Highway of Life

A Goodbye Kiss

"Angel! Are you ready?" I hear my mother call after me from outside.

"Yeah! Just checking some stuff real quick!" I yell in response. Tears prickle the corner of my eyes as I walk around the vacant house. I've never seen it so empty before. Even when I moved in after Foster Care, my mom already had some furniture. Now it was just like walking through an abandoned ghost town.

I can see the ghost memories of the weekends my friends would stay the night, or when we played capture the flag with all of the boys at the apartments late at night. I remember that night like it was yesterday, both teams wanted me to be on their team because i was the only girl who was playing and i was pretty damm good if i dont say so myself. I also remember that night because I started dating on of the team captains that night, Tanner White. It wasn't a very serious relationship, then again it was only the 8th grade, we we're young.

My train of thought was interrupted when I walked outside and my mom threw the apartment keys to me,"Take the keys to the office and give them to Carol." Carol was the landlord of the apartments. I walked into the office and was greeted by the familiar vanilla bean sent. Carol was out, as always, so I grabbed Ann envelope on the desk and a pen. I closed the keys in the envelope and wrote on the outside 'Apartment 201 key'. I slipped the envelope in the mail box that hung by Carol's office door.

As I was walking back, I was stopped by Quinn. He was an 17 year old creep who always had the hots for me. "I'm going to miss you Angel."

"Really? Well I'll try to come visit."

"Keep in touch please, on Facebook."

"I don't have a Facebook." I lied

"Yeah you do, remember I added you."

"I forgot my password and I can't log in." I said trying to cover up.

"Make a new one."

"But I don't have another email."

"Oh okay," he said in a sad tone.

"I have to go, our flight leaves soon." I stsrted walking away. Quinn grabed my arm and spun me around so i was face to face with him. He started to lean in for a kiss but Tanner, my ex, came just in time to push Quinn out of the way.

"If I heard her correctly, she has to leave. Bye Quinn." Tanner said in an intimidating voice.

Is it terrible to say that I got a little turned on by that?¿ does that me a bad person?

"Thank you," I say as Quinn walks away.

"No problem." Tanner said quietly. We both looked at the ground awkwardly. He finally broke the silence after or what seemed like 10 years. "So, Florida."

"Yeah. My mom says it's for the best, I honestly don't understand why but."

"Parents can be confusing sometimes. Are you excited?"

"Not particularly. It's going to be a lot different than Montana. I mean, Florida. I've always dreamed about living on a beach, hopefully we get a house near or on the beach."

Tanner looked at me with eyes full of sorrow.

I wonder what he's thinking.

"I'm going to miss you." Tanner says unexpectedly.

"I-I I'll miss you too." My heart pounded as Tanner closed the space in between us. As I looked into his eyes, I saw a spark of something. Maybe desire, lust. I don't know what it was but it was hypnotising. He leaned in slowly, and when I thought he was going to kiss me, he pulled me into a soft, cozy hug. A little part of me was disappointed but the other part was relieved.

When we broke from our hug, we were greeted by yet another awkward silence. "Well I should go, my moms waiting for me." I said pointing behind me with my thumb. I turned around and started walking away when I was stopped by a strong hand on my wrist.

Tanner whirled me around and said "I should have done this in 8th grade." before crashing his lips into mine. My breathing hitched when he grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me harder. His mouth parted slightly. Our tongues danced together in harmony.

After a minute or two of our heated make out session, Tanner pulled away slowly. Stunned from what just happened, I just stood there looking up at him, breathing heavy. He bit his lip and smirked at me. "Text me when you get to Florida, okay?"

All I could do was nod. He smiled and walked away. I stood there, too stunned to move. After a few minutes I walked to the moving truck to my mother. She saw my face and smiled, "Did you get a goodbye present over there?"

My face grew a bright shade of red. I climbed into the passenger seat of the truck. I put my headphones in as my mom pulled out of the driveway. I started out the window, lost in train of thought.

I'm really going to miss this place.