Falling Out of Time

Carter | Don't Kiss and Don't Tell

Don't Kiss and Don't Tell

"Whose party is this?" Carter asked as he and Tanner walked up to the front door.

Tanner's face was glued to his phone screen, even as he rang the doorbell. "Don't worry about it. And it's a hang out, not a party, remember? We aren't cool enough to get into the parties yet."

Carter shrugged, not really caring if he ever got that cool. As freshmen, they were already at the bottom of the food chain, though it helped that they played a sport. For now, Carter was fine with a simple hang out; he hadn't wanted to come at all.

But Tanner had been persistent, insisting that Aiden and Clay would be there too. As Carter waited for the door to open, he silently wished he had fought back a little harder. Who cared about a stupid party, anyway?

Sorry — hang out.

The lock finally clicked and the door swung open to reveal Clay, his face beet red. Guess there was alcohol at this hang out, not that Carter was gonna drink any.

"Fellas, nice of you to finally join us!" Clay bellowed.

"Who the hell let you open the door?" Carter joked as he followed Tanner in. He'd been to Clay's house plenty of times; this definitely wasn't it.

"Our host was preoccupied setting up our next game, which you happen to be just in time for."

Carter thought he saw him shoot Tanner a wink, but Clay was shuffling back down the hall before he could be sure. They followed after him with Carter taking his time, trying to put off the inevitable. As they wandered further into the house, he noticed large family pictures hanging on the walls. He glanced at them briefly as he passed — then stopped short.

His heart dropped to his stomach as he stared at the family of four, zeroing in on the youngest daughter specifically. There was only one Asian girl in their class, and her classic smirk shone back at him from the photo.

"Chloe's house?" Carter grabbed Tanner by the back of his shirt and gave him a scathing look. "We're at Chloe's house?"

"Dude, relax—"

"I'm leaving." Carter tried to head back to the door, but Tanner caught him by the wrist.

"Clay, Aiden, come help me!"

Seconds later, Carter felt two sets of hands gripping him by the arms. Aiden and Clay gave him smug looks as they dragged him the rest of the way down the hall.

"Get off!" He struggled to break free, but his friends were anticipating it and only held on tighter.

"No," Tanner said, taking a final look at his phone before eyeing a corner of the room. "We're going to play a game first."

Carter followed Tanner's gaze straight to a group of kids all settled on the floor in a circle. In the middle was an empty bottle, with people taking turns spinning it and waiting to see who it landed on. It took him a second, but he finally spotted her — Chloe, sitting in his direct line of vision.

And Amber, sitting right next to her.

"No." Carter doubled up his efforts to escape. Unfortunately, Clay and Aiden had vice like grips; he wasn't going anywhere.

"Carter," Tanner said calmly. "This is an intervention."

"A what?"

"The jig is up man," Aiden added.

He looked frantically between the three of them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Dude, it's obvious," Clay piped in. "We all know about your crush on Amber."

Carter's mouth gaped as he searched for the words to deny their claim.

"Don't bother," Tanner interrupted. "We've known for a while now."

"And tonight is the night you do something about it," Aiden concluded.

Before Carter could argue, Clay and Aiden tugged him the final few steps to the outskirts of the circle and plopped him down in a vacant space. As soon as Amber noticed him, she moved to get up. Carter eyed her apprehensively as Chloe yanked her back down and hooked their arms together so she'd stay put.

"I'm not doing this," Carter heard her whisper none too quietly in Chloe's ear.

"Well it's my house and I say you are," Chloe declared matter of factly. "Besides, we just got some interesting new players."

Wiggling her brows at Carter, she glanced down at her phone before typing out a quick message. Then, Tanner's phone buzzed beside him, and it all clicked at once.

This was a set up.

"Are you serious?" Carter whispered from the corner of his mouth. "You're in cahoots with the enemy?"

Tanner only shrugged. "Can you blame me? The enemy's hot."

"Carter?" Chloe called, saving Tanner from further questioning. "I think it's your turn."

"No it's not," Carter gritted through his teeth.

"Oh, I think it is." Clay nudged him in his side.

"Go on," Aiden encouraged. "Just reach for that bottle there, and then spin it, and then—"

"I know how to freaking play," Carter bit back. Without much choice, he reached across the space, gripped the bottle tight, and spun it.

Round and round it went, winding up Carter's anxiety with each pass around the circle. He chanced a glance and found Amber staring at the bottle intently. With her attention occupied, he let his eyes linger. It wasn't often he saw her up close like this, and his heart puttered in his chest when his gaze fell on her slightly parted lips. Instantly, he wanted nothing more than for that bottle to land on her.

And then, a miracle happened — the bottle listened.

Cheers went up all around the circle. Amber met Carter's eyes, something she hadn't done in years, and he wanted so badly to get lost in them. It would be easy to lean over and kiss her, to forget their history and what drove them apart.

Stay away from her, or I'll tell her what you did.

But he could never be with Amber... no matter how much he wanted to.

"No," Carter said bluntly, regretting it the second it left his mouth.

A flicker of pain flashed across her face before it iced over. "Like I'd kiss you anyway," she spat. "Wouldn't want to catch a herpes infection."

She yanked free of Chloe's hold and stormed away from the group. Chloe shot him a seething look before running after her. In their vacant spots sat a tiny magnet, confirming that miracles didn't happen. Not to him.

"Well," Tanner said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You screwed that up."

Yeah, Carter thought to himself, staring at the empty space she left behind.

Just like I always do.