WOMEN |H.F|

16

ARDEN KELLY

The car comes to a hilt, the dark night sky filled with dazzling stars and the silvery moon. A slight breeze makes the leaves of the tree at the end of the driveway rustle.

"Thank you, Dana. Have a good night." I whisper because both the boys are knocked out and three-quarters of the neighbourhood is asleep.

Dana blows a kiss and waves goodbye. Havan leads me up the steps to the front door. She unlocks it and opens the door, waiting for me to go inside first.

"Mom's working a night shift, so we're safe." She laughs as she flicks on the lights. I let out a relieved sigh, I was scared of getting caught by Melissa.

"Good, 'cause I want to do something. I don't care if it's night, I've got too much energy." I say as I lean against the kitchen counter.

Havan pours herself a glass of water, offering me one too, which I gladly take. She ponders for a while then glances at me with a smirk spreading across those pretty lips.

"I can think of a few things."

When she said she thought of a few things, I thought she meant something like baking some biscuits or building a pillow fort, just anything but this!

"Are you sure this is safe?" I ask, frightened, standing on top of a skateboard. Not that I can't skate but the two of us on one skateboard at the end of our street, and that part goes precipitously down the hill.

"Yes, it's fine. I've done it a million times." She spoke from behind me, her lips close to my ear creating a fluttering feeling in my abdomen.

"Are you mental?!" I whisper-shout.

She grins and takes a hold of my waist, gripping it steadily but not too tight.

"No, only a little insane." That's the last thing she says before her foot hits the pavement and brings movement to the wooden board with polyurethane wheels.

I want to scream but I can't, I don't need to, it's actually not that scary at all. The wind is gliding over my face, it feels like I'm floating. Feeling like a bird, flying through the sky, I spread my arms, thinking of them as my wings. Havan still has a strong grip on me, she steers our way down the asphalt hill. Small lights of front porches burning in the dark night, lighting up the road enough to see where we're going.

I feel overjoyed, I feel intoxicated by the flowery smell of Havan's perfume, I feel thrilled by the adrenaline rushing through my veins, I feel- I feel free.

The board slows down but doesn't stop when we're down the hill. I glance behind to see Havan at peace.

"Thank you for this. For this moment, for this feeling."

She doesn't say anything but rests her head on my shoulder, keeping her gaze in front of her. I look up, to see a thousand twinkling stars right above our heads. I close my eyes, place my hands on top of hers that are on my waist. I trust her. Her heartbeat increases, I feel it hammering against my upper back.

"Look, a shooting star. Make a wish." Havan whispers, her breath is a bit unsteady from pushing off her foot on the smooth lane.

A smile spreads on my face, I hum, making it seem as if I'm trying to think of a wish, even though I already have one.

'I hope to experience more moments like this with you, H.'

I disclose my eyes and peer at her as the skateboard comes to a stop in the middle of the road. Ahead of us; home. Havan battens her eyelashes down, facing me.

"Have you made your wish?"

I hum in confirmation; "I have."

She nods, unwraps her arms from around my waist. She gets off the board, reaching out for me to grab her hand. Both our feet are now on the ground, twelve inches apart from one another. Without hesitation she embraces me, which causes me to enclose my arms around her neck.

"I'm the one who should say thank you, Arden." Havan murmurs in my cashmere jumper.

"Why's so?"

We break apart from the hug and take place next to each other on the curb, so close that our knees almost touch. 

"You take your time with me, you make me feel seen, you make me feel not alone anymore. I just really needed that and you gave it to me."

My pulse rises more and more after every reason she listed. She sighs and wipes her shaking, clammy hands on her trousers.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask.

Havan nods and hesitantly utters her confession; "Arden, I think I'm ready now. I'm ready to be who I am"

Her eyes are a bit glazed with happy tears, finally getting those words out. I try to process what Havan said and blush, glancing down at our hands, that are fairly touching. I softly glide my thumb over the back of Havan's hand, causing an electric shock to go through both of our veins.

I look back up to see her already glancing at me. My mouth opens a bit, pondering if I should ask what I want to ask.

"I'm proud of you, Havan. I really am, but c-can I ask you something?"

She faintly nods.

"Would you mind if I kiss you, now?"

A shy smile forms upon her lips as she nods, more enthusiastically than before. I slowly lean forward, she shuffles closer to me, I carefully place her on my lap. Our faces inch closer and closer as seconds go by. I stare down at her lips then her eyes, asking for a silent confirmation. She gives an almost unnoticeable nod, once again. When I close the gap, I bring one of my hands up to her left cheek, pulling her even closer. Havan starts moving her lips gently against mine.

After a minute I pull back for just a second to admire her, she looks so pretty. Feeling the desire burning inside me to have her close to me again, I wrap my arms around her neck. She joins in too, taking initiative this time. No things rushed, I let her choose the pace, to let her feel as comfortable as she can be.

I kiss her soft, pink lips, moving down her neck, leaving chased kisses on her jaw. Returning back to her lips, I kiss them a little more heavily than before. Her hands make their way to the back of my head, fingers lacing in my soft medium layered hair. When we finally are forced to pull apart to catch our breaths, I lean my forehead against hers. Staring in her big brown eyes, a few pants leave my mouth.

I close my eyes for a second then look back at her. She laughs, happiness plastered all over her face. We lay next to each other on the grass of the house's lawn, staring up at the midnight sky with big goofy grins on our faces.

I turn my head to the side, studying her features. I watch a few strands of her dyed hair rest on her closed lids, meeting her long eyelashes. To others she might seem like a normal girl but if being perfect was a real thing, she would be perfect to me. My irises travel to her lips, which are more plump than before. I reach out and place my thumb against them, causing her to face me. 

"Would you like this to be something? I don't want to rush into anything, by the way. I just", I sigh and look down, "I really like you, Hava." My voice grows smaller after every word.

Havan's lips curled up into a toothy smile.

"We can take things slow, we don't need to tell anyone if you don't want to. It can be our little secret." I quickly told her.

"Okay" She then whispers.

I'M INTERNALLY SCREAMING!! YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT I HAD THIS WRITTEN OUT FOR A LONG TIME, I JUST HAD TO FIND THE RIGHT MOMENT TO THROW IT IN THIS BOOK. 

THE SONG THAT INSPIRED ME TO WRITE THIS IS 'FLY' BY BLOODWITCH.