a hot summer breeze whipped my hair against my reddened cheeks as I kicked a ball into my makeshift goal. i was beginning to get bored, but i had nothing else to do. my dad had a double shift tonight and my brother was at a friends house. i picked up my ball and looked around, sighing and blowing a strand of black hair away from my eyes. i heard a loud crash and peered over the fence of our backyard. boxes had tumbled out of the moving truck across the street. an older looking man and a girl about my age were trying to gather everything up. i dropped my soccer ball and jumped over the fence, jogging over to help them. i picked up a box that had rolled to the middle of the street and brought it over to them.
"oh, thank you so much." the older man smiled, taking the box from my hands. the girl looked up at me and smiled, her straight, dark red hair falling away from her face. dark freckles were scattered across her nose and forehead and she had a piercing in the side of her nose. now that i saw her up close, she looked a bit younger than i was, but not by much. i was a few inches taller than her.
"i'm Ava." she held out her hand. she didn't say 'Ava' how you normally say it. it was more like 'aava'. It was pretty. I shook her hand.
"Blake." she smiled again. "I live right there." I explained, turning to point to the gray two story behind us.
"well then I suppose we'll be seeing you plently?" the man came back over to us.
"I'd assume so." I shrugged. they nodded. I waved and walked back to my house, going inside instead of back to the backyard. it was getting too hot. I tapped my nails against the kitchen counter, listening to the 'click, click' of each one. I pulled my phone from my pocket, checking the time. "fifteen-o-seven." I said to myself. about six hours until Dad would be home. I peered out the kitchen window, looking at the old tree house in our backyard. Dad had built it for Joseph when we'd first moved here, but Joseph rarely used it. I changed into shorts, throwing my jeans into the laundry pile, and went back into the yard. I tested the 'ladder' my dad had made, which was really just a rope with a couple of knots in it. It held my weight, so I climbed up, watching for bugs. I pulled myself up onto the wood platform and entered through the doorway designed for an eight year old. 'cobwebs' was the only word I could think of. so many cobwebs. I turned around in the approximately 100 square feet of space. I glanced at my arm and screamed, shaking my arm and jumping out of the room. the spider flew off and I clung to a tree branch.
"are you dying?" I heard a voice come from our neighbors yard and rolled my eyes.
"no, Jake, I'm perfectly fine." I yelled back. Jake came into view, a tall, tan seventeen year old with straw colored hair.
"then why are you screaming?" he asked.
"there was a spider." I muttered.
"what?" he put a hand to his ear, but telling from the smirk on his face he had already heard me.
"there was a spider and if you say anything more I will throw a whole pile of them onto you." I huffed, making my way down the rope.
"no need to get mad." he laughed. I glared at him over the fence. "my mom wants to know if you want to come over for dinner." he smiles, leaning against his side of the fence. I look down at my shoes, hiding the blush on my face.
"umm, sure. what time will dinner be ready?" I ask.
"five. lasagna." I internally fist pumped.
"see you then." he nodded and we both walked to our houses. I went to my room and dug through the clothes shoved in my dresser. I found a jean skirt and black cotton shirt. At 4:56 i walked to their house and knocked on the door. Mrs. Agosti opened the door and smiled.
"Blake! Come in, come in." she pulled me inside, shutting the door behind me. Their house smelled like my grandma's house. Lots of candle and perfume smells. "dinner should be ready in about ten minutes. Jake is in the living room and Miles is upstairs somewhere. Miles!" she yelled. He leaned over the banister.
"yeah, mom? Oh, hi, Blake." he waved. I waved back. He disappeared again, probably back to his room. Miles was my age and Jake was two years older. Jake came around the corner.
"hey, Blake." he smirked. I smiled. We helped Mrs. Agosti with setting the table and then sat down to eat. My mouth watered as she set a steaming pan of lasagna in the center of the table. We started eating. Mrs. Agosti asked some questions like "do I have any plans for summer" or "how has my dad been". The usual questions from adults. Jake was next to me and Mrs. Agosti and Miles were on the other side of the table. I felt Jake's warm hand on my thigh, slowly moving my skirt up. I swatted his hand away under the table. His hand moved back and began drawing shapes on the inside of my thigh. His hand went higher and I coughed, choking on my food. Jake laughed quietly as Mrs. Agosti looked up, startled.
"are you alright, dear?" she asked.
"yes, sorry. I'm fine." I took a sip of water. She nodded and went back to eating. I kicked Jake's shin and he yelped, quickly waving his hand at his mouth.
"food. hot." he muttered as he got an odd look from his family. I tried to help Mrs. Agosti with the dishes but she shoo-ed me away. I quickly followed Jake to his bedroom.
"at the table? really?" I rolled my eyes as he shut the door. He laughed and sat next to me on his bed.
"I couldn't help it." he grinned, pushing me down and then laying next to me. He sat up enough to kiss me. I smiled against the kiss. This was all I had ever wanted. He was all I had ever wanted. His lips left mine and trailed down my chin to a sensitive spot on my neck. He laughed a little as I squirmed. A knock on the door startled us both. Jake jumped up right as Mrs. Agosti opened the door. She took in my position on his bed, the surprised look on Jake's face, and the blush on both of our faces. Her own face turned a bright red.
"What in the hell do you two think you are doing?" She yelled.
"no, mom, it's not-" Jake tried to cut in but his mother's glare stopped him.
"it's not what, Jacob?" she yelled. "Say to me that you two don't have sex." she stepped closer to him. "Say it to me and do not lie." Both of us looked at the floor. "that is what I thought." she said angrily. she stepped away from Jake and towards me. "Get out of my house." She whispered to me.
"Mrs. Agosti, I'm sorry-"
"Get out of my house, you little slut!"
"she is not a slut!" Jake yelled, furious.
"Sluts have sex when they are fifteen." she turned back to Jake. "she is not allowed here anymore. Go to the living room, now." Jake looked at me, an apologetic look on his face. "Now!" she barked. He sighed and left the room. Mrs. Agosti pointed a finger at my neck, where a red mark was forming. "I do not allow sluts in my house." she pointed to the door and left. Overwhelmed, I left the house and entered my own. I slammed the door of my bedroom and sat on the floor in front of my mirror. I examined my dark, straight hair falling past my shoulders. I took off my teal glasses and set them on the floor beside me. I am not a slut. I threw my hair behind my shoulders and touched the mark on my neck. A smile tugged at my lips. Not a slut. Just loved. I looked out my window at the tree house. A lantern filled it with light.
