Karmyn King

Chapter One

     "Hey, Karmyn? Can I ask you a question?" Elijah asked, over the fence from his backyard.
    "Yeah Lij, what's up?" I replied, walking over to the fence.
    "Are you ready for tomorrow?" he remarked, as he leaned on the fence.
    "Eh, I mean it really could go either way. What's your schedule look like?" I responded.
    "Mostly just your typical freshman classes. Yours?" he smirked, knowing I had a lot of advanced classes.
    "Three freshman classes, two sophomore classes, and two junior level classes. You make any sports teams?" I said, slyly. He shrugged.
    "I tried out for the soccer, baseball, and football teams. Haven't heard back anything yet. You?" he questioned as he jumped over the fence.
    "Well, I tried out for the Volleyball and Softball teams. Made Softball. Tried out of Cheer, but your girlfriend saw that I didn't make that. Sorry." I said, as I realized we never talked about her.
    "Karmyn, I'm sorry she treats you so bad. I really am, but look at it this way, she's not on the softball team and she never goes to the games so that just means I can be there to cheer you on. How are H & H?" he said as we walked over to the patio furniture and sat down.
    "It's not your fault Lij. I don't blame you for the way she acts. They are good, and actually should be stopping by the house here shortly. You want to join us for our game night? It's become a ritual for us the night before school starts." I asked, smiling.
    "Yea I can probably do that. I was supposed to head to Iriana's but she cancelled. What game are we playing?" he replied, smiling at me.
    "I'm not sure yet. You can come inside." I said as I got up. As I got up and started walking towards the door, I tripped. Elijah was right there and caught me before I hit the ground. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. "Lijah..." I started as he leaned closer. There was always this weird sexual tension between us. He backed away and helped me steady myself. We walked into the house. My parents were gone to work so we were home there alone. I walked to the game closet and grabbed a couple of games, when I felt him standing behind me leaning against the wall.
    "Karmyn, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. I know things have been... that there is this weird tension between us and I'm sorry that things like that keep happening." he apologized.
    "Elijah, its fine. I know things can't happen between us. Just don't worry about it, okay? I won't tell Iriana." I replied as I closed the door.
    "Karmyn?" he asked, sadly.
    "What Lij?" I remarked, trying to keep calm. He could tell I was upset.
    "Can I kiss you? Just once?" he asked, not making eye contact.
    "I don't know Lij, I mean your in a relationship with Iriana and..." I said, but before I could finish he grabbed my face ever so gently with his hands. He slowly leaned in.
    "Please Karmyn?" he pleaded. I couldn't speak, so I just nodded yes. He kissed me ever so gently. We were interrupted by the doorbell. He pulled away so fast.
    "Can you get that? I need to go grab something from my room." I stated, as I headed down the hallway. He nodded and headed to get the door. I walked into my bedroom and shut the door and sunk to the floor. That was insane. Ugh. Now these feelings definitely won't go away. I composed myself and my thoughts and headed out ot the living room.
    Elijah had opened the door, and Hope and Hero walked in. They sat at the dining room table and looked at the games. We decided on playing the game Risk, which probably would take most of the night. Usually we played in teams, but tonight we were going to play singles. Hope could tell something was going on between me and Elijah because there was more tension than usual.
    Once we placed our pieces and rolled to see who got to attack first and place additional troops, we started the game. Elijah was sitting next to me and when it wasn't his turn, he kept rest his knee against my leg. I tried to ignore it until the game was over. Halfway through the game, we took a break to make some dinner. I walked into the kitchen and Elijah followed me so he could grab his phone.

"Shoot. I'll be right back. Iriana called 9 times." he said as he walked down the hall, right into my bedroom. 
Hope came in shortly after that and helped me with making dinner. Shortly before dinner was done, Elijah returned to the kitchen to help.
"I swear she has some serious issues. Apparently it's okay for her to know where I am, but I can't ask her where she is. I just dumped her. I'm tired of all the bullcrap and lies. Is dinner ready?" he stated.  I nodded and he headed back into the dining room. Hope and I followed with BLT's and fries.  We ate and finished RISK, which Hero won.

    After Hope and Hero left, Elijah stayed for a little bit longer. We sat in the living room and talked for an hour. We were sitting closely on the couch.
    "Lij? Did you really dump her? For good?" I questioned.
    "Yes, I really did. She's no longer my girlfriend. Which means we can hang out more often." he replied, smiling. I smiled back. He reached for my hand, and this time I didn't pull it away.
    "So, what does this mean for us? Do we stay friends? Do we try and date? Friends who occasionally make out?" I asked, looking confused.
    "Well, for now we can be friends who are currently making out. Come here." he responded as he ran his fingers through my hair and kissed me gently. After he kissed me, he got up and told me he would see me tomorrow.