Chapter 1

I walked into the grayish classroom, the only burst of color being him. I sat in my usual seat near the window, bringing out my sketchbook. I didn’t care what the teacher said or did to me. I never cared. My bleach white hair veiled my face from the outside world, my green eyes scanning the classroom.

 

My glasses shined a glare in my eyes and I winced. I suddenly felt a presence, a shadow diving over my sketchbook. I look up to see Mr.Rye staring me down.

 

“Mister Dawling! What is this? Notes? I think not!”

 

“Yeah..T-they’re called d-drawings.”

 

“Get your notebook and take actual notes, this is your last chance!”

 

“O-okay.”

 

I reluctantly pulled out my English notebook, staring at my teacher with spite. I could hear the other kids jeering at my ridiculous existence, laughing endlessly. I felt a ball of embarrassment well up in my stomach.

 

I bowed my head down, creating a shadow with my hair. Why is it that everytime I open my mouth I make a complete fool of myself? I tried to be snappy, but I ended up sounding like a friggen mouse! I mean, it’s one sentence! Maybe I shouldn’t talk at all. I looked up, scanning for anyone who was still looking at me and snickering.

 

He was looking at me, but not laughing. He looked almost sympathetic. I didn’t need sympathy from Isaac, right?

 

Isaac was literally the coolest guy in school, and unconditionally my crush. He always knew what to say to anyone, always knew how to say it. If only he would say those genius words to me.

 

As the teacher continued to drone on about some sort of Shakespeare thing, I scribbled some Homestuck stuff in my notebook. There was barely any notes in there anyway, so what was the point?

 

When I was around in the middle of drawing Eridan, the bell rang for lunch. I heard the teacher say something, but among all of the talking I couldn’t hear him. Probably something about homework.

 

As I half-walked, half-shuffled out of the room, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I look straight down at the persons shoes, trying to guess who it was. You can tell a lot about someone by their shoes.

 

It was Isaac. Of course it was. I bet my speech is gonna be worse than ever now.

 

“Hey, Levi, right?”

 

“Y-yeah..”

 

I could hear my own terrible lisp. Ugh! I’m such an idiot!

 

“I saw you drawing earlier in class today, and well, I may have saw it. You’re good, you know?”

 

“Umm..N-not really..”

 

“Haha, yeah you are. I wish I could draw like that.”

 

“...”

 

“How about you could teach me?”

 

“T-t-teach you?!”

 

“Yeah. Like drawing lessons.”

 

“I-I-I...well…I don’t r-really..s-speak..”

 

“Look, I don’t care about your speech. C’mon! It’ll be fun.”

 

I still couldn’t look him in the eyes, I could never look anyone in the eyes. I continued to look down at the floor. His face was too perfect to be looked at. There was a sudden strip of paper flung in my face.

 

“Here. My phone number. You can type instead of speak, ok?”

 

“O-o-okay.”

 

He suddenly walked off with some of his friends and told them something. They all laughed and said something like ‘seriously?!’. He didn’t laugh, though.

 

I felt my face get warmer. I looked at the strip of paper again. 704-336-8863. Is this some sort of prank number? This has happened to me before.. His friends did laugh.. I stuffed the number into my pocket, hoping not to rip it.

Chapter 2

 

***at lunch***

 

I stared at my food, not hungry. My mind kept revolving back to his phone number. It’s most possibly a prank, right? Is Isaac that kind of person? No.. maybe?

 

I jumped as someone sat across from me. His shirt wasn’t anyone’s I knew, so who was it? I looked into the person’s face for a moment. Just a glance. Oh. Just the new kid from this morning.

 

That morning we had gotten a transfer from almost across the country. He seemed cool, but he obviously didn’t know how to pick his crowd. I’m not really considered ‘cool’.

 

“Hey! It’s hard to find a seat around here, huh?”

 

I nodded my head.

 

“Strange your table was completely deserted.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders.

 

“You don’t talk, do you?”

 

I shook my head. “I-I t-t-try not t-to.”

 

He looked at me with surprise. He looked dumbfounded, actually.

 

“Stutter?”

 

I wrote down on my paper in my sketchbook. It said that I didn’t like to talk about it. I slowly slid it towards him.

 

“Oh. Sorry.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders again. Shrugging shoulders was by far my favorite gesture, considering it wasn’t friendly nor hostile.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name’s Derick.”

 

“I-I know. I’m L-Levi.”

 

“Well, hello Levi.”

 

He smiled at me. I have never really been smiled at unless I’ve been made fun of, but does that really count? I somewhat thought he was mocking me with his stupid smile, but for some reason it made me feel warm.

 

Including my face.

Chapter 3

 

I walked down the sidewalk, twiddling my thumbs. I heard a group of kids laughing together, just having a grand old time. I wished that I had friends like that.

 

I walked into the almost empty house, irritated that I couldn’t use my insane amount of money to get legit friends. As I walked up the stairs, my thoughts gradually moved to Derick. Why? Why am I so complicated?

 

I suddenly saw a flash of black dart across my legs. Demetri. Demetri was my black cat that for some reason, has lived literally forever. She was there when… The burning. Ten years ago, some cruel person  had committed arson on our house.

 

The burning had killed all of my family save for myself, yet I still have the scars to show. Demetri had survived, and I consider her company. How? I have no idea.

I continued up to my room, thinking of the crime yet to be solved. No one cares to close the case. It was arson. And that’s all it’ll ever be. I closed my door, finding my room on the other side.

 

At that moment, I realized that my room barely matches my personality. People say that your living space mirrors yourself, but this room was too bright. The white couch in the middle of a wall size window, the black bookcase in a corner. The white bed was pure. Even the rug has nothing to hide.

 

I’m the opposite.

 

I plopped on the couch, pulling my phone from my pocket. Who would be able to find my secrets, anyway? It’s not like I have friends. I clicked on YouTube, planning on watching vines and eventually starting dinner.

 

Yeah, I cook.

 

I eventually felt as if I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, falling asleep into a void of fiery dreams.

Chapter 4

 

I awoke to a sound of breaking glass.

 

“Demetri, stop!”

 

I heard a sort of clanging sound, then Demetri bolted in here, terrified. I got worried since Demetri never really gets scared that much.

 

I started out the door, hoping to find a cát accident, but I found nothing. Not a single scratch anywhere. I decided to walk down the stairs to investigate further. Nothing. I looked at Demetri, wondering why she got so scared. She was fine now, laying on the banister.

 

I walked over to her and picked her up. I look out the window to see a sort of darkness. I held the insanely large cat up to the window. She matched the night sky better than the night sky itself.

 

I noticed there was a plate of pancakes on the counter, perfectly proportioned and perfectly cooked. I looked at the food skeptically, wondering who or what could have made it, and if whoever did was dangerous. I slowly walked towards it, then realized my stomach was aching for food.

 

I abruptly yanked the fork and started eating the delicious pancakes, savoring each bite. I hadn’t had pancakes since I was little. I miss this. I continued to wolf down the food, probably looking like a wolf myself.

 

I finished, and I rinsed the plate off, not realizing I was getting sleepier by the second. Yet, soon enough, I fell into a void muck blacker than Demetri.

I woke up in a dark room with a buzzing sound to my left. A fan maybe? I recognized all of my furniture, so I knew I hadn’t been kidnapped and then robbed, but something felt…different.

 

I stood from my bed, my memories flooding back to me. The pancakes. I opened my door and ran out, finding the entire house empty and accident-free. A dream, maybe?

No, I’m not in the least bit hungry.

 

“H-H-Hello?”

 

I cringed at my own lisp, terrified someone heard me. Maybe no one is here, but how would that explain the food? Did I cook before I fell asleep? No, someone was definitely here. I bolted down the stairs, hoping to find some sort of crook, but once I got downstairs all I saw was the front door shut.

 

I tiredly walked across the floor to the living room, realizing the tv was on. Did I leave it on? The house was completely silent when I got home. I took the remote and changed it to some 80’s cartoons.

 

I watched Tom And Jerry for a while and eventually got bored. I knew the house was rumored to have some mysterious room about it, and the only room I’m ever in upstairs is my room or the gaming room. So yeah, I don’t even know about my own house.

 

The whole reason I bought this house is because of the mystery, but I’m such a lazy bum and only researched it for a while. I walked up the stairs, going into a hallway. I found a plastered up attic door, but I decided to check that out last.

 

I walked into every room, each one almost being empty. One room, however, had a really old tv just sitting in the middle of the floor. Right in front of the tv was book. I slowly closed the door and moved on, hoping that didn’t have to do with some sort of demonic concept.

 

I finished, but I didn't really want to go into the attic and find a rotting skeleton, so I did what I usually did, and put it off until tomorrow. I was tired despite sleeping so much, so I just plopped face-first on my bed.

Chapter 5

 

***at school***

 

I walked down the hall with Derick, him being the only person I relatively knew since yesterday. I didn’t really talk to him, since the stutter. On the contrary, he loved talking about himself and how the heck he got here, which was low key interesting.

 

All of a sudden, he put his arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer.

 

“I can tell we will be best friends, Darling!”

 

He’s been calling me ‘Darling’ ever since he learned my last name, and I kind of like it. I could feel my face get warm, but I didn’t really know why. I have a crush on Isaac, right? RIGHT?! I could feel my thoughts spinning out of control minute by minute.

 

“Hey, what’s up?”

 

I had been hugging my sketchbook, so I pulled it out and started writing, ‘nah I’m good’, but I got halfway through and he pulled it from my hands.

 

“Don’t be ashamed of your stutter, just say it.”

 

“I-I..”

 

I felt my face get so hot it felt like fire at this point. I bunched up my shoulders, biting my lip. I knew I would humiliate myself if I said something stupid, so I reached for my sketchbook. But of course, he was perfect and was able to dodge me. I gave up and looked down, knowing I wouldn’t be able to get it.

 

Then I realized he was looking through it.

 

“Hey, these are p-”

 

“N-N-N-N-NOOOOO!!!! T-T”

 

“Dang, that was the worst stutter I have ever heard from you, Darling.”

 

“D-DERICK!”

 

“Darling!”

 

I decided to completely give up. Who cares if he sees my drawings? He’ll see them eventually. I look up at him, took a deep breath, and tried my hardest not to stutter.

 

“Fine.”

 

I still had a lisp, but Derick looked at me with complete surprise.

 

“Did some demon take over my Darling?”

 

He laughed. His laugh was the most truthful laugh I’ve ever heard. Well other than...I shook the terrifying thought from my head, focusing on Derick.

 

I looked at him, my face completely saying no. Maybe I don’t need words to communicate which him. I guess I looked absolutely hilarious, because he took one look at my face and doubled over, laughing.

 

“W-w-what?”

 

“You looked so angry it was adorable, Darling.”

 

“N-n-no I-I did not!”

 

I tried grabbing my sketchbook again, but my face ended up planting itself in Derick’s chest. He smelled of cherries, actually. I felt my face get warm and I bet I looked as red as a tomato. I sat there awkwardly, unmoving.

 

He propped me back into a standing position, and he asked if I had a fever. No. I’m just an idiot, that’s all.

 

“No, you don’t. Your face is red haha!”

 

“E-e-e-e-embarassm-ment.”

 

“Bahaha!”

 

“W-what?”

 

“You’re adorable, that’s all.”

 

Suddenly his face got slightly pink, but his amazing freckles hid it. Of course, that made me blush more, opening the thought he may like me. No, he’s too cool. I’m such a dork. And what about Isaac? Am I just too easily flustered or something?

 

I looked down, realized it was my chance, and bolted for the sketchbook. When she was still alive, mom made me run track, and I run a mile everyday, so I was fast. He was surprised by the sudden change of mood, so I succeeded. I looked at him, smiled, and narrowed my eyes.

 

He laughed, completely dumbfounded.

 

“How about I come over to your house? I don’t have anyone at home to talk to so…”

 

I wrote it my sketchbook, saying ‘I don’t either so yeah I guess, unless you count a cat’.

 

He looked at me, happy. This time his face got really red and that caused some sort of chain reaction, each time his face got red, my face got hotter. Each time my face got hotter, his got redder.

 

“Haha..”

 

Nervous laughter. I knew it well. But why is he nervous? I’m nothing to be nervous about. My eyes darted around the halls, suddenly realizing we were the only ones in the hall. Everyone was gone into class.

 

Derick looked around.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with a little skipping class, right?”

 

I wrote ‘i don’t really do anything anyway, so yeah I guess.’ He grabbed my hand, causing my face to become some sort of tomato. He jogged down the hall, dragging me along with him.

 

“D-Derick where a-are we goin-ng?”

 

“Surprise.”

 

I kept quiet, not wanting to ruin it.

 

Before I could squeak out another word, I was on the rooftop. It was cool, just me and him above all of the students learning boring crap about Shakespeare. We sat down, our feet almost dangling over the edge. I realized his hand was still over mine, so I looked at him to see if he knew. He looked out into the distance, his eyes sparkling.

 

My lips suddenly felt a tingle, a longing for something. So I looked away. Longing will always end in hurt. I learned that the hard way.

 

“What would you do if I said that you were my Darling?”

 

I bit my lip.

 

“Y-your D-Darling?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

I took a deep breath, trying to make this sentence as clear as possible for him.

 

“I would b-believe it, because i-it’s true.”

 

He looked away, but from his ears I could tell he was blushing. I suddenly felt as if I needed to hug him, to keep his warm body close to mine. His hand wrapped in mine, our noses touching. My lips tingling again, a longing so strong it was hard to resist. But I did. He’s not gay. All he does is eye girls, wondering which on would be better in bed, right? Yet, I couldn’t stop the longing no matter how hard I tried.

Chapter 6

 

I awoke in a sports car, wondering where I was. Derick was driving. But why? Did I fall asleep on the roof? Apparently I did, cause that’s all Derick talked about.

 

“You were the most adorable thing ever when you slept.”

 

“W-what?”

 

“Oh, nothing.”

 

“Where a-are we g-going?”

 

“My house. I thought since you were asleep you couldn’t tell me directions, so I decided we could stay at my house.”

 

“O-oh.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“A-are we c-c-close?”

 

“Now we’re here, so yeah.”

 

“Oh.”

 

He got out, so I unbuckled, him opening my door for me. I got out, taking in what he said was his house. It looked like every other house in every other neighborhood. Small. Simple..Yet cute.

 

“The great Estate Of De-vile.”

 

I laughed and wrote ‘more like devil’. He laughed along with me.

 

“Very funny.”

 

“R-race y-y-you!”

 

“No fair!”

 

I bolted up the brick stairs to a sort of landing with a door. I looked back at him and he just stood there, looking at me. He smirked, and mouthed ‘sike’. I scowled at him, wondering why he just watched me run up stairs like a child. Idiot. He held up some keys and slid past me, opening the door.

 

I followed him in, seeing a fairly clean kitchen. He closed the door behind me, probably thinking of what a jerk I am. I hadn’t been in a house like this in forever. All of my houses would be considered mansions to this small house.

 

He took my hand and led me up some stairs, most likely taking me to his room. He did. Just we didn’t enter as I expected. Instead he just randomly kissed me, after he closed the door, of course.

 

So this is what I’ve been longing for. I kissed him back, my hands lightly touching his neck. His lips tasted like a mix of mint and cherry. A sweet taste. His warm hands pulled me closer. I was slightly shorter than him, but not too much. Just right. One of his hands had the courage to travel down to my lower back, sending a chill throughout my spine.

 

His other hand traveled ever so slightly up my shirt, the skin of his hand warming my side. My own hands slid down to his chest, creating a sort of wall between us. I wanted this to last forever.

 

But, unfortunately, forever doesn’t exist. He pulled away, smiling. I looked down, being the weeb I am.

 

“Your eyes are stunning. Why do you always hide them with your hair?”

 

“I-I..”

 

“C’mon. It’s just you and me.”

 

“P-people say t-they look l-l-like my m-mother’s eyes..”

 

“Oh.. what happened?”

 

“I-I don’t like t-to talk a-a-about it.”

 

“I respect that.”

 

I felt as if I wanted to tell him everything, but people don’t usually react well to a 17 year old living alone with no family. Imagine another gay 17 year old finding out about that. He’d be over at my house all the time, which would be fine other than the fact that I would be extremely awkward.

 

He moved his head over to my neck, nibbling it lightly. My hand slowly moved to his hair, his own hands exploring my back. If I were to explain this moment in one word, it would be fantastical. His hand moved up my shirt, almost to my shoulder.

 

I heard someone yell his name, and he immediately stopped. I looked straight at him, hoping we could get his tv on fast enough. We did, and whenever a woman walked in his room, who I assumed was his mom, we looked as if we were just best friends playing a video game.

 

“Hey, Deri- Who’s this?”

 

“One of my friends, Levi.”

 

I smiled and waved, hoping I didn’t look guilty in any way.

 

“Oh...well.. Dinner’s gonna be ready soon.”

 

“K, mom.”

 

His mom walked out, and I looked straight at Derick. He looked back at me and laughed, me soon following suit.

 

I felt a buzz in my pocket, so I started to reach for my phone. It was Isaac.

 

Isaac: Hey, what about those drawing lessons?

 

You: I’m sorry, I forgot.

 

Isaac: Nah, it’s all good.

 

You: Haha, but now’s not a good time. I’m sorta busy.

 

Isaac: oh sry.

 

You: No it’s ok.

 

Derick looked over my shoulder, wondering what I was doing.

 

“Who’s that?”

 

“I-Isaac. I-I told him I w-w-would give h-him d-drawing lessons.”

 

“Oh really?”

 

He raised an eyebrow, trying to be funny. But I think there was some truth behind his suspicion.

 

“H-he doesn’t m-m-matter.”

 

“Ok…”

 

I took a risk and kissed him on the cheek, hoping to reassure him it was ok. He looked at me and then continued his game of Call of Duty. Is he mad? Another question, are we ‘a thing’ now? I guess, since we kissed, but in that case, is it ok to have a crush on Isaac? Do I even have a crush on Isaac? Ugh, everything is so complicated now. I looked back at him, then looked at my phone. It’s not like I was dating Isaac, so what?

 

I laid my head on Derick’s shoulder, when I heard his mom yell from downstairs that dinner was ready. Derick got up and grabbed my hand, practically pulling me out the door.

 

“Food!”

 

“Haha, D-Derick s-s-slow down!”

 

“Never!”

 

I laughed again, a sort of happiness welling up inside me.

 

“Derick, don’t kill your friend before you turn 20.”

 

“Mom!”

 

“Haha, I-I would bel-believe he w-would!”

 

His mom looked at me with complete surprise, obviously forcing herself not to laugh. I was used to it by now, so I just told her to go ahead and laugh. And she did.

 

“Mom, don’t laugh about that!”

 

“N-no it’s o-okay, D-D-Derick!”

 

“Levi, no it’s not ok to just let people laugh.”

 

“Yeah, it’s really not, I’m sorry.”

 

His mom was pretty, actually. I low key wondered how old she was, but I didn’t want to be rude and ask, so I put it off until later. Instead, I asked for her name as I sat on one of the chairs at the bar. Derick sat beside me and took my hand under the bar where his mom couldn’t see it.

 

“Teresa. I’m Derick’s mom, if you hadn’t figured that out already.”

 

“C-cool. I-I-I-I’m Levi.”

 

“Alright! So are you guys friends or something?”

 

She looked straight at Derick. Does she know he’s gay?

 

“Y-Yeah.”

 

“Yep. Good old buddies!”

 

I had put my book bag near the bar so I bent down and took my sketchbook out. I wrote ‘We legit met yesterday. So yeah, just friends.’

 

“Kindred spirits, Levi, kindred spirits.”

 

‘Whatever’ (if something are in ‘these’, he’s writing it down.)

 

“Haha, whatever you write, but I believe we are the ultimate kindred spirits.”

 

‘I don’t think there’s any such thing, idiot.’

 

“Haha, Derick I think you found a good friend for once.”

 

“For once?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

 

‘Does he have a background of bad friends?’ I wrote as I laughed.

 

“Definitely.”

 

“Ah, whatever mom!”

 

We all laughed as his mom started to make our plates. His mom started asking all sorts of questions, but one stood out to me already.

 

“Who do you live with, Levi?”

 

‘My parents died when I was seven, so I had a nanny for a little while until a year ago when I started living alone. Unless you count a cat as a roommate.’

 

“Oh, I see. Well you can come over anytime, Levi!”

 

Derick looked at me with a sort of sparkle in his blue eyes. His hand squeezed mine, reassuring me that his mom didn’t care, but we’ll have to tell her later. So I guess we are dating, then. Huh.

 

“Anytime, Darling.”

 

“Darling?”

 

“His last name is Dawling so I call him Darling.”

 

“Oh I see.”

 

His mom handed us our food, which looked great even though it was just pizza. I hadn’t had pizza in forever. I mumbled tanks and dug in. It was a great combination of bread, marinara sauce, and melted cheese. I savored each bite, memories of my parents flooding back to me. Nights of take-out, even though they had more than enough money to get something super fancy, they decided to be normal.

 

“So, Levi, how did your parents die?”

 

I stopped in my tracks. Why is she so curious about my parents and their death?

 

“A f-f-f-fire..”

 

I looked down, ashamed of myself.

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Y-Yeah..”

 

“Man, that sucks.”

Teresa didn’t look me in the eye after I said that, in fact, she didn’t look at me at all. Me and Derick finished, so we raced up the stairs. I felt slightly uncomfortable, but I didn’t know exactly why. I just had this gut feeling. Like I shouldn’t trust Derick or Teresa anymore.

 

But I knew I should be able to trust Derick, at least, so I did. I looked at him, thinking of the possibilities of why I had these ‘gut feelings’, since Derick is a great person. And his mom seemed nice, but I guess first impressions aren’t everything.

 

I looked at Derick, his eyes sparkling. How could I not trust this? I laughed, throwing myself in his arms. I laughed again, the feeling in my gut fading, but not disappearing. His warm hands pulled me closer, the smell of cherries flooding in my nose.

 

“What are you laughing about, DARLING?!”

 

“HAHA s-s-s-stuff!”

 

“What KIND of stuff, my Darling?!”

 

“Hahaha! I-I-It’s n-nothing!”

 

“Ok.”

 

He pat my head softly and looked at me in awe.

 

“W-w-what?”

 

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

 

“Hmph D-DUCKTARD!”

 

“HA you wish!”

 

“No!”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Haha I-I-I w-wish!

 

“What?”

 

“W-what?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“W-what were w-we t-talking about?”

 

“Haha you w-”

 

“N-NOOO D-D-D-DERICK DONT Y-YOU DARE SAY IT.”

 

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

 

“N-NO.”

 

He swept me up, my cheek pressed against his. He laughed, his chest shaking. I made the mistake of moving my face to the side, my nose poking his cheek. He laughed harder, pulling me from him. He kissed my head.

 

“I-is that a-a-all you g-got?!”

 

“Are you challenging me, DARLING?!”

 

“O-of c-c-course!”

 

“Ok, then!”

He swung me off the ground, his lips immediately hitting mine. I was surprised at first, since I wasn’t thinking he actually would kiss me. I was just kidding, but he took me seriously. I kissed back, the now familiar taste of mint and cherry coming back to my lips.

 

Suddenly, the world started fading away, a blackness embracing me. I was blacking out again. NONONONONONONONONONO NOT NOW! THIS IS GOOD!

 

Instead, I went limp, and the blackness I was terrified of came upon me.

Chapter 7

 

I woke up in Derick’s bed, but he wasn’t there. Neither was Teresa. I sat up, looking around.

 

“H-Hello?”

 

My embarrassing voice echoed throughout the house, then suddenly Derick came bolting in, practically hyperventilating. He bombarded me with all sorts of questions.

 

“Are you okay? Why did you pass out? Is there something wrong with you?”

 

“I-I-I-I…”

 

“Not a rhetorical question. Seriously, I’m worried.”

 

“I-I d-d-dunno…”

 

“Levi, what happened?”

 

“I s-s-said...I-I-I...dunno?”

 

“You friggen passed out, that’s not normal, and neither is randomly bleeding from your stomach. Are you okay?”

 

“D-d-d-Derick?”

 

“Or were you just flustered, darling?” He raised his eyebrows.

 

There’s my Derick. I laughed, only to find that it hurt excruciatingly.

 

“B-b-b-bleeding?!”

 

“Yeah. There wasn’t a cut or anything. Just blood.”

 

“A-are you n-n-n-not worried?”

 

“Oh, you have no idea. I’m dying right now. I just show worry...differently from normal people.”

 

He sat right in front of me, his hands on my knees, his face abnormally close to mine. I bit my lip and looked away, and right at that moment, Teresa walked in.

 

“Is Levi o- WHAT.”

 

“Mom, chill.”

 

“Alright whatever, I just didn’t think he was awake.”

 

I could tell from her face, that she was a liar. Something is weird about Teresa. Was the pizza she made the cause of my sudden black-out? It always happens after I eat food not necessarily cooked by me. I looked at her, unmoving. She looked startled and hastily walked out the door.

 

“W-what’s wrong w-w-with y-your Mom?”

 

“I dunno. She acts weird around you, though.”

 

“W-well n-n-nah!”

 

He laughed and took my face in his over-sized hands.

 

“We can finish what we started, Darling.”

 

I smiled, my face getting warmer. I haven’t smiled in a while. Now I feel awkward. He kissed me, lightly biting my bottom lip. I felt a chill run down my spine as he moved to my neck, obviously giving me a hickey.

 

“D-Derick?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“H-how did y-y-you l-learn to be t-this good?”

 

He chuckled, making me blush. What he said next took my breath away.

 

“Experience.”

 

“W-with w-w-who?”

 

“First with girls. Then last year….There was this guy.” He paused. “But, he doesn’t matter. He broke my heart, and now you’re mending it.”

 

I swore I saw tears in his eyes. “M-mending?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

This time I went in for the kiss. Which I had never done, in my entire lifetime. An electrifying feeling shot through my body like a bullet, I could feel his smile on my lips. My hands subconsciously traveled up his shirt, something only he did to me.

 

I pulled myself closer, as his hands moved from my knees to my thighs. I could feel my emotions falling into an abyss of...something fantastical. Not like the usual despair that hangs around me, turning the world grey. Now I could only see color from behind my eyelids.

 

I sat in his lap, my legs wrapped around his waist as his lips met mine again. I heard a door close downstairs, but I also heard Teresa walking down the hallway towards Derick’s door. I hastily got off of Derick, a terror welling inside me. More like a daunt, actually.

 

Teresa walked in with some food, and of course Derick was immediatly over there. He took the tray and brought it over the bed.

 

 I took a single sandwhich, while Derick took two. 

 

Two is is a strange word.

Chapter 8

 I watched the tv, my brain just as equivalent to the zombies on the screen. As I laid in Derick’s lap, I felt a tranquility, one of which I hadn’t ever experienced. 

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 08.05.2018

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