The Beauty in Between: Too Close (A Beautiful Series Novella) (6 page)

“Oh David, my
reputation was ruined the moment I let you sit next to me on the
bus all those years ago,” she laughed.

***

The day of the
formal rolled around, and we were all meeting at Erin’s house to
wait for the limousine. Erin's family owned an indoor sports
centre, and their home was a flat attached at the back of it. I
think everyone’s families completely filled the parking lot as they
crowded around us all, taking photos like they were paparazzi and
were about to score their next big pay check.

It was a really
warm night, and while all the guys were sweltering in suits, the
girls were in dresses that showed off all of their lovely curves
and kept them cool. Katrina wore a short, pale blue spaghetti strap
dress, that looked amazing on her.

She’d had her
hair cut and styled so that it fell in soft curls at her shoulders
and wore a pair of low-heeled shoes, so she was about the same
height as me. She was truly stunning. and I honestly had trouble
keeping my eyes off her.

We’d always
been comfortable and tended to touch whenever we were near each
other, but that night was different. My hand kept wandering over to
rest on her back, to hold her hand, to wrap around her waist. I
felt an overwhelming need to keep her by my side.

I suppose we
both put it down to a protectiveness after the altercation I’d had
with Ben in the change rooms, but at the After Party, things got a
little intense.

As with most
parties, there was always someone with an older brother or sister
who was over eighteen and could get alcohol for everyone. This
party was on a property in Emu Plains, and there was a keg of beer
as well as tubs filled with ice, and those vodka mixes that the
girls are so fond of.

So of course,
we got drunk – everyone did. A band had been set up on one side of
the property, and everyone was dancing and having a great time.
Katrina had been by my side all night, and we were having a blast,
dancing and laughing together.

“Alright, I
think I need some water. My head is spinning a bit too much.”
Katrina told me after a while.

I nodded, and
we went and found a tub filled with bottles of water.

“Who the hell’s
party is this anyway?” I asked.

“I have no
idea. Everyone just got dropped off here. Let’s go sit down for a
bit.”

“Sure,” I said,
following her over to a tree with a trunk so thick that I think it
would take two of me to wrap my arms around it.

“Here, sit on
this,” I said laying my jacket on the ground, so she didn’t ruin
her dress with the dirt.

“Oh David!
You’re such a gentleman,” she laughed as we both sat down.

“Have you had a
good night?”

“The best.
Thank you.”

“Why? What did
I do?”

“I’m sure you
had a whole bunch of girls you could have hung out with tonight,
but you decided to stay with me. Thank you.” She smiled, turning
her head back towards the dancing mob.

“Trina,” I
said, using my finger on her chin to turn her head to me. “I wanted
to be with you tonight. There’s not one other girl I want to spend
my time with.”

In that moment,
we locked eyes. Slowly, the distance between us grew smaller and
smaller, until it was no longer there, and we were but a hair’s
breadth away from each other. I blame the alcohol, but I know it
was me who brushed our lips together first.

Letting out a
tiny moan, she parted her lips, inviting me in. I laced my fingers
through her hair and brought her closer so our mouths had nowhere
else to go.

Every inch of
my body was buzzing as I moved my tongue against hers, and every
little whimper she made just caused the buzz to grow more intense.
Trina got up on her knees and climbed onto my lap, pressing her
body against mine as she kissed me feverishly.

Not once did I
wonder what I was doing, everything about that moment felt so right
to me, and I didn’t want it to end.

“David, you
fucking liar!”

Instantly, we
broke our mouths apart and turned toward the interruption. It was
Cassie, with her hands on her hips and her eyes wide with anger
while she was flanked by two of her cronies who were shaking their
heads and titching, spouting ‘
how could you
’s at me.

“You told me
she was just a close friend David. That looks a little too close to
me.”

“What?!" I
sputtered, getting up, so I could stand in front of her.

“I’m pregnant,
with your child, and you’re here making out with your ‘best
friend’” she spat. “You make me sick.”

Holding up my
hands, I took a step back. “Cassie, seriously, you need help. You
and I haven’t been together for months. You need to stop this shit
and just accept that I don’t want you,” I yelled.

Cassie gasped,
her eyes wide and wild as she took a step toward me, bringing her
arm around with such force that when she slapped me, my eye
stung.

“I hate you!”
she screeched and stomped off in a ball of hysteria while her
friends tried to console her as they shot daggers in my
direction.

“Shit,” I
hissed, the heat rising in my cheek where she slapped me. I watched
as whatever new story she was telling about me started to spread
like wildfire through the party. “I think I’d better go home,” I
said to Katrina, who was standing behind me, shocked over the whole
situation.

“You really did
have sex with her?”

“Trina, I –
”

“Don’t,” she
said holding her hand up at me to stop. “I don’t want to know
anymore.” She pulled her phone from her pocket. “I’ll call dad.
He'll come and get us.”

“Trina, don’t
let your night be ruined because of me. I’m the idiot who got
involved with her. I knew what she was like.”

“Then why did
you? Especially after she lied about you the first time. I thought
you felt the same way about all of that stuff that I did. I mean,
you’ve never admitted it. So I kind of hoped it wasn’t true…” she
said, her voice trailing off. I’m not sure she really wanted to
hear the truth about why I slept with Cassie, and honestly, I had
trouble thinking it, let along voicing it.

“Just a glutton
for punishment I guess,” I smiled. “Come on,” I told her as I saw
Cassie move on to complain to Ben and Aaron. They were looking
pissed off and glancing in my direction. “We’ll walk to the shops
and meet your dad there.”

Nodding she
started walking beside me as she called her dad and specified where
we would be. “I know we shouldn’t leave the party Dad, but it’s
getting out of hand… No, no one’s fighting… yes… Dad, don’t do
that, just come and pick us up please…Thank you,” she said finally,
sounding relieved as we made our way down the darkened street.
Pressing the screen to end the call, she looked at me and shrugged.
“He wanted to know if he should call the police to break the party
up since there’s so much underage drinking going on.”

“Oh god – as if
they don’t hate me enough already.”

“They don’t
like me much these days either.”

“He’s not
really going to is he?”

“No, he’s not
happy about it, but he won’t… listen, about before…”

“Yeah I know,
I’m sorry Trina. I totally crossed the line. I should never have
kissed you like that. I was drinking, and I don’t know… It was
wrong though, I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Oh,” she said,
rubbing her shoulders against the cooling air while we walked. It
was too dark to see her face, but I could tell that I’d upset
her.

Internally, I
was kicking myself for being such an idiot. The whole evening had
been amazing. I'd had so much fun, and it was as if suddenly there
was this immense attraction between me and Katrina. I couldn’t
resist it.

Slipping my
jacket around her shoulders, I said, “I’m so sorry Trina. I just…
you’re the best part of my life, and I don’t want to ruin our
friendship over something as silly as a kiss.”

We stopped at a
bus shelter and sat down to wait for her dad. “I wasn’t talking
about the kiss.”

“What do you
mean?”

“When I started
talking about ‘before’ – I wasn’t talking about the kiss. I’m not
sorry about that. Actually, it was the best part of the night,” she
laughed, but in a sad way. “I was trying to apologise for
questioning you about Cassie. I shouldn’t have expected you to have
continued to say ‘no’. Especially when so many of the girls are
really into you. Surely, one of them was going to turn your
head.”

“Oh… um, it’s
fine Trina. Honestly, I thought you knew.”

“Is she the
only one?”

I met her eyes.
I felt sick having this conversation, especially when I’d reacted
so badly about hearing the things Ben said he was doing with
her.

“Oh god, don’t
tell me. I really don’t want to know.” She shook her head and
leaned back against the Perspex wall of the bus stop as she pulled
my jacket tightly around her.

“Come here,” I
said, putting my arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to
me. “I’ll keep you warm.”

She rested her
head against my shoulder as I moved my hand up and down her arm to
generate some warmth.

“So… the kiss
was the best part of the night was it?” I asked her eventually.

“David!” she
said in warning.

“Do you even
see me that way?” I asked.

“What? Like a
boyfriend?”

“Yeah, I
guess.”

She sat up and
moved slightly so she was facing me properly. “I don’t know. But it
felt right. I liked it.”

I kind of felt
like I’d been slapped again. I’d gotten so caught up in the moment
that I’d never even thought that it could lead to Katrina wanting
something more from me. Every other time I’d made out with a girl
at a party, it had been just that – making out. I felt like a
fucking moron for leading her on.

She must have
seen the panic register on my face because all of a sudden she was
saying, “But it doesn’t have to mean anything – not if you don’t
want it to anyway.”

At that moment,
her dad pulled up to the curb and beeped his horn at us, snapping
our heads around to his direction.

I cleared my
throat. “Um, can we talk about this later?”

She simply
nodded and got into the front seat of the car as I climbed into the
back.

“Are you two
fighting again?” her dad asked as soon as we got into the car.

“No Dad, I just
wanted to sit with you. It’s been a long night.”

“Did you at
least have fun?” he said, starting the drive back home.

“Yeah, we had a
great time. It’s just the after party that turned crappy.”

“Yes, well
alcohol and hormone filled teenagers are never a good mix,” he
said.

“You said it Mr
M,” I replied, resting my head on the back of the seat and sighing
as I thought about how badly I may have messed up things between me
and Katrina.

***

“So, how was
your first big formal?” my mum asked when I came through the door.
“I actually didn’t expect you home this early.”

“Yeah well, the
after party sucked,” I said, heading toward my room to change.

“Come and talk
to me,” she called out.

“Yeah Ma I
will, just let me get out of this.”

I went into my
room and threw off my formal attire, leaving it in a pile on my
desk chair and threw on a pair of boxers and a white cotton shirt
before going back out to join my mum.

“So what
happened this time?” she asked me as I sat down next to her.

Once again, I
spilled my guts. My mum has never once judged me for my choices and
frankly, she gives great advice.

“You kissed
Katrina?” she said, sitting back and tucking her leg underneath
her. “Anyone could see that was going to happen eventually, but I
guess you just have to decide now whether you’re willing to have a
relationship with her while you’re young that could possibly ruin
your friendship, or you could wait. If it’s meant to be, the
opportunity will present itself when the time is right for both of
you.”

“But what if
she hates me for saying no to her? I like her mum. I think she’s
gorgeous, but I don’t want to be anyone’s boyfriend. I don’t even
know how to be a boyfriend.”

“Well, it’s a
lot like being a friend, but there’s a lot more kissing
involved.”

I shook my
head. “Honestly mum, I’m scared.”

“What of?”

“Of being a
failure. Of turning out like dad...”

“Oh David. You
are nothing like your father. You look like him, and that’s where
the resemblance stops. Is that why you’ve never had a girlfriend?
Because of him?”

I bounced my
shoulders, shaking my head slightly. “Partly I guess. Relationships
scare me.”

“Why?”

“Because they
don’t last.”

“Then wait,”
she counselled me.

It took me a
really long time to fall asleep because I wanted to go to Trina and
explain myself. I wanted to apologise and beg her not to let that
kiss ruin our friendship. My thoughts must have called her to me
because I heard a tap on my window and found her standing outside,
still wearing her formal dress.

“What are you
doing? You must be freezing!” I whispered harshly, opening my
screen and helping her to climb in.

“I needed to
see you,” she replied breathlessly.

Closing the
window, I turned to her and rubbed my hands up and down her arms to
generate some warmth but when our eyes locked, I froze, searching
her eyes as they gazed into mine, trying to convey something
important without words.

Before I knew
it, her lips were on mine, and we were falling onto my bed all
tangled up in each other.

“I want you,”
she whispered in my ear as she positioned herself on top of me and
reached between my legs with her hand.

“Are you sure?”
I whispered as I kissed her jaw and reached up, kneading her
breasts with my hands, getting completely lost in what was
happening.