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Kate leans into my face and places her lips onto mine. I just stand there, frozen in place. I don't even know. I could have sworn Kate was a stereotypical Christian girl, not this. She leans back and looks at me.
"So, what do you think? How was it?" I just stand there with my mouth open. "Well, I didn't think it was that good." She jokes.
"I-wha-what!?" I manage to let out.
"You-you didn't like it?" She turns red. "Oh no, you're not into girls, are you?"
"No it's just, I'm shocked that you are. You just seemed like that stereotypical Christian girl."
"There's a lot I keep hidden." She smirks. "But anyways, you have to promise not to tell anyone about any of this; the magazine, the kiss."
"Yeah, I promise. This is all just really strange."
"Don't believe in stereotypes, Max. They're not always right." I always thought I thought differently, but I guess I'm as ignorant as anyone else. "So, tea?" She asks nonchalantly.
"Umm, sure." I say meekly. She pours the tea into the teacups and hands me one. She takes the other and sits down on the couch. How can she act so chill after all of that? I sit down next to her and she looks at me.
"Do you like the tea? It's green-green tea I mean." I haven't even tried it yet. I put the cup up to my mouth and take a sip.
"Mhmm. Yeah, that's good." I say.
"Good. Glad you like it." She sips her tea. I have so many questions for her right now.
"So uh, Kate, that magazine, it's yours?" She nods her head yes.
"I really don't feel comfortable talking about it, but yes, it is." Oh geez Kate. Awkward silence fills the room. "I really don't want this to ruin our friendship." She says after a while. She puts her teacup back onto the trey and leans in to me again. Her lips land on mine and I jump out of shock. She lets up and leans into my ear. "You want this too, don't you?" She whispers breathily. The feeling of guilt and anxiety rises in me, but also lust. I do want this. I just feels so, forbidden. I put my hands on the sides of Kate's face and kiss her aggressively. She kisses back, not as much as I am, but still enough to know she likes this. We stay like this for a little bit, until she lets up. "Wow Max. That was intense." That may have been the most passion in a kiss I've ever had. Though, I haven't kissed too many people.
"Yeah, you can say that again." Suddenly, the door swings open and Carla appears.
"How are-oh, tea!" She says. She looks back up at us. "How are you two doing?"
"We're good." Says Kate.
"That's good, 'cause we'll be a little while longer." She leaves and closes the door behind her.
"That was close. What if we were kissing when she came in?" I say a little worried.
"That's the fun part." She smiles. Jesus, there's a whole other side to Kate I didn't know about. An adventurous, risk taking side. "So, where were we?" She smirks even more now. I smile a little and kiss her on the lips, only for a short time though. She looks at me with an eyebrow raised.
"I'm sorry, I'm just afraid Carla will catch us." She grabs my hand and holds it.
"Don't worry Max. Just loosen up, ok? It'll be fine. Just focus on us, and what we're doing." My face starts to feel warm. "Oh, did I make you blush?" She laughs. It's hard to loosen up with everything that's been going on this week, but it's all over now. It'll be ok. Hopefully. Now, stop thinking about this stuff and get back to what's important. Someone's waiting for you Max!
"I'm sorry, just a little stressed. I'll try to relax."
"Well, maybe this'll help." She presses her lips onto mine and slides her tongue into my mouth. I react by maneuvering my tongue around hers, and into her mouth, then back to her tongue. She leans back. "That definitely relaxed me." She says.
"Wowser." I say quietly. That was amazing.
"What are we waiting for?" She asks. Then she she jumps on me and knocks me over. Now I'm laying on the couch, with Kate right on top of me. She kisses me on the lips aggressively. I kiss back just as fiercely, though I don't think I'll be able to keep up. Something creeps down my back. I think it's Kate's hand. It slowly makes its way down to my pants, then stops. Kate kisses my softer now, and I ease up too. She moves her hand down my pants and onto my ass. This might be getting a little too heated. She moves her hand under my underwear and kisses me harder. I move away from Kate's face and she just looks at me. I feel the hand move out of my pants.
"Maybe we should uh, slow down a little." I say.
"Sorry, I guess I got carried away there." Her face turns beet red. She gets off of me and I sit up. "So, tea time then?"
"That-that sounds good." I say quietly. It's hard to form words after all of that. I mean I'm still in shock about all of this. She grabs the teacups and hands me mine.
"So how did the bay look yesterday?" She asks casually. How the hell can she go from having her hand down my pants to having a casual conversation?
"It was a mess. Everything was virtually destroyed. It was hard to see our hometown like that, you know?"
"If I would have known that storm was coming, I would have really taken in the atmosphere there. I just wish I could go back in time and see Arcadia Bay one more time before the storm." Trust me, having the ability to travel back in time has major disadvantages.
"Yeah...If only we knew about that storm. We really could have experienced the bay one last time, and of course, have helped a lot of people." Thinking about the storm makes me sick to my stomach. I could have helped people, but I didn't. I was so caught up in my own damn drama. Maybe I should think about other people for once. She nods her head yes
"When I heard about what happened, I prayed for everyone there. I also thanked the Lord for keeping me safe during all of that. I'm just glad I got out when I did." I don't know if I believe in divine intervention or not, but Kate can do her thing if she wants to. If she believes she's helping, well, at least there's some sort of comfort in that. The noise from outside stops, and laughing ensues. The door opens and Carla peeks her head in.
"We're finished." She says.
"And it looks fucking amazing!" Chloe yells from the other room.
"Well, I guess tea time is over." Kate says. That's too bad. I want some more of what happened before tea time. I suppose I could rewind, but then it wouldn't be as special. Plus, I really shouldn't waste my powers on stuff like that. We put the teacups on the trey and walk out of the door. Chloe is sitting on the chair grinning.
"You gotta check this out." She says while looking at me. I walk over to her and she holds her arm out. A golden dragon makes its way up from the elbow up to her left hand, spiraling along the way.
"That is pretty fucking cool." I say. It is. There are little details on it too, like fire and little red Chinese symbols around it.
"So, you ready for your tattoo?" Carla asks. I completely forgot about my tattoo.
"Umm, yeah!" I smile. "I think I'll take it on my arm. My right arm, right by the crook of my elbow." I point to the inner part of my arm, right by the crook of my elbow. Clara nods.
"Alright, I can do that. And you still want the deer design?" I nod. "Alright, take a seat. This'll be a little bit."
...............
"How's your arm feel?" Chloe asks. It hurts. A lot.
"It aches. I wasn't expecting it to hurt this much."
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it after you get more tats." She smiles. I don't know about that. "We should probably get going. Portland isn't going to explore itself!" I get up and go towards Chloe. "We'll come back, won't we Max?"
"Yeah, maybe." She waves at Carla and Kate and walks outside. "Bye Carla, bye Kate." I say. Carla waves and goes into the other room. Kate winks at me and waves flirtatiously. I walk up to her. "Kate, what was all of that?" She sighs.
"After you saved me from jumping, I thought it was time to start doing what I really wanted. And, since you saved me, I knew you cared about me, and to tell you the truth, I've had a crush on you for a while now. That just solidified it, I guess." I nod.
"Thanks for telling me." We hug and I walk outside. I feel my face getting warm, and it's not from the sun. Jesus Kate, I think you made me blush. That definitely was intense. I get to the truck and see Chloe sitting in the passenger seat. Wait. We didn't pay for those tattoos. Maybe they were on the house or something. She points to the drivers seat, so I go over there. I get in and Chloe hands me the keys.
"You should drive. My arm still hurts." My arm aches too, but probably not as much as Chloe's. I turn the truck on.
"Where to?"
"Anywhere. That's what makes adventuring fun." I drive out of the parking lot and onto the road, not exactly knowing where I'm going."
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