Love Survives (Love's Suicide #2)(2)
After a few long seconds Branch had seen enough. He made a snarky comment, announcing that my time was up. “Let me show you both how it’s done.”
Opening my eyes to see her pulling away was unbearable. My brother shoved himself between us to get his own fix. I’d never in my life been jealous of him. We’d learned to share before we came out of the womb, yet this circumstance introduced us to what it felt like to want something completely for ourselves. While they took their moment together I could feel myself turning; the disgust of it all hitting me like a deer in headlights. I hated that he was kissing those perfect lips, wiping away remnants of mine. He was distorting our perfect moment, damaging how innocent it all was.
While stewing in anger, I heard our mother calling out to us. It was time to go inside for the night, and a part of me was relieved. It meant that Branch had to get his grabby hands off of Kat.
While I stood there watching him running inside, I turned to see Kat doing the same. An instant reaction caused me to reach out and take her by the hand. “Thanks for being my first kiss, Kat.” She looked down with a huge smile across her face as if I’d embarrassed her by talking about it.
She responded in a whisper. “Thanks for being mine, Brooks.”
I looked down at the ground and kicked some rocks, feeling overwhelmed by how close we were to each other. Those lips, so sweet, were calling my name. I was experiencing many emotions, but mostly an intense need to feel them again. “So can we try it one more time, so we’ll be sure we got it right?”
Kat shrugged before leaning her body close to mine. As soon as our lips touched, our tongues played together. A jolt of unexpected pleasure rushed through me, causing me to react by continuing our embrace.
Then I heard my mother’s voice, calling out to me for a second time. We broke apart and looked at one another for a single moment.
“I gotta go.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned to begin running away from me. Even though I started to do the same, I couldn’t help but freeze and look back to watch her.
It was in that moment when I knew she’d be my future. “Bye, Kat.”
Once inside I had to hear a bunch of crap from my twin. It began as soon as my foot hit the top step in our two-story home. Branch was standing in the hallway, waiting with his arms folded across his chest. “What took you so long?”
The look in his eyes was discerning. I could tell he already knew exactly what had went on when he left. Because I didn’t want to hurt my brother, I gritted my teeth and looked away. “It was nothing.”
“It looked like more than nothing. We agreed to one kiss.”
“It’s Katy, Branch. It’s not like it’s some girl you like. We’re all friends. Leave it alone.” I needed to go to my room before he saw right through me. Unlike my brother, it was impossible for me to stand before someone and lie.
“Maybe I do like her. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kiss her again, and if you do it behind my back I’ll make sure to tell her things so she hates you.”
“Stop being such a jerk, Branch.”
“I’m not being a jerk. She told me herself. She said she only likes you as a friend. She said she’d never be interested in you that way. The chances of her ever picking you were slim anyway, not when she has me. Just because you act like a * and kiss up her ass doesn’t mean she likes you more. Girls aren’t like that. They want the tough guy, who makes them laugh. They like the ones that are hard to get, not the guys who follow them around like a lost puppy.”
As I turned to walk away I closed my eyes, wishing I hadn’t heard that. She didn’t feel the way I did about her. She liked him more. There was nothing left to say. We’d been taught to be respectful of each other. Our parents had instilled values that I appreciated. Even at twelve, I couldn’t see anything, including Kat, coming between us. If I didn’t know how fickle my brother was perhaps it would have bothered me more. Maybe I would have stood my ground and fought for Kat back then. I couldn’t have seen that it was the first step in my demise; what would lead me to break and eventually have to flee. I should have known he was full of crap, saying whatever he had to in order to get under my skin. Back then I was too na?ve to fathom that he could be blowing smoke just to have an advantage. Up until this point I didn’t think he had it in him.
None of us could have known that the next day would change us forever.
The ride to school was obviously quiet. I was unable to even glance at her without wanting to kiss those lips again. Looking back, I know it wasn’t just puberty beckoning me to explore. It was something deeper that came from my heart, not the muscle between my legs. Even after hearing she wasn’t interested, something kept telling me not to give up. If there was some slim chance that she could change her mind I’d be there waiting for her.
Once inside of the classroom it was obvious that the teacher was upset about something. We’d done fire drills, and even discussed circumstances such as shootings, but this seemed worse. As she delivered us the first bout of news, I looked back to find Kat worried. I stuck out my tongue to make her smile, knowing it was only temporary. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my brother staring at the two of us. I turned quickly to prevent him from thinking there was more to it.
As the minutes passed, we were all sent to wait for our parents. The three of us expected Kat’s mother to walk in and rescue us from another dreadful day full of lessons, but unfortunately she never stepped foot in our school again.