The television flickered for a moment before jumping to life and the sounds of music escaping from its speakers. She explained that, when her parents were out, she mostly just sat and listened to the music channels while relaxing with her cats. She was concerned that I wouldn’t like it at first as her fingers fiddled with the remote, indicating her anxious mood. I noticed and reassured her that it was pleasant.

  We listened to quite a few tracks and relaxed in each other’s arms, the melodies soothing our minds for a while. Not many words were spoken and, honestly, none were needed as to us the moment was perfection. Then the flipping cat jumped on my head.

  “Oh, crap!” I shouted in surprise.

  I had jumped at the sudden movement and had accidentally smacked Elise in the jaw as I had flung my arm up to swat the cat away. Instantly I felt horrible and I kept apologising over and over and over again.

  “I’m so sorry!” I said for the umpteenth time.

  Luckily, she wasn’t hurt and ended up just laughing at my frantic apologies.

  “Oh, shut up!”

  She kissed me deeply and took my hands in hers. Our lips became a pathway for all the emotions to cross, combine and then explode into various fireworks, showering us both in colourful joy. She smiled at me softly and coughed slightly, the first of that evening.

  “Say sorry once more!” I smirked.

  “Sorry?”

  She laughed and then snuggled up to me again, her lips finding mine again as we morphed into one. The perfect human. The perfect moment. Everything fitting in perfectly as our hands entwined connecting our souls. Our kiss didn’t intensify that time. We just enjoyed the taste and warmth of each other until she broke us apart.

  “Dinner?” she asked smirking, teasingly, knowing that I wanted to stay how we were for a bit.

  I decided to play her game.

  “Wait, that wasn’t dinner?”

  She rolled her eyes at my cheesiness before kissing me quick.

  “That’s only a starter.”

  “So, what’s for dessert?” I replied quickly, trying to go full cheese.

  She thought for a second. Then another.

  “Wait and see!” she teased.

  She became serious.

  “You know how much I like you, right?”

  I nodded.

  “I mean I told Jenny but I don’t know if she told you.”

  I pulled her closer to me, somehow.

  “It’s okay.” I smiled before kissing her softly. “I understand.”

  “Good.”

  She smiled before suddenly pulling herself up off the sofa and holding out her hands to me.

  “Come on!” she insisted. “Fooooooood!”

  I shook my head and laughed at her before taking her hands and getting up. We walked to the kitchen hand in hand and found two barbecue chicken pizzas that we popped into the oven. We stood there for a while watching the light of the oven flicker as it slowly defrosted then cooked the pizza. Elise then decided to quickly try and clear some of the plates and other items from the counter into the washing up bowl.

  “That’ll do,” she said in a weird accent.

  “You alright there, Miss Scotland of the year?”

  She laughed once realising what I meant.

  “Alright fine,” she huffed. “I’m part Scottish, okay?”

  “I knew it!” I laughed.

  “No, you didn’t!” she growled, seeing through my lie.

  “Well, the Scottish are awesome.”

  She shook her head again before walking out of the kitchen and back into the living room. She grabbed the remote and turned the channel onto a black screen.

  “Great channel!” I winked sarcastically as I walked in and saw what she had put on.

  She ignored this and grabbed two motion controllers for the games console and handed me one.

  “Going to kick your arse now, you sarcastic bum!”

  I was taken aback at this a little but smiled at the challenge.

  “Which game?”

  “Mario kart.”

  “Game on!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Music can be a magical thing. Anyone who listens to it can tell you countless stories and meanings behind their emotional connections to their special tracks. Some memories would obviously be happy, some sad, and some could even make them want to hurt some people. Despite the last point, music is so magical. It has the power to manipulate us and infect us with so many emotions that it would take an entire separate book to try and explain it. But for me, that day, music symbolised a bitter sweet feeling and the sense of being in love for the first time. But only after a couple of games of Mario Kart.

  “You sure you can beat me at this?” I teased her. “I have the exact game at home. And I am undefeated against my family.”

  This just made her cackle. It was her way of trying to intimidate me.

  “You couldn’t beat me even if I was on death’s door!”

  She grinned wildly and we began to set up the carts, tracks and everything else required to play. I selected a small character and cart for acceleration tactics while she went for the well-round Mario and the standard cart. She had offered me the chance to pick the track, but, being overly confident, I let her decide. She selected the first track, a simple ovalish track that I had completed many a time over. The only issues with these games were the mystery boxes that gave you either weapons or boosts. Those would be the decider in the games, I was sure of it.

  “Crap,” she said as she pressed a button to start the race.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Pizzas are done!”

  I laughed and we paused the game as soon as it had finished its loading.

  “Aww, looks like you have more time to prepare for your inevitable demise!” I laughed.

  “In your dreams!” she sneered.

  “Hun.” I smirked. “You have no idea what I dream about.”

  I finished with a sly smile and a quick wink to insinuate things.

  She gave me a shocked look, poked her tongue out at me and then shook her head. I kissed her quickly and then took her hand to walk into the kitchen. The pizzas were a little soft when eating but we didn’t really care. We kept making stupid faces and trying to make the other spit out theirs as a laugh. All the while music was still shuffling on through artists.

  She hadn’t finished all of her food that day and coughed gruffly as she had placed the plate down for the cat to nibble on the rest. I placed an arm around her and tried to soothe her but I didn’t think I was helping. She coughed once more before taking a deep breath and calming herself down. Taking a sip of some water we had both grabbed from the kitchen at pizza time, she gave me a weak smile.

  “Scared yet?”

  I didn’t know how to respond to this. Was it a joke? Was something wrong with her and she wasn’t saying? Or was it simply just a remark about her confidence over the game? I didn’t know the answers to the question so I simply handed her controller and pressed play before she was ready.

  “Oh, you bugger!” she called out as she fumbled her hands to be ready when the timer finished counting down.

  The first race was thrilling. She was actually a worthy opponent of my presence and she gave me one hell of a race. I was in the lead for most of it, although once or twice she did take over after using a box to blow me up or splatter my screen with ink so that I couldn’t see. She was right beside me when we started the final lap and it was only due to a lucky banana slip from her – I placed it there – that I ended up winning.

  She scowled at me and said I had cheated. The second race was similar except I had chosen the track – one I knew perfectly – and had let her be in front for the most part until someone sent a blue shell – a device that goes straight to the rider in first place and blows them up and anyone within about a metre’s radius – that I laughed and roared past her to win again. Then she decided to change tactics.

  The final race began like the others had. I was in the lead for the first lap and then she surprised me. She had suddenly grabbed my left arm and pulled it towards her.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I gasped.

  “You are not winning this one!” she growled as she pulled it around her back and under her left armpit.

  She squeezed so it was locked fully and to my surprise she was actually pretty damn strong. It didn’t matter though as my hand was just about big enough to grasp the controller in my right hand and I began to play with one hand.

  “How are you doing this?”

  I laughed as I was miraculously good at playing one handed. She got frustrated at this so attempted to tickle me into submission. It worked. Laughing I dropped the controller on the floor and instantly tried to grab her controller to so that she wasn’t able to play either.

  “You’re not winning either!” I grinned at her as I used my pinned arm to tickle her.

  She gasped at first then erupted into a fit of giggles and released my arm. I suddenly acted upon this moment and took her hands above her head and pinned them in place.

  “Oh, so you want to wrestle now, do you?”

  She smirked up at me and began trying to move her arms but her attempt seemed a little feeble. Then she suddenly lifted her leg and caught me in between my own. I gasped and let go of her hands. She then flipped me over and pressed me against the sofa with her hands tightly pinned to mine, one knee placed where it was currently hurting.

  “So, do I win?” She laughed sweetly.

  “You’re a sneaky little thing, aren’t you,” I replied in the same tone.

  She kissed me quickly and grinned.

  “Looks like I’m stronger than you.”

  “No!”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “You have my balls in a vice—” She looked down and gasped sarcastically.

  “Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise there were any rules.”

  She smirked.

  “I’ll get off now then.”

  She did release my slightly and I took my chance by flipping her over and pinning her down expertly. She had a scowl on her face that made me laugh.

  “What? I didn’t think there were any rules.”

  She couldn’t hold her scowl at this and laughed, relaxing beneath me in defeat. I smiled down on her and she up at me. Our eyes locked together suddenly and there was an overpowering intense connection between us. It was almost as if we were being pulled together. I couldn’t escape her gaze even if I had wanted to.

  I let go of my resistance and crashed my lips down upon her. I wasn’t in control any more as I began stroking her hand, needing to hold her while my legs began wrapping themselves around Elise’s. She let out a large release of air and then kissed me back with the same, if not more, intensity. We entwined our bodies in a mixture of lust and thrill losing ourselves to the demons that had been trying to escape and devour each other. It felt blissfully empowering and I swear my heart felt like it was going to explode from beating quick enough to keep up with my body and mind.

  In that moment I began fantasising again about our future. I could see everything that could a might come to pass. I saw us getting married on a beach before a family image of us and two children, one girl and a slightly younger boy. Ellen and Nathan, their names would be.

  “I love you, Elise!” I gasped out as the kiss broke momentarily for us to enhance a life time of oxygen.

  She looked lovingly into my eyes and began to speak the words I had wanted to hear her say for too long.

  “I…”

  Then suddenly her loving eyes turned to fear and she seemed to suddenly become catatonic. She froze up and began gasping for breath as if I had just shot her in the stomach. She quickly wrenched her hands out of mine and covered her face, coughing slightly as she did. I was mesmerised by what was occurring beneath me as I saw her shrivel up as tight as she could as if she was protecting herself. Curious I peeled back one hand.

  “No,” she whimpered. “I can’t.”

  She pulled her hand back to her face rapidly but it wasn’t quick enough to see her eyes already red and watery.

  “Elise?” I whispered so as not to startle her.

  I moved to the side of her and slowly manage to erect her up into a sitting ball of tears and sobbing. I placed my arm around her and leant into her softly. Her breathing hitched slightly as if trying to return to normal but unable to complete the intended action. I felt her lean into me and I realised that I was helping.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered as I began striking her slightly messy hair.

  She nodded slightly but didn’t move apart from that. And then the music changed to a soft sweet song that I knew the lyrics for. I listened to the introduction for a couple of seconds before pulling her closer and then I started to sing.

  “Who do you want to be in the end?“

  She didn’t move.

  “There are times you may freeze from your depths, cascade your fears into tears. Who do you want to be in the end?“

  She raised her head slightly as I sang the previous line as if to wonder about that question herself.

  “You are who you believe, why do you hide behind your grief?

  So you have to find who you are within, for only then will you find peace without sin.”

  Her tight curled figure began to slowly unravel and relax as her breathing shallowed. It was working.

  “Whatever you thought of your past before, will never stop you screaming for more.

  Who do you want to be in the end?“

  “I don’t know,” she whispered softly to me above the music. I took her hands and smiled at her.

  “Come on,” I whispered. “This song isn’t going to be a bad memory… it’s too good for that.”

  She groaned at my suggestion but eventually allowed me to pull her up and into my arms. We began to slowly move in circles, her head on my shoulder still red from tears still confused on whether to escape or not. The song played and I continued to sing to her.

  “So wave to your past as it drifts away, for here and now is where we ought to stay”

  Slowly as the song passed along its melody, Elise became more relaxed and by the end of the final chorus we were kissing softly and smiling stupidly at each other.

  “You’re a terrible singer,” Elise said. “You know that, right?”

  I gasped sarcastically.

  “How dare you! My singing is perfection, you pleb!”

  We collapsed on the sofa in each other’s arms and laughed softly before we relaxed in silence.

  “You’re such a Douche-Nozzle!” Elise said after a while.

  I looked at her in amusement.

  “A Douche-Nozzle?”

  “Yep,” she said finalising her choice of name. “A huge Douche-Nozzle.”

  She coughs before looking up at the wall clock. It was eleven thirty-nine somehow.

  “What?” she gasped terrified. “How?”

  “We played for quite some time you know. And you may have fallen asleep in my arms just now.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah,” I said honestly. “As we collapsed down you kissed me and then fell asleep on me before waking up and calling me a Douche-Nozzle.”

  “Crap!”

  I could tell that she was terrified and I knew why. Outside the closed curtains we suddenly saw a bright light pulling into the driveway outside. Her parents were home.

  Quickly Elise grabbed my stuff and almost forced me out the back door so rapidly I could have left my brain inside without realising.

  “See you tomorrow,” she said quickly as the sound of keys in the front door.

  She kissed me and then pushed me out of view as she closed the back door and locked it.

  “Elise? Are you okay?” her mum asked.

  “Yeah! I was just bringing the cats back in. And then I silently slipped through the back gate, down the side of the house and quickly towards my home, laughing at the ridiculous events that had just occurred in only a couple of minutes.”

  “Oh, Elise!”

  I smiled to myself as I finally got into my bed.

  “I love you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Now I’m not going to bore you again with the truth of pivotal moments in stories like this again as you have already received that lesson from me. Instead, I feel like giving you a lesson on bowling… I’m kidding! Kind of!

  Well, most of you probably know what bowling is. But, for those that don’t know, it is a simple sport, or game, where you take turns in throwing a large weighted ball down an isle to knock down as many of the ten pins standing at the opposite direction. The person with the highest score at the end of the game wins. Simple, right?

  Well, I was never perfect at bowling. Sometimes it turned out that I was really good and yet sometimes I sucked so bad I could have created a vacuum. More often than not, though, I ended up scoring really well in one round and then the worst in the other. Very rarely did I ever do a great scoring run in two games on a single day. I don’t know why fully, but I always put my score down to the mood I was in and which song was playing. Normally when there was a song I extremely enjoyed playing, I was able to dance and sing my way to a high scoring round. But when songs played that I didn’t know or I didn’t like, my score dropped dramatically. Strange, I know. Either way that was the intro to this chapter so be happy you got one!

  Anyway, the following morning after almost being caught, I woke up rather tired yet excited about our bowling trip. I hadn’t been in ages and this was the first time I would ever go without family members. Just two of the most perfect friends I could have ever hoped for. I still had an hour to get ready from when I got woken up by my mother, so I quickly had a shower and got dressed in the nicest casual clothes I could find. I placed on a pair of dark blue jeans and a purple and blue checkered polo shirt on.

  Breakfast was a simple bowl of cereal with milk and a bit more sugar than what is considered as healthy. I was about half way through when Jenny knocked on my door with her father. She was wearing a similar kind of jeans to me with a maroon top on that showed of her figure well.