a d r i a n *
Halden is my best friend, we've been best friends since we were in third grade, and we're seniors now. It's Friday, and Halden, me, and a bunch of our friends are sitting in the back of a classroom for our free period, and the last class of the day, Halden is sitting beside me on the couch, his legs thrown across my knees. We're all laughing about something that our friend, Simon, said. I look up and make eye contact with Bri, short for Brielle, Halden's twin sister. She stares at me. I find this odd but look away, focusing back into the conversation with our friends. I find Simon telling a story of this past weekend at his two-year-old niece Hali's birthday party.
"So then, she runs across the room screaming bloody murder, literally and she's not paying attention to where she's going and she runs into Tommy's leg, looks up, screams and plops down on the floor and starts crying," Simon says, laughing the whole way through. "Obviously, she hasn't been around Tommy much because he's been in the Army, but now that he's back home for good, she's still trying to get used to him." Tommy is Simon's brother, so her other uncle.
Sierra, another friend in our friend group starts laughing. "I know when Blake came home from boarding school after I had West, she screamed and refused to look at him for like three days because she was scared of him," Sierra says, laughing. Blake is Sierra's boyfriend and baby daddy. Her daughter, West, is two years old now, and Blake just recently came back home from boarding school and moved in with Sierra. When Blake's parents found out that he got Sierra pregnant, they were furious, and honestly, 'furious' is an understatement; they were so upset they sent him to boarding school so that he missed the first two years of his daughter's life--at least they were hoping that's what would happen, but Sierra and her Mom went down several times with West and saw him. After he got out of boarding school, he went back to his parent's house, got his stuff, packed it up and walked out, basically saying they weren't keeping him away from his family. They tried to convince him he was making a huge mistake, but he refused to hear them, knowing they were just trying to prevent him from being there for his girlfriend and daughter.
Kyla looks up, laughing as well. She's a teen mom too, Halden and I are friends with a few teen mom's that are in our class. Her baby daddy left her right after he forgot to pull out and found out she was pregnant. Her son, Jaxon, is nine months old now, and she's doing amazingly. Actually, she and her baby daddy's relationship was toxic, and she met someone, his name is Dean, and they're doing amazing; Dean really loves both her and Jax, and I'm happy for her.
When the bell rings, Halden swings his legs off of me and we both stand up.
"Hal, can I borrow Adri for a second?" Bri asks.
"Sure," Halden tells his twin sister. "But don't keep him too long, we have plans this evening."
Bri nods and drags me out of the school, after we get our stuff, and over to an empty place in the courtyard.
"Adri, you know I love you and my brother and I'm so glad you're in his life, and he told me not to tell you this but I can't keep it in anymore, so here goes: Halden likes you, and I only told you this because I know you like him, too." She says quickly, looking at me.
"How did you know that I like him?" I ask her.
"Oh, please, Adri, I've seen the way you look at him."
"Is it that obvious?"
"Apparently not because Hal still hasn't noticed anything,"
I laugh. "Well..." I say quietly. "Thanks, I think,"
"No problem. And I'm sorry, but I was literally bursting at the seams to tell you."
I walk off, back towards Halden, who's standing at my car.
"What did she want?" he asks me. I don't know if it's because I'm just noticing it and it always happens, or if it's because I know he likes me too, but my heart starts to pound in my chest.
"Oh, she just wanted to tell me something, so, where to first?" I ask him.
"Um, we can stop by both of our houses to change. Who's staying at who's house tonight, by the way?"
"I don't care," I say, looking over at him. "Whatever is easiest,"
"We can stay at mine," he says.
"That's fine. So we can stop by my house first, so I can change and grab my stuff, and then we can stop by yours, so you can change and I can drop stuff off there."
"Sounds good,"
Halden and I decided we were going to the movies tonight to see Aladdin (2019) (which if you haven't seen, you should, it's SO good!). We stop by Taco Bell first and eat, then head to the movie, which starts at 6:00. We get our tickets, snacks, and drinks and head to the theater we're supposed to be in and find our seats in the very back.
After the movie is over, at 8:30, we head back to my car.
"Wanna take a drive down to the lake?" I ask him. "Before we head back to your house?"
"Sure," he says, looking at me with a curious expression in his eyes. His blue eyes sparkle in the light of the movie theater parking lot as I stare at him, and I almost lean in to kiss him right then and there but hold myself back.
The lake is about 12 to fifteen minutes away from the movie theater, and about fifteen minutes away from Halden's house, so it's kind of in the middle of the two and is definitely on the way. I pull into the gravel parking lot.
"Come on," I say, grabbing his wrist and pulling him behind me. "We're not going to our normal spot, I discovered a new spot the other day when I was up here, and it's beautiful." And it is beautiful, but it's also private. Eventually, I drop Halden's wrist and he follows me to the spot. When we finally get there, his mouth drops.
"It is beautiful," he says. It's an overhang, secluded by trees, and roped off so nobody can fall, but it has a view of the lake.
"It's even prettier at sunset," I say, looking over at him. "I don't think anyone knows it's here, to be completely honest, I don't even know how I found it, I was just walking around and saw it. After a few minutes of not speaking, the only thing being heard are crickets and the water, I turn to Halden and walk over to him.
I look at him, feeling my heart pounding quickly in my chest. "So..." I say, trailing off. He looks up at me, getting off the ground and standing up. "Are you ever gonna kiss me, or what?" I finally say.
"What?" he asks, but before he can say or do anything else, I close the gap between us and press my lips against his. I cup his face in my hands, hoping he comes closer to me. He doesn't, so I move my hands, wrapping my arms around him and drawing him nearer to me. He kisses me back, deepening the kiss when I pull him in closer.
He pulls away. "How'd you find out?" he asks me, breathlessly.
"Your twin sister," I say, and kiss him again before he has a chance to say something against his sister. He breaks the kiss, looking at me.
"How long?" he asks.
"Since what?" I ask him.
"Have you known?"
"Today."
"How long have you like me?"
"Sixth grade,"
This time, it's him who kisses me before anything else can be said. I pull him closer to me, holding him close.
Halden opens his bedroom door, letting us in, then shuts the door behind him. He pushes me back on the bed, pushing me against his pillows and climbing on my lap. He tips my chin up and leans down, pressing his lips against mine. His lips press against mine hard, yet soft, at the same time, and he kisses me as if he's wanted to kiss me his whole life, deeply and passionately. He pulls away, and I open my eyes, but he keeps his closed for a few moments, opening them again mere seconds later. His features light up in a smile as he looks at me, stroking my cheek.
"I love you, Adri," he whispers.
"I love you, too, Hal," I whisper back. He leans forward, stretching out on top of me, and both of us fall asleep before changing, waking around midnight only to cover up and readjust, but he climbs back onto me, and I hold him close against me, both of us falling asleep almost instantly.
12/23/19
