Across the Hall (girlxgirl)

nineteen

• N a y a •

After very recent events, I had determined that kissing Ember was one of the worst mistakes of my life, because now, whenever I was near her all I could think about was kissing her again.

Last night, looking down at her with her hair fanned out around her and the twinkle in her eyes I was seconds away from losing all control and just kissing her, with my house full of parents and brothers. All I could focus on was how fucking good she looked under me but then to my surprise, she flipped me and suddenly all I could focus on was how good she looked on top of me.

I was suffering.

"Naya, please could you take the ice outside? Jess and Edward are about to arrive." My mum asked, bringing me out of my thoughts as I tore my eyes away from Ember, cutting watermelon next to me as I sat on the counter. I could afford to since I had already completed my job of making the green salad.

"Is Graham coming today too?" I asked, stealing a piece of watermelon from the plate, I didn't want it but I really wanted to annoy Ember.

"Naya!" Ember groaned, smiling slightly as she gently pushed me and I winked at her as I bit into the watermelon, only for her to roll her eyes at me.

"Of course, he's coming to Naya, he's your cousin." My mum tutted as she continued to make potato salad and spice the meat.

"Damn, I was hoping he'd stay at boarding school this weekend." I sighed deeply before my mum shot me a disappointed look and I could only shrug in reply.

My mum couldn't blame me, Graham was 15 years old, went to a pretentious all-boys boarding school (read misogynistic) and was a major dick about it all.

"Ice please young lady." My mum stressed and I sighed as I slid off the counter, knowing better than to argue when my mum called me "young lady".

I begrudgingly got the ice out of the freezer and packed it in a cooler before taking it outside to my dad who was starting a fire on the barbecue. Once I had placed it by the rest of the drinks I opted to sit down on one of the patio chairs instead of heading back inside to face Amara's wrath.

"What's up short stuff?" My dad asked as he fixed the coal with black hands, he was a firm believer that coal was better than gas.

"Graham is coming." I sighed in frustration as my head lulled back.

"I understand, I don't really like him either." He smiled empathetically. "But don't tell your uncle that."

"Your secret's safe with me if I can ditch this thing." I offered, only half-joking as my dad laughed.

"Nice try, but if I can't ditch neither can you." He teased before lighting up the firelight. 

"What's this I hear about ditching?!" Aunty Jess exclaimed as she waltzed out of the house and my spirits lifted.

Aunty Jess was my dad's youngest sister and the only queer sibling he had, by default this meant she was also my favourite of my dad's siblings. She was covered in tattoos and had platinum blonde hair that was cut short and always styled to perfection. It was weird to see her without Aunty Jada, her wife of six years, but I wasn't surprised. Aunty Jada had recently been promoted to head of her department at the hospital where she worked and had been busy the past few months- she hadn't even met Ember.

"Just an empty threat." My dad grinned as he hugged his sister and I stood to greet her.

"And how's my favourite niece?" Aunty Jess grinned as she enveloped me in a crushing hug. "You've gotten so big!"