Sea of Stars

Chapter 12 - Jenga

"Are you sure you're ready?"

"Yeah... I'm ready..."

"Alright... I'm putting it in now."

I took a deep breath. Nervous beads of sweat began to form on my hairline in anticipation of either pleasure or pain.

With one swift movement...

"FUCK."

The tower collapsed. Wooden pegs spilled downwards, pouring onto the coffee table and bouncing off onto the carpet.

"God DAMN it. I fucking hate Jenga."

I sighed, massaging my temples with my palms. "We tried. We tried and we had fun, that's all that matters." I breathed, attempting to apease myself more than Cartmen.

Cartmen scooped up two handfuls of wooden blocks and threw them against the wall.

"What the hell, man??! This is my house, my parents are gonna murder me if you break something. They don't even know you're here." I screamed, my previously calm tone having transformed into one of an enraged parent.

His expression dropped. The redness of his face faded, then returned as a rosy pink shade. "They don't know I'm here?"

I glanced around the room, my gaze stopping at a chip in the paint on the wall beside the front door. "I guess I forgot to mention it..." I brought my right arm up to my left hand and began scratching at the skin.

For once, Cartmen had nothing to say.

My eyes remained focused on the chip in the paint. "We should clean this up. Before my mom comes home."

"Yeah," Cartmen squatted and began picking up wooden blocks off of the carpet.

God, why did I have to make things so awkward? I exhaled slowly, my gaze at the wall breaking to bend down and help my boyfriend clean up the floor.

We then proceed to partake in the most uncomfortable post-Jenga cleanup that I have ever experienced in my sixteen years of life on this planet.

Through the silence I can hear his breath. I can hear his lungs fill and deflate as he inhales and exhales. I glance up at him, pausing my work. This would usually be my cue to call him a mouth-breathing fatass, but those words are drowned out in my mind by other thoughts. Why is it that all I can think about right now is how it would feel to lay on his chest, to feel it rise and fall, as we drift asleep?

He looks up, meeting my gaze.

I swiftly break the contact, my eyes darting downwards. I can feel heat rise to my cheeks as I stare down at the wooden peg clutched between my fingers.

As I hear my own heartbeat quicken, the sound of Cartmen's breathing fades out.

Suddenly, a warm hand places itself on top of my own. I look back up again, parting my lips, but before I can get a word out Cartmen is leaning into me.

And now, we're kissing.

My eyes widen, startled by the suddeness, but he doesn't pull away. Now I cannot only hear my own racing heartbeat, but his as well, and I can hear them begin to sync together.

We pull away slowly, at the same time. I'm still nervous, but I tilt my head slightly and lean back into him. I can feel him place one hand behind my head, his fingers grasping onto my auburn curls, and the other hand on the small of my back, pulling me closer to him.

I feel as if my heart is now about to burst out of my chest. I drop the wooden blocks I hadn't realized I was still clutching and they spill to the floor for the second time, but neither of us pays any attention to them. I bring my own hands up and place them around his neck, pulling him even closer until there is no space between us, deepening the kiss.

Then I hear the door unlock.

I push him away at the same time he pushes me, the same time the front door opens. I glance up and my eyes lock with my mother's.

Silence hangs thick and heavy in the air, I can feel it weighing down on my shoulders as my mother's glossy, beady eyes peer down at me.

"I thought I told you friends aren't allowed when nobody is home." Her voice slices through the silence like a dagger through flesh.

I feel a lump form in my throat, and I feel words forming on the tip of my tongue that I struggle to force out. "Yeah. Sorry." My voice is weak and cracks slightly as if I were just entering middle school.

She looks me up and down, her stone-cold expression never softening. She glances at Cartmen, then down at the Jenga blocks. "Clean this up." And with that, she strides towards the kitchen, plastic grocery bags in hand, the click-clack of her heels on our wooden floors fading out as she disappears into the other room.

I exhale, releasing the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I clutch my chest, counting my breaths. "Oh my God..."

"Do you think she saw?" Cartmen's voice seemed just as timid and weak as mine had felt.

I hesistate, feeling me eyes unfocus as I stare downwards. I shake my head. "I don't know."

There was another silence, and I felt him place his hand over mine once again. I glance up at him, and he's looking me in the eyes. "It'll be okay. I promise."

I force out a weak smile. How can he be this strong?

He clears his throat and breaks the eyes contact. "I guess I should go now then."

I want to stop him, but I can't. Not only that I know I can't, but my body won't let me. "Yeah."

I stand up after he does and watch him walk over to the front door. He opens it and turns towards me, opening his mouth as if he wants to say something, but then closing it. He stares at me, waiting for me to say something as well, but I can't do anything but stare back.

He nods at me, and with that, walks out the door.

Fuck.