The Guide To Becoming a Chameleon

9. This Isn't Anything Serious

"Get out." He says, undoing his seatbelt himself. I blink, and obey. I open the car door and cool air hits me. I breath it in. It smells so grassy, so alive.
I hear Jake close the car door from his side and he starts walking. I follow suit.
"Where are we going?" I ask.

"You'll see." Is the ominous answer I get.

I walk beside him, our hands brushing together. Neither of us does anything about it though. Jake finally stops in front of a big, open area. It's a playground. He looks at me and grins, a boyish charm on his face. My face lights up when I comprehend what he means.

I walk to the swing and sit on it, making it creak a little. Jake follows. I push the ground with my feet and clutch the metal chains of the swing. It immediately starts oscillating. In a few minutes, we're both laughing and swinging really high, adrenaline running fresh in our veins. I push the ground harder, hoping to reach the sky higher than Jake.

"I do it better." I say, like a child, my voice caught between laughing.

"Oh, you wish, Parker." He laughs and tries to get past me.

"Suck it." I say, and close my eyes, feeling the cold breeze eat my face away. I open them to see a star staring back at me. I push harder, as if I could fly and touch it. Jake slows down, and so do I, eventually stopping. He kicks a pebble on the ground, the hint of a smile still on his face. He looks at me, his fair slightly moving from the breeze and his cheeks red from the cold. My smile fades slowly too, a hint remaining on my face. 

We make eye contact for five seconds before looking away, a hint of red on my cheeks. I probably look terrible, my hair wild and messed up. He jumps out of the swing.

"Last one to the top of the yellow slide," he says slowly in a low voice, "is a rotten egg."

He shoots to the wider, yellow slide and I shout, "NO FAIR!" while getting down the swing. He smirks and it barely takes him three seconds to get on the wretched thing. Damn him and his long legs.

"I AM THE KING OF FUCKING NOWHERE AND YOU MAY NOW PROCEED TO KISS MY ASS." He says, throwing his hands up dramatically. He slides down and sits on the side, clearing the way for me. I laugh, and slide down too, landing right beside him. My stomach hurts from all the laughing and I try to stop. He grins. Slowly and after a lot of hard work, I stop laughing but still unable to stop my smile. This is a free Jake, a more childish one, a more carefree one, like all of the problems in his world have disappeared, like he's still that boy from so many years before who had his childhood stolen away from him.

"I have never had so much fun in a playground before." I say, my cheeks hurting.

"That's because you've never been here alone." He replies.

My eyebrows shoot up, "You have?"

He laughs, "Jesus no, Kiara. Of course, not. Not before this."

He looks at me and I look at him and we're so close that I can practically see his electric blue eyes turn dark, his pupils dilating. He swallows, making his Adam's apple bob up and down. He twirls a strand of hair on my face on his long, cold fingers and tucks it behind my ear, making my breath hitch at his touch. I'm not sure it's because of the cold. Up close, I can smell his musky, boyish deodorant and I want more of it.

I kiss him, and he doesn't waste any time kissing me back. He puts his finger under my chin and kisses me as if I'm made up of porcelain. This is different from the kiss we shared on the sidewalk. It was like he was kissing me to life then. Now, it's as if we're sharing it. He tastes like citrus and honey.

But I want more. I deepen the kiss, lacing my fingers through his soft brown hair and pulling him to me. Somehow, I end up under him and with his hand on my waist under my shirt. His fingertips are cold, making me shiver. He moves his lips to my neck.