Kylie's POV
"So what are we doing today?" Ansel asks getting off the floor.
"Uh I don't know." I say
"You have no plans for your 18th birthday weekend?" He asks
"Oh shit!" I say
"What?!"
"My mom made plans to go to the Hamptons this weekend with Todd and she said I had to go." I tell him
"Oh, that'll be fun." He says
"You're coming with me." I say
"Oh no. I am not getting dragged into this. All that's gonna happen is you yelling at your mom." He says looking in my desk drawers.
"Please Ansel? It's my birthday." I say giving him the puppy dog face.
"No." He says. He hasn't looked up from going through my desk.
Suddenly he sees an envelope. It's says Ansel on it with a heart.
"What's this?" He asks.
I snatch it out if his hands and throw it away.
"Kylie." He says.
"It's nothing. Drop it." I say
"Whatever." He says mad.
"Please go with me." I say. "I'll cry if you don't."
"Have fun crying."
He goes to my closet and starts going through it.
"Fine! I'll take Zach." I yell
He stops and straightens up. He turns his head slowly.
"You're really going to use that against me?" He asks incredulously.
"Anything it takes." I say.
He shakes his head and grabs his backpack off the floor and walks out of my room. I chase after him down the stairs. I feel tears falling.
"Ansel please don't leave." I say, my voice breaks and I know he can tell I'm crying. He stops. But doesn't turn around. I know why. If he sees me crying he won't leave. I hear sniffles and I know he's trying not to cry himself.
"I'll see you later. Alright?" He says quietly.
"I'll want to see you now." I pout.
But he walks out the door to his car and without looking drives away.
-----
Ansel's POV
Before I even get to Brooklyn I have 5 missed calls from Kylie. What was I supposed to do? She said she don't like me and if that's the case then she shouldn't have brought up Zach. That's low.
I pull into Brooklyn boulders and I go inside. I don't bother making small talk with the owners or any of the workers. I take off my shirt and shoes and I start to climb. All the way at the top of the wall I can hear my phone go off, telling me I have a text. And glide down and remove my climbing harness.
Kylie- I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. Why does it matter anyway
Me- I told you how I feel and you're gonna rub that in my face.
Kylie- IM SORRY I REALLY AM
I don't text her back. I sit in my car for the rest of the afternoon wondering what to do. When I know Karen, Kylie's mom is off I call her.
-----
Kylie's POV
When mom gets home she tells me to hurry up and get packed. I sulk all the way up to my room. I grab a few pairs of shorts and a sundress. I get my bikini and throw it in my suitcase as well. I dress in a pair of white denim shorts and a pink flowly tanktop. I slide on my Sperry's and grab my RayBan sunglasses.
When I get downstairs my mom is wearing a yellow sundress and wedges. My mom is very pretty. But I don't lay attention to her to notice all the time.
"Are you ready Kylie?" She asks checking her lipstick in the mirror in the entry way
"No." I mumble
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing you're concerned about" I say
She walks over and puts her hands on my shoulder. I pull back and her hands drop to her side.
"Look Kylie, I know I haven't been the best mother. It was really hard on me when your father left. I know I can be controlling, and annoying, but all mothers are. I want us to get closer Kylie. You're an adult now. And I should treat you like one, but honestly I always have and right now I want to treat you as my daughter." She says. Tears running down her cheeks.
My mom has never said anything like this to me. I wipe tears off my own face and run into her outstretched arms. We hug and cry, using each other for support.
"I love you, mom." I say
"I've waited so long for you to say that honey. I love you too. I've arranged for Todd to drive himself and me and you will go together. Just us. Okay?"
I smile and nod. We load up the car and head for the Hamptons.
"So, are you glad Ansel came home?" She asks
"I was." I say, pouting again.
"Oh no. What happened?"
I tell her all about my first kiss when I was 13 with Ansel and about all the feelings I have for him and how he told me he thinks he loves me and about us kissing again, I safely left out the hot and heavy make out session from this morning. I also tell her about our fight.
"You and Ansel never fight." My mom states.
"Bull! Remember last summer?" I ask
Last summer Ansel had to go away to start filming. I didn't want him to leave and I was really upset and started yelling at him and we got in a fist fight. He was yelling back at me and I started hitting him and he tried pushing me away, he didn't really hit me, but I hit him a few times. We made up shortly after that and we both still feel bad. The fight was bad though and we were calling each other bad names and my mom almost had to call the cops.
"Oh right." She says
"Yeah. No one hit anyone this time."
"Can you blame him for being mad? What if he used an ex against you?" She asks
"Yeah I'd be mad."
"Why don't you want to be with him?"
"Because I don't want to lose him as my bestfriend. If we broke up I don't know what I'd do." I say messing with the radio.
"Do you love him enough to take a risk?"
"I don't know if I love him...I've never loved anyone like that and to be honest, the thought scares me."
"I know honey. It's hard to open up like that. But if you were to ever love anyone would you want it to be Ansel or Zach or someone else?" She asks, patting my leg reassuringly.
"Well, Ansel." I admit.
"Then I think maybe you should try it."
"I don't know. I just don't want to lose him."
"Honey, since we're being honest, Ansel is a good guy. You know him and he knows you inside and out. I think that if you were to date that it'd be a great relationship. I know you wouldn't cheat and I strongly believe he wouldn't either. If you guys broke up I know your friendship is strong enough to take it."
"Thanks mom." I say
I put my Imagine Dragons cd in the cd player and we ride in silence for a while. I'm glad my mom is giving me some time to think.
If I do take a risk and date Ansel I want to take things slow. I don't want to rush, because I honestly think that if I could be in love with anyone it'd be him. But Ansel has had plenty girlfriends, so if he thinks he's in love with me then he knows what he's talking about.
But that makes things worse. I've only dated Zach and I'm no where near loving him. How could I? He's cheated on me multiple times, and our relationship was awful. For one we rushed everything. We weren't together a month before we started sleeping together. I snuck out of the house all the time to see him, and I skipped school.
After a few months of us dating I had to go to the doctor because I thought I was pregnant, and my mom found out and I was grounded for months. She talked to his parents and they decided that me and Zach couldn't hang out without supervision. But that didn't stop us. We snuck out, skipped school so we could see each other.
That's about the time me and Ansel grew apart. Now I know why. If he liked me then seeing me with Zach and knowing all the stuff we did must have been hard on Ansel. I know it was hard on me knowing about Ansel's relationships.
My thoughts are interrupted when we pull in front of the beach house we'll be staying at. I get out and stretch. My mom starts unpacking everything so I help her and carry stuff inside.
"I have to run to the store and buy some groceries. Will you be okay by yourself?" She asks
"Sure. I'll probably just take a nap or something." I tell her.
"Alright. I'll be back in an hour or so. Todd will be here by 6."
"Yay" I mutter sarcastically, as I walk inside.
I go up to the master bedroom. I told my mom I wasn't going unless I got to use the master bedroom. I slide under the covers on the huge bed and try to sleep, but unfortunately, my mind is to jumbled for sleep.
"Ughhhh" I groan loudly.
I try do some yoga to clear my mind, and it helps some. I decide to go to the beach. I change into my bikini. I put on a tank top and running shorts on too.
As I walk down to the beach I'm already calmer. It's still May but the water is warm, and I saw people swimming earlier on our way here.
Where our beach house is located there isn't people for miles. So we have a lot of room to ourselves. I slide my shoes off and I starts running down the beach.
Running is one of my favorite things to do. It's more like jogging, but still. It calms me down and it's a great stress reliever. I don't like running back home because of all the noise. Don't get me wrong, I love New York. I love the noise, but not when I'm running.
This is my favorite place to run. No noise but the sound of seagulls and the ocean. We've been coming here since I can remember. We even used to stay the whole summer here, until my parents divorced and my mom started working all the time.
After running about a half mile, I turn around and run back. It helped. My mind is clear. A quarter of the way back I just start walking. I walk where the ocean water will splash over my feet. It's 5:00 and the sky looks beautiful. I like looking at the horizon. Nothing but ocean. Makes me feel clueless about what's out there. I used to imagine that places like Narnia and Terabitbia are real and they're just on the other side of the horizon.
But my mom said that it's just other countries. So then I would imagine someone like me was standing in the exact same spot on the other side wondering if I did the same.
Once I get back to where I left my shoes I take my shorts and tank top off and start walking into the water. Then something hard hits me and knock me off balance and I fall into the water. I come back up and gasp for air. I wipe my hair out of my face and look at the object that ran into me.
"What is your problem!" I yell but I'm smiling.
"You looked to dry." He says. Typically smartalec.
"So you tried to kill me?" I laugh pushing him.
"That's a bit of an exaggeration, Kye." He says
"So Ansel. I looked too dry?" I ask him
"Yep. Though I had to take care of that." Ansel says.
"Well thanks." I laugh. He's still in his jeans and a t-shirt but his jeans are wet up to his knees from getting in the water to push me. "You look to dry too." I say
"Hold on!" He yells as I try to push him "at least let me change!"
"Nope" I say, but he gets his shirt off and throws it over to the sand. He starts to take his pants off and gets them halfway off, but I push him and he falls in.
"Kylie!" He yells, but laughs. I grab the ends of his pants legs and pull them off. He takes them and throws them over by his shirt.
"You're gonna swim in your underwear?" I ask
"Why not? 'Do you find this distracting?'" He asks quoting a book from my favorite trilogy, The Hunger Games.
I bust out laughing. "Oh my gosh."
In my head I'm thinking 'Yea, I find it very distracting' but I don't say that, because I'm still not sure if I want to risk anything.
Ansel tackles me again and we both go under. He holds me and his lips meet mine, and we kiss while we're still underwater. When we come back up I pretend it didn't happen and I push him. He picks me up and throws me in.
----
"Oh look at this one" Ansel says an hour later.
We've spent the last 15 minutes looking for seashells. The one he holds is pearl colored with some light purple in it.
"Awh it's so pretty." I say taking it in my hand.
"Look." He says pointing at the horizon.
I look up and I lose my breath. The sun is setting and it is legit, breathtaking. I feel Ansel pull at my waist but I walk backwards without looking away from the sunset. He pulls me down and he sets with his legs stretched out and pull me down so I'm setting in between them. He wraps his arms around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder.
"Beautiful." He whispers. I nod an agreement.
The sun and close around it is a burnt orange color, and then it fades to dark red then pink then purple and some blue. It's the best sunset I've ever seen.
We set there like that just looking at the sunset. Ansel stretches his arms out and crosses them. He takes my hands in his and intertwines them, so his arms and mine are crossed across my stomach.
He brushes the side of my neck with his lips, then kisses it. I want to pull back, but I don't. Instead I turn my head and kiss him right under his ear lobe on his neck. He lays us back then moves beside me and leans over me and starts brushing my hair back with his fingers. He leans down to kiss me but something catches his attention. My mom is calling us for dinner.
He stands up and hold his hand out to me. I reach to grab it but he yells "sike" and takes off running towards the house.
I get myself up and I grab my clothes and throw them in the hammock that's hanging from two trees on the edge of the sand.
When I get to the deck, where my mom has dinner spread out I playfully smack the side of Ansel's head and take the seat beside him.
For dinner we have barbecue chicken, potatoes, and salad. After were all finished we set and talk for awhile. I feel Ansel's hand on my thigh after a while. I look at him but he goes on talking with Todd and acts like he's not doing anything. Soon his hand starts moving up by I grab it in my hands and just hold it in my lap.
After dinner I stay to help my mom clean up. When the dishes are done I walk back out side. I see Ansel laying in the hammock. I grab a blanket and walk out to him. He smiles as I climb in to the hammock and set across his lap. He rubs his hand over my calf, and we set in silence for a while. I take his free hand in mine and trace his veins.
"So still say you don't like me?" He asks quietly. I can feel his eyes on me, watching my every move, but I don't take my eyes off his hands.
"No. I didn't mean that." I whisper.
"I didn't think so."
"How did you know? And how long?" I ask
"I didn't really, just took a chance. And how long have you liked me?"
"Since we kissed."
"Same for me." He admits.
"I don't want to ruin anything, Ansel."
"Me neither, Kye."
"Let's just take things really really slow." I suggest.
"Why? You didn't take anything slow with Zach." He says
"I didn't like Zach."
"That's more reason to not sleep with him!"
"I know. I wish I would have never done that ever." I say
"So is that why you want to take things slow with me? Because you know I'm not going to use you for sex like he did. That's hardly why I want to be with you. That has nothing to do with it. Okay?" He says
"Of course I know that. But I just really like you and I just want to do things right this time. I want it to be real. If we get together at all." I tell him
"Okay. I want you to be happy and I want things to be right too. I want to take things slow too." He says
"Good."
"I agree. I know this may be scary for you to hear, and it's scary for me to say, but I honestly think I love you." He whispers.
"That is scary. But I think I might feel the same, in some way that I don't understand."
"I'll help you understand."
"Maybe." Is all I say.
I fall asleep with my head on Ansel's shoulder. My mind full of more thoughts than running can help me forget.