My Best Friend From Childhood

Chapter Six

I woke up with a bad headache and yesterday's dress still on, but then again, this wasn't something new to me. I remember I spent most of the night before crying and puking because of the two drink I had and the shook in my system. Kyle was sitting by my door last night, asking me to open up the door until almost dawn when I fell asleep.

I got out of bed stretching before I reached over to the bedside table to close off my alarm. I knew that Kyle would most likely be asleep during the early hours of the morning and that his mum would most probably be up and working in the kitchen on one her projects. When I walked downstairs, that was exactly what I found her doing. I changed into my black oversized shirt, tied my hair up, headed to the bathroom to freshen up before I went downstairs.

When I walked downstairs, I frowned my eyebrows at the sight of a pair of Vans at the steps of the door then a sound of a conversation going in the kitchen. When I walked into the kitchen, I found Mr. Anderson sitting with her project scattered across the table and a coffee mug in her hand. She was smiling and laughing along with the person she was seated across.

"Kimberly" She smiled when her eyes landed on me "Right time. You just won me an ice cream"

I looked at her confused "Good morning to you too" I said "How did I exactly do that?"

It wasn't till I was fully in the kitchen that I saw Luke sitting across her with a mug of coffee in his hand.

"L... Luke, what are you doing here?" I asked confused.

He then gave me the same confused look that I was giving him "We agreed that I'd come pick you up at 10" he said.

I looked over the clock; it was past 11 already.

"You've been here since 11?" I asked "Why didn't you wake me up"

"Well I was going too, but I Luke asked me not too and just let you wake up on your own after I told him how you usually wake up around 11 sharp on a Sundays" Mr. Anderson "He was going to leave and come back but then insisted to stay and help me clean up the mess you guys made when he saw me cleaning. And well... well then we just sat here and talked over coffee"

"I'm really sorry about that" I said "I was supposed to wake up and clean this up before you woke up, but I just barely had any time to sleep"

"I know" she said looking down to her mug "I found Kyle by your door asleep at dawn. That boy thinks that a woman my age can carry his fat ass and put him to bed like I used to when he was younger"

She then put her mug down and moved to the stove "Luke told me about your plans today" she said.

I turned to Luke "About that?" I said "I'm grounded. I'm really sorry you came all the way here for me to tell you that I can't come with you"

Mrs. Anderson chuckled "None-sense. You're not grounded. We both know it was Kyle that threw the party. Luke told me how you were out with him and his sister till night yesterday" she said, she then looked over to me "As much as I want to keep this one here in the kitchen to keep my companied, why don't you take him upstairs so he can give his little ears a break from hearing me blabber about my work and raising you kids practically on my own. Plus, my son isn't really delightful so early in the morning"

"I really don't mind keeping you companied" Luke said politely.

I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly "Um... Sure" I said.

The idea of leaving Luke in the kitchen and Kyle finding him there sounded bad to me. Especially after what happened yesterday between Kyle and me.

He smiled and followed me awkwardly upstairs to my room. It wasn't him that was awkward, it was mostly me since it was the first time I ever taken anyone up to my room, especially a boy. Plus, I like Luke and taking him to my room is a big deal to me but I rather Kyle not find him in the kitchen when he wakes up.

When I walked into my room, I awkwardly rubbed my arm then pointed at my unmade bed "You can sit on the bed" I told him "I knew I would have guests, I would have cleaned up a little. I planned to stay in bed for the remaining of the day, so I didn't bother fixing it"

He smiled and moved to sit on the bed "It's fine. You should see my room; I consider it clean when it way messier than this" he chuckled.

I let out a small giggle before turning to the door and picking up the dress hanging on the back of it "I'm going to go change in the bathroom and get ready, make yourself at home" I said.

He nodded and offered me a smile before he left.

I tried to be as quick as possible when I was getting ready in the bathroom. I changed into my dress; since it was a birthday party and Chloe did mention to wear something nice but comfortable, I ended up settling for a knee-length black floral Cami dress with a sweetheart neckline, spaghetti straps and a slit reached the mid of my thigh. I was a pool party, so I was eventually bound to take my makeup off, so I decided to skip the trouble and just not apply any since it's all coming off. I took extra time with my hair though; I pulled the few loose curls out from the front then tired the remaining top part in a very low ponytail with a red ribbon on it, then wore my favorite necklace, string earrings, and 16th birthday bracelet.

When I walked back into my room with my flats, Luke was standing by the book shelve. His attention moved to me when I closed the door behind me before a warm smile crossed his face.

"You have a pretty big collection of books" he said "Biggest I've ever seen"

I chuckled as I dropped my black flats to the ground then slipped my feet in them "Hardly big enough" I chuckled "I got to keep myself entertained somehow, right? What's a better way of spending time on the weekend other than reading?"

"Coming out with me?" he grinned.

"Let's test that today" I smiled.

"You look beautiful by the way" he said.

I blushed as I turned to pull my bag off the floor "Thank you!"

He walked over to me and grab my bag out of my hand "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

I nodded as I grabbed my phone off the table before I followed him out of the room. To my luck, Kyle was the first things I saw when we got out of the room. He looked between me, Luke and then my room before he leaned against the wall behind him with his arm crossed as he looked me straight in the eyes annoyed.

"Kyle" Luke greeted.

"Luke" Kyle said without diverting his eyes away from mine.

"Hey, could you wait for me downstairs? I just need to do something really quick before I leave" I told him "It will only take a minute"

"Sure, I'll just put this in the car and warm it up" he pointed at the bag.

Kyle and I stood there silently for a while until we heard the sound of the front door closing.

"Where are you going dressed like this?" he asked.

I looked at him offended "What do you dressed like this? Since when did you get a say in what I dress and where I go?" I asked "And not that it's any of your business, but I'm going out with my friends"

"So that's what you and Luke are? Friends?" I asked.

I shook my head "Not sure" I told him "Maybe, maybe not"

"Honestly, Kimberly" he sighed "How can you f*****g say that after what happened yesterday between us? And for him?"

"Nothing happened yesterday" I told him "Nothing happened. It was a drunk kiss, that's all"

"You know it wasn't" he said "We both know it wasn't"

"I need to go" I told him "Bye, Kyle"

I said before walking away from him and heading straight to the door before he was able to stop me.

Luke met me at the doorsteps of the house "Shall we go?" he asked.

I nodded as I followed him to his white SUV.

"I still have to run some errands before we go to my house" he said "I hope you don't mind"

I shook my head with a smile as I followed him to the car.

We drove the supermarket downtown as we listened to the music. When we reached the supermarket, we walked side by side through the isle as picked the things he needed.

"So, tell me about you?" he said "Tell me about Kimberly"

I giggled "It's just Kim. You can just call me Kim"

"I like calling you Kimberly though, it's a beautiful name for a beautiful girl" he said "But really, tell me something about you, something random"

I tucked my hair behind my ear "Well I grew up here most of my life, been living with my best friends for a while because my parents move between countries too often for work, and Kyle is my only friend" I said "That's basically my life in a nutshell"

"How long have you known Kyle?" he asked.

"My whole life" I said "Our mums grew up together, then became neighbors, and then had us. So, we've been together since then"

"Together?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"No no, not like that" I said quickly "We're best friends and that's all"

He nodded "He seemed pretty pissed back there" he said.

I shrugged "I know. We're currently not on good terms; things are awkward between us"

"You want to talk about it" I asked.

I shrugged "I don't know. Not really" I told him.

He gave me a small smile "Whatever happened, I'm sure that you two will work it out somehow" he said.

I was definitely nervous when we reached Luke's house; it wasn't just because I was going over to his house and being at my first friend's party, it was because the likelihood that I would also meet Luke parents as well. I nervously walked up the driveway as I rubbed my hands together, then slowed down once we reached the door.

When Luke notice that I was no longer next to him, he chuckled and walked back to me. He gave me a reassuring smile before holding my hand; he led the way inside of the house and to the kitchen, then led me through the kitchen's side door and out to the pool. There were a few people standing outside by the pool, talking. Chloe was in the pool with Rio, while Isaac was standing by the pool with a girl. There were a few older people sitting on the table and drinking iced coffee.

"Mum" Luke called "This is Kim, the girl Chloe told you about yesterday"

A women with brown hair and tanned skin approached me then instantly grabbed me into a tight hug "It's nice to meet you, Luke told me a lot about you" she said, she than backed away and held both of my hand "You even look more beautiful than Luke described you"

"Um... thank you" I said politely.

"Let me introduce you to everyone" she said.

After meeting Luke's dad, Rio's parents, Isaac parents and his girlfriend, and some of Luke's family friends, I was finally able to take a breath and sit by Chloe. She was looking at the direction of her family friends.

I took a seat on the chair next on her "What's up with you?"

"That's her parents" she said "Kelly's parents"

"Oh" I said sadly, then put an arm around her "I know them being here is making all of this hard for you"

"And with stupid Ally being here too" she said.

I gave her a small as I tried to cheer her up, I then grabbed her skin and moved it to the direction of where Rio was standing "On the bright side, Rio is here and he will have his shirt off and most likely be wet in a couple of minutes" I giggled.

"Why are you saying this?" she said with an eyebrow raised.

"Girl, please. I have literally only known for less than 48 hours and I can already see the chemistry between you two. I've seen the way he looks at you, and I know there must be something going on between you two"

She shook her head "Rio is a great guy, and I like him, a lot" she said "I admit that we almost kissed a couple of times in the past week, but he deserves much more than me"

I shook my head "We accept the love we think we deserve" I quoted then turned for her "If you keep that logic in your head, then you will never accept anyone because you don't think you deserve love period"

"I didn't know you were also a therapist" Chloe chuckled.

I nudged her with my shoulder "Rio is really good looking, just saying" I winked "And he likes you"

I got three calls and four messages from Kyle 3 hours into the party, I didn't answer any since I was trying to have a good time with Chloe and Rio. I did reply to his last text 'I need to talk to NOW' with 'We can talk when I get home, not before'. I stayed there most of the day, we celebrated Rio's birthday, watched a movie, played board games, and had BBQ at night. Other than Ally, I found myself sitting and socializing with everyone. It wasn't until 10:15 that I asked Luke for a drive home since it was a school night after all.

"Did you have fun?" Luke asked as he parked the car.

I nodded "Yeah, it was amazing. I had a really good time with everyone"

"Maybe you will have even a better time with me alone next time?" he said with a questioning tone "Like on a date alone with me"

I blushed "A date?"

"I mean, only if you want too, I don't want you to come on a date with me against your will" he blushed as well "I don't want to pushy and all"

"No, Luke" I said then watched him frown with a smile on my face "You're not being pushy. I would love to go on a date with you"

He smiled, he then reached over to me and placed a kiss on my cheek "I'll text you the details tomorrow. Goodnight"

I smiled and nodded "Okay. Goodnight"

I couldn't help not to smile at myself as I walked into the house and up the stairs, it was the first time a guy asked me out, one that actually like me. My smile quickly fell when I reached Kyle's room, he was sitting at the edge of his bed when I walked past his room, he was playing on his PS4. His room was a mess a usual, and so was his hair. I had cloths, water bottle on the floor and a pizza box on his bed next to his bed.

I leaned against the door frame with my arms crossed under my chest "Your room sticks?" I said.

"That's not new" he said as he paused the game and stretched.

"You wanted to talk?" I asked.

"Yeah" he said "Can we talk about yesterday?"

"We already talked about it" I told him "I really hope that you didn't drag me all the way here to talk about something that we have already talked about"

"Okay, then let talk about the goddamn fact that you brought my biggest enemy to my house and let him into the one place you claimed is male free. A place you banned my from entering in my own house" he said.

"Biggest enemy? Kyle, what the f**k are you even saying? This isn't a TV show or a movie where you have a biggest enemy as you call it" I said "He plays for another school; I don't see what's the big deal or why you hate him so much"

"Because he took what belongs to me" he snapped "He took you"

"There we go with dramatic and protective nonsense you do again" I snapped back "I'm not an object that you have ownership too, I am my own persona and I don't belong to you or anyone else"

"Don't give me that s**t" he said annoyed.

"No, you don't give me that s**t" I told him "I love you and you're my best friend, but you don't get a f*****g say to who I see or who I hang out with. What happened yesterday was just a mistake that shouldn't have happened and will never happen again"

"So you are seeing him?" he asked.

"Yes, Kyle, I am seeing him" I told him "He asked me out on a date today, and I said yes"

"You're being unreasonable" he said getting up "You're literally going to give a guy you just met a chance, but not a persona you've known your whole life. That's bullshit"

"That is bullshit" I yelled "I know you and I know all this s**t you've done. Do you honestly think that I will be able to be with someone who is known to f**k around with girls whether they are single or not? And do you really think that I would a friendship of 17 years at risk like this?"

"If you give me a chance, I promise I will change" I told him "We can make it work?"

"And if we don't" I told him "Do you expect things to remain the same? Do expect me to be able to say here after it goes wrong? Or that we can still go ahead with our future plans?"

"It will. I know it will" he said.

"You don't" I snapped "But what I do know is that I don't want to risk it, and I will not"

"Kim, what we need is to give it a try" he said "We owe that to ourselves and our friendship"

I snapped "No, what we need is space at this point to figure out how to piece this friendship that you ruined because of your stupid teenage hormones"

I then took a breath and took a step back "It's been a long day. I think what I need right now is to go to sleep and never talk about this again. This conversation is over" I said then walked away to my room.

He frowned as he followed "You don't get to end conversations when you want too, it doesn't work like that"

"Yes, I get too" I told him "I rather leave and end the conversation before you cause the end of this friends"

Before he could utter another word, I walk into the room and slammed the door before me the same way I did the night before.