Page 12 of Rough Start

“Snooze!” Kye yelled and for dramatic effect let out a snoring noise. “You’ve been holed up in the library for two days. At this rate, you’ve got the entire calculus section memorized.”

“I was studying history today, actually.”

“Even more boring. You need a break.” Kye removed the hand on her arm and opened a door in front of them. A waft of smoke and the smell of floor polish hit them, and Eliana laughed, knowing already where they were. “Tada!”

“Bowling?” she asked with mirth as she saw several patrons already at play.

“Not just bowling,” he said, holding up a mesh bag of gold tokens. “We’ve got enough tokens for a dozen games of whack-a-gator and skee ball. Both of which, I intend on demolishing you in.”

“You think so?” Eliana asked with a grin as she placed both hands on her hips. “I’ll have you know, Kye Driscoll, that whether bowling or skee I’m pretty savvy with handling balls.” Kye burst into laughter and at Eliana’s confused face began laughing even harder.

“Eli,” he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders, “I would love for you to show me how good you are with balls.”

“Are you being dirty?” she asked, elbowing him.

“Entirely.”

Kye was sitting on his new motorcycle in front of the gas station caddy-cornered to the park, and he was twirling an arcade token between his knuckles. He looked up as he saw Eliana enter the playground, clearly having walked from the direction of their school. She took a seat on one of the swings where they always waited for each other. From his position behind one of the gas pumps and with his helmet still on, he knew there was little to no chance of her seeing him. He needed it that way.

Kye had needed to skip school the last few days. The beating he’d taken as part of his initiation had left him with several bruises and a cracked rib that were definitely going to be noticed. Students would talk, teachers would ask questions, and six days shy of his birthday he wasn’t about to ruin his chances of making a clean break from the institution. Even if that meant he hadn’t seen Eliana in person since their kiss.

That was agony.

She was wearing a white sweater and black jeans. She wore a bright red wool hat with two braids sticking out the bottom. She was looking around, clearly searching for him, and Kye pulled the blue bandana around his neck over his mouth for an extra layer of cover. Her head dropped, and he saw her fishing in her pocket. He felt a buzzing in his back pocket and removed his cell.

‘Where are you?’ lit up on his text message screen. ‘I’m freezing.’

‘Sorry to keep you waiting, El.’

‘It’s okay. Meet me in the tree? I have a surprise I wanted to talk to you about.’

‘Can you text it to me?’

‘I’d rather talk in person.’

‘I hate to let you down. I can’t make it.’

‘Why not?’

‘I got wrapped up at the garage.’

‘I can stop by.’

‘I’m out running errands. I don’t know when I’ll be back.’ Kye waited, expecting her to text right back. When she didn’t, he looked up to see she was already leaving the park and heading home. ‘Hey, I’m really sorry.’ She paused in her retreat to reply.

‘If you’re avoiding me I wish you’d just tell me.’ It took all of his self-restraint not to run across the street to her.

‘El, I’m not avoiding you…’ Even as he typed it he knew he was lying. Wasn’t he avoiding her? His face was six shades of purple, and he was now brandishing a Screaming Demons cut. ‘There’s something I want to talk to you about too. I promise, I’ll come find you soon. Just trust me. I want you back in my arms ASAP.’ He could see just from her posture that she was smiling.

‘I want that too.’ His heart flipped. ‘Don’t take too long.’

‘I won’t. I’ll make it up to you in all sorts of ways.’

‘Kye Driscoll, don’t you be dirty with me.’

Before he could type in his response, the bell over the gas station door rang loudly, and Grier exited with a plastic sack in one hand, his helmet in another, and a piece of beef jerky hanging out of his mouth.

“What’s that?” Grier muttered through his mouthful, and Kye quickly pocketed his phone.