Shh, Just Kiss Me (18+)

f i v e

(Tommy Marr as Cole Bryan Hamilton)

Cole, looking older than a teenager, stirs a pot as I step into the kitchen wondering where everyone else is early this morning.

And may I thank the Lord for getting a good sleep last night.

"I finally looked up what pathogen means," he says to me, smiling jovially.

"Okay?" I said carelessly. I wasn't in the mood for Cole's stupid conversations, but he's at the right place at the right time doing just exactly what I expected him to do.

He makes my mornings by saying the dumbest jokes and acting like a five-year-old. He's funny, welcoming, and sometimes I crave his presence just so I can laugh internally at his jokes.

Every morning before school started we'd hang by the window near the end of the cafeteria. Cole would always have a circle of people around him while saying the most absurd stories he'd ever tell. "The Window" pretty much made him famous and gave him a social status.

It landed him a spot on the football team and girls. If you hung there, you were automatically accepted. You were seen as one of the "cool kids" from other people's point of view. If you weren't hanging by that window, no one knew you even existed. I always hung by the window with my gang of friends. I was pretty cool with everybody, and everybody was cool with me.

"It's the scientific term for germs." I leap towards him clapping my hands uncontrollably as I jokingly congratulate him offering him twelve dozen cookies.

"You are so smart!"

"Mhm, it's scary."

"What are you making anyway?"

"Broccoli, shrimp, and white rice with some deliciously sweet and spicy sauce."

As much as I would love some fast food in my system, I can't help but think about the taste of sweet and spicy sauce sizzling in my mouth. Grabbing a jumbo silver spoon from the kitchen counter, Cole snatched it out of my hand.

"What do you think you're doing miss Jaide Meilynn Abrianna?"

How does he even know my entire lawful name?

"Tasting, duh!" I grab the spoon back. Fighting with masculine flesh that is much stronger than I am is no fun. But I had fun kicking Cole. I've always wanted to attack him violently. He seems like a cry baby type, and I would love to watch him cry. Unfortunately, he beat me to it and demanded me to stay away from the stove.

"Get back, Coyote Ugly!"

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Zoe bursts in, slamming pieces of wood chops on the table.

"Nun," I reply, walking towards her and wondering what else she had in her hand. "What's all this for?"

"I went hunting for the wood so I can make fire. We've agreed to camp out, so that'll be fun." Zoe finally exposes her smile she's been hiding since last night. I don't blame her. Cole was ruining the fun making us get lost not once, not twice, but three times. How do you manage to get lost three times?

Whatever.

Cole offers Zoe a taste of his special sweet and spicy sauce. Zoe's eyes open wide looking like one of those models from the York peppermint patty commercials.

Her eye pupils began to dilate when the goosebumps on her skin become clear and visible under the naked human eye.

"Dang Cole, where'd you learn to make that?"

"The internet," he adds. " I was bored one day and desperately wanted to know how to cook and made this on the first try. Apparently, everyone liked it so it's been something I like making for others to try."

"Mah heart, mah soul," Zoe cries out jokingly. "Bless you, child, bless you."

"Thanks. Hey Zoe, did you know a pathogen is a germ?"

"For the love of God," Zoe says. "Yes, I know, thanks for making this wonderful creation that I will excrete in the next couple of hours."

"What does excrete mean?"

"Boy," I began picking at the wood chops while Zoe gets frustrated with Cole some more. "Um, can somebody help me set this up outside before I throw a tantrum?"