The Fourth of July and the Surrounding Events

CHAPTER 13

Getting back to my house felt weird. The atmosphere felt funny and the vibe was completely wrong.

"Alexandria," a voice said from behind me. 

Fuck. Not today. 

"Tyler," I snapped turning towards the voice, "why are you here. I thought you were coming back tomorrow, and where the hell is my mom?" 

His cold eyes stared me down, suddenly shoving me back to freshman year. "Don't swear young lady, and your mother is still in Italy. I had to come back for business, but she's staying until next Sunday." 

Next Sunday... This empty house with just us two for an entire week. 

"Yeah, whatever shithole, don't tell me what to do," I said, instantly regretting it as soon as I saw his eyes switch, but like Morgan's usually do, the second I saw the switch, it was gone. 

Calmly, he grabbed his suitcase handle and his phone and walked off to my mom's room. "Buy yourself dinner, I'll be going out tonight."

Disregarding his weird attitude, I walked up the stairs to my room. Yes, it was strange but if I think about it too much I'm going to go into a state of panic about everything in my life. 

Seeing as I had already eaten dinner at Mateo's, I went to the bathroom. Stepping into the shower, I let my body relax, the warm water rinsing the dried tears off my face. Turning the water off, I stepped out of the shower and into some comfy clothes, getting ready to toss and turn over the impending stress of tomorrow. I still don't know why I agreed to this ridiculous plan to apologize. 

Surprisingly, falling asleep was the easiest thing in the world. As soon as my head hit the pillow, the stress disappeared and I fell into a dream-filled sleep. Dreaming of the carnivals my dad had taken my mom and me to, I woke up with a smile on my face. Which was quickly replaced with a worried look. Today was the day. Maybe I don't completely know if I like Morgan or not, but I do know an apology is in order. 

Luckily, the morning went by smoothly, thanks to Tyler being gone from the minute I had woken up. Everything was right in the world, for now.

Getting in my car, I drove over to Morgan's house. Driving down the forested Maine roads, I rolled the roof of my car down, letting the warm July air breeze through my hair. Yeah, I messed up big time messing around with Katelyn, with Morgan still in the picture, but it's not too late to fix things. 

I can fix this. 

Stopping my car on the side of her roundabout driveway, I nervously twiddled my thumbs on the steering wheel. 

Ok, this is definitely not a good idea anymore. She's probably not even home. Shut up, Alexandria, she doesn't have anything to do in this damn town. Maybe she's selling the house? GET OUT OF THE DAMN CAR! 

My annoying thoughts finally got the best of me, and before I could even process what my body was doing, I was knocking at her front door. A minute or so later, the door swung open and I was greeted by the crying lady from yesterday. 

"Oh hello," the middle-aged woman said, "I'm Mrs. Laurent, who are you?" 

Stammering, I managed to squeak out that I was Alexa and here to see Morgan. Before Mrs. Laurent could even turn around to call Morgan, she was shouldered aside and a still very angry Morgan stood face to face with me. Immediately losing all confidence I had in myself and this encounter going well, I stumbled off the step and back onto the porch. 

"Alexa," her normally gentle voice spat, now iced over. 

"H-hi, Morgan, I, uh, came here to um-" I began to speak but was almost instantly cut off. 

"What? You're here to tell me you played with me but you're sorry? That I was only a joke to you? Maybe even a Fourth of July dare? Go back to your fancy blonde bitch," she snapped at me. 

Turning back around, presumably to slam the door in my face, I saw my last chance to explain and took it. "I'm not with Katelyn," I blurted out, her face changing a bit as she allowed me to continue, one hand still on the doorknob, "I didn't play you. I was, NO, I still am really confused. And I know that's not an excuse, but I'm sorry." 

Dropping her hand off the door, she shut it behind her, stepping towards me onto the porch. "Continue," she said impatiently. 

"You weren't a joke or a dare to me, you never were and never will be. If you'll give me a chance for us to start over as friends, I promise it'll be better this time," I said hurriedly, getting out everything I needed to say. 

On second thought, no, there's more I have to say. 

"And yes, at the caves I was going to kiss you. You weren't imagining it." 

God, that felt nice. 

With that last sentence, Morgan took a final step towards me, flipping us around, pinning me against the old wooden door. Before I could even process the sudden movement, she crashed her lips into mine. My legs instantly turning into jello, I was extremely grateful for the door holding me up. 

Her hands roamed my body like they owned it, touching every uncovered inch of skin like she was a sculptor and I was her clay. Going deeper into our kiss, she moved one of her legs in between mine, leaning slightly in with pressure. A muffled moan escaped my lips which she gently bit down on, pulling away. Breaking the passionate kiss, she broke us apart completely, pressing her thumb against my bottom lip. Subconsciously, my mouth fell open and my gaze went upward to her eyes. 

Well, so much for starting over as friends. She knows exactly what she's doing and I'm letting her. 

Smirking, she tapped my nose and motioned for me to move aside. Not knowing what she was doing, I obliged, moving to the left. Opening the door, she stepped inside, and just like that, I was alone once again.

Brushing my shirt down and smoothing my now messy hair, I forced my legs to walk me to my car, stumbling off the curb. 

What just happened. Did I just make out with Morgan? Wait. Morgan kissed me. Morgan kissed me. Oh my god, Morgan kissed me. 

Taking a moment to breathe, I looked up at the ancient brick house, half expecting to see her staring out a window, with no such luck. Pulling out of her street, I sped down the New England roads at the same speed as my heart. I haven't felt this way since, well, ever. Jayde made me feel safe. Katelyn made me feel pleasure. But Morgan, well, she made me feel everything at once. Happiness, fun, passion, love, pleasure. Everything I never thought I'd find in one girl, I discovered with one kiss. 

Now, I'm definitely not a "love at first sight" kind of girl, but maybe an "I want to hold you even with the world burning down around us" kind of girl.