game || kyle david hall

chapter vii. galaxy

Evangeline

I walk up to the front door of Kyle's house, taking a brief minute to straighten out my hair before ringing the doorbell. The doorknob begins to turn and click and I'm greeted by a soft smile coming from Kyle. "Happy birthday!" His smile grows, stepping out of his house and onto the front porch with me.

"Ah, you remembered."

"I mean, how could I forget?" I faintly giggle. "Do you wanna go for a ride?" I gesture towards my car parked by the curb.

"Yeah, let me grab my phone. I'll be out in a second." Within a few seconds he's back outside, phone in hand, "Uh, you look really nice by the way." He lightly grabs the back of his neck.

"You don't look half-bad yourself," I smile, glad that things aren't as terribly awkward as I expected them to still be.

The both of us head down the driveway towards my car, Kyle calling shotgun. "So where are we going?"

"It's a birthday surprise." I look over at him briefly, his hair framing his face perfectly, even though it's been covered by a beanie; as per usual.

♢

I pull into a parking spot close to the front of the building, the windows partially blacked out and a neon 'open' sign hanging to the right of the door. "I'm gonna get abducted, aren't I?' A slight bubble of laughter escapes Kyle's lips as the both of us step out of the car. 

"I mean, that's exactly not the plan," I smile, grabbing a blue gift bag out of the backseat of my car before following Kyle up to the door. "And here we are." I open up the door for the both of us and we're greeted by the musty smell of a rollerskating rink. The tacky navy blue and purple carpets cover every visible inch of the floor, leaving only the wood of the rink itself unconcealed. A majority of the regularly neutral colored lights have been changed to different colors, illuminating the building to the likes of a galaxy. 

My eyes scan around the place one more time before seeing Johnnie wave in the direction of the two of us. I grab Kyle's hand, taking him along with me while he's still in awe of the mediocre rollerskating joint. "Happy birthday!" Everyone walks up to Kyle, finally taking his attention away from the bright colors.

"Thanks, you guys." His eyes genuinely light up, registering the fact that we were still holding hands, but I didn't object. 

"Why don't you two get skates and we'll meet you out on the rink," Alex tells both Kyle and me, taking a glance at our intertwined hands before looking back up at me.

Kyle nods his head, catching a glimpse of our hands, and quickly removing his from my own. "S-Sorry." He stutters nervously, his face turning a shade of beet red and I can't help but smile as he feverishly smooths out his fringe. 

We both grab a pair of skates, lacing them up before heading out onto the scuffed up rink. The two of us make it about halfway around and combined, we've fallen a grand total of seven times. "Mind if I steal her for a second?" Alex shows up behind us, grabbing my arm and I try my best to keep my balance as she drags me along. "Thanks!" She shouts, waving back at Kyle.

"Look, I know what you want to talk about and-"

"You and Kyle were holding hands."

"I am aware." A bit of a laugh leaves my lips.

"So like, are you guys datin-"

"No." I shut her question down before she even finishes it. "We just mended our friendship a month ago, I'm just generally trying not to fuck anything else up at this point." My smile quickly fades into fear as I almost lose my balance while we make a turn on the rink. 

"You alright?" She asks in between laughs, to which I respond by rolling my eyes. 

"I'm fine, thanks." I giggle. 

"Hey, do you guys wanna head back to mine and Johnnie's place for pizza?" Bryan catches our attention as we near the exit of the rink. 

"Definitely." Alex answers for the both of us as Kyle comes around and behind me.

Us three take off our skates, returning them and putting our own shoes back on, following the rest of the gang out of the building and into the parking lot. "See you guys soon!" I shout to everyone else as Kyle and I get back in my car. 

"Sorry about Alex," I chuckle to myself a bit, looking over at Kyle. "Girl stuff." 

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." He smiles slightly and I can tell that it still bugged him to an extent.

"Hey, look, I'll make it up to you. We can get ice cream on the way."

"Actually, that sounds really good." He laughs.

♢

We pull up to a somewhat nearby Oberweis and I'm already imagining the plethora of flavors available. I follow Kyle up to the door, as he opens it the slight 'ding' of a cowbell rings out in the shop. "Get whatever you want. I got the bill." I say, staring up at the menu.

"No, no, I'll pay for myself, Eva. Don't worry about it." 

"Don't be ridiculous, you don't even have any money on you." I laugh, turning my head to the side, making eye contact.

"And you're totally correct." He laughs in return, looking down at his shoes. "I'll take a medium rocky road, in a cone." He orders. 

"And I'll have a medium raspberry sorbet, in a cone as well." I hand over the necessary amount of money to the cashier as we wait off to the side for our ice cream, and, well, sorbet.

In a minimum of thirty seconds, our frozen treats are complete and handed over to us. Kyle follows me out of the shop and to my car outside. We're both silent for a handful of minutes, finishing our dessert inexplicably fast before Kyle actually speaks up. "Look, Eva, you really didn't have to do this for me. Thanks."

"Don't worry about it." I lightly giggle. "It's your birthday and here's one of your two gifts." I look in the rear view mirror, eyeing the gift bag remaining in the backseat since we decided we weren't going to open up presents at the rollerskating rink. 

"Well, what's the second gift?" He has a slight smirk on his lips, but his eyes glow in curiosity.

"I mean, it's literally in the back seat, but I can't tell you what's in it. It'll spoil the surprise." I nudge his side, barely moving him. His eyes trained upon mine, but darting in between them and my lips.

"Hey, you have a little something on your mouth." He gestures with his pointer finger.

"Here?" I wipe the left corner of my lip with a napkin.

"Nope." He smiles, letting out a petite sigh. 

"How about... here?" I wipe the other side.

"Just let me get it." He chuckles, getting incredibly close to my face, taking the napkin out of my hand and into his. "It's right about," He cuts himself off, promptly pressing his perfectly shaped lips against my mediocre ones. "There." He retracts himself slightly, the tips of our noses just barely touching.