Just As Hard
2: Experimental
Experimental

The early... Oh what the heck, omnomnomnomnomnom... I don't know what to say...

The early morning sun glared down on me as I reminisced what had happened the night before and then realized someone's arm was draped over my waist. I checked to see who it was and saw his beautiful green eyes staring at me.

"Did we like... Do the deed?" he asked me.

"I'm not sure." I shrugged in reply.

"Whether we did or not though, you're bound to me now, forever." He said, his tight arm never leaving my waist.

"I'm okay with that but that means you're bound to me too, so you can't cheat on me, no matter what and if you do, the punishment is cutting your balls off." I grinned, regardless of the schools smartest nerd slash brilliant jock being in the same bed as me, he was still a notorious cheat. I'm not gonna lie, this so called relationship cannot last.

Okay breathe Kyle, Drake is going to cheat on you and you are going to enjoy the time you have with him until he does. God has given you the opportunity to sate your desire for the most delectable, sweet and all around fucking perfect guy and you just have to forget about your worries for now and live in this moment.

"Hey, so like, do you want scrambled eggs or something? But I can cook steak if you'd prefer it." Aw, isn't that sweet, he wants to cook me breakfast, or... Wait it's lunch time already? I guess I'll have to go for steak then.

"Steak is good but can you share it with me?" Shit did I just say that?

"Thank God, I was kind of hoping we would since I only have ingredients for one." Phew, thank Heavens he agrees with me. I think moving in with him would be paradise; I think I should consider it...

So, here I am, thirty minutes later, in the same outfit as yesterday, a plaid black and white shirt, shorts with a flowery design and pink Vans. "Took you long enough princess" he said.

"Wish I could say the same thing, momma wants her steak" I said, awkwardly hugging him from behind.

"I should call you princess more often, it suits you. In fact, if you were a real princess, I'd kill to be your head of security." Isn't he the sweetest? I swear he and I could get married in another world where he doesn't cheat.

"Cool, I have to pee, that steak better be ready when I return." As I was about to let go, his firm hands entwined with mine, forming a lock that only he could break.

"No, don't go, don't leave me here. I'm too handsome and too vulnerable to die!" Damn, he used the fucking puppy dog eyes. Shit, now I have to give in.

"Why would you die?"

"Never thought I'd make it this far... But I was supposed to use the line Katniss said, the 'stay with me' thing."

Shit, he just got twenty percent irresistible. Nothing can turn me on like a Hunger Games pickup line. "You've read the books?" I pointed a finger at him.

"What else do you think I do in here when I'm bored?"

"Um, I don't know, fap I guess... Oh God... Did I just say that?" Shit shit shit...

"Apparently my little princess is a naughty one... I'll have to fix that. And, fapping gets boring sometimes..." Shit he's honest and open and oh God, he's so damn perfect. I really should rewrite that diary entry.

"Well the steak is done and you could let go of me now, unless you want me to feed you."

"Yes do feed me, Oh knight in shining armor"

"Yes princess, as you wish." And he began to feed me bits of cut steak.

Holy Shite this is heaven. I should totally consider marrying him if he doesn't cheat on me.

"Kyle... I have to tell you something." There goes a perfectly silent meal I guess.

"Which is?" I look at those sea-green eyes, so beautiful and so honest.

"I know you're probably reconsidering being my girlfriend because of what you've heard about me but I just want you to know those are all just a load of crass. I've never cheated on a girl before and I don't plan to." He took my wrists and dropped a fork of perfectly good steak on the floor. If I hurry I could still... Oh what the heck, five seconds has passed.

"And I want you to promise me that no matter what, we're going to stick together. I, I really like you, I've liked you since I don't know when. And I really hope we can make this work."

Did he just say that? Is he for real?

"And to make things clear, psychologists say that once you've been liking someone for four months, it's considered love. But I don't want you to get your hopes up because I won't say 'I love you' until I'm a hundred percent sure."

"That's okay... I won't either then, so it's fair for the both of us."

"That's the Kyle I know. So what d'ya say we finish this steak and then I'll drop you home?"

"Sounds good to me, Drakie-poo. Thanks by the way for letting me stay over."

"No problem, now, say 'ahh' or I'll force this steak down your throat."

"Shut up and feed me woman.". And surprisingly, he shoved a big chunk into my mouth and laughed his pretty ass off.

"That is so not funny you little prick. I am so going to get you for this!" Great, my boyfriend acts like a child and wants me to chase him. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em as they say.

So he and I forgot all about the steak and continued our little chase of cat and mouse, until I stumbled upon a mother fucking coffee table that I swear wasn't there before.

"Holy smagging motherfinnicking Odairness of all mothers of Snows and Coins. This hurts like shite, mother of all Peetas, this feels worse than an arrow to the knee." I swore, whoa, hold up there, I've never cussed this much, what is happening.

Drake stopped running as he heard my body fall to the floor as I swore.

As he helped me up, he kept saying words of comfort, placing me on the couch as he went to grab an icepack for my pinkie toe.

"You seriously have tolerance for pain. Motherfinnicking Odairness of all mothers of Snows and Coins. Dude, I recommend a chill pill."

"Then where is it?" I seethed at him.

Then the most unexpected thing happened, Drake Vandertrauss kissed me, smack on the lips tasting as sweet as lemon merengue pie.

"Better?" He asked me, smiling softly.

And out of the blue, blood rushed to my cheeks.

"A lot better actually, and I can see you enjoyed it too." A blush also crept upon his face and before we knew it, we were both rolling on the floor laughing our asses off.

As we regained our senses, we looked at each other and lost it again.

"Oh my God, we should stop. I just remembered, I still don't have a dress for prom and my mom thinks I shopped for one yesterday with Ceph. Drake, can we go to the mall real quick?"

"Sure thing."

--

"Damn, there are a lot of dresses to choose from." Drake muttered. I couldn't agree with him more.

"But you know, this is prolly the reason why guys all wear the same thing to prom every year."

"But we don't turn into banshees when someone has the same outfit as us." That hit a nerve.

"Alright, that's it you're paying for all of this." I smirked; I am going to pick out the most expensive dress I can find that fits my style.

"God help me, we're gonna be here the rest of the day."

"Well duh! Haven't you gone out shopping with one of your former girlfriends before?"

"This would be the first; they normally dump me three days after, once Nicole tells them about my so-called act of cheating."

"Well this is going to be a learning experience for the both of us." I grabbed his hand and told him to sit tight in front of the dressing room while I went out to pick out a few dresses to try on.

Five minutes later, I find him sitting in the same spot playing Temple Run on his iTouch. "You're going to try on that much?" I nodded at him and headed for an empty stall.

The first one I tried on was a cute blue number that puffed up at mid-waist, that hugged my body like second skin and was strapless. I got out and showed Drake but all he did was shake his head and say no.

The second one was even cuter, it was purple and trailed down to my ankles but as I stepped out of the stall, I tripped on the dress and Drake sprang out to catch me.

"Too dangerous, I won't be at your side twenty four seven, and I don't want anyone to laugh at my babe."

Holy shite, he called me babe. He drew closer and whispered into my ear, "And I saw more cleavage than I should, wouldn't want anyone to steal you from me."

He pushed me back inside and told me to pick something else, something less... revealing.

But no matter what I picked it would either be too conservative or too blue or too ugly, or just myeh. But I think this last one would blow his socks away.

It's a pretty pink number that reaches my ankles. Holy arse, this is awesome, there are like three layers, the first is like the petticoat and the second is the pink skirt and the third is like a thin sheet of purple glitter. Let's see who'll say no now.

"Drake, What'dya think of this- where'd you go?" Apparently, I was talking to air because Drake was nowhere to be seen.

So I began to search for him but all I saw were rows and rows of dresses, like seriously, there were A LOT.

"I'm over here, don't bother coming over, I'll be there in a sec." he said, it seems to like he spoke with the saleslady while I was changing.

But as I was about to yell his head off for cheating on me, three hours after we made it official, I saw what he was carrying.

It was a yellow dress, just like the one Katniss wore when she and Peeta were interviewed after winning the games by Caesar Flickerman, in short, it's perfect.

"Where did you get that?" I asked him, still looking at the dress with confusion.

"I was just walking around, and then I saw this, I'm thinking of wearing it myself, would that make you jelly?" He wiggled his eyebrows, and I swear it was cuter than a puppy rolling over.

"That would seriously make me jelly, but you, in that dress? Dude, it doesn't even match your eyes."

"Alright fine, change into your normal clothes and we'll find the perfect shoes to match, then you can try it on and we can get the hell outta here."

And he was right, in thirty minutes we were in his car, my prom outfit and a few other clothes I made him buy in the trunk, laughing at Twilight, headed to my house.

"I mean, seriously what vampire impregnates a human? Everything inside them is dead."

"And Jacob, I'm pretty sure he's an animagus like Tonks." I agreed, who knew I had a lot in common with him?

In no time, we were in front of my humble abode. As I exited the car, he grabbed my hand saying, "Do you want me to bring the bags out, honey?" It was really funny how we continued our banter; I really hoped it would never end. And for a second there, I thought he was going to kiss me too!

I nodded at him in reply, slightly laughing at his action.

Once the bags were all on the front porch, I unlocked the door and turned around to say goodbye.

"What? No goodbye kiss? Even after I bought you both of the dresses?" Oh, right, I made him buy the pink dress and the yellow dress, might as well give in.

I tiptoed up to him and whispered, "Not here honey, the neighbors will see, can you drive around to the back? You can get your kiss there."

Drake must really love getting kissed by a girl because he got to the backyard faster than I got to my room.

I went out to the balcony and there he was poised on one of the branches of my Sakura tree. "Hold on, I'm coming." I braced myself, even though I've done this a million times, it stills scares the hell outta me. I don't want to break my ribs again.

"I'll be right here, Kyle. It's okay, I won't let you fall." I sucked in breath and started to skid over to where he was, the tricky part was looking down.

"And here she is, that's my girl. It's okay, I got you." He said, I really can't see a thing as he covers my view of the ground below. "Alright Kyle, I'm going to climb down- can you like, climb on my back? I'll get you back to your room." I did as I was told and held a firm grip on his neck, damn straight I'm not gonna die today.

Damn I'm a good actress, I don't even have a fear of heights, but maybe I should develop one while we're together.

"My God, you're one heavy girl Kyle. But anyway, where's my kiss?"

"First of all, I'm not that heavy, second, not here, my parents might walk in on us. We should have our first official kiss in my tree house. The one at your apartment does not count."

"Alright fine." I'm beginning to think he's getting annoyed with me but who cares?

I laced my fingers around his and led him into the backyard. Then, I went around another tree farther from my balcony, where I pulled out a rope ladder and started climbing.

Once we were both in my tree house, I lunged for him and kissed him fiercely. Seconds into the kiss he bit my lip softly, as if asking for entrance. And since this was my first real kiss, I parted my mouth a bit and gave him full access.

When my cousins first told me about French kissing, I found it disgusting but now, while I'm frenching Drake, it feels different. It didn't make me feel like puking my guts out.

He ended the kiss, giving us time to breathe. "That was the best kiss I've ever had." He said, he hugged me. "Thanks for that, I seriously needed it." He added.

"Honestly, that was a great first kiss." I told him, and then suddenly I remembered an old list I'd kept from when I was eight.

I found it on the same wall I taped it to, the paper, yellowed with age. I peered closer to look at the crayon markings, etched into the paper in crude childish handwriting.

I read the writings on it, 'Meet Santa Claus and get him to buy a car, get married in a carriage driven by horses with the prince,' and a lot more. As the list grew longer the handwriting turned more and more understandable and the options to check out, more closer to reality.

I kept searching and I found the option I was looking for, 'French kiss a guy' and then I remembered writing it after my cousins left, to avoid embarrassment.

I looked at the other options and saw the last one, right after the penultimate, 'was get married to' I remember eating a chili dog with one of my cousins while I wrote this, I guess you could say I've imagined of marrying the back then, cutest guy ever.

I must've been either high or really drunk when I wrote that because I forgot who I was supposed to marry. And to add, the chili dog covered the whole name except the first letter of it, 'L' and oddly enough, it wasn't a big letter.

"Whatcha doing' babe?" Drake asked, I swear he is going to be the death of me.

"Nothing." I replied, quickly hiding the list from his view.

"A piece of paper is not nothing Kyle." Shite, he got me there!

As I weighed out whether I should allow him to see my list or not, he snatched it from me.

"Oh ho ho. What have we got here, a list of goals, I see. Tut tut, you shouldn't have hidden this from me... Who in God's name did you French?" Damnit, now he thinks I'm easy.

"Is it Josh from Math or Lyshean from Biology? Answer me woman! You know what? I'm thinking of turning gay, and I'll make sure you regret making me do it!" Oh God, I have the best boyfriend ever, haha.

And as he continued to blabber about making out with Sheldon from World history, I tried to suppress my laughter but I couldn't take it anymore when he said he was going to take back one of the dresses he bought me so he could wear it to prom. And the funny part wass that he was going to give me the ugly dress so he and his bitchy new posse could laugh at me.

"Oh my God you're killing me! You are the first guy I've ever kissed, period. Stop being a little beyatch!" I told him; obviously it got him to shut up.

"Thank God, I knew this would cheer my girl up." He gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead, which I might say was absolutely heaven.

"And besides, everyone at school has practically labeled you virgin lips so it's quite obvious that I am your first kiss."

"If you knew, why did you tell me you were going gay on me?"

"Because you need to live a little sometimes and besides, me going gay? Are you seriously out of your mind?"

"I think so, yeah! And as we say in Kalena, Uth Koe Pquer!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Like seriously, I don't get it.

"It means 'We get wasted a lot.' Haven't you heard of that?"

I looked at him credulously and reply, "Nope."

"Well alright then, I have to go, Kyle. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, and with a swish of his hand, I was enveloped into a hug and soon after, Drake was gone.

I know that this sounds hard to believe but, I think he won't cheat on me. I really don't think he won't but then, I guess I'll stick around and see, won't I? But until then, I'll be enjoying the ride and testing this hypothesis. After all, it is experimental, right?

--

AUTHORS NOTE:

October 25, 2014,

        â€‹    â€‹Yeah. Hi. I recently got a review that said that the entire series was sort of confusing and I must admit it was. And I'vebeta'd the first chapter to the best of my abilities and will continue to make corrections to the rest of the chapters. I'm sorry if the story caused any sort of confusion. I wrote the first chapter as a thirteen year old and at the time I was very new to the writing world and I must admit I sucked at it the first few years. But I've slowly improved. Apparently, not enough to even consider rereading my old stories. XD

So, @DannyPower, if you ever decide this story is worthy of a retry, leave another comment or review and tell me what you think. I really value the criticism that may help me improve my writing even more. And by the way, thank you for opening my eyes to the errors in the story, I think I cleared most of them up. I think.

--

Yes, yes. I know this is the first authors note I have made but yeah. So first of all, I wrote this story around August 2012 on my aunts iTouch before my cousin took it. I actually planned for this story to be multi-chaptered but because I had no iTouch to work on, I forgot all about the story until I logged in on my Fictionpress account and saw the story. (Btw, I first posted this on Fictionpress) And the actual end of the proposed first chapter was "We get wasted a lot." but then I thought that it really didn't seem like a good idea to turn it into a full on story because I've already moved on from the story and my ideas for Experimental went out the window. So yeah. 

Oh and both Kyle and Drake go to Yangtze Prep, which is a river [I iz referring to Yangtze] in China. And I chose that name because it's awesome and I go to a Chinese school. And right nao, it's evening so, Wan shang hao. Zui jin zen me yang? Jian dao nu hen gaoxing! To all Chinese readers out thar, sorry if I confuse you guys, I know how to do the strokes by hand but not on the computer and my comp is being a total beyotch and not allowing me to use tongues. I'll try asking mah teachers for help, and BTW, do not send me Chinese messages, I'm a first grader and I only know the easeh words.

3: Childhood Dream
Childhood Dream

“Come on Jack! She’s ripe for the picking! Ask her out for Crepes sake!” Exclaimed Jonah to Jack as they drove off.

“I can’t. You know Jamaal likes her too and I can’t ask her out just like that!” Jack replied.

“You’re worried about Jamaal’s feelings? What the hell is wrong with you? Jamaal has taken her out like, six times already and five of those times she didn’t even know it was a date! Dude, why can’t you just admit that you and her are, excuse the cliché, perfect for each other. You better hurry before someone takes her away, Jack.” Jonah said back as he made a left at the park.

“I know that. Louise knows Jamaal likes her, she doesn’t know I like her. And how can you even say that we’re perfect anyway?” Jack argued, folding his arms.

Jonah chuckled as they climbed out of the car. “Well for starters, when we met the gang, you guys were both fat asses and Quinn, Markus, Harry, Brian, Katie, the rest of the guys and I fixed your asses and also Amy’s. Second, you have that connection with her. She loves books, you love books, she loves talking and you don’t really seem to run out of interesting things to say, the both of you suck at cooking and last but not least, coincidentally, Louise told me that she prefers guys with glasses rather than guys in leather jackets.”

Jack helped Jonah carry the grocery bags back into the house. As they were about to open the door, someone opened it for them.

“Whoa. Do I really have to literally bump into you atleast once a day, Jonah?” The girl laughed as she helped Jonah back to his feet.

“Good morning to you too, princess.” Jonah grumbled.

“Luckily, all the bags Jonah was supposed to carry were on the ground. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go back to the store right now.” Jack piped in.

“Yeah… So, I gotta go. A friend from Canada is visiting his aunt and he wanted to meet up…” The girl said, gesturing to the car.

“In that you aren’t!” Jack yelled, eyeing her outfit of sneakers, white shorts and t-shirt. “I am not handing you the keys until you dress in something less revealing.” He added, turning to the door and pushing his head up high like a snooty queen.

“You can’t! Jack! That is so unfair. Just because all of you are two years older than me, doesn’t mean you guys get to boss me around!” She argued.

“Hold up there!” Jonah started, getting in between the two with raised hands. “Jack, you’re not her dad but Louise, he’s got a point. You’re the baby of the house, you do know that I mean that literally as well as figuratively, right? And being the baby means you gotta follow our orders.” Jonah ended.

Louise scrunched her face up and then suddenly burst out laughing. “Dude, you sounded a lot like my philosophical dad. Geez, fine, I’m going to change but you better expect punishment tonight. You’re doing all the dishes.”

“What!?! Why do I have to clean up your messes? Jack! You’re her co-leader, you gotta stop her man.” Jonah complained.

“I’m staying out of this.” Jack shrugged as he continued inside to avoid quarrel.

As soon as he was out of sight, Jonah exhaled and looked at Louise. “He wants to take you out on a date, kiddo. He seriously does. He’s got a crush on you but he’s scared to tell you because he doesn’t want Jamaal to be hurt.”

Louise pouted and squinted her eyes in concentration. “Well, I’d go out on a date with him, I mean, it won’t affect the friendship, right? ‘Cause my parents are seriously hell-bent on keeping me single forever.”

“It totally won’t.” Jonah nervously laughed as he crossed his fingers behind his back as Louise turned to go to her room.

"And you're not taking the car!" He added.

An hour later, Louise and her Canadian friend Jeremy were catching up at a sushi shop.

“So what were you doing while I was out making a fool of myself?” Louise inquired.

“Well, unlike you, I’m busy singing songs and getting a demo together.” Jeremy replied.

“You haven’t changed one bit, Jare.” Louise said as she pinched Jeremy’s cheek.

“I see you have.” Jeremy pointed to Louise’s slimmer appearance.

Louise stuck her tongue out and snorted. “I wouldn’t be looking this chill if it weren’t for the scholarship, dude.”

And as the conversation grew, Jeremy held Louise’s hand and caressed it with his thumb as Louise blushed.

“It’s been so long, hasn’t it?” Jeremy asked as they were leaving the shop hand in hand.

“It totally has but I still don’t see why you aren’t as comfortable around me as you were when we were singing in front of the class back in second grade. Which was seven years ago.” Louise replied.

“It’s just weird seeing you, seeing us and just remembering that we’re older now. That we’re not little kids running around pretending to be Troy and Gabriella trying to book a schedule with Doctor JJ and her impossible winding stairs.” Jeremy answered.

“True but what does seeing us as older kids got to do with not being comfortable around me?” She inquired.

Jeremy let out a sigh and they continued to walk over to the park. He didn’t speak until they got to the desolate swing set.

“Louise, you’ve gotta understand me when I say I’ve always had a crush on you. I mean sure, we were in the first grade and I was a year younger than everyone else but you made me feel special, you made me feel like I was the coolest guy on earth and second grade when I told you my mom wanted you as my girlfriend, it wasn’t just her who wanted it, it was the both of us. All those times we were playing pretend that everything was just peachy was cool for a while but in third grade when my mom told me that we were moving to Canada, I just thought that maybe it would be better if I started ignoring you before I left.” Jeremy let out another sigh as Louise started to push her swing back and forth.

“I guess all I’m saying is that I didn’t mean to ignore all your friend requests and for pretending to never have met you when Zee asked me on Facebook. I’m sorry for all of that. I thought that if I distanced myself from you, you’d stop telling Zee to ask me who you were-“ But before Jeremy could finish, he was interrupted by a hug from behind him and hot tears on his shoulder.

He looked up at Louise and saw she was crying. He stood up from his swing and made her sit on his lap as he hugged her tight and let her cry on his shoulder.

“Jeremy, not one day has passed since seven years ago that I haven’t thought of you. For my fifteenth birthday, I even asked Zee to give me a few pictures of you because I saw some of some them on your profile using Zee’s Facebook.” She said with a dry chuckle.

“Every time I watch High School Musical, I remember you. I remember your cute smile and what your mom said about me. Everyone at school said that if you didn’t leave we’d be dating by now. They even joked that if we did date you’d be part of my family and everything.”

Jeremy started to cry himself as he heard his childhood crush speak. He was known for being an emotional pms-ing time bomb anyway.

“I have a question.” Jeremy said after Louise calmed down a bit after a bout of silence.

“Yeah?” She replied, her voice cracked as she raised her head from the crook of Jeremy’s neck.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” He asked weirdly. There they were, in a playground and out of all the things he could ask, it just had to be that.

Louise laughed. Even if her eyes were puffy from all the confessing, her happy self was back.

For six straight minutes, Louise laughed and laughed and laughed. Every time she looked at the confusion in Jeremy’s face the laughter came back and she ended up sitting in the sand.

“Oh god. You just love ruining moments, don’t you, Jare?” She stated, wiping tears from the corner of her eyes.

“Answer the question, Lou. Do you or do you not have a boyfriend?” Jeremy asked again.

“I had a fling, if that counts. Nothing serious, I just used him as a lab rat.” Louise shrugged, dusting her pants as she stood up.

“Yes it counts! Did you guys…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence since Louise burst out laughing again. This time, she laughed for fifteen minutes straight, Jeremy watched his watch slowly as he waited for her to calm down.

“I’m fifteen and practically in college, do you think I’d want a zucchini in my ice cream?” Louise said in between fits of laughter.

“That’s some analogy you got there. Anyway, how old was he and did you guys make out?” Jeremy remarked as he joined her in laughter.

“Phew. Dude, don’t ask me questions like that again. He was two years younger, pretty idiotic, pig-headed because his girlfriend was two years older than him, and yes we did make out, with tongue sometimes. And I did it because I had always wanted to make out and I seriously couldn’t wait for somebody,” Louise said as she glared at Jeremy. “To come back from his permanent vacation. It’s pretty disgusting now that I look back on it.”

Jeremy, not really expecting such detailed answers, just stood still and awkwardly put his hands in their pockets. “Do you uh… want to… make out?” He asked.

“I dunno. I’m waiting for this guy I’ve known forever who at the moment seems to be preoccupied with my other self.” Louise rolled her eyes. “No duh genius. It’s been a long time since momma got sugar.”

With that said, Jeremy pulled her to him and kissed her. They kissed for a long time until they needed air.

“Can I bring you to meet my parents again?” Jeremy whispered into her ear.

“Sure, if you don’t mind me staying for dinner since the person supposed to be cooking at the house tonight, aka my friend Jack, sucks.”

Jeremy grinned and whipped out his phone to text his mom as Louise pulled out hers to call up Jack and tell him she would be eating somewhere else.

“Where?”  Jack inquired.

“My friends aunt’s house… His dad’s gonna drive me back… Chill dude... Yeah, I know… I’m sorry I’m going to miss the marathon. Yeah, I’m regretting it at the moment but I just really wanna catch up with this guy... He’s on the verge of asking me to be his girlfriend and I’ve always wanted him to ask that question so yeah… I’ll be careful.”

“I’m on the verge of asking you out?” Jeremy asked as they hailed a taxi.

Louise glared at him and he laughed nervously.

“I’m kidding. You’re the only one for me, Lou.” He said, putting an arm around her shoulder once they sat down and told the driver where to go.

“Not funny, kid.” Louise replied, pouting.

“You’re cute when you do that.” Jeremy said as he touched the tip of her nose.

Twenty minutes later, they were outside a beautiful two-storey house with one of the best front lawns Louise had ever seen.

Before they could even ring the doorbell, the door opened to reveal Jeremy’s mother.

“Louise? Is that you? I haven’t seen you in a long time! Come in! Come in! Welcome to my sister’s house.” She chirped.

As soon as both teenagers entered the house, Jeremy’s mother hugged them both. “It’s good to see you, Mrs. Griffith. It’s been like what, seven years since I last saw you?” Louise replied smilingly.

“I remember when you and little Jeremy over there were in second grade and the both of you were in cute little Japanese costumes and stuff. Then and there I knew you two were perfect for each other.” Mrs. Griffith gushed, ushering Louise to the sofa.

“Oh stop it Mrs. Griffith! Jeremy and I aren’t that perfect for each other…” Louise started.

“Call me Jen and hello? Ever since we left, Jeremy over there has been caught countless of times saying or should I say moaning, your name in his sexual adventures.”

Louise let out a nervous giggle and sent a glance to Jeremy to butt in before it got embarrassing for the both of them.

“Hey mom, where’s dad?” Jeremy asked.

“He’s in the kitch- I’ll be right back.” And with that, Mrs. Griffith ran to the kitchen to keep her husband from burning the place down.

“Thank you so much. I never seriously thought she’d ever ask questions like that.” Louise rambled as Jeremy sat beside her, happy his mom didn’t leak out TOO much information regarding his active dreaming every night.

“Wait, you were dreaming about me?” Realization came upon Louise as Jeremy froze into place.

“Can I not answer that?” He asked sheepishly.

Louise held a hand to his face and pinched his cheek. “You’re so cute with your chubby cheeks Jare, but you have to answer my question.”

“Then yes, I did dream about you a few times. I imagined you a little like Jennifer Lawrence and Ashley Tisdale with a hint of Emily Osment. And it didn’t hurt that I stalked your Facebook a little bit.” Jeremy answered.

Louise let out a giggle and poked his ribs. “Dude! Are you serious? Emily Osment, really?”

From the kitchen, Mrs. Griffith voice called that dinner was almost ready and the both of them shuffled to the dining room.

As Louise and Jeremy sat down, a rumble of footsteps sounded from the stairs.

Louise looked at Jeremy alarmingly and he chuckled in response. “My aunt’s rowdy kids.” He said.

The moment Louise nodded, five boys, each shaped differently entered the dining room. Jeremy stood up to introduce each one of them.

“This is Justin, he’s four.” Jeremy said, ruffling Justin’s hair. “And this is six year-old Michael, eleven year-old Johnny, fourteen year-old Tristan and his twin Kurt.” He finished.

“Nice to meet y’all. I’m-“

“You’re Louise, Jeremy’s girl from the past. I recognize you from the picture he has in the back of his wallet.” Johnny said, pushing his glasses back on the bridge of his nose.

“Well aren’t you a snooper.” Louise chirped, sticking her tongue out at Johnny to which he replied with a cheeky grin as he sat down beside her.

The room fell into an awkward silence as the boys never did have any experience when eating at home with a girl present. They all sat, deep in thought at the long table, trying to think of a way to remove the awkward air.

All of a sudden, Kurt stood up and examined Louise’s outfit and exclaimed. “Oh My Finnick Sexy Husband Odair! Is that an authentic Mockingjay on your bracelet? That is sooo cute! I’ve been looking everywhere for a Mockingjay pin or anything like it and so far, I’ve had zilch luck.”

Louise, who was startled at first, smiled at Kurt and hugged him. “Where have you been all my life, Kurt?” She said.

“Honey, I’ve been at school and in my room most of the time. Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for one of the boys to bring me home a girl who I could actually talk to that isn’t my mom.” Kurt replied, returning the hug.

The rest of the table looked at them, trying to think of a plausible reason as to why Jeremy’s girlfriend, a stranger, is hugging Kurt, who was believed to be born in the wrong body.

“Um, what?” Jeremy inquired, as baffled as the rest.

“It’s a fandom thing, you wouldn’t understand our feels.” They both shrugged as they sat back down and the adults came to join them.

Dinner was relatively normal with small talk and Jeremy poking Louise in the ribs occasionally and making her giggle under her breath. After the meal, the group of adults went to the living room with Johnny, Michael and Justin as the four teenagers hibernated to Jeremy’s shared room with the twins.

The first thing that entered Louise’s head when she saw the room was clean. Completely and utterly organized and spick and span. Not at all like she imagined a boys room would look like.

Soon, the teenagers engaged in a game of “Never Have I Ever” with cans of Mountain Dew: Red Alert.

“Never have I ever made out.” Kurt cried with flailing arms. All three of the other participants drank their drink.

“R-really? Am I the only forever alone in this world?” He asked.

“If it makes you feel any better, I made out with the worst guy I could ever make out with.” Louise replied somberly.

“Alright well, your turn Louise.” Tristan said as he burped.

“Never have I ever had sex.” She stated. Tristan drank from this can as three pairs of eyes judged him.

“What? It was a party. I was tipsy and she stripped me! I was the victim, not her.” He defended.

“Whatever you say, Tristy-Get-In-My-Pants.” Jeremy teased.

Tristan glared at Jeremy as he punched him. “Your turn, geezer.”

Jeremy looked around at his three companions and let out a breath. “Never have I ever played Seven Minutes in Heaven.” Both Tristan and Kurt drank and grinned at each other.

The twins wiggled their eyebrows and looked at the couple creepily. Louise and Jeremy both gulped as they were dragged into the nearest available crawl space in the entire house. The library, which consisted of a lot of different books on shelves, practically covering the four eight foot tall walls of the six feet long room.

The two captives tried to break free or at least scream for help but the twins seemed like they knew what they were doing. Soon enough, the both of them were locked into the library with not so much as a working light bulb.

“So what are we gonna do in this dark place?” Louise asked, crossing her arms. “If only somebody had considered leaving the light bulb intact, I’d get to read your awesome books.” She added, hopefully attracting the attention of the evil twins.

“You wish!” Came the reply, followed by laughter.

Jeremy scooted towards Louise at the far end corner of the room and whispered to what was hopefully her ear.

“You know, this isn’t half bad.” He admitted.

“That’s my shoulder, genius.” Louise snorted, taking hold of Jeremy’s hand.

“I knew that.”

“I am itching to read one of these books, dude. You got a penlight with you?” She inquired as Jeremy replied with a ‘no.’

After a bout of silence, they both realized that the twins left them in the room for more than the agreed time.

“Well isn’t that nice?” Louise snapped sarcastically.

“They probably fell asleep.” Jeremy continued, gritting his teeth.

“Will I go to jail if I killed your cousins? I mean, I’m under-aged and I’m also a non-citizen…”

“The worst they could do is send you back home and get you to a correctional facility.”

“True. So, what’dya feel like doing while we’re in here?”

Jeremy grinned in the dark and poked Louise.

Louise jumped in surprise and tackled Jeremy to the floor.

“Lou, are you okay?” Jeremy asked, scared that his girlfriend might be suggesting things.

“Dude, I know what you’re thinking. Yeah, I’m okay. You poked me, remember?” Louise replied, getting up.

Jeremy sighed in relief and held Louise and turned so that he was on top.

He leaned closer to what he thought was her ear and whispered, “I’ve always wanted to make out in a closet.”

Louise unexpectedly laughed and cupped his ear with her and replied, “Me too.”

It was all Jeremy needed to hear before he his lips collided with Louise’s and sparks flew. Much like their first kiss together, they only stopped for air and continued with their “conversation.”

They stopped after what seemed to be twenty minutes because Louise was scared she might have an asthma attack from the lack of breathe.

Jeremy had Louise sit on his lap as they sat in comfortable silence. In the darkness, the couple thought about how their separation and sudden meeting had brought them to this predicament. How it had made their childhood dream a reality. But, is it too good to be true? They’ll find out eventually.

Childhood crushes and puppy love, are they really supposed to be taken seriously like how Jeremy and Louise took it? Or should it be dismissed as a thing of the past as live goes on? Well, time will tell because everything is an experiment. And the hypothesis has just started testing.

AUTHORS NOTE:

October 25, 2014,

           â€‹Oh my god. Re-reading this, I thought I'd be bombed with a lot of errors that needed correcting but there didn't seem to be a lot. I remember writing this just to sate my mind because I was so angry that I didn't have internet. Hahaha. Oh well. Anyway, if you see any errors, tell me and I'll get right on it. Hopefully.

--

I didn’t think I’d finish this story like this. Back when I was writing the first eight pages, I was thinking it was going to be multi-chaptered because I was going to incorporate Jack’s jealousy into the story and Jamaal finding out Louise comes home with a boyfriend in tow.

First, let me explain who the characters from the beginning of the story are. Jack, Quinn, Markus, Harry, Brian, Katie, Jonah and the rest are from this weird story that I’ve had in my head for a long time. I won’t be releasing the story as it is sincerely hard to follow and weird.

Again, I would like to point out that this was written pre-improvement. So yeah. XD

4: Lost Blossom
Lost Blossom

"I love her, I really do. It's just that..." he said, right before groaning and ruffling his hair.

On a regular afternoon, on could find a certain Callum at a bakery near the park sipping his bland coffee and indulging on a tasty cupcake of the Flavor of the Day. But, when his best friend's secretary calls to say that he is nowhere to be seen, he is in the studio apartment he and his troubled friend used to live in before moving in with their girlfriends, trying to comfort him. But in no way was this afternoon regular, Callum could feel its difference in his bones. Something was bound to happen.

"It's just that?" Callum countered, knowing that his friend was always going to be at a loss for words when it came to her. 

Damian buried his head into his hands and grunted, frustration riddling him. "It's just that I don't think she's ready," he replied, gaining a raised brow from his friend. "Fine, I don't think I'm ready for her." He corrected, hating the fact that Callum always got his way.

Callum took of his glasses and shook his head, confused by Damian's answer. "How are you not ready for her, Damian?" He asked, almost whispering.

"You have known her since the fourth grade, Damian. You have dated her since the seventh and you have been dating her for thirteen years! How are you not ready for her!?" Callum continued, now almost yelling.

Damian's lips quivered as his eyes turned glassy. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was just... life. Stupid, idiotic, moronic, life. "I may have loved Sakura for fifteen years, Callum, but that doesn't mean anything because I'm not the man for her! I know how a woman looks when she's in love and Sakura does not love me, Callum."

Callum's face could not be drawn as Damian spoke. It can't be. Sakura loves Damian and he loves her. How did this happen? "That's ridiculous, Damian. Sakura loves yo-"

"Then tell me why you never see us together anymore! Tell me why her eyes are glued to her phone when we're together! Tell me why she doesn't sleep in my bed anymore! Tell me why, Callum. Answer me!" Damian screamed as tears began to fall from his chestnut eyes. His lips quivered more and he crumpled to the floor.

Callum himself felt tears gathering as he looked into Damian's eyes and saw pain and betrayal. "I-I can't answer t-that, Damian." Of course, only Sakura knew why and it isn't likely she was going to tell him.

"When did you first notice all of this?" he asked, helping his friend sit up, his back against the brick wall of the studio apartment where shadows of picture frames hung without memories to display, just cold empty shells of what used to be.

It took a few minutes of deep gulps of water, sneezing and more crying until Damian replied. "I-it was two years ago. She said she had this new coworker that was extremely attractive. She said that they were assigned to work on an article together and it just went... downhill from there." Even as he spoke, Callum could see that this was probably the first time he had told anyone about how he was feeling.

"She cheated on you?" He asked, knowing that it would not be a Sakura thing to cheat on her boyfriend of thirteen years.

Damian shook his head. "Even if she didn't do anything with him, she started to distance herself from me. Last w-week I..." Damian couldn't finish his sentence without choking up and start crying again.

Callum's glasses misted as a few tears found themselves falling down his face. He sympathized with Damian. He knew how much it hurt. His father had done the same thing to him and his mother when he was a child. He was only seven when it happened and it had only started to hurt when he got older. Imagine how much it was hurting Damian who was a grown adult and running an international company. Imagine having to go about your daily business knowing that the woman you love is probably out there gallivanting with a man you know little about.

Callum rubbed Damian's back and didn't think to make him stop crying this time. For the first time, he wasn't going to be like everyone else who would tell him to be a man. Right now, Damian can crumble down and let his weak side come out for once. Callum knew what was going to happen after this conversation and he agreed with himself that Damian deserved to find peace at last.

And with his friend, he too leaned on the brick wall and started to sob. He sobbed for Damian and he sobbed for his mother. Damian finally found his voice and continued, "Last week, she-I found her in the attic, making a phone call I wasn't supposed to h-hear."

Callum could hear the strain in his voice, how it was so broken, how it didn't help that the tears were streaming down with no sign of stopping how it made him want to choke Sakura for doing this to Damian.

"She said, 'He's at work, as usual. He's never here for me. I'm glad you are, Jason. I'm not sure if I can hold up any longer.' And then she told him that she was going to leave me a letter saying that we were through and then get on a plane headed to Morocco for her next project and go on with her life." He finished. 

"HER LIFE WITH HIM, CALLUM!" Damian shouted after sobbing a few times more.

Minutes more, he was lost. He was lost muttering "Five-fourteen-two-zero-fourteen" to himself. Callum shook his head, no idea what it had meant. He felt himself heading for insanity for what he decided to do.

Callum didn't need to hear anything more. He knew it was time. He knew what he had to do. He stood up, nodded at Damian who understood and left quietly. Knowing a person can only take so much. He strutted as he normally would, walking out of the building and pretending he didn't hear the sound of a gunshot.

He knew that Damian would stupidly give up his everything to keep his Sakura happy. He thought that by doing what he did, Sakura could live freely. That though she may never again see her Damian, she may never again have to hurt anyone like she hurt him.

So when he returned to his loving house with his loving wife and baby, he pretended he didn't know about Damian killing himself. That he had no idea what had happened. And with Damian's family, they all sobbed together, of course, there was no Sakura in sight.

Two days later, he remembered. His emotions were on high, of course! It was stupid of him to forget. With a swish of his arm, he opened it office drawer and pulled out a nondescript book, tears streaming down his eyes as he remembered his gone friend. And he stood left his office and turned towards Sakura's building, a block away from his, Damian's doing, and ran as fast as his legs could support. When he got to her floor, he found her reporting with the devil Jason himself, in front of her bosses. Her eyes found his, guilt in them. She scanned his tear-stricken face and a gasp left her. Tears welling up, she used her eyes and asked.

Callum understood and threw the book onto the table. He looked at her alone and she knew why.

She grasped the book in her hands and opened it. Under the 14th chapter entitled "Go free, Cherry Blossom" was a cut forming a hollow box along with several other chapters where a ring sat with a letter. She removed the ring in shame and placed it ever so slowly on the coffee-covered table with the book and opened the letter.

"May 14, 

My dearest Cherry, as I write this, I am fifteen years old. We have only been dating a petty year or so but I can feel as though you are to be the last woman I will ever date. Here I enclose my soon-to-be engagement ring for you. Here I enclose my dream of you and taking you as mine on this day. I love you."  

She fought back the tears she knew were not hers to spill, for she had lost that right when she had lost her love for him. Tears that were supposed to spill when he proposed when he should have, tears when...

"He died loving you. He was right about that. He made me keep it when I got my job. I forgot about it up until earlier. And I can clearly see you don't deserve it." Then he left without goodbye. Leaving her to live with guilty freedom with her new purged, guilty life.

AUTHORS NOTE:

HAII KEM IN LIKA REEEKING BULL!!! Anyway, haii. Meet a fanfiction I edited to fit a contest my local newspaper is hosting. c: 

This, fortunately, was written post-improvement which means it's better, even though it seems quite off because I don't normally write stories like this.

5: Coffee Mug
Coffee Mug

DATE STARTED: JUNE 26, 2014
DATE FINISHED: JUNE 30, 2014
DATE EDITED: JUNE 30, 2014

“Where do you want to go?” I asked him, knowing that the choices were superbly limited given the fact that I lived in a boring city. “What do you think?” He replied, shrugging.

Oh my gods. I’m absolutely blank. Where do I take a foreigner? “We could watch a movie or go to the museum of complete and utter boredom or just hang out at a café somewhere and write something up.” I suggested, my voice cracking a bit from embarrassment. In the middle of my sentence, I realized we actually had to write something up for fanfiction.

Before Ellie could reply, I cut him off and his mouth was left open, never to form the words they were supposed to form. Never to reveal that secret to anyone.  Ever. “But we should really get cracking on another chapter.” Ellie shut his mouth and slowly nodded.

Soon, we found ourselves at my favorite after-exams hangout, Booke Latte, fighting over where to sit amidst the different varieties available in the almost-always empty store. “We are most definitely not going to sit on those separate chairs, Ev! I’ve waited too long for physical contact and a goddamn seating arrangement sure as hell won’t stop me.” He complained, dragging me to the cushy pink velvet couch where I always sat with Jones and Mitch, and sat me down beside him.

I didn’t even get to complain!

The pink-apron, blue-colored, ‘Book Latte’ t-shirt wearing waitress came over seconds later and asked what we would like to order. “A cup of black coffee and a marshmallow latte.” I said to her, adding that I’d pay for it later in my native tongue so Ellie wouldn’t understand.

The lady nodded and walked away to the back of the store to prepare the order. And just like that, we were alone for once.

Apparently Ellie notices this too because he didn’t hesitate to put an arm around me and give me a kiss on the cheek. “Couldn’t help it,” he explained, pulling me closer. Closer. Closer still. Up until I was basically glued to his hip. It felt oddly like a group hug between friends. Comfy. No point resisting him.

“We should probably get started.”

I pulled out a wad of paper out of my bag and my trusty number one pencil and one of my purple felt-tip pen and gestured for him to begin. He sighed but made no move towards the writing materials. And that was how we stayed until our drinks arrived. Me in his arms, completely unmoving. Until I realized we were having a silent contest on who would succumb to thirst first.

My eyes moved from Ellie to my drink. Ellie, drink. Ellie, drink. Ellie, drink. Ellie-dr- “I can’t ignore my coffee anymore!” He groaned, grabbed his “I love Booke Latte” mug and sipped it’s plain contents. “you weakling!” I teased, picking up a similar-looking mug with creamy, white foam brimming at the top, knowing that there were mini marshmallows hidden underneath.

The sweetness combined with the complimenting heat was like heaven in my mouth, making me lose myself in its blissful trap. I let out a moan, who couldn’t, and heard Ellie laugh beside me. “One day,” he begun, taking another sip of his own drink, “I’m going to make you moan like that.” I choked on my latte and coughed haphazardly. “That will be the closest you’ll get to making me choke, hun.” I responded, still slightly coughing. Fearing that an asthma attack might follow.

“Absolutely impenetrable!” He exclaimed.

Soon, we settled into a comfortable stillness. The sound of the fan and the rhythmic drone of the cold air conditioning were drowned by the emphasized beating of my heart. A memory flashed in my head. It was of Princess, telling me that I should be wary of the man whose arms I was in now. The trepid footsteps that followed Princess and I when she said so were synchronized, like the laugh we shared following the moment after she expressed her concern. I shake the memory away like an annoying fly, squinting my eyes, thinking it would help.

“What’s wrong?” Ellie asked, putting his empty mug down on its coaster. I shook my head. He doesn’t have to know about the words stringing together in my head like a DIY loomband. Sometimes, things should remain within one’s person.  Adding an air of mystery and intrigue. I hear Ellie calling my name and I’m pulled out of my train of thought. “It needs a little bit more coffee but its otherwise okay-ish.” He commented, my purple mug in his left hand.

“Give that back!” He grinned. The devil, they say is a man who cheats, slanders and kills. Ellie may as well be one for separating me from my latte.

On a scale of ‘he’s going to give me back my mug’ to ‘he freaking will give me back my mug’, I’m going to rate this as ‘He is going to give me back my latter whether he likes it or not.’

“I’m not giving this back. “He said with finality.

“Fine!” I pulled his shirt towards me and gave him a kiss, grabbing the mug from his unsuspecting hands.

I ended the kiss and winked. “Mine.” I proclaimed, holding the mug like it was Simba in the Lion King. Ellie pulled me into a bear hug and made his own proclamation.

“Mine.”

--
Author's Note:


It's been a while since I updated. I'm sorry. Here, have a  fluff. XD