My Best Friend From Childhood

Chapter Five

As promised, After the game I lost to Chloe and Luke, and the sunset watching as we the guys talked about funny childhood memories over ice-cream, Luke and the guys drove me home. I wasn’t surprised when we pulled up next to the house that the driveway was full of cars. It was expected since his mum was working a late-night shift to finish a project.

“You’re having a party?” Rio asked.

I shook my head “Kyle is having a party. Not me” I said as I opened the door and jumped out. I then turned around to them with a small smile “I mean… I’d invite you guys in, but I’m literally going to my room and locking myself in till this is over”

“Don’t worry about it” Luke smiled at me “We’ll see you around, yeah?”

I nodded “See you guys around”

The party was loud as hell when I walked into the house. I recognized most of the faces I passed by as I tried to find Kyle from around school and the neighborhood. Due to the way I was dressed, I got a few people throwing comments at me as I walked around the house and a few judgmental steers.

“Are my eyes deceiving me or am I actually seeing Kimberly in a party for the first time ever?” I heard a male voice call, Jake, we we’re really friends or on good terms anyways “I don’t think anyone invited you to this party”

I rolled my eyes “I live here, asshole. And I think no one invited YOU to this party so get lost before Kyle finds out that you’re actually here” I said before turning away from him.

Jake wasn’t really on good terms with either Kyle or me. He used to bully me most of elementary and middle school. His bullying stopped once we graduated middle school because our Hawkins has strict rules against bullying and the hallways had cameras. Aside from that, one the last day of middle school, Jake got his ass handed to him by Kyle after he tripped me in the hallway.

“Oh, look who finally rolled in” I heard a girl’s voice call “It’s the girlfriend”

I rolled my eyes as I walked into the Livingroom “Party isn’t over yet?” I asked.

“Where have you been all day?” he asked “I missed you”

“I was out with my new friends I told him. We were jogging together then ended talking and eating by the lake”

“The one next Littlerock?” he asked.

I nodded.

“So, what now? You’re befriending losers from Littlerock” the girl ‘Annie’ said.

Kyle tapped on the spot next to him on the couch as he took a sip of the red cup in his hand.

“No, thank you. I think I’m just going to go shower and change out of this first. I probably stink from all the jogging we did” I said as I pointed at the stairs behind me “I might even head to bed early, I’m pretty drained”

Kyle got up and walked over to me, he placed a kiss on the side of my head then he lowered his lips to my ear “Just come down after showering and stay for a little bit, please. This girlfriend boyfriend act won’t work if you just go to sleep like this”

I sighed as he rested my forehead against his chest “Fine. Whatever”

“I owe you” He said right before I moved away, he then handed me a key “Use my mum’s room, I don’t want you using the bathroom in the hallway with the house being flooded with guys like this”

I gave him a small nod before I walked upstairs. Before I took a shower, I grabbed my things from my room then locked myself in Mr. Anderson’s room. I didn’t feel at peace as I took the shower, it was too loud for me to enjoy it. Every time I’d try to let my mind wander, I’d hear the sound of people yelling or things falling and that would remind me that I have to clean all that up once everyone leaves.

So, I cut my shower short, defused my hair, then put on one of the dressed I got at the mall with Kyle’s mum the day before. Knowing that I’d probably end up staying downstairs for 10 minutes then go upstairs and slip my pajama on, I figured that it’s not worth going through the struggle of finding and matching an outfit. I opted for a floral blue Cami dress with knotted straps that reached my mid-thigh and paired it with my black flats. I didn’t do much with my hair; I just left it the way it was, curls falling down my back, and a few strands of curls fell over my shoulder.

I tried not to let the steers of the people I walked through the hallway.

A smile crossed Kyle’s mouth as he patted the spot next to him again. This time I followed his lead, I walked over to him ignoring the looks I got from the people around him and took a seat next to him. His smile grew before I placed his hand around my shoulder and pulled me closer into him to cuddle his side.

He then kissed the side of my forehead “You look stunning” he said then leaned closer to my ear “I meant it”

“How long have you guys been dating?” Annie asked with an amused look on her face “Because I swear that you guys were just friends just two days ago, so how come it changed so fact. It almost feels like it too fast not to be fake”

“Not long actually” I said “A little over a week. I didn’t want Kyle to share news that didn’t concern anyone other than the two of us. And it happened because it was about time we realized it I guess”

“Funny, because Kyle never mentioned anything about it when he was all over me the past week” she said with a smirk.

“Annie…” Kyle started.

I leaned forward looking her in the eyes “Well you’re obviously lying. I know my boyfriend and most of all my best friend since day one, he wouldn’t go off cheating on me with you. I trust him enough to have his own friends and not question him about the girls that keep trying to get in his pants” I said with the straightest poker face I could ever make before leaning back into Kyle “If you’re looking to start troubles between the two of us, you’re wasting your time”

“Cute” Annie said “The kitten thinks she has claws”

“You don’t have to stay here. You made an appearance; you can go back stairs if you want or can hang out here with us” Kyle said “I know you’re over this high school drama and parties”

I looked up to him, faces just a few inches apart “Okay. I need to work on a few things for your mum anyways. I’ll come back down after the party to help clean up”

He nodded with a smile. He moved his face closer to mine then stopped in hesitation before he dipped his face in and placed a kiss on my lips. If I’m being honest, it was barely a second before he moved his lips away from mine and moved back. His eyes didn’t leave mine as he waited for a certain emotion to appear on my face. I just smiled gave him a kiss on the cheek before getting off the couch and leaving.

As soon as I walk into my room, my phone buzzed with a message from Kyle.

‘I hope I didn’t take it too far’ – Kyle

‘A warning would’ve been nice’ – Kim

‘PS. That peck on the lips just cost you an additional month of chores’ – Kim

Just as I opened my laptop to browse through a list of movies to watch, I got a facetime video call from Chloe. I moved my laptop to my best and sat on it with the laptop on my lap. When I answered the call, Chloe’s face popped up on my screen.

“Wooow, you clean up nice” Chloe said with a wide smile “I thought you weren’t going to join the party”

“Is that Kim on the phone?” Rio said as he appeared on the side of the screen for a bit then left “Luke, Kim is on the phone and she’s dressed up too”

I blushed.

“Ignore the boys” Chloe said “Why are you dressed up?”

“You want the honest truth?” I asked.

She nodded.

“I had to make an appearance at the party because I was pretending to be Kyle’s girlfriend so he can get some girl to stop coming after him” I said.

“Oh wow” she smirked “Is he that much of a playboy that everyone is after him like that”

“Chloe” I said not liking her choice of words.

“I’m sorry, I meant is he that popular” she said “Anyways, so I was making cookies in the kitchen, and a random idea popped up in my head. How about you come over tomorrow morning? The guys are coming over tomorrow morning to have an exclusive pool party of Rio’s birthday at my house, and I was thinking that you should come over”

“I’m not really a big fan of parties, I will be awkward” I told her.

“Again, it’s an exclusive birthday party so it’s only Luke, Rio, Isaac and I” she said “Other than that maybe Isaac’s bitchy girlfriend and one other friend of Rio is coming and that’s it”

“You invited her to the party tomorrow?” I heard Luke’s voice ask from wherever he was standing.

She looked up to him “Yeah, but she doesn’t want to come” she said.

Luke then leaned down so he was in the camera frame “Why are you not coming?” he asked “Rio wants you to come, it’s his birthday tomorrow. Do you really want to reject his special invite on his birthday?”

“No, but I don’t want to intrude” I said.

Luke chuckled “You’re not intruding. We all want you here” he said “I’m passing by your area tomorrow morning to pick up a few things, I could pick you up on the way”

“You’re passing by my area” I said with a smirk “You mean just like you were supposed to be at a friend’s house at my area right now”

He blushed then moved away from the camera “Tomorrow, 10 a.m. be ready and have something to change into later. Chloe will fill you in on her plan” he said “I’ll see you tomorrow”

When the door shut, Chloe turned me with a smirk “I know you can tell, but I will just state the obvious here, my brother likes you” he said “And you seem like you’re into my brother too”

I giggled “I don’t know, I mean I think he nice and…”

“Hot? Sexy? Mouth-watering?” she said then laughed at my red face “I saw the way you were looking at him during the game and while we were talking” she then leaned closer to the camera like and whispered “And I know for a fact that today wasn’t the first time you’ve seen him”

“We’re done talking about me” I told her then gave her a devilish smile “Now you tell me, Ms. Chloe, what’s up with the tension between you and Mr. Quarterback who happens to be named Isaac?”

Three hours after I hung up the phone call with Chloe, I already had my bag for tomorrow packed up and what I will wear hung on the back of my door. To say I was excited was an understatement. Growing up, I didn’t have many friends other than Kyle, so I didn’t usually get invited to parties or get invited over to a friend’s house. Attending Rio’s birthday party was going to be the first time I’ve ever gone over to anyone’s house and attended a birthday party.

By the time the music was cut off, I was still dressed in my dress which turned to comfortable and didn’t really bother me enough to change. When I finally decided to come out of my room, everyone was already gone and there was slight music coming from the kitchen. I picked up the cups laying around the floor as I made my ways downstairs and into the backyard were Kyle was cleaning. He instantly smiled when he saw me.

“Who are you and what did you do to my shy best friend?” Kyle said “You had such a badass attitude. I was scared that at some point you’d claw her eyes out or something, and you even went as far as to dress the part”

“Well I want to make sure that you will be doing my chores for a while, so I had to play the part” I said as I threw the cups I had in the trash and started to pick up the red cups around the pants.

 “Thank you!” he said “I really do apricate it. Also, you looked really nice today”

I smiled at him “A compliment? Well, that’s a first. I’m surprised that you got your mouth to actually say something nice to me. I hope it didn’t hurt”

He slapped my hip with the towel he had in his hand playfully “Oh shut up”

I pulled the towel out of his hands and used to wipe the top of the patio table that was soaked in whatever drink they were having. We goofed around after that a little, and I had two drinks when I finally felt comfortable to drink since everyone around us was gone and the music wasn’t so loud anymore.

By the time Kyle had his fourth drink, we reached our 2nd area to clean out of 6, we still had the Livingroom, the hallway upstairs, the front porch, and the staircase. We had music playing in the background while I cleaned the counters and Kyle mopped the floor.

“So, are we going to talk about that kiss?” he asked as he placed the mop against the fridge.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Are you mad that I kissed you?” he asked.

I shook my head “It’s fine” I told him “Don’t worry about it”

“Welll… did you feel anything?” he asked as he played the hem of his shirt.

I shrugged “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I barely kissed you, Kyle. It was just a peck on the lips”

“But still” he said “Did you?”

I turned to him with my eyebrow lifted “Did you?”

He looked up from the hem of his shirt and then look up to me as he ran his hand through his hair “I guess I did”

I chuckled “What? Felt what?”

He walked over to me, trapping me between him and the counter behind me. He then leaned down to my lips before he captured mine is his as he took a huge breath in. I don’t know if it was the alcohol in my body or the fact that I spent my whole day walking, or it was just him that made me feel weak to the knees. For a second, I almost moved away because of how surprised I was but the second that he placed his hand on my cheek before gently pushing it into my hair, I was a goner.

I wasn’t surprised when my lips reacted to his, nor was I surprised at how much I liked the feeling of his lips moving against mine. His lips felt soft and full against mine, and they moved against mine in sync like he been practicing his whole life; but then again, I know how many girls he kissed before so I knew that he knew what he was doing when it came to kissing. And I… I had no idea what I was doing, the last time I kissed anyone was back when I was in the fourth grade when I kissed Kyle in a play for school. Matter of fact, that was the only time I actually even kissed anyone.

I small moan left my mouth as he nibbled on my bottom lips, causing him to smile against my lips. He moved his lips away from mine for a second before he lifted me up and placed me on the counter behind me. Instead of bringing his lips back to mine, he looked me in the eyes as he pushed the hair back to and away from my neck. I looked at him confused as he leaned down to my cheek, but then quickly gasped when he planted his lips against my neck.

He then brought his lips back on top on mine as he ran his hands up my thighs and then down the inside of it. I myself couldn’t help not to hold onto his shoulders as his lips moved against mine in sync and as his hands found their way to the hem of my dress to push it further up to allow my thigh the room it needed to comfortably wrap my lips around him.

We jumped out of our places as if we were just stung by fire when we heard the door shut. I instantly tugged down on my dress as I moved away from Kyle, Kyle ended moving to the other side of the room as he ran his hand through his hair knowing how f****d he was for throwing party without his mum’s permission. While I on the other hand was letting all that just happened sink in; I was letting the fact that I just made out with my best friend since childhood and made everything confusing.

His mum’s eyes wondered the mess in the kitchen before finally landing on the both of us. There was no anger in her eyes or expression, just exhaustion. When Kyle tried to open his mouth, he put a hand up shushing him.

“No. Not a single word” She said “You’re grounded, two weeks. You come home after practice, no phones an no video games. You get your laptop only to do research and that’s it”

“Mum, Kim had nothing to do with this” Kyle defended “It wouldn’t be fair if she got grounded for nothing”

“In a murder case, if you covered up for a murderer and did not report it, you are considered an accomplice to the crim. Kim did not call me so that makes her an accomplice to your plan. You’re both grounded and that’s it” she said before she left, she then walked back into the room and looked at me “You know what. You do that anyway. Your punishment is no going outside the border of the city, the bookshops and cafés around town are also grounded, and also the art supplies shop. You can go ahead and leave the house, but everywhere you want to go to is off limits”

I didn’t protest, I just nodded because it was the first time that I’ve ever gotten grounded by Mr. Anderson. Plus, she was right, I should have called her when the party grew bigger than intended or to tell her about the party period. But at that moment, that didn’t really matter to me; what really matters is the fact that Kyle had his tongue down throat and his hands in places it shouldn’t be. It was the thought of what would’ve happened if his mum didn’t walk in on us. We went too far to pretend that nothing happened.

“Kim” Kyle started “Look…”

I shook my head “Nothing happened, Kyle. You’re drunk. You’re just drunk and not thinking straight and probably didn’t mean too”

“Kim” he sighed “I didn’t have a single drop of anything that wasn’t coke today, and I did I knew what I was doing”

I ran my hand through my hair then turned to him “I’m going to head to bed” I told him “It’s been a long day. I will just clean the rest of this tomorrow”

I attempted to walk away but he stopped me by grabbing my wrist gently.

“Can we at least talk about this?” He said “I know you don’t want to hear this, and this is the worst time possible … but what if I…”

I pulled my hand free “No, no, no. We are not doing this. I am going to sleep right now, and I would like it to be alone” I said “I no energy left for this conversation. All of this is too much for me right now”

I then turned and started making my way up to my room.

“Are you serious right now?” Kyle called as he followed me up the stairs.

“Dead serious”

He grabbed my arm and stopped “Kim, we just made out. I don’t know about you, but from my perspective, this changes a lot of things between us”

“And this is exactly why I don’t want to talk about it” I said as I pulled my arm out of his “What the f**k were you thinking, Kyle, I’m your best friend and you’re literally my only friend. You just had to go f**k this up because you keep thinking head inside on your pants instead of the one that God gave you on your shoulders”

“I f****d it up?” he said taken aback “Kim, YOU kissed me back willingly, I didn’t force you to kiss me”

And that was true. I kissed him back willingly.

He sighed “You know what, fine. I will be the first one to say it out loud” he said “I ha…”

I quickly covered his mouth with my hand “No. No, no, no, no” I said as I shook my head “This cannot happen, Kyle, WE cannot happen. I grew up with you, Kay, and I know you, I KNOW you and how you are with girls and I’m not about to put myself in that position and ruin what we have and all we have planned”

He grabbed my hand and moved it away “Look I know that I did things and said things to you about those, but you’re…”

I shook my head as I cut him off again “I’m no different. You’re not about to tell me that I’m different” I told him “I’m sure that whatever just happened between us was because of the alcohol. We’re not thinking straight”

A moment of silence passed before he opened his mouth “Kim, it wasn’t. The way I feel about you is not something new; I’ve had these feelings for you for a few weeks now” he said “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. And don’t you f*****g dare tell me that you didn’t know about it, I know you felt it too that day before our lunch with my dad and the other time too. I know you have these feelings for me too”

“You knew this would ruin our friendship, but you still did it anyways?” I looked at him at disbelieve.

“I only did it because I knew you have feelings for me too” he defended “If you didn’t have feelings for me, I would have gone for it. I know that you do, so I couldn’t help myself”

“Exactly, Kyle, you shouldn’t have kissed me” I told him “You shouldn’t have done that”

He looked at me hurt “So what you’re saying is that you don’t have feelings for me?” his heart then soon turned into anger “Then why the f**k did you kiss me back and go along with the rest of it?”

“I don’t know” I cried “I don’t know. I’m just confused”

“About what?” he said as his temper dropped at the sight of my tears “I know that this is confusing; hell, I’m confused too. Let just give it a shot, and I promise I won’t hurt you”

I shook my head “I can’t do this”

Before he could utter another word, I was already across the hallway and into my bedroom with the door locked behind me.