The weeks were going by fast, or at least it felt like that. One Friday, I was spending a little bit of my free time with Ava in the house of culture, and now there was another Friday—movie night Friday—while it felt like the last weekend was still here.
Thankfully, the school day was long over, and I was spending some time with my friends at Leah and Liam's house while their parents were somewhere out for a reason I soon forgot. We weren't doing anything bad, but it still felt better when there weren't any adults around.
I glanced at Liam, who was arguing about some stupid stuff with Henry while both of them looked like the topic was the most serious thing ever. The rest of us, rather, didn't pay them any attention and instead were setting down stuff for the movie.
"Where are my nachos? Liam?" Leah asked, looking rather furious at her twin, who just shrugged as he kept throwing some lines back at his blond friend.
"We can't possibly watch all the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies in one night," Jade sighed, sliding through the movies Leah had prepared.
"Why not?" Henry asked, stopping his argument with Liam, who looked like he was agreeing with the other boy for the first time tonight. The two of them sometimes acted like an old married couple. It was quite entertaining to watch, to tell the truth.
I just stayed quiet, waiting for the others to decide while I also hoped that the thing wouldn't be anything boring or bad. Or both. However, I had to agree with Jade. Lord of the Rings was too long for one night, and we would most likely sleep through the rest of the movies, even though it was one of my favourites. Fantasy was the winner for me, for sure.
"Fuck it. Just put it on already," Leah sighed as she came back from the kitchen with a packet of nachos and another plastic bowl.
Soon enough, the first movie was on and the six of us were sitting down around the Yoons' living room. No one was talking anymore as everyone was paying attention to the TV screen and the fictional characters there. It felt nice to spend my time with these kids like this. I could definitely do this more often.
I sighed lightly, stuffing my mouth full of popcorn from a bowl that was already halfway empty. Fortunately, Leah was prepared for this, and the coffee table was full of other snacks, so we didn't have to walk away from the movie.
As I was watching the dwarves on the screen, I felt my phone vibrate, announcing a new message. I could already guess who it was, since five of my friends were here with me in the room right at the moment, and Mum was on her date night with the Henry guy. There was a fifty-fifty percent chance it was either my home town friends or Ava. For some reason, I felt like it was a distraction in the form of that dirty blonde beauty with those captivating olive-green eyes.
After glancing at my friends, I took out my phone from my sweatpants pocket and checked the screen. Indeed, there was a new unread message from Ava. Just like I had guessed.
The others were most likely busy with other things at the moment—perhaps watching movies just like I was. And so, smiling lightly, I opened the chat room, reading her question about our Saturday plans. Well, a plan. A plan that included the two of us in my home. Alone, most likely, and hopefully.
avathompson: still up for tomorrow?
sidney.sanderss: yea
avathompson: good
sidney.sanderss: I'll meet you at the bus stop, ok?
avathompson: k
I smiled to myself. I had texted her my address, but still planned on going to pick her up as the gentleman I was—well, the gentlewoman or whatever. And she seemed to be thankful for that, which made me feel a bit… warmer at heart.
avathompson: whatcha up to now?
I glanced back up at my friends, who seemed like they weren't paying me any attention, to which I turned back to my phone's screen. There was no reason to lie to her.
sidney.sanderss: just hanging out with some kids from school
avathompson: you having fun?
sidney.sanderss: what you wanna hear? that I would rather be with you rn?
avathompson: maybe ;)
Chuckling, I glanced up at the others again. All five pairs of eyes were still glued to the TV screen. And I was grateful for that since I didn't know what I would say to them, since they weren't in a very friendly relationship with Ava. Even though I wasn't obligated to not like her, too.
My phone vibrated again, announcing yet another upcoming message. Perhaps I should have paid attention to the TV, but texting with Ava was also one of the things that went on in these past few weeks, and I kind of really liked it.
avathompson: I'm excited
sidney.sanderss: same here
avathompson: should I be expecting candles and some wine?
sidney.sanderss: maybe…
Once again, I chuckled, watching my phone screen. These times felt so short, kind of precious. And sometimes my mind even went to the end of the school year, the end of high school life—a possible end of this thing between us. I obviously knew that Ava and I weren't dating. There was no commitment, no agreement to anything. We weren't really talking about any more serious topics and rather spent our time just kissing each other, making out, and having small talk, so tomorrow was still pretty unknown to me.
"Who you textin'?" Amani asked, making me flinch in shock.
Turning to face her, I found her still having her dark brown eyes completely on the TV screen as she stuffed some nachos into her mouth. She must have felt my presence not really being in the room for some time already.
"A friend."
"You got many friends, huh?" she asked, finally looking at me with that blank expression of hers.
Shrugging, I turned off my phone, "Jealous?"
Amani scoffed, turning back to watch the movie, "Not really. Just a little curious."
Nodding in understanding, I went back to watching The Hobbit, too. I must have missed a lot, it seemed. The plot was somewhere else, definitely further than I remembered.
"You're on your phone a lot lately."
Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked over at Amani again. She was watching my face now, probably analysing my reaction. Looking for a reaction I didn't give her. Most likely, as I just stared blankly back at her.
"Yeah? Are you my mother or something?" I asked with raised eyebrows. What was her point?
"Sorry, it's totally okay if you have some secret relationship. I'm just curious," Amani shrugged, glancing briefly at her other friends, who seemed to pay no attention to our quiet conversation.
Relationship? Secret one at that? There was nothing like that. Secret maybe, but that 'relationship' part was off—a little. I didn't even know what label to put on that thing with Ava, actually.
"It's alright."
"So there's nothing?"
Chuckling, I shook my head, "Yeah. Nothing, really."
"Okay, then."
After that, we both went back to watching the adventures of Mr Hobbit and the dwarves. Well, more like just back to the end of the first movie that was soon replaced by the second one.
A comfortable evening was this one, indeed. Something that was so similar to the times I had spent with my other group of friends, but also felt somehow different. Maybe it was just the people. Or the fact that my childhood friends and I used to comment every once in a while, while now… only silence was around us, accompanied by the movie's sounds. Humans were truly their own unique beings.
We all indeed fell asleep at some point while watching the movies. When I later woke up, the TV was still on with one of the movies stopped at the very end, while silence was present all around.
Sighing, I turned to look around at the others who were all sleeping peacefully. The sight made me smile. I was really glad to have these people around. For once, I didn't feel like a burden to them.
When I shifted on the couch, trying to make myself more comfortable so I could go back to sleep again, I felt my phone under my back. I didn't even remember having it on me while watching the first Lord of the Rings movie.
And then, a stupid thought went through my mind. Checking the time never made it easier or even better to fall back asleep, they said, but still, I turned the device on. A half past three in the morning was shining on the forest wallpaper of my phone screen. With an unread message under.
From mum:
I won't be home till later on Saturday, sweetie. You'll be alright, right?
Sweet dreams.
I smiled to myself. Being home alone was a normal thing these past few months. More than just a few months, actually, but time went by and it didn't even feel like that anymore. And more than anything, I was kind of glad since I was having someone over and there would be no interruptions this way. When my mum didn't even know any of my local friends, on top of that. Not that she didn't want to. We just never hung out at our apartment.
Later that day, after I fell asleep again—thankfully—we all woke up just a while before noon. As it was just a movie night and many of us had different plans later—like me, for example—we parted ways. After cleaning and spending some more time at the Yoons' house, of course.
The weather on Saturday was still as cold as the days before. The winter wind was bruising everyone's cheeks. The moment I left the building where I lived, I regretted my decision to go meet Ava at the bus stop, just as in the morning I regretted my decision to go back home. The weather was still not very nice as February was still here.
My destination was thankfully soon in front of me as well as the bus which Ava took to get here. Nothing could have gone better for me at that moment, and I was thankful for that. No one would want to spend too much time in this weather anyway, right?
"Hi," Ava greeted me with a smile lingering on her pink, flushed face.
"Hey."
The way back to my home was pretty quiet. Neither of us knew what to talk about. We never really did, after all. Most of the time, the silence was kind of comfortable, however, there were still times that felt a little awkward. Thankfully, this time was the comfortable kind.
Once we were standing in front of my front door, I opened it and let Ava—who immediately started to look around herself—in. This small activity of hers made me smile. Sometimes, she could be really sweet and I was almost sure she didn't realise it.
"Uhm, whatcha wanna drink?" I asked before going past her and moving forward to the kitchen.
I could hear her steps behind me, stopping at some point in our kitchen. I glanced at her from beside the fridge, waiting for her answer, which was pretty quick.
"What can you offer me?"
"Apple juice, water, tea…?"
"Juice," Ava smiled, propping her arms onto the almost empty kitchen island. There was only a bowl with some fruits.
Finally, I turned to the fridge, opening its door before taking out the apple juice. I could feel her eyes on me as I poured the liquid into two glasses. And when I turned to her after I was done, I could see her still watching me with a slight smile on her lips.
"What?"
Ava just shook her head before looking around herself like she hadn't done that before already. This situation only reminded me about how not many people had been here—in my new home—yet.
"Come on," I said, heading towards my bedroom, pushing the door open with my elbow since it wasn't entirely closed.
"Wow, looks nice in here," she said from behind me after the two of us entered the quiet room.
Smiling slightly, I put down the filled glasses on my desk. From then on, I had no idea what to do. We hadn't been in each other's home until now and hadn't been alone before like this either. It was just natural to be nervous, I knew… but still weird—or more like uncomfortable.
I turned around, watching as she sat down at the feet of my bed. From her expression, I assumed she was in the same state of mind as I was—not knowing what to do, what to say… Only if we could skip these parts. What a wishful thought.
I rather leaned back onto my desk, propping my hands behind myself on the top of it. It felt a bit assuring since the situation was kind of unsure, weird, even. However, when Ava proposed this hang-out, I thought she might have had something on her mind. Maybe she did, but felt nervous now.
The dirty blonde girl in front of me stared at me for a short moment, but then she turned her head to look around my room. The place wasn't anyhow special, I would say. Definitely not like back in Luton. But maybe… it was just enough; with the small number of posters and vinyl covers on one of the walls, and books on the shelf we had put on not so long ago and a few plants here and there.
Ava's eyes darted from one wall to another, from one thing to another, whilst I watched her reactions with a warm feeling inside of my chest. I couldn't guess what she was thinking about me this whole time; if anything, she could at least seem impressed or surprised. However, her expression told me nothing.
"So… you like Arctic Monkeys, hm?"
Smirking, I nodded as she turned to face me with a small smile playing on her lips. A short moment of the two of us staring at each other started then, only exchanging unsaid words through the quiet room.
A couple of minutes later, Ava suddenly stood up, her face giving nothing away as she took a few steps before she ended up standing right in front of me. She then just stared back at me whilst I didn't know what to do or say, once again. My brain was just empty. I slowly started to get frustrated because of it.
"When's your mum gettin' back?"
Chuckling, I rolled my eyes at her sudden question, "Don't worry 'bout it."
Even though Mum texted me that she was getting home later today, I could guess she would probably stay at Henry's or something. She did that once or twice already. Not that I needed to know that, but living with just her, I got an outline.
"So…" Ava started, her green eyes sparkling a little as she took another step towards me. "Can I kiss you?"
I couldn't help but take a deep breath at the closeness we now had between the two of us. I could see the mix of colours in her eyes that made them an olive shade of green. The shade of green that felt so relaxing to look at. I liked it a lot—the feeling and the beauty of it.
"Sure."
Then, in a matter of seconds, she grabbed the front of my hoodie, making me meet her lips on the way. Not that I was complaining. I kind of liked her bossy attitude. I smiled into the slow kiss at the thought, bringing my hands to her waist, which was covered in a dark green sweater. It felt nice to hold—just like her.
And there we were, kissing beside my desk in my room, not thinking about anything else. One thing indeed came up from the moving—new people. Including a girl I could spend these precious little moments with.
Suddenly, Ava stopped kissing me as she pulled away, making my eyebrows furrow in silent question. She then stared at me for a moment, probably thinking about what she was going to say next.
"We have a few hours then, right?"
At that moment, my eyebrows shot high on my forehead. As we weren't in each other's houses before, we had never spent a long time together. Two hours at most when we hung out at a cafe or a shopping centre—always with people around, at any distance.
Slowly, I nodded, biting my lower lip in the act. There I was, once again waiting for her to initiate something like every other time. Although I wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was because I was expecting her to flee at any moment, as I couldn't know what was going on inside her mind. That was one thing I didn't like about humans—unpredictable beings, even if we knew them.
Soon enough, her lips were back on mine. However, this time in a faster and a bit rougher way that made me stumble a little, even though I was leaning against the desk. Ava seemed like she couldn't care less as one of her hands went to the back of my neck and pushed me even more against that wooden piece of furniture.
Being pushed into the corner didn't feel like a fun thing to do, so I soon made Ava go backwards to my bed. Without interrupting the kisses we were exchanging, I led her away from my desk—from the metaphoric corner I was chased into.
The two of us stood in front of the end of my bed, making out and completely forgetting about the world around us. I liked this moment. Really. Although I was also scared of doing anything else, so I wouldn't ruin it. And so, the moment got a bit prolonged.
After what felt too long and not at the same time, I pushed her onto my bed. Ava took that like nothing, lying on her back, to which she shot me a smirk. Her angelic smile turned into the devil's one—the one she sometimes acted like. Pretty demon with those capturing green eyes.
Leaning down to tower over her, I pecked her lips lightly. As I backed away a bit, I could see her frown a little at the lost touch.
However, she didn't let that slide as her hands clutched the hem of my hoodie, trying to bring me down to her. After not succeeding much as I was only smiling at her, her hands went under the hem of the said hoodie. And soon after, I felt the cold tips of her fingers under my t-shirt, too.
I just stared back at her, waiting for her to say something, maybe. However, she did not do such a thing as she stared at me, too, biting her lips. Her lips I had been kissing just a while ago, now caught my attention, making me look at them.
"Why are you starin' at me like that?"
"Hm?"
Our eyes met for a second, making me get lost in her green ones. And then she surprised me as her hands pushed into my shoulders and just like that she turned us around, switching our positions.
Chuckling at the act, I leaned onto my elbows, to which I kissed her right after. A short moment turned into a longer one in which we continued making out, while Ava's hands started to find their way under my hoodie and t-shirt once again.
"Take it off," Ava murmured against my lips.
The kiss was interrupted only for a few seconds as I sat up and took off my hoodie, to which we were kissing again. Well, I tried, but the dirty blond girl above me refused to meet my lips as she put her hand in front of them.
"This too," she whispered, tugging at my t-shirt.
Again, I did as she asked—or more like commanded—me to. I liked this side of her. It was somehow appealing, hot even… or perhaps I was the weird one.
After those two parts of my clothes were lying next to us on the bed, Ava brought her lips back to mine as her hands started to wander around my exposed skin. I sighed into the kiss at the soft touch, not wanting her to ever stop… which I knew we eventually had to, but, thankfully, we didn't in any close moment.