One•Shots

levin + carsten

l e v i n *
Yay!! I finished editing all of the stories!!

My parents are the literal definition of stuck-up, rich, snooty, strict parents. I hope with everything in me that I am nothing like them--both now AND when I grow up. This, among many other reasons, is why I haven't told them (or anyone else besides my grandpa, who is one of my best friends and biggest supporters) that I like boys. Despite my parents being strict, they literally buy me everything, even if I don't want or need it. I'm going to be honest here in saying that there are few things (clothes, mostly) that I've given away because I just don't want it.

"Good morning students!!" Mrs. Jepson, my History teacher, says, greeting us. "Today, we are going to be starting a project on World War I! I'm going to pair you up with partners! I want you to do some research on World War I, and make a poster board about it."
"What do we need to have on the board?" Carsten Hummer asks, raising his hand. My heart flutters in my chest; he's so cute.
"Absolutely anything about World War I that you want to be on it, Carsten." Mrs. Jepson says, smiling. "Now, I'm going to give you your partners!"
"Drew, you are going to be working with Kieran. Ashley, you'll be with Hannah H. Hannah J, you'll be with Katelyn. Hayden, you are going to be working with Charlie. Jaxon you'll be with Austin. Levin, you are going to be working with Carsten."
My heart stops. Did I hear that right? Did I just get that lucky?
"Alright, if you will move to sit with your partners, we can get started right now. This will be due by class on Friday!"
Carsten picks up his stuff and comes over to sit with me. He grabs the chair from the desk in front of mine and turns it around so that it faces me. I smile at him as he sits down.
"We can work on this at my house this evening if you'd want to?" I say, posing it as a question and hoping that he'll say yes.
"That's fine!" He says with a smile. I silently scream 'YES!' in my head.
"Do you need a ride, or will you just follow me?" I ask him.
"If it's not too much to ask, I need a ride." He says.
"Of course! Just meet me at my locker, or I can come to yours, after school,"

After school, we meet at my locker and walk out of the school together. When we approach my blue pickup truck, Carsten turns and looks at me, a surprised look on his face.
"I did not expect you to drive a truck," he says as we get in.
"Yeah, most people don't. But my parents said they were going to get me a car, and asked what I wanted. I said this, and they weren't very happy. They kept trying to talk me out of it right up until I drove it off the lot," I say, laughing a little. "Mom still glares at it from the kitchen window. I see her doing it all the time, and it's freaking hilarious. Also, speaking of, both of my parents are snooty, stuck-up snobs, so don't pay attention to anything they say."
He nods and looks over at me.

I pull the truck in the driveway about fifteen minutes later and we get out and go into the house.
"Mom, I'm home," I call yell. "I have a friend with me, we're working on a history project."
"Oh, who is it, Levin?" Mom asks, and I can hear her high heels clicking on the floor before she appears in the doorway. "Oh, who's this?"
"This is Carsten," I say, and add, "Be nice."
Before she has the chance to insult anyone else, Carsten and I rush up the stairs to my bedroom.
I shut the door behind us.
"So," he begins. "You like blue, huh?" He asks me as I walk towards him.
"Yeah, blue's my favorite color," I say softly, looking at him and getting closer.
"Just like your eyes," he says softly before I close the gap between us and kiss him softly. I pull away a few moments later, looking into his eyes.
"I-I-I'm so sorry," I stammer.
"Don't be," he whispers, pulling me back into him and kissing me again. Needless to say, we don't get much of our history project done.

Carsten calls his Mom to pick him up, but I offered to take him home.
"Oh, my mom's here," he says after his phone vibrates.
"Oh," I say disappointedly. He gives me a small smile and goes to open the door.
"Wait," I say rolling across the bed to reach him. I walk up to him and wrap my arms around him, kissing his lips softly.
"I can pick you up for school tomorrow morning?" I say, posing it, once more, as a question.
"I'd like that," he says, bending over to kiss me again.
"I'll walk you downstairs,"
When we get downstairs, Carsten's mom is standing in the living room with her blue scrubs on, talking to my mother. I feel bad for her; her name badge says 'Nicole'.
"Hey, Mom," Carsten says, drawing attention to our appearance in the living room.
I can visibly see the relief flash across Mom's face and am ultimately disgusted.
"I'll walk you out," I say, touching Carsten's elbow.
"I'm so sorry," I say to both him and his mom once we've reached the car.
"Don't worry about it, sweetie," Nicole says as they both get in.
I look at Carsten, leaning in the window. "Are you sure I can't go home with you?" I ask sarcastically, but there's a tone of longing in my voice. He looks to his mom, who shrugs.
"Can you sneak out later?" he asks me, touching my hand.
"Probably," I say softly. "They don't really pay much attention to me."
"Mom?" Carsten asks, turning to his mom.
"I don't care, sweetheart. I mean, he looks miserable here,"
"I am," I say, trying to help my case.
"Will your parents notice your car missing in the morning?" Nicole asks me.
I shake my head. "No, I wake up and leave before my father. My mother doesn't work, her only job is being a snooty b--"
Carsten laughs but puts a finger against my lips. My cheeks heat up.
"When will you be over?" Carsten asks me, leaning out of the window of the car.
"I don't know. Maybe twenty minutes? Can you text me directions?" I ask him.
"Yeah," he says. "I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"
I nod. "Okay,"
I step back from the car as they drive away. I wish I could have kissed him again before he left, but I know that my mother was watching out the window.
"Goodnight, Mother," I say in a snappish tone as I go back inside of the house.
I think she says something, but I don't stay to listen. A few minutes later, I hear her and my father's footsteps pass by my door and into their bedroom. I grab the bag I've packed and my backpack and sneak out the front door, starting my truck and speeding off. Once I've reached the main neighborhood road, I pull up the directions that Carsten sent me.

About twenty to twenty-five minutes later, I pull in Carsten's driveway. There are lights on in the house. I grab my stuff and go to the door and knock. Carsten opens the door.
"Hey," he says, kissing me gently before pulling me inside the house.
A little girl, who looks a lot like his mom, runs past. "This is Ellie," Carsten says, introducing me.
"It's short for Ellianna," she informs me. "I'm his little sister, and I'm nine years old."
I smile at her. "That's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl!" I say.
She looks at her older brother. "I like him, Car."
"I do too, El," Carsten says, and then he turns to me. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of my family. His dad is Jason, his mom, as I know from her nametag, is Nicole, his grandma, Rose, lives with them, and he has two more sisters, Jovie, who's nineteen and is in college but travels back and forth every day, Delaney, who's thirteen, and a brother named Benson, who's sixteen.
After introducing me, we hang around in the kitchen, eating some snacks and drinking some Pepsi, and then Carsten and I go up to his bedroom.
I put my bag on the floor by his dresser and turn to look at him. He comes close to me and pulls me into him, leaning his forehead against mine.
"Hi," he says softly and sweetly.
I bite my lip. "Hey," I respond, leaning up and pressing my lips to his. I smile against his lips as he pulls me in closer by my waist.

Carsten pulls my body close to his under the covers.
"Thank you," I whisper.
"For what?" He asks.
"Letting me crash your family and letting me stay here,"
"You're always welcome," he says, smiling at me.
"Thank you," I whisper. "Is it too soon to say I love you?"
He looks at me and shakes his head. "No," he says softly.
"Good, because I love you,"
"I love you too, Levin," he whispers, leaning and kissing my lips gently.

The next morning, I eat breakfast downstairs with Carsten and his siblings, and then I drive Carsten and I to school. I packed extra clothes in my bag last night because I planned, after leaving there today, that I'd go to a hotel, but when I was telling Carsten this, he refused to allow me to leave and said that I was going to stay with him. He said he would have his mom call my mom and explain. When we get to school, I park in my usual spot and turn to him.
"Can I kiss you in front of everybody?" I ask him.
He turns to me and instead of replying, he leans over the center console and presses his lips against mine.

When we go inside of the school, people are already talking about how there's a rumor that someone saw Carsten Hummer kissing Levin Jenkins in his truck. Inside of confirming or denying these rumors, I walk over to Carsten's locker after visiting mine and press my lips against his. After that, the whispers about the rumors stop, and word spreads quickly that Levin Jenkins kissed Carsten Hummer in the hallway, and are they dating? We don't address those rumors, because we figure, they can figure that part out on their own.

2/9/20