Just One Kiss (12 page)

“But of course. We’re the most adorable couple in the
world.” We decided to just let our families think that we’re together, since it
was incredibly awkward to explain what “friends with feelings” meant. And, if
it weren’t for me, we’d be a couple anyway.

“You two should stop by tomorrow night, after dinner with
your parents, Anna,” Adrienne suggests.

I look up at Brayden hopefully. I love spending time with
his family. If only mine were so normal. He grins and nods. “We will. As long
as there’s time,” he promises us both. I smile widely as I’m finally starting
to look forward to tomorrow.

Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving morning and I can’t help but feel a
little sentimental as I get ready for the day. I pull on my favorite pair of
skinny jeans, a loose cream and gray striped top with tight three quarter sleeves,
and a teal scarf with large multi-colored flowers. The shoes are the same flats
I wore to the banquet.

I remember when I was little and my cousin Molly would spend
every Thanksgiving at our house. She’s an only child and just a few months
older than me, so we get along like sisters. Her parents divorced when we were
just babies, and she and Uncle Gage spent most of their time with us. The night
before, we always did these little arts and crafts projects with my siblings.
One year, we learned how to make these origami cups and put little “I’m
thankful for . . .” notes inside of them as party favors.
Another year, we used our hands to make everybody a turkey. Those traditions
mostly stopped until last year, when she spent the night and we made an apple pie,
taking the extra dough for the crust and making a turkey at the center of it.
We were quite proud.

It’s weird to be older now. Instead of spending the night,
Molly will be here later in the afternoon. She’s in her first year of college
too and wanted to spend part of the day with her mother, which I completely
understand. She’ll be spending the night with me, though, after I get home from
Brayden’s. That’s one plus of having siblings—your cousins can spend time with
them when you’re gone and you don’t need to feel responsible.

Molly has always been my best friend, but it’s hard to have
a best friend who’s always lived at least an hour away. We talk as often as
possible, but we never communicate that well over the phone. Plus, we’re both
busy with school and jobs now. She’s one of the only people, besides Brayden
and Ro, who make me feel normal. I’m a completely different person around her;
I’m happy. We get each other like nobody else does, and half of our inside
jokes are left over from childhood.

Ro nudges me away from the mirror. She spent the night here
so she can get the full experience of a Holden Thanksgiving. Her mother never
made a big deal about it, whereas we treat the holiday like a family reunion.
Today, everybody on my mom’s side of the family will be here. We’ve got Nana
and her boyfriend, Lyle. Uncle Gary, Aunt Jamie, and their four kids. Then
Uncle Gage and Molly. I should probably mention that Peter, the oldest of Uncle
Gary’s kids, has a wife and two kids. Simon, the second oldest, has a wife and
three kids. Plus, us five, and also Ro and Brayden. And, Lena invited Smith.
Quite the party.

I look over at her as she runs her fingers through her hair.
“Are you ready?” I ask. People haven’t started arriving yet, but we need to be
down there for when they do.

She smiles and nods excitedly. “Fo’ sho!” I laugh at the
complete lack of ghetto in her as we leave. My bedroom has its own little
hallway, kind of. One side is the banister for the stairs. The other has a few
of my photographs hung up. I love taking pictures of landscapes, and I’m
halfway decent at it too. At the end of the hallway, to the left, is my
sister’s bedroom. Right next to that is a linen closet, with my brother’s
bedroom across from it. Between the two, the bathroom creates the end of the
hallway. If you turn right at the end of my hallway, you see my parents’ room
with the steps right beside it. The stairs are steep and at the bottom they
curve straight into the living room.

Downstairs, Mom and Nana, who got here last night, are busy
doing something in the kitchen and I know better than to ask if they need help.
Apparently I’m not alone, since I see my entire family, including Smith and
Lyle, lounging in the living room. Just after Ro and I sit down, the first car
arrives. We all rush outside to greet Uncle Gary and Auntie Jamie, with Clark
and Lori, their two unmarried kids. We give them hugs and introduce Smith and
Ro, then help them carry in all the food they brought. Our gatherings are
usually potlucks.

Soon after, Peter arrives with his family. And after that,
Simon comes with his. The house is completely packed with people when I say my
apologies and have to leave. With Brayden being sick, I’m going to pick him up and
then drop him off later. Nobody asks why I have to leave, which I’m a little
thankful for.

As soon as I see Brayden, I know he’s feeling better. His
nose is a normal color again, his hair is styled with a beanie on top, and his
eyes don’t look so puffy anymore. Since he’s been taking his medicine for four
days now, he’s no longer contagious, which was important if he wanted to come
over. I step inside the house and hug him, feeling very happy to see him
healthy again. After a quick hello, good-bye, and an “I’ll see you later” to
his family, we’re headed back to my house.

We’re laughing hysterically as I pull up the drive and park
in one of the only spots open. Brayden, being a typical male, keeps trying to
tell me about the loogie he hocked up this morning. Each time he brings it up,
I shriek and cover my ears. Maybe it’s not the smartest thing to do while
driving, but it’s got us both in stiches.

“You ready?” I ask as we get out of the car and link hands.

“Yep,” he says with a grin as we swing our arms between us.

As soon as we enter my house, the entire place goes silent,
all eyes on us. I swallow nervously and lead Brayden further inside. “Guys,
this is Brayden. Brayden, this is my family,” I say broadly, not feeling like
calling out the names of twenty people.

“Hi,” he beams happily, giving a wave. I chuckle and have to
bite my lip. Most people would be slightly intimidated by so many strangers;
not Brayden though, he’s just happy. He reminds me of a puppy sometimes.

There are a lot of questioning looks coming at us and,
before I can say anything, Brayden lifts our linked hands and announces, “We’re
dating.”

I blush deeply, caught somewhere between embarrassment and
longing. I wish it was true, and that we weren’t just saying it for our families’
benefit. But it’s my own fault. And, as each day passes, my reasons for
distance become weaker and weaker.

My entire family looks shocked, except for my immediate
family, of course; they already know. Everybody begins murmuring, one voice
coming in clearer than the rest: “How on earth did she get him?” I’m not sure
who said it, since most of them sound the same, but I’m embarrassed and try
pulling my hand away from Brayden.

He doesn’t let me, though; he continues holding me tight.
Taking the first step, he leads me toward my sister and Smith, acting as though
we aren’t being stared at. Then, suddenly, as though they’d never taken a
gaping pause, everybody starts moving and talking again.

“That was so awkward!” Lena gasps, giggling.

I sigh. “Way worse than I thought it’d be. I mean, what was
with that?”

We both shake our heads before quickly introducing Brayden
and Smith. It’s a little funny to think that they’re nearly the same age. Until
I met Brayden, I thought Smith was so much older than me. I guess things change
when you have feelings for somebody.

Ro walks away from the video game she was playing with Matt
and Clark. That’s one thing about Aurora—she’s got no problem sitting down for
an intense session of
Call of Duty
. In fact, she enjoys it. I’m
definitely not the type of girl to be into army games. I always liked games like
Crash Bandicoot
on the PlayStation.

We all sit in the corner talking until Nana announces that
the hors d’oeuvres are ready. They’re basically just little snack foods that we
stuff ourselves on so that none of us manage to eat much of the actual dinner.
Then the adults always act surprised at the amount of leftovers.

I offer to get Brayden and me some pizza pockets while he
grabs the drinks. It’s a good system to avoid juggling the “buffet line,” as we
call it. Sitting back down beside me, Brayden swings his arm around my
shoulders and pulls me into his side, making me smile. Then a thought occurs to
me. “Do you want me to go get you something softer to eat? I’m pretty sure Nana
made her wild cherry Jell-o,” I offer, wondering if his throat was up to pizza
yet.

He grins. “You’re worried about me!”

“No!” I protest, blushing.

He chuckles and shakes his head. “I should be fine. My
throat mostly stopped hurting last night.”

I nod. “That’s good. There’s a lot of food,” I giggle.

We spend the rest of the time talking about random things,
making each other laugh as we ignore the people around us. Well, we don’t
ignore Ro. The last thing I want is for her to feel like a third wheel. That’d
be awful.

After everybody is finished eating, we all head outside for
an intense game of touch football. This year, however, I sit out with Brayden
since neither of us are feeling up to running around. We perch under a large
oak tree off to the side of my yard with a large, thick quilt keeping us warm.
For some reason, Brayden insists that I sit between his legs so that my back is
resting against his front. I have to admit; it is a lot warmer like this than
if we were beside each other.

“Be sure to tell me if you’re getting uncomfortable,” I say,
glancing back at him.

He just smirks at me and wraps his arms around my body,
resting his head on my shoulder. Secretly, I’ve always wanted to sit with
somebody like this. I just never thought it’d happen. I’m in heaven.

After a while of sitting in silence, Brayden randomly says,
“You have such a pretty house.”

I smile and look over at it, taking in the view of our large
yard and the forest surrounding it. It’s quite the image. “I love it here. It’s
going to be hard when I decide on my major.”

I feel his arms tighten a little around me.

“What made you decide to stay at home this year and go to
community college, instead of heading off to a four-year university right
away?”

“When all that stuff happened my senior year, my grades
plummeted and it would have been hard for me to get into a decent school right
out of high school as a result. So my parents thought it was a better idea to
stay home for at least a year, get some of my basics out of the way, and get my
GPA up for schools I really want to go to.”

“Any idea where that’ll be?” he asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve applied to a few different
places.”

“Where’s the farthest away you applied to?”

“California.”

“And the closest?”

“U of M,” I answer.

“So you could stay in Minnesota?” he asks, hopefully.

I nod. “Yeah, but I’m not so sure about the majors there. I
mean, I’m really interested in the Duluth campus, but that’s mostly the
scenery.” I pause to think. “But the winters are so much worse up there. I hate
winter,” I frown.

“Is that why you applied to California?”

I nod. “But I don’t know how I’d do with warm weather all
the time. So I looked into San Francisco, but it’s so foggy there, from what I
heard. I looked at Seattle, but it rains constantly. I’m not quite an East Coast
type of girl, so those schools were out of the question. Arizona is just way
too hot. Salt Lake City smells bad. If I moved to Texas, I’d develop an accent.
I thought Chicago might be nice, but none of the colleges called to me. I
refused to move to a state people say is an acronym for ‘Idiots Out Walking
Around.’” I realize I’m rambling and take a deep breath. It also occurs to me
that a major deciding factor of what school I wanted to go to was the weather.
I’m so crazy. I suddenly remember the cruel statement someone made when I’d
introduced Brayden. “Nothing really made me want to leave, but there’s not much
here making me stay.”

There’s a small silence. “I have a question,” Brayden says
warily. “It might be awkward for you to answer, since right now we’re only
friends with feelings, but now that you know me, has your decision process
changed?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, am I a reason for you to stay?” There’s emotion in
his voice, but I can’t tell what it is.

I think about it for a moment and, in the middle of my
thoughts, I see Molly’s white Chevy Cobalt pull up the driveway. Without
thinking, I jump up and start running toward her. She gets out of the car and
meets me halfway. It’s silly, but we haven’t seen each other in forever. Our
arms lock around each other as we spin around, giggling like idiots.

“It’s about time! I haven’t seen you in forever!” I squeal.

“I know! Did you see the video I sent you the other day?
Those guys were totally hitting on me!” she exclaims.

I laugh and grab her bag. “Oh my God, I know! What were they
even listening to?” I ask, remembering the goofy video. Two Hispanic guys had
pulled up alongside Molly on the highway and were dancing like monkeys to their
blasting music. They’d wave to the camera and blow her a kiss every once in a
while.

“Um, I don’t know. I was too busy laughing my ass off to
actually notice,” she says.

I laugh. “And what was with that phone call afterward? You
didn’t say anything, just kind of . . . gurgled.”

“Oh, I totally butt dialed you,” she admits with a smile. We
both burst out laughing. It was so Molly. We quickly throw her things into the
house before I take her hand and pull her back outside. “I’ve got two people
for you to meet,” I say, calling Ro over as we head to Brayden. She gets to him
at the same time that we do.