ASHLEY

12

   "What the hell are you doing here?" I bark harshly. I pick up my keys that I dropped.

   "I wanted to come see you."

   "I don't know if you've noticed but we're not exactly friends Kenneth. Kayla-"

   "This ain't about Kayla," he says. He leans against the door and stares up at me with those puppy dog eyes. "She'll get over it. She always does. But she's not my concern right now. I just wanted to stop by. I-I got in a fight with my old man and I just needed someone to talk to. You were the only one I could think of. I'm being selfish. Sorry for intruding," he says in a low voice. He push off the wall and start heading to his car.

   An array of emotions fill me as I watch him leave. Kenneth use to come to my house all the time when he was having problems at home. He was always welcomed. Plus he seems really bothered. "Wait!" I yell after him before he gets too far. I cringe, slightly disappointed in myself for falling for this and betraying Kayla the way I am. She means so much to me.

   Kenneth turns around smiling that dashing smile of his. I'm so glad I had a date tonight or else Angela would be home. After I told Aunt Jackie about her sneaking off different places at all times of the night she banned her from staying home by herself so I had my cousin come pick her up to chill at his house. His kids love having her around despite the mean things she says about them. I invite Mason inside, knowing we can't just sit out here and talk about personal problems.

   He locks the door behind him and follows me to the kitchen. I hand him a beer, remembering how we use to sneak these things and drink them in my closet. Kenneth always put me up to take one. He was obsessed.

   He smiles, seemingly knowing what I was thinking about when I gave him the beer. I plop down on the couch and he sits down next to me. I curl my legs up to my chest. He makes himself comfortable. "Who was that boy?"

   "I met him at the mall. Isaiah."

   He nods. "You like him?"

   I shrug. "He's a gentleman. Cool too so yeah I guess so."

   He hums then takes another swig of his beer. I watch his muscles flex and unflex as he does so. He scratch the top of his head. "That's good."

   "What were you and your dad arguing about?" I ask, having enough of the pointless small talk. I hate how we're acting like strangers. I guess we are in a sense. We haven't seen each other for years. A lot can happen during that time.

   "Just dumb stuff again. Seems like all he does now is nag about stupid stuff. I just couldn't take it. This beer taste so good." He says switching the subject.

   I shrug and take another swig. I make a mental note of slipping Aunt Jackie some money to replace her beers or something. She knows I drink this stuff sometimes. Very lightly I might add. I'm not much of a drinker.

   A thought cross my mind as I stare at Kenneth. I hadn't realised this until now. "I haven't seen Andrew. Where is he? How's he doing?"

   "Time in jail."

   I sit up straight in my seat, flabbergasted by the news. That doesn't sound like Andrew at all. He may have been Kenneth's older brother but he certainly didn't act like it most of the time. I remember how he use to always stay in his room and read books. He was so shy. We would always play pranks on him when we were little. He use to get so mad at us. One time he and Kenneth actually got in a fight. I don't know how Kenneth was able to overpower his big brother but he did. I guess years of practice player a fair deal in that. Kenneth always was a fighter. "Wha-? For what?"

   He shrugs and answers nonchalantly, "eh I don't want to talk about him. You remember that time we put all those condoms we found in his backpack? He got in so much trouble for that."

   I smile at the memory. "Yeah and when they asked us about it we lied at said we ain't even know what they used for. Your dad chased him around the house with a switch. He lucky Mr. Walker couldn't catch him 'cause he was about to get the worse wooping of his life. We were so mean to him."

   "So."

   "So it was mean. I'm glad I'm not like that anymore."

   "I guess I was the bad influence with you and Kayla." He turns his focus on something else in the room.

   Scooting closer on the couch I rest a hand on his tattooed shoulder, "we weren't good for each other. At least that's what everyone said." My voice drops as I say this. I never realized how true it was until now but I didn't care then and I don't care now. We were the best of friends. I make the mistake of looking him directly in the eyes because he sees this as an opportunity and begins leaning in. I pull back and clear my throat.

   Checking the time on the clock above the entryway to the kitchen I say, "it's getting late. Ain't Jackie is going to be here soon. I hope you and your dad can work things out."

   He gets up from the couch. He pulls me in for a hug. "Goodnight," he grumbles then turns to leave. I release a breath when he close the door behind him. That was so weird. Was he really going to kiss me? He couldn't have. I hope not.