Assassins Of The Earth - Book 1

Chapter One

'So what, Kari? I made a choice you didn't like. Get over it.'

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, giving Jay, standing across the room from me, his own arms folded and his eyes a little narrowed, a glare. 'You're really so what-ing me right now, Jay? And don't call me that! We're fighting.'

Jay sighed, an air of forced calm in the way he gestured, with his fingers pressed tightly to his thumb and his lips pressed tight against one another. 'OK,' he said, closing his eyes for a short moment in frustration. 'I'll stop. Meg, we need to talk about this. We had agreements-'

I threw my hands up in frustration. 'You and I both know, Jay, that you have no agreements - you have a habit of worrying and a pathological resistance to change. Just because you have a problem with moving away, doesn't mean I have to have one. And you need to get out of this town. It's no good for either of us - it's a dead-end place and I, certainly, have no desire to stay here. And if you do...' I breathed out a shallow sigh. 'If you do, that can be a different conversation. But I don't regret sending off those applications. You can always decline an acceptance letter.' Jay's eyes met mine. 'You know I'm right, as well.'

He gave me a wry look, and then bit the inside of his cheek in an adorable, nagging gesture. 'I'm sorry for yelling, Kari,' he mumbled.

'It's fine.' I said, begrudgingly. 'I shouldn't've sprung it on you.'

I glanced around the bedroom - his bedroom - our bedroom? Put simply, I glanced around the room, white walls and a double bed with a crumpled, grey duvet, scattered with pillows and an extra blanket for me. There were food wrappers thrown across the sapphire and obsidian of the rug, zebra-striped wires tracing the floor, leading from a television half as old as I was to a scuffed controller on his beaten up desk and a dusty white Xbox, a present from years ago now. He'd had a second controller, and we'd grown up playing together here, but it had broken a while ago, so now we mostly watched each other play.

Jay crossed the room, pulling me in close. I inhaled deeply, breathing in his familiar scent of deodorant and fabric softener, burying my face in his chest. 'D'you wanna go out tonight?' he whispered. 'We could get food, go to the skatepark? I got paid yesterday - I've got a little extra, I did some cover work last month.'

'That sounds awesome, Jay.'

'Good.' He cupped my face in his soft hand, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. He tasted like the sweet cut apple we'd been sharing, before we started fighting. 'I really am sorry, Kari. I shouldn't've yelled - that was out of line.'

'It's OK, Jay.' I mumbled, pulling him in for a second kiss. I released him, slipping around him in the small room and pulling his hoodie from the back of his desk chair, tying it round my waist in a quick, practised motion.

He pursed his lips, an analysing look on his face. A grin threatened to spread across his cheeks. 'Can I tell you something? You've gotta promise not to be mad.'

'Oh God, what've you done?' I asked.

'I think, when we were...uh...making out, earlier, I might've smudged your makeup a bit.'

'Oh, you bastard!' I shouted, jokingly. 'I took ages doing that!'

He chuckled, slipping his arm around my back. 'Sara said to tell you there's a fresh eyeliner in the bathroom. She said, and I quote, 'Seeing as she's over here so much, she can stop stealing my eyeliner for touch-ups,' It's in the medicine cabinet, left side, in the drawers - said she wanted to keep it out of Affie's way, for her sake and yours.'

'Oh, I love your sister nearly as much as I love you,' I smiled, running into the bathroom, pulling the short, black pencil from exactly where Jay had said it'd be. He followed me, wrapping his arms around my waist gently and pressing tiny kisses to the back of my neck, slowly moving down my shoulder and collarbone. I stroked his hair softly, and touched up my eyeliner. I felt him smile against my skin, his hands resting on my hips gently.