James
Amber and Sapphire picked us up from my house about an hour later. Of course before Amber drove off, my dad came running outside to talk to Amber about Julia, since she was over their house.
She claimed that she was just fine and that she needed 'girl' time... which obviously made my dad feel some type of way.
"...what do you mean she needed girl time? Can't I be the girl time?!" He exclaimed. Amber shook her head at his words, a sly smile appearing on her glossed lips.
"She's surrounded by men all day, uncle Luke. Of course, you and uncle Gabriel are more than enough, but I think she needed a day to do things she likes... like doing my mom's makeup, apparently."
"I-I didn't know she liked that! She can do my makeup or Gabriel's!" He went on. He rambled on and on about how he tries to get stuff that she likes, but she always argues that he's a boy and he won't like doing those things with her. That's what the boys in her class say. He also doesn't really know how to figure out things she likes...
"I'll talk to her when she gets home, dad. We need to go."
His pale skin flushed pink as he looked down at his tight grip on the door of the car. He pulled his hands away, pulling up a hand from his side and waving goodbye to all of us. Sapphire let out a howl of laughter once we pulled away, followed by a deep sigh from Avery.
"Damn, has your dad never been away from Julia? He's going nuts!" Sapphire exclaimed, throwing a hand down on the armrest of the car. I shrugged my shoulders at her question. She hasn't really been away from us besides when she goes to school, I guess. She hasn't made any friends, so she doesn't have play dates and stuff like that.
"I think he's just worked up cause' some boys are picking on her and my grandma has been dealing with some stuff-" I started.
"What do you mean your grandma is dealing with stuff? My mama don't tell me nothing." Amber mumbled to herself.
I don't really know either.
Everybody was at Ayran's house besides Harper. The triplets, Billy, Ayrans friends Keshon and Aladdin, and of course Sapphire and Amber. We sat all on the couches in the living room talking to each other about various things like school and home life... since most of us were related.
"Didn't you invite Harper? Looks like she's the only one who didn't show up!" Billy exclaimed. Ayran shrugged his shoulders, looking over to me with sad eyes.
"She didn't wanna come cause of James. She was talkin' in my ear for about an hour cause apparently he 'broke her heart'." He said, quoting the end part with his fingers. Asher let out a long, loud groan of annoyance at his words.
"She's so annoying, man! She needs to stop worrying about him, you know? They dated a year ago!" Asher exclaimed.
"Yeah. I agree." Avery muttered beside me.
"I think it's time we cut her out if I'm being honest with you. I love her to death, but if she's gonna act like this with James..." Amber muttered to us. She let out a deep sigh afterward, bringing a hand up to her face and resting her chin on it.
"She is kinda bad though," Keshon muttered, breaking the silence of the room and leaving us in laughter.
We eventually started smoking from the bong and hookah once they were set up. Ayran and his friends stuck to the hookah while the triplets and the rest of us stuck to the bong- which tasted great, since Avery filled it up with fruit juice instead of water.
I watched Avery pull back his hair into a ponytail when it was his turn to hit the bong. He pulled his hoodie forward, dropping his crystal necklace into his shirt before he leaned forward. He took the lighter from Billy's hand, bringing it to the bowl as he brought the mouthpiece to his mouth. With an easy swipe over the lighter, he pushed it to the edge of the bowl and the smoke began to gather in the pipe.
My eyes were already blurry- it didn't take a lot for me to get high, to be honest. The colors were starting to look different... along with Avery. He looked shinier, brighter, and overall really cool to look at. His scent was intoxicating, almost like he was right up against me.
He pulled back from the bong, pressing his back up against the couch and letting out a deep sigh. The smoke trailed from his fuller lips as he closed his eyes, his head tilted up towards the ceiling. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him- it was like he was the only person in the room. Like we were in this small bubble together.
His red eyes finally opened as he tilted his head in my direction, a faint smile appearing on his lips as he leaned closer to me. His eyes trailed from my forehead, my eyes, all the way down to my lips. His face was so close to mine I could smell the sweet cherry fragrance of the bong on his breath... and before I knew it, his lips were on my own. I only smelled, felt, tasted, and heard him at that moment. I wanted to pull away from him to see the expression of delight he had on his face, but he held me in place by his own hand to deepen the kiss. He overpowered my senses as he pressed his own chest against mine, his free hand finding its way up my shirt, and pushed me against the couch further.
His mouth had power over me. It forced me to clench my eyes shut and allow him to take control of the kiss, his mouth and tongue sweep across my bottom and top lip, soon to be pressed inside of my mouth all over again.
I didn't feel alone anymore at that moment. I felt all of him, yet I wanted more and more from him. I almost felt helpless against his arms, but... I felt myself sinking, yielding, and falling into the arms that left me limp to touch.
He parted my shaking lips. It sent wild tremors along my nerves, leaving me desperate to feel his insistent lips on my own again. I felt my hands travel up his own shirt, desperately clenching onto him to kiss me again. I wanted to cry out to him, beg him to kiss me again with everything he had.
That was until realization dawned on me. We were still sitting with everyone on the couch... the bubble I felt like I was in had popped in seconds of time.
They all didn't really notice what was going on, since they were higher than us. They were either laughing, staring at the wall in silence, or already in the kitchen to get something to eat. Avery took one last look at me before pulling himself up from the couch, muttering that he was going to go sit in the other sitting room that Ayran had in his house. I couldn't find the words to speak as he began walking away, pushing his shaking hands into the pockets of his hoodie.
-------------------
I didn't bother to get up.
I knew I have been laying here for at least half an hour. Avery left me to go sit by himself for a while, probably to collect his thoughts about what just happened. I know I had to.
He had this look in this eyes after he locked eyes with me. He looked almost guilty for kissing me. I figured it was because I was high and I can barely form a sentence, but... I kissed him back. He must have known I wanted to kiss him too, right?
My body felt an overwhelmingly calm, fatigue feeling that left my arms weak. The ceiling was swirling different and the couch felt like I was laying on cotton. I felt everything around me. It felt like I can feel the air, the ceiling light above me, and everyone else in this room. I felt everything.
Suddenly, the sound of Avery screaming filled my ears and knocked me out of the fog I was in. My body shot up from the couch, running into the sitting room where Avery stood in front of the
TV... with everyone else following behind me.
"What's wrong, dude?" Billy asked, approaching him with a hand on his shoulder. He was staring at the TV, leading to all of us following his eyes.
The news was on... and it was a live news recording of his house. The house was up in flames with the title "house up in flames near Clarity Route."
There was no way he did that... it's insane. It must have been on accident...
He pushed past all of us with tears threatening to pour from his eyes. We all piled out of the room as we watched him bolt out into the darkness of the night with nothing but the clothes on his back.
"What... what happened? Why is his fucking house on fire?" Ayran said in disbelief. I shook my head, thinking back to what my papa said earlier. It couldn't be happening... it can't. Aren out of all people wouldn't do something like that. He was the one who always went to my dads church and participated in all of that shit. It just doesn't make sense.
"Do you guys remember all that stuff with my parents that happened all that time ago?" I asked them. It was a stupid question to ask. Everyone knew somewhat about what happened to my dad and the cult that used to be my uncle Matthew's church before he took over.
My grandpa was a really bad guy. I don't know completely what happened to my dad and Uncle Matthew or even my grandma, but I know it was bad. They never wanted to give me the full story because it was traumatic for all of them to bring up.
"Yeah? What does that have to do with anything, James?" Amber asked me. I turned towards all of them, their eyes following me in confusion as I tried to find the words to speak.
"I think it's starting up again somehow. I don't know how because my grandpa is in jail, but everything is getting weird again. Aren has been saying some weird shit to Avery and nobody has been going to either of the churches, I-I don't know how to take it-"
"He's under tight security at the jail. Nobody has called him for years and he's old as hell now, he might not even be alive. I don't think he's trying to start up again." Sapphire said to me. She placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently for reassurance.
"...let's just go follow Avery. I really hope that I'm not right."