Selection high

Conflict and Memory

I wake up with grass on my lips and a hand on my back. I slowly move kiles hand and turn around. Good thing I told mom that I was sleeping over at a friends' house.

Kile mumbles in his sleep and I try not to laugh. I can't tell if he's been flirting or not. I hope he is.

I sit up and dust off my top and jeans.

"Where you going?" I hear. His voice, I think, oh my god.

"Nowhere, just letting you sleep"

Kile pulls me back down so that I'm lying right next to him. He hugs me to him. "Stay"

I nod slightly and whisper "okay"

We lie there for a little while in silence.

"Eady?"

"Yeah?" I open my eyes to see Kile watching me nervously "what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just, I was just wandering if you still wanted to go to that party with me"

I laugh "of course I do"

Kile smiles "good. It's tonight by the way"

"So what time are you picking me up then?" I ask propping myself up on my elbow.

"Picking you up? We're spending the day together." He runs his hand through his hair "I mean if you want to"

I smile and bite my lip "id love to"

---
I ran inside quickly to change into a black skater skirt and white long sleeved bodysuit. I pick up a red handbag and wait for Kile to come back from his house. I don't think I could be more happy than I am when he picks me up.

---

We sit in the car outside a small cafe. "Here good?" Kile asks

"Yeah sure"

We go inside and sit at a table in the back corner. I stand up "what do you want?"

"I'll get it" Kile says starting to stand up.

I put my hand on his chest "it's fine Kile I got it"

Kile sits down obviously defeated "I'll have a black coffee and a chocolate muffin." He stops and points at me "I get dinner though"

I smile "if you say so"

I walk up to the counter "can I have a black coffee, a chocolate muffin, a soy latte and a croissant please" I didn't look up through the order so the voice that responded shocked me.

"Eating for two are we?" Erik says laughing

I squint "excuse me?"

He points to Kile "you guys a thing?"

I cross my arms "I don't think that's your business"

Erik throws his arms up in defence "just a question. Why don't you-"

"Is there a problem here?" Kile says coming up behind me

I turn around "no it's fine"

Kile looks at Erik "you being rude to my girl?"

I blush his girl? Erik looks between us and smirks at me "now I know why you said no to me"

"Eady lets go" Kile takes my arm and drags me out of the cafe and into his car.

"What did he mean, say no to me?"

"He asked me to the party but I said I was already going with someone else"

Kile looks slightly pleased but still kind of sad "I'm sorry about that Eady. Erik and I, we're not the best of friends"

I look over at him "why not?"

Kile shrugs "we used to be best friends up until last year. My family wasn't exactly in the best state, my dad lost his job and mom was sick. We spent all our money on trying to get her better. Erik couldn't accept that, he kept asking me to go out, to spend money, to do things that I just couldn't at the time. He didn't understand what I was going through, but I guess he couldn't. He stopped talking to me, started telling people at school that I was poor, that my mom was a drug addict. I confronted him and he admitted it but I was still mad. I started the fight, I admit that. Things just never got better between us."

There's a million thoughts going through my head "is your mom okay now?"

Kile stops the car in front of a park and laughs "that's what you remember from my story? Aren't you going to tell me that violence is never the answer or that I shouldn't have let it get to me?"

"I don't care about any of that. How's your mom now? And by the sound of it, he deserved it all"

Kile looks at me in awe "she's good, fully recovered" he pauses "I missed you"

I look down "I missed you too"

"You did?" Kile looks shocked

We walk to a patch of grass and spread the blanket, sitting down next to each other.

"Yeah I did. I remember just after you guys left, I'd gotten my first model job. It was small and no one probably saw it"

"I saw it. It was beautiful"

I blush "thanks. Anyway I wanted to tell you about it, talk to you about how weird it was standing there being told what to do. But you weren't there, you'd left"

Kile looks at me again "I'm here now. So when you get another model job, and you will. You can tell me all about how you wanted to tell them that you're in charge"

I laugh because that's exactly what I wanted to do. Kile leans forward and places a hand on my cheek, I forget to breathe. His lips meet mine and I feel like I've reached heaven. I kiss him back and run my hands through his hair. He smiles against my lips and breaks the kiss. "Do you want to go for dinner before the party? As in, will you go on a date with me?"

I smile "yes"