Colors

Nine

I laid down on my bed as soon as I got home and I unlocked my phone. My passcode was 6264, though I would never tell anyone that. It made me feel like a little girl with a crush on a boy in her class. I mean, that's exactly what I was, but I wouldn't admit that. I typed about forty texts to Alex but deleted each and every one of them before I could send anything. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't put what I was thinking into words, and it was so frustrating.  

I eventually settled on not sending anything and laid back on my bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to calm my mind. I knew that if I was in a movie, I'd be throwing some kind of ball up and catching it repeatedly. I just couldn't stop thinking about the way our lips connected. At the party it was a joke and a plan to get me high, but this time there was raw emotion involved, the way he fluttered his eyes open as he pulled away and looked up to my own eyes for the split second where he looked at peace before he tried to flee. I ran my fingertips over my lips gently, trying to memorise the tingling feeling that spread through my body at the feel of his kiss.

It felt like eating ice cream for breakfast, or staying up late as a kid. It felt like choosing not to do my homework or getting away with lying to someone. It felt like I was going to get in trouble, but that only added to the adrenaline pumping through my body and the excitement that got my heart pumping. It felt like sneaking out of the house, but it felt like I was coming home.

For the next week, Mitch wasn't turning up at the park in the afternoons. Again. I hoped that it wasn't becoming a new routine because I couldn't stand spending a week without that scarlet smile. Wednesday night came around and I had just gotten home from school (after an hour's visit to the park, of course). My parents called me into the kitchen before the door was closed, let alone before I could go to see Alex.

"Scott Richard, can you come to the kitchen? Your mother and I need to talk to you about something." I heard my dad call out and my heart tripled in speed, my palms getting sweaty. What did they know?

I took a deep breath and calmed myself, trying not to look guilty as I walked into the room that they were standing in. "What's up?" My mother was washing dishes and my father was drying them. They both stopped what they were doing to look at me.

"Well son, your mother and I were planning on going away this weekend on a small vacation."

It took all of my self control to hold in the noticeable breath of relief I felt in that moment. The feeling that came with knowing that I wasn't actually in trouble was probably one of the best feelings in the world, apart from anything Mitch could cause. "Sounds like fun! Is it just the two of you going?"

"Yes, just us. Lauren is going to stay at a friend's house, but we trust that you'll be okay at home?" My mother asked and I nodded. It wasn't the first time that my parents had just packed up and left, I was just glad that this time it was only the weekend they were leaving for. I didn't want to be babysitting Lauren. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as though I didn't care about her, she could just be a pain in the ass a lot of the time.

I was about to speak in response when my father cut in "you can invite Kirstie if you want... Just be safe." He winked and I almost threw up.

"Nope nope I'm leaving, thanks for letting me know now bye!" I got a soda from the fridge and walked out to the backyard to spend some time with Alex. "Hey Alexander the great." I laid down beside him and stretched out on the grass.

"Hey Scotty the hotty." He retorted and I hit his shoulder gently. "Oh, sorry I'm guessing only Mitch is allowed to call you that?" He poked his tongue out and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, my parents are inside! Besides, how's your other half going?" I asked in a harsh whisper, rolling onto my stomach and propping myself up on my elbows as I wiggled my non-existent eyebrows at my best friend.