Never Been Kissed

- TWENTY -

                                                         -• TWENTY •-

Laurel pushed Opal on the swings, their combined laughter filling the air with a tangible amount of glee. I sat on the twin sing in the set, watching Opal’s happy face contort with eager smiles as Laurel pushed her, holding onto the top of her hat as the wind blew past.

“Faster!” Opal yelled at the top of her lungs. “I wanna go so fast, Laurel that I’ll be faster than a rocket! Or a runner!” she kicked her little legs in the air frantically. “Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Laurel’s laughter erupted; it was this tinkling thing, full of notes that filled the air and possibly spread happiness with it. It was infectious, and soon I was laughing too. This was weird because I hadn’t even cracked a smile since we left their house. Laure’s dreadlocks were spilling out of the weird hairstyle she’d put them in and onto her shoulders. In the sunlight, I could tell that her hair was more of a honey brown than the mahogany brunette that her mother and brother sported. There were even blonder strands.

I thought back to the picture I’d found in Beck’s room last night before he came in. Thinking about it, Laurel looked like him the most. They even had that same bone structure in the face. That man had to have been their father.

Laurel caught my pondering gaze and the sympathy showed on her face.

Her hands left Opal’s back, and my sister frantically clutched the plastic encased chains, giving Laurel a dirty look over her shoulder. “Hey! What gives?”

“Why don’t you show me that you can do it all by yourself, Opal?” Laurel smiled encouragingly. “I bet you can go faster, even without me!”

Opal made a face before nodding in her obvious agreement. “Okay.”

Laurel walked over and sat on the swing seat on the adjoining set. She swung forward a little slowly, her feet brushing the sand pit underneath her. “What’s up, Amber?”

I looked up at the sky; brilliant blue. A few birds were flying around, but other than that, the sky was empty. Just like my heart. “Nothing...” I replied downcastedly.

Laurel scoffed. “That face is not ‘nothing’. Something’s up. It’s got to be about Beck, right?”

I felt my face pale as it snapped over to meet hers. “N-no. W-who s-s-says e-everything is about your b-brother?” Oh God, the stupid stuttering gave me away. I felt my cheeks burning something fierce. I could’ve died from embarrassment.

Laurel smirked triumphantly. It wasn’t a mean one, it was just a ‘see, I was right’ kind of smirk. Completely harmless. But so humiliating. Because without even saying anything, she’d managed to crack a secret that nobody had even realized until now.

“You like my brother, don’t you?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I covered my eyes with my hands and groaned. “I’m really open, aren’t I?”

“No, I’m just really, really good at reading people.” I looked at her to elaborate and she twirled a dreadlock around her finger. “I go to a school where having that ability makes you a survivor. Being able to read people determines whether you’ll stay afloat in a sea of liars.” She shrugged. “Now, you, like my brother. It’s easy to see. And he’s being a dick, as far as I’m concerned. I’d prefer you over that entitled bimbo any day.” Laurel flashed me a grin, and then her face got all serious. “How long have you like him?”

I felt my cheeks burning and stared at the sand underneath my slippers. “I don’t even know. He was my first friend really. The first person that didn’t look at me and see a girl that’s nuts. I don’t know where I got these feelings from, but one day, I just... realized...”