I squeezed my way between her and Kyle. The gesture made my shoulder brush against Kyle’s chest, and Kyle scooted back a little to make room for me. Soon I was standing close to Kyle, with my back on him. I could feel the warmth emanating from his body as I faced my mom with a stern look on my face. My mom just looked back at me, pride clearly flooding her eyes and face. She was looking at me like I had won something extravagant. I could almost hear her saying, “Good job!” to me. I made a mental note to tell my mom that Kyle and I were not whatever she thought we were. “Kyle and I have to get going.”
A warm hand found itself on my shoulder, and I glanced up at Kyle. “Actually, we don’t have to be at the Bowl-o-Rama until seven, so we have some time.”
My eyebrows rose and my gaze quickly turned to an are-you-kidding-me look, which Kyle returned with a level stare, his eyebrows raised as well. It was either he liked being complimented, or he liked being embarrassed. My mom clapped her hands at that, and ushered us inside. It was not like I could do anything about it, and I let my feet drag me to the den. My ride just insisted that we stay in my house for a while, and these were one of the moments when I missed my car. Thank God I’d have her again by tomorrow.
It was only ten minutes that we stayed, but it seemed so much longer than that. During that whole time my mom interrogated Kyle, squeezing every bit of information about him she could get, from his height, down to his favorite color. I tried to interrupt her most of the time, but my mom could be a serious blabbermouth. Here was to being a curator at a museum. Still, it was a blessing that we didn’t have enough time for my mom to tell Kyle about childhood stories. She didn’t really have to do that too, anyway. Finally Kyle noticed my pain and decided that we had to go. He thanked my mom as she walked us to the front door. She then gave Kyle a hug and said that he smelled really good with a giggle. Wow mom, kill me now why don’t you? Thankfully, Kyle must’ve found it amusing since he chuckled and said my mom smelled good as well. They released each other, and I almost ran to the car as my mom wished us a good time. Once safely buckled inside the car, I buried my face in my hands, a gesture which Kyle met with a laugh.
He said that it wasn’t so bad meeting my mom as we drove to the Bowl-o-Rama. His voice held a teasing tone which made me scoff, causing Kyle to laugh harder. As much as I wanted to stay annoyed, the sound of his laughter made me want to laugh as well. It was addicting, almost, and I found myself smiling while shaking my head. He wiggled his eyebrows at that, and I let a laugh escape. After a few minutes of Coldplay songs filling the car together with our voices (Kyle’s singing was way better than Ty’s), we arrived at the bowling alley, and found several familiar cars already there—Cynthia’s yellow beetle and Carl’s red Chevy I had spotted. There was also Ty’s blue Ford Lynx, which made me raise my eyebrows. I didn’t know Tyler was going to come here. Well maybe he was here with his archery buddies. It was not like Tyler to hang out with Cynthia’s group.
The Bowl-o-Rama was a beat-up bowling alley, not the coolest in town definitely, but it was so cozy and charming you couldn’t help but love it. The big, lighted Bowl-o-Rama sign graced the top of the building, and the doors were reminiscent of old theater houses. As we entered the vintage doors, Mr. Crosby, the bowling alley’s caretaker, greeted us with a big smile from behind the counter where one would rent bowling shoes. I returned his smile and glanced around the place as I placed my hands on my back pockets. The walls were painted with brown and yellow stripes, and the floor was covered with grey tiles. The lanes were shiny and smooth, but still held out a faded vibe, with the wears and tears on the sides and on the gutters. Some of the pins were chipped and off-colored, so were the bowling balls. The scoreboards were automatic, though a little run down as well. Green-colored dot-matrix-inspired letters and numbers flashed on the screens. White chairs were placed in a curve just before the lanes. A mini food court was situated at the far left end of the alley, selling hot dogs and pizza and candy bars.
Kyle and I made our way to Mr. Crosby, whom everyone calls Benny, and rented our bowling shoes. Size six for me, size eleven for Kyle. I sat on a nearby bench with Kyle beside me, and slipped on socks that I brought with me before leaning down to put on my bowling shoes. My tip of my ponytail grazed my cheek as I did so. Once I was done, I straightened up and saw Kyle surveying the alley. He smiled when he spotted Carl and turned to me with his hand outstretched. Smiling, I grabbed it and let him pull me up to my feet, and together we walked toward Carl and the others. No, not holding hands I should tell you.
Cynthia spotted us as we were approaching and waved. Once we reached them, Cynthia gave me a hug, and Carl and Kyle did their handshake thing again. I saw Eliza standing behind Carl, who looked absolutely adorable in her white tank top with different colored hand-prints (obviously hand-printed on) and jeans that were cut to her knees, a smile on her pretty face as well. She waved at me, and I returned the wave. I also saw Tyler at the food court, eating a hot dog. Typical Ty, eating even before starting to play. I noticed there was a cute girl beside him, and they were talking and laughing. Straight black hair, beautiful tanned skin, large brown eyes. Hmmmm. It looked as though my little baby had got himself a girl! I never felt prouder of the booger. He found a girl who had enough patience to endure his infuriating childish ways. I couldn’t help the thought of the girl being a bit mental, though. Haha, kidding.
I was tempted to walk over to where Tyler and the mystery girl were sitting, but I didn’t want to embarrass Ty or anything. Plus, I was sure Ty would introduce her to us tonight. I mean, why would he have brought her here, right? Apparently, Tyler had taken Ms. Pretty with him to the movies before going here to the Bowl-o-Rama. At least that’s what Cynthia said. I asked her how she knew, and she shrugged as she took a seat, saying that she saw the two go inside the movies while she was at the mall earlier today. She was the one who invited them as well. It was kinda surprising that Tyler agreed. Maybe the girl didn’t want to be impolite to Cynthia so she asked Ty to accept the invitation, but I didn’t dwell on it too much. My thoughts were all about Tyler going out on dates with a gorgeous girl. Yep, proud meter up a notch.
We decided to play in teams. Me and Kyle, Cynthia and Karl, and Tyler and Ms. Pretty. Eliza said she would sit this one out first, seeing we were one player short. Cynthia gently pulled me into a seat beside her. I plopped down on the seat and she whispered, “I don’t know if Colby’s going to come. Did he mention anything to you at all?”
I shook my head and replied, “Nope.” Cynthia frowned at that, and I knew she was dying to ask me stuff regarding Colby’s behavior towards me during lunch last Tuesday. She didn’t push it though. I turned my gaze again to Tyler and his girl, the same time Tyler’s eyes scanned the area. He saw me and I waved, motioning him to come to me. I saw him whisper at the girl and soon enough Tyler appeared beside me, his girlfriend in tow. I learned that the girl’s name was Maya (how cute right!), she was a Filipina-American, an awesome cook and singer, and a kick-ass archer as well. No wonder Ty liked her! They met at the national competition a year ago and exchanged a few text messages and emails, but nothing serious. It was just a few weeks ago that Tyler ran into Maya in a sports store, and after having fraps, they just clicked. I couldn’t believe Tyler didn’t tell me anything! Well, he didn’t have to, but still, he was dating! The slight grimace on Tyler’s face when he saw my beaming expression at him and Maya told me that this was exactly why he didn’t tell me. No, I wasn’t hurt Ty didn’t tell me anything. I was just so freaking happy for him, I felt like a proud momma!
Kyle seemed to have taken a liking on tugging at my ponytail, because he did just that. I turned to look at him with a question on my face, and he shook his head and bent down to whisper, “Stop staring at them like how your mom stared at us.” My eyes widened in horror at Kyle, and he doubled over laughing. My goodness, I was just teased by Kyle Pennington regarding my mother’s actions. I grumbled at Kyle to shut up, and he immediately controlled his laughter, his cheeks reddened making him look like a lobster. A cute lobster. Tyler shot me a look, one that made me think back at what he said about Kyle. He’s not as nice as he seems to be. I held back an eye roll just as Carl pointed out that we were here to play bowling, not just sit around.
So the game began. As much as I would like to brag that Kyle and I were beating everyone, it was the other way around. We were getting our butts kicked badly. By the end of the first round, Kyle had more gutter balls than all of us combined. Okay, maybe that was a little exaggerated but he had a lot of gutter balls. Even though he was my partner, I couldn’t help but laugh. And I wasn’t alone. Eliza, Tyler, and Carl laughed their hearts out, and Cynthia snickered every now and then. Even Maya giggled. I just couldn’t figure out why he had been so persistent on getting me to go bowling, excited to go even, when he completely sucked at the game. He didn’t seem fazed though. Every time he had a gutter ball, he would just shrug at us and say he’ll definitely get a strike next time. We were all still waiting for that next time.
As a new round of bowling started, I got up and took my shot. I got a strike, and I pumped my fist in the air as I turned around to face the group. Kyle strolled over to me, put his hand up and I slapped it in a high five. Tyler rolled his eyes at me and retorted that Kyle and I were going to need a lot of them strikes in order to catch up. I knew he was right, but that didn’t stop me from sticking my tongue out at him.
A clapping sound to my right interrupted my extremely mature moment, and the whole gang turned towards it. I heard Cynthia squealed with glee and I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked with narrowed eyes at Colby. He walked slowly, dragging his feet lazily but confidently across the wooden floor of the alley. His face bore that smirk, and his grey shirt and checkered shorts suited him quite well. He managed to make everything look good on him. It was so unfair really.
Colby stopped clapping just as Cynthia was rushing to him, a slight bounce on her step. When she reached Colby, she smiled widely and said, "I'm so glad you made it! I thought you weren't going to come."
He turned his smirk to Cynthia and shrugged. "I only came 'cause I need to talk to Kayla."
By the time Colby spoke up, I had already turned my back to him and was making my way back to my seat. What he said made me stop to my tracks though, and I turned back around with my eyebrows scrunched. Why in the world did he need to talk to me? And what about? Cynthia was looking at me with frown in her face again, and I fought the urge to groan out loud. I did not like what thoughts were probably filtered into Cynthia's mind by these scenario. I told her that I didn't know whether Colby was coming or not, and here he was saying he came here because he needed to talk to me. I could feel curious gazes aimed at my back as well. Colby seriously was making my life complicated.
Colby cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at me. I frowned at him and walked slowly over to where he and Cynthia were standing. Better just get this overwith. Cynthia began to walk back slowly to the seats, but not after shooting me a glance. I just shrugged at her and turned to Colby again.
"What is it that you want to possibly talk about?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest once again.
Colby didn't answer. Instead, he motioned for me to follow him with his head. I let out an exasperated sigh, and looked over my shoulder. Kyle was eyeing me with a concerned look on his face, so was Tyler. Carl and Eliza just seemed a little confused. Cynthia was rolling her eyes and Maya was looking at her hands, obviously feeling there was some sort of tension in the air. I zeroed in my gaze on Kyle, and saw him mouthed, "You ok?" I forced a smile and nodded. As I turned my head back to where Colby was, I saw him looking over his shoulder at me, and motioned with his head again, a little to forcefully this time. I sincerely hoped that rattled his brain to some degree and gave him a headache.
Once we were outside, Colby leaned against the wall of the Bowl-o-Rama, near the door. I stood there, looking at Colby not bothering to hide the annoyance on my face. He knew very well by now that he annoyed me to an elevated degree. I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. He just leaned there, looking comfortable and good and all manly. I scoffed, and not being able to hold it in anymore, I asked angrily, "Why did you drag me out here?"
Those beautifully intense green eyes flicked toward me, and he replied, "You came out here willingly, Kayla. I didn't drag you."
Letting out a shuddering breath, I closed my eyes and counted to five. I then walked and stopped in front of Colby. I raised an eyebrow at him, and I knew that he knew he was irking me. Finally he held his hands up in surrender. "Susan wanted to ask if you could babysit again for her tomorrow."
I blinked. "You came all the way out here to tell me that?" I asked incredulously.
He gave me a nod and with that, pushed himself off the wall and started to walk towards one of the parked cars. I was still feeling a bit floored when Colby turned around. Stuffing one hand in his front pocket, he fished out his keys. I noticed it was one of Rob's car that he took. While playing with the keys on his hand, he retorted, "Next time when you go out, make sure you take your phone with you."
With that, he opened the car door, revved the engine, and was out the Bowl-o-Rama's parking lot.
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Ok, this was really not up to par, sorry. Been feeling sick lately, hence the non-inspired state to write. I'll try to make it better (I feel like I've been saying that after every chapter haha). Anyway, you who have the patience to keep on reading, thanks. :)