Short, Blond and Cute

Blond Hair P1

Chrissy hesitantly started down the driveway, "I can do this." She told herself, believing for a moment that she could be spontaneous, social, and fun to be around.

The front door of the house opened, flooding the driveway with light and loud music. A guy holding a carton of milk burst out onto the grass and up heaved his stomach contents. A small crowd of teens rushed to the door, laughing raucously and cheering.

Chrissy turned away sharply, "Nope." She declared to herself and started for the sidewalk.

"Jen!" Hudson's voice called.

Chrissy turned to see Hudson shoulder his way through the teens and sprint towards her.

"Oh, hey." Chrissy did her best to sound casual, "I thought I had the wrong house."

"Thanks for coming, you're a life saver! My sister's friends were about to dare me to do the milk challenge."

Chrissy smiled nervously, "I'm not really into parties."

Hudson scratched the back of his head and glanced back at the house, the group of teens had gone back inside, "honestly neither am I. But my sister thinks I should be." He peeked at her uncertainly, "you don't have to come in... if you don't want to."

"Um, no we can go in, for a bit." Chrissy surprised herself and shrugged.

Hudson's face lost all its tension and the smile that spread across his chiseled face gave Chrissy courage. He took her hand and lead the way inside, the touch of his warm hand bringing an inevitable blush to Chrissy's face.

The music was loud, and the atmosphere louder still. Groups of teens hung about in clusters, laughing, eating, drinking and two of them were even locking lips in a corner. As they went through the house Chrissy trailed behind Hudson, clinging to him tightly, thankful he was so tall.

"Hudson! Get over here!" a girl's voice demanded as they entered the living room.

Hudson stopped in his tracks and faced the room of teens sitting around, "Why you gatta yell at me?" he shot back with an easy smile.

"Because you always hide!" The girl defended. Crissy guessed that she was Hudson's sister. She had wavy blond hair, a heart shaped face and glossy lips.

"Who's your friend?" another girl asked, trying to get a good look at Chrissy.

Hudson squeezed her hand but made no movement to force her to come out from behind him. "Who's turn is it?" he asked, ignoring the question.

"Yours." His sister informed, the very arch of her brow was a challenge, "Truth or dare?"

"Ah, well I saw what the last dare was, so I'll go with truth."

"Who's your friend and are you dating?" his sister pounced at the opportunity, her friends waited eagerly for the answer.

Hudson laughed like he already regretted his choice, "This is Jen." He said lifting his arm, Chrissy stepped forward under it, feeling certain that her face would burst into flame if it turned any redder. "And we're... friends."

"Awee!" one of the guys cooed patronizingly, "little Huddle's got a girlfriend!"

Hudson's sister pursed her lips and sized Chrissy up while the others laughed at her obvious discomfort.

Hudson laughed easily, "Haha, you guys are hilarious." He started to back away, once again shielding Chrissy.

"Ok Jen, your turn!" one of the teens insisted, "truth or dare?"

Chrissy felt stuck to the floor, being addressed by a fake name and asked to tell the truth at the same time was just too much for her. "Dare." She blurted and instantly regretted it.

The teens stirred with glee, "Make it a good one! Make it a good one!" They urged as ideas were thrown out. "Kiss Hudson!" someone at last demanded and the others agreed with hoots and hollers.

Chrissy wished she could drop dead- she didn't see another way to escape the situation.

"You guys are sick and need help." Hudson pronounced as he smoothly herded Chrissy out the back door and onto the deck. The teens complained but did not stop them.

The backyard was blessedly dark and empty. Chrissy hid her burning face in her hands and moaned in despair.

"Ignore them, their idiots." Hudson soothed.

"You lied!" Chrissy accused and gave him a playful shove, trying hard to pretend she wasn't mortified.

"I did!? About what!?"

"You said you didn't like parties!"

"I don't!"

"Could have fooled me." Chrissy sulked and leaned her back against a wall.

Hudson grinned and planted his hand on the wall high above her, casually taking up the classic wall lean. "Well, you see, I've just gotten really good at pretending to enjoy myself. But I never get to practice when I'm with you."

Chrissy rolled in her lips and bowed her head to escape his gaze.

"Do you like the key chain?" he asked suddenly.

"I love it! but you really didn't have to get it for me."

He shrugged, "I wanted to, I saw how long you stared at the keychains. But you do like it?"

"Yes." Chrissy insisted firmly, "Thank you."

"Good, you know your reaction when I gave it to you really threw me off- I thought I had got the wrong one or something."

Chrissy pushed off the wall and crossed the deck, mentally screaming at Jen, "It just, surprised me, that's all." She turned and offered what she hoped was an easy-to-read earnest smile.

Hudson ducked his own head and nodded. Silence stretched between them as the noises of the party continued inside.

"Can I... can I show you something?" Hudson asked, peeking at her nervously.

Chrissy nodded, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering about sickeningly.

Hudson walked across the deck with a vulnerable hesitancy and uncovered a shadowy object that turned out to be a telescope.

Chrissy stepped forward curiously as Hudson carefully lined up the tool, glancing upwards at the clear and stary sky.

"There- come look." He invited, eyes sparkling.

"You like stars?"

"Well, you're into fish, I'm into space." He said with a smirk.

"Mariene life." She corrected ruefully and stepped forward to look through the telescope, Hudson brushed aside her blond hair and laid a hand on her shoulder; there was a tremble in his hands.

"That is Venus." Hudson breathed, "It has clouds of sulfuric acid that reflect the suns light making it the brightest object in the sky- aside from the moon. And it's the only planet in our solar system that spins clockwise."

Chrissy turned and smiled at him, "it's pretty cool." She whispered and enjoyed his giddy enthusiasm as he went on to share more of his favourite space facts.

The evening slipped away, and it was late when Chrissy returned home, an irrepressible smile on her face.  

I would love to hear what you think so far!