Elly & Kent - The Complete Story: Includes Books 1-3 (3 page)

 
"And my mom knows that your mom isn't here?" I sounded skeptical because I was. My mom knew how I felt about Kent, at least she thought she did. I didn't talk to her about it or anything but she'd had the talk with me over the summer. And she'd even had the audacity to mention Kent by name, much to my embarrassment.

 
"My mom said she talked to yours. I'm not sure what was talked about. Do you want something sweet?"

I couldn't believe he was being so nonchalant about this. This was huge. We were here alone. My heart was beating rapidly as I imagined all the things we could do. We could jump on his mom's bed. We could play ball in the house. We could make out on
his
bed.

 
My cheeks flushed at the image that my girlhood so desperately wanted. I bent over and unlaced my Docs, trying to remember what he'd just asked me.
 

"Uhmm...when do I not want something sweet?" I was being more like myself so my inner bitch must have retreated. I was grateful.

 
Kent opened the cabinet and got down a couple of glasses and filled them with Dew before going to the fridge to grab the sweets he'd been storing there.

 
With my shoes unlaced I slipped my feet out and then tugged on the back of my skirt, making sure it was decent. I stood up and grabbed an armful of junk food from him so he didn't carry everything. It was time to apologize, I decided, so we could leave it here in the kitchen and it wouldn't be weird in his bedroom.
 

"Kent, thank you for the birthday dinner. I'm sorry I was such a bitch about it...but I just...I wanted to let you know that I do appreciate it. It was really cool of you." I offered him a smile, hoping he would accept my thanks and apology.

 
"It's alright, Elly. I shouldn't have embarrassed you at the restaurant with the singing. Next time I won't be a douche bag like that." He smiled to me then leaned down. I held my breath as his face came closer and closer to mine. Was this it? He placed a little kiss on my cheek and I closed my eyes tightly, still hoping he'd give me more than just one kiss.
 

"Happy birthday." He stood up straight, sipped some Dew and moved to the stairs. "Now c'mon. I'm gonna kick your ass at some video games!"

 
My heart was hammering in my chest. He'd been so close. And yet...nothing.
Brush it off, Elly.

 
"Yes, I
will
kick
your
ass at some video games." I shoved him to the side and ran up the stairs to his room, yelping when he closed the gap and gained on me. I stopped at the next to top step and spread my body out across the stairs so he couldn't go up. I was slightly winded. "Hey! I'm the birthday girl you have to let me win!"

 
Kent looked at me, our eyes meeting when I was a step above him and he grinned. "Alright, alright. I'll let you win. This time. Because it's your birthday."

 
I smiled and wondered what else I could talk him into doing for the sake of it being my birthday. I turned around and walked slowly towards his room. He had plenty of time to blow past me and be a douche if he wanted to. But apparently he was a man of his word, even when I knew it was killing him inside. He loved to win. He simply followed me. When we went through the door he said, "Alright, you won. You beat me to my room."

 
I put the junk food on the middle of his bed and then looked at the glasses in his hands. I snorted with laughter and pointed at them. "Oh my god, your mom is going to be so pissed." His race up the stairs had cost him lots of Dew, the glasses were both only a third of the way filled.
 

He looked down at the glasses and then at his Dew-stained shirt and shook his head. I felt my giggles die down to a smirk after a few seconds, "Aren't you going to go mop it up? I'd help but, you know... It's my birthday."

 
Kent set the mostly empty glasses of Dew down on his desk. Without a word he left the room and was gone only a little while before he came back again. "Alright.. so a minor set back. I need to shower because I'm all sticky."

 
"Damn the bad luck." I shook my head in mock disappointment as I turned on the gaming system. I was going to need practice if I was going to stand a chance at taking the title tonight.
 

 
"I'll be back soon. It doesn't matter how much you play you're still not going to beat me!" he said with a chuckle as he snagged some clothes from his dresser and moved down the hallway.

 
I glanced at him as he left the room, my eyes widening as I stared at his naked back. He must have taken off his shirt. The TV yelled at me, noting my defeat and distraction. "Shit!" I looked back to the screen and got lost in the game again, determined to make him work for his victory at the very least.

 
Three rounds went by and he finally returned in a t-shirt and jogging pants. He sat beside me and watched me play for a bit. "Not bad... Not bad..."

 
"Don't patronize me." I stopped playing and grabbed the other controller, tossing it at his chest, knowing he'd catch his precious electronic accessory. I restarted the game and grabbed a Twizzler as I sat back and waited for it to start.

 
As the game was starting back up he stole the partial Twizzler from me. "Finders keepers."

 
I watched with an open mouth as he popped the other part in his mouth. It was times like these that I wondered if he was teasing me. If he knew I was hot for him and that something like stealing a Twizzler from my lips and finishing it with his was almost the same as us kissing. In my mind, anyway.
 

 
I shook those thoughts away and mumbled under my breath, "Jerk face." I grabbed another Twizzler when it was a good moment to stop repeatedly pushing buttons. I squealed and moved as we played. When I realized I was beating him I yelled,

"Ha! Suck it!" I was not a gracious winner.

 
"Now who's being the jerk face?" He stuck his tongue out at me as he stood and went to get a snack, finishing his Dew as he walked out the door.

 
I grinned as I watched him retreat, I was very proud of myself for beating him at his own game. "You're always the jerk face. You are up here all the time practicing and give me low self esteem when you whoop my ass. How does it feel now, babe?!" I opened up an Oatmeal Cream Pie and took a bite as I watched him disappear down the stairs. "Don't be long, it'll give me too much of an edge."

 
"Pfft, whatever Ms. Smarty Pants! You want more Dew?! I'll just grab a two-liter and bring it up."

 
I shrugged, tilted my head backwards and yelled back. "Sure! Why not?!"

 
After a minute or two I heard his feet thudding on the stairs and he made his appearance with a two-liter in hand. He filled the glasses back up and brought them over as he took a seat next to me again. "You know we can do something else if you want. I got some movies or something like that. You can even use my computer if you want to so you chat to people. It's your birthday, Elly, so this should be about you."

 
"Way to try to get out of getting your ass beat any further." I grinned.

 
"Whatever," he frowned as he turned his head to me, "I'm just trying to be nice here!"

 
I got up and lay back on his bed, crossing my legs at my ankles, making sure I didn't embarrass myself in my skirt. "Whatever. You're just trying to save face. You can't fool me."

 
"Yeah, maybe. Maybe I'm just trying to not be an asshole." He lay back on the bed beside me with his hands on his chest.

 
I scooted over closer to the wall so that he had enough room. I didn't want him thinking I was putting the moves on him. I wasn't sure I was up for more birthday rejection. "I'm not sure it's working." I teased him.

 
"You like giving me hell, don't you!?" Kent laughed as he turned on his side. "So, more games? Movie? Snacking? What you want to do?"

 
"I want you to watch a chick-flick and paint my toenails." I grinned at him, my head turned to the side. "And then you can feed me cheese balls and fan me with a large reed."

 
There was a long pause as he lay there beside me, looking over my face, I could only assume he was checking for seriousness. "Alright. Chick flick, and I'll paint your toenails, but you're on your own as far as the fan and cheeseballs go!"

 
"Too bad...that would've made it the best birthday ever. Now, it's just average." I sighed dramatically and then slid off the bed, going downstairs to find a chick-flick. His mom loved them too so there were plenty to choose from. I came back upstairs with the classic, Dirty Dancing. I popped it into his cassette player and then took my spot on the bed. I looked down at my fish-netted toes and cursed. It was going to be hard for him to paint my toenails when I was wearing these damn things. I looked at Kent, "Turn around or cover your eyes or something."

 
He blinked at me, confused. "Why do I need to cover my--" his eyes shifted down my legs and over the stockings, "oh," he said softly and then turned around.
 

 
There was some rustling as I lifted my skirt and shimmied out of the fishnets. Once they were off I put them on the back of his desk chair and then grabbed his yellow blanket. I got comfortable on the bed and put the blanket over my lap, covering my now nude legs. My feet were sticking out so he could paint my toenails. "What colors did I leave here?"

 
"Uh, I dunno. Let me check." He stood from the bed and moved over to his desk where I'd stashed my nail supplies. "Purple, red, and orange." He said as he picked them up.

 
"Purple." I stayed where I was as I stared at his back, his confident posture. It wasn't something that he showed around most people. But I was proud that he felt comfortable enough around me to show it. "I'm going to miss this special treatment."

 
He put the other two down and kept the purple in his hand. He grabbed some cotton balls and came back to the bed. He put the cotton balls between my toes. I bit my lower lip to keep from giggling. "Yeah, yeah. Don't think this is our new thing." He put my foot on his leg as the movie started.

 
I settled back against his pillows as I turned my attention to the movie. Kent was paying more attention to my toenails than the movie so he didn't screw them up.
 

As Baby's hair was getting blown around in the wind, I was thinking about how I was slightly disappointed that he wasn't disappointed that something intimate like this wasn't going to be our new thing. I was also trying to figure out how to get Kent to be my boyfriend, but I wasn't sure I even knew where to start. I couldn't just outright tell him how I felt, it could ruin our friendship. Once it was out there it couldn't be taken back.
 

I'd tried doing the Baby tactic, just hanging out with Kent a lot but it didn't work out as well for me as it had for her. But I guess she went to Johnny one night and kissed him to seal the deal. Is that what I had to do?
 

I sighed softly and turned my attention to him working on my toenails and looked at the TV whenever he looked up, or looked like he was going to look up. My yawning progressed through the movie and near the end where Patrick Swayze delivered his famous line, 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner,' I felt my eyes falling closed.

 
My eyes popped open when I felt him retreating. "Where are you going?" I cleared my throat to try to get the sleep out of my voice.

 
"I was going to pick things up and let you sleep, Elly. That's all. You can sleep a little if you want."

 
I looked at the TV, and then back to Kent. "I'm good. I'll help you clean up."

 
"Why don't you just hang out there and I'll pick things up then I'll put another movie in for us."

 
"What time is it? I told Jake I'd be online tonight so he could wish me a happy birthday." I hated to do it but I was trying everything I could think of to try to spurn some sort of jealousy in Kent, to get him to realize that he didn't want to be my guy pal forever. This Jake plan had been in action for a few months and he hadn't showed anything yet.

 
"Oh, you made plans with Jake?" I saw him chewing on his lip as he stood. "The computer is over there. I'm gonna put the Dew up so it doesn't get hot."
 

If he was being jealous he was hiding it behind a blank face. I sighed as I watched him leave the room. I grabbed my fishnets and put them on in the bathroom. I returned to his room and booted up the computer. I stared blankly at the screen as I sat down in front of it, waiting for it to load.

 
I heard him banging around downstairs and knitted my brows together as I stared at the top of the stairs. What the hell was he doing down there? Cooking a gumbo?

 
I logged into AIM and then waited for the familiar ding signaling a new instant message. I smiled at the computer as Jake IMed me. He was a hot 19 year old boy from Texas, and I had met him in a chatroom called "The Coffeehouse." We'd clicked almost immediately. Our conversation flowed, we joked and asked lots of questions of each other. Jake had recently gotten a girlfriend and I was always asking about how that was going. I had no idea what real relationships were like as I'd never experienced anything in the dating world.