How We Began

by Sandra Corton

  As she threw some sandwiches together, she smiled. She had finally had her first kiss. Sure, it wasn’t to someone that had feelings for her, but it would always remain special in her heart forever. The same way that Isaac himself had always been.

  Chapter 2 – People are never where you expect them to be

  “You need to tell me who that girl was,” Isaac demanded, but his sister just let out a snort of disbelieving laughter.

  “Which one? You sure kissed a lot today. That’s okay, because you sure got our dance class a whole lot of moolah,” Hayley grinned and rubbed her hands together.

  “The dorky one with the stupid, massive cardigan and huge glasses.” Isaac replied, as he steered the car into their driveway.

  Hayley felt her mouth pop open in shock at his description. Could he possibly mean Kayla? No, surely, he meant someone else. Then she recalled the look on her brother’s face when Kayla ran off. He had appeared extremely disappointed, and just a bit miffed. Hayley had put it down to her friend’s inexperience with kissing, but maybe she had it all wrong.

  A smile lit her face in reminder of shy Kayla taking on her brother, the rather notorious girl magnet. They were all shocked, when Kayla actually went through with kissing him, instead of bolting in the opposite direction. Hayley had been trying to get her dance teammate to come out of her shell for years. She felt proud to have instigated the move now.

  “Awesome description there, it must have been love at first sight,” Hayley said dryly, trying to hide her evident excitement. Surprise filled her when Isaac sighed, and looked a little dreamy, as he turned off the engine.

  “Not quite, but it was one hell of a kiss,” he told her, and Hayley froze in her seat.

  Doubts assailed her; there was no way he could be talking about Kayla now. She didn’t really seem like the ‘hell of a kiss’ type of girl. She was too nice and sweet to have made her brother moon over a single kiss.

  “So, out of all those twittering morons today, how many did you ever want to kiss again?” Hayley tentatively dipped her toes into her brother’s love life, which she had never done before.

  “The only one worth remembering was her. So, what’s her name?” Isaac asked, as they got out of the car. He didn’t like the mischievous look in his sister’s eyes, as she scrambled from her seat.

  “That’s for me to know, and you to figure out.” Hayley said sweetly.

  She rushed to the front door, and wrenched it open, before racing for her room. She heard Isaac cursing from behind her, but she didn’t dare let him catch her. Once she locked herself in her room with Isaac hammering on the door, she let out a flurry of giggles.

  He finally gave up, but not before threatening some bodily harm. She just laughed when she thought about her brother’s predicament. It was about time he went searching for someone that gave his life meaning. Even Hayley knew how well known he was to most of the girls at school. They swooned over him excessively, and it was sickening to watch.

  She had heard all the rumours about how many girls her brother dated. How he broke hearts as quickly as he got a new girl. Hayley had even had to endure the tears of a few of his ex-girlfriends, when they turned up sobbing outside her front door.

  She knew Isaac’s failing, and the reason why he would never be happy. He only ever looked at the outside package. He knew the names of every popular or pretty girl, she was sure that he had all their phone numbers to prove it too.

  Yet, he didn’t know Kayla. He probably never even noticed her at school. Hayley knew he had never seen her when she stayed with them. Kayla had always been here, and yet Isaac remained oblivious. It made Hayley mad to think that he was now trying to find out who Kayla was, especially when she had been there all that time.

  Hayley had seen them swap greetings politely, but that would be about it. He was blind to someone that was truly beautiful, inside and out. Sure, she had a bit of a hat obsession that Hayley didn’t really understand, but everyone had quirks.

  She let out a sigh at how superficial Isaac could be. Then again, maybe this whole situation would help him to see a different light. Kayla could actually be good for her brother. She grinned to herself, as a plan came together in her mind. She wouldn't let Isaac discover who Kayla was too quickly. It was about time her brother learnt some patience.

  At breakfast the next morning, Isaac looked beyond agitated and sleep deprived. No amount of threats, begging, or bribing had gotten him any closer to the name of the girl that he had kissed.

  Hayley wasn’t even giving him any hints; she just sat there smiling smugly at him. It was starting to drive him crazy that the only thing on his mind was that girl, and the kiss between them.

  He had never been one to chase girls; he found that he never really had to. Girls just came to him. He knew he sounded like a pompous jackass, but it was the truth. Girls had always wanted to hang around him, and there was no way that he was going to refuse them.

  Yesterday had changed things for him, without him even realising. He wanted a specific girl to pay attention to him, and he wouldn’t be happy until she did. All he wanted was her name, and he couldn’t even get that!

  “You gotta give me something, Hayles,” Isaac pleaded, as his sister poured herself some cereal.

  “What, so some other girl spends her night crying over you? Yeah, I don’t think so,” Hayley snapped her fingers at her brother who grimaced.

  “It won’t be like that this time.” Isaac promised, but his sister just snorted.

  “I’ll give you one hint; she doesn’t fit into your normal thoughts of girls. She won’t flash her boobs at you, or wear the tightest skirt.” Hayley said around a mouthful of food, and Isaac huffed in annoyance.

  “You think I don’t know that? She was wearing the most hideous clothes that I’ve ever seen.” Isaac grouched, making his sister laugh.

  “Tell me exactly what she looked like.” Hayley demanded pointedly.

  “She had the longest black hair that I think I’ve ever seen. She wouldn’t really look at me for long, but those eyes of hers were the palest green.” He smiled in thought at the memory, while Hayley let out a breath.

  She had been right he did mean Kayla! She quickly controlled the need to let out a triumphant scream; she couldn’t give things away that easily. Instead, she grinned into her cereal. Life was about to get very interesting indeed.

  “So do you know her? Are you going to tell me her name?” Isaac asked eagerly.

  “I dunno, she doesn’t really sound that familiar to me.” Hayley answered vaguely, finding it hard to suppress a knowing look.

  “Damn, I was hoping you knew her.” Isaac muttered.

  “Yeah, obviously, you’ve been harassing me about it since yesterday.” Hayley rolled her eyes at her brother.

  “Why is your brother harassing you?” Their mother Dana walked into the room with her power suit on, ready for another day at her desk.

  “It doesn’t matter, Mum.” Isaac hastily threw in, before Hayley could say a word.

  “It’s about his true love, Mum.” Hayley whispered loudly, making her mother smile.

  “Get your bag, Hayles, and let's go.” Isaac said on a groan.

  The ride to school fell into a surprising silence. Hayley had assumed that Isaac would try to bug her even more about Kayla, but he kept quiet. His jaw ticked, and he appeared to be deep in thought, so she left him alone.

  “Don’t forget to pick me up from dance class.” Hayley reminded her brother, as she left the car at school.

  “It's normally Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Hayles, I haven’t forgotten.” Isaac told her in a grumbling tone, as he glanced around the car park.

  “Good to know, by the way, good luck with your search.” Hayley left with a laugh.

  Isaac strode across to where his friends were. Girls left and right were offering him smiles and waves, which he returned rather half-heartedly. None of them was the girl he was searching to find.

  He greeted his friend Jay w
ith a fist pump, before looking around the rest of the senior area. He frowned to himself, wondering if this girl was even a senior. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her face before, and he would surely have recalled that long, luscious black hair.

  He snapped himself from his daydream when it occurred to him that she was probably still a junior, like Hayley. He hadn’t believed his sister at breakfast, her cheeky smirk had given her away. She knew exactly whom he was searching for, but due to some obscure reason, she was keeping it to herself.

  It made sense for her to be a junior, especially when he considered that it probably was one of Hayley’s friends. That could make things rather awkward for them. Still, he refused to consider it, at least until he figured out who she was.

  He strained his mind to try to recall any of her friends, but had no luck. All her friends had become a blur to him after a while. They were the ones he picked up from dance class three times a week, because the other person that could drive was unable to. It put a dent in his social life some days, but he loved his sister, even when she was being a painful little snot.

  “Looking for someone?” A sultry feminine voice said from next to him, and he wanted to cringe.

  “Hey, Melissa,” he forced a smile, which the girl seemed to take as encouragement.

  “Hi, Isaac,” Melissa flipped her hair behind her shoulders, and preened for him. “I was thinking that it might be cool if we hung out on the weekend.” Melissa invited, as she stroked a finger along his arm.

  “Sorry, I’m busy.” Isaac pulled away from the girl, barely glancing at her determined face.

  Melissa was one of those girls that never seemed to get the message. He wasn't into the whole relationship deal, all it seemed to do was make people’s lives more stressful. He wanted to live it up while he could, to play the field and enjoy his life. There was no way he would let some girl tie him down.

  “Who are you looking for?” Jay asked with amusement, once Melissa had stormed off.

  “This girl that I kissed at the booth,” Isaac blurted out, before feeling like an idiot for saying anything.

  “That must have been an awesome day yesterday,” Jay said enviously, as he slapped a hand onto his friends back.

  “Well, at least one kiss was.” Isaac muttered, as he scanned the uniformed faces.

  “She must be pretty hot for you to be chasing her.” Jay raised an eyebrow at his friend’s uncharacteristic behaviour, but Isaac said nothing.

  All day he searched for her face, but none seemed to be hers. Anyone with the dorky type glasses that she had worn got a second glimpse, but he found himself dissatisfied. Nobody here even slightly resembled the girl that he was looking for.

  Later that afternoon, feeling despondent, he drove to pick Hayley up from dance class. He cursed his bad luck repeatedly, and thumped the steering wheel. He finally found a girl that he felt something with, and she didn’t even seem to go to his school. He got out of the car to pace around, uncertain about what move he should make next.

  He glanced over to where a bunch of chattering girls streamed from the doorway of the building. Isaac sighed, wondering how many he would be taking home today. Hayley was always generous with offering, even when some of them lived within walking distance to here.

  When he saw a familiar grey cardigan in amongst the crowd, he had to rub his eyes in case his imagination had been playing tricks on him. He stood there gaping at her. He was seeing her as a single person for the first time, rather than someone paying for a kiss from him.

  She wasn’t the most stunning looking girl, but something drew him to her. The cardigan swallowed her figure, but he knew what she felt like in his arms. She had seemed petite and delicate, but still nicely rounded. Her black hair swished back in a long ponytail, with her dorky glasses still in place.

  He finally snapped out of his blatant staring to put his best, most charming grin in place. He strode across to them, as the group excitedly called out his name, and gathered around him. His sister, and the one girl that he actually wanted to talk to, kept their distance.

  “Hey girls.” He said to the group, while looking only at her.

  Panic flooded her futures, so he sent her a wink. That became his biggest mistake of the day, as she backed away from him, and the surrounding crowd. Damn, that was the last thing he wanted. Her face turned bright red, as she mumbled something to his sister.

  Another step away, had her standing next to a silver, older car that he recognised. He had seen the car in the school lot, so surely she went to his school. His triumphant feeling faded at the awkward, intimidated look on her face. That look struck him as familiar. He realised that he had seen this girl before, quite often, but he couldn’t place where.

  He never found an opportunity to talk to her. She used the distraction of the other girls to get in her car and drive away. Her hand waved out the window to Hayley, and her friends, but she totally ignored his presence.

  Disappointment shot through him, followed closely by fury at his sister. He had known by his sister’s evasiveness that she knew exactly who the girl was. He never thought it would be one of her dance friends. He couldn’t believe his sister had been stringing him along like that!

  “Who’s your friend that’s leaving, Hayles?” His words came out rough, as Hayley froze before sending him a devilish smile.

  “You would know if you ever paid attention to us normal girls,” Hayley replied scathingly, while her other friends moved swiftly back, sensing an impending fight.

  They had all seen Hayley and Isaacs arguments over the many years of dance class. All her friends knew that they never ended well. They were well aware that Kayla tended to be the mediator in their fights. Without her there, things could go bad very quickly. Soon enough, it was only Isaac and Hayley left standing there, eyeing each other off.

  “You know her! She goes to your dance class,” Isaac shouted, pointing his finger firmly at his sister.

  “Yeah, I do, but she doesn’t want to end up like every other girl that you’ve dated,” Hayley told him, as she got in the car and slammed the door.

  “I’m not that bad.” Isaac hissed through clenched teeth.

  “You’re not that good either! She has been in this car so many times; you’ve even dropped her off at her house. You never once noticed her, did you? You only saw her after you’ve kissed her.” Hayley ranted.

  Just as Isaac went to let his fury go, he realised that she was in fact right. He couldn’t ever remember giving a lift to the girl, who he was now chasing. He had been to her house, yet he had no recollection of it. Why was it that he had never seen her before? Why had he never noticed her before today?

  She had somehow seemed to blend in so well that he never noticed her presence. Even now, as he struggled with his memory, all he could see was their kiss. She may have looked familiar, but Isaac had no idea where from. Why was this girl hiding so well that he couldn’t even place her?

  “Damn, you’re right,” he said on a sigh, as he shook his head.

  “No, duh,” she huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

  “So, tell me her name.” Isaac asked, softly but insistently.

  “Hell, no! Figure it out for yourself,” Hayley replied defiantly. As Isaac went to voice another protest, she swished a hand at him to be quiet. “Do you think she’s pretty? What does she like to do? What are her hobbies, or her favourite book?” Hayley demanded, while Isaac felt his mouth drop open.

  He knew it was lame, but he never really thought about what girls did with their time. It had never been important before. Thinking about it, he did want to know this girls favourite book, no matter what it was. He wanted to know more about her than just the physical aspect that he normally craved.

  “These are questions that I can ask her when we go out on a date,” Isaac insisted, as he mused over his sister’s words. "And yeah, she is kind of pretty in a cute way. If she lost the damn cardigan, she would look heaps better.”

  “Geez, y
ou’re so damn shallow! I’m almost ashamed to be related to you.” Hayley growled savagely, as she glared at her brother.

  “What does that even mean?” Isaac asked in a hurt tone.

  “That cardigan was her dad’s. She doesn’t see him much, and it’s her way of keeping him close.” Hayley answered, before her eyes went wide, and she cracked her teeth together.

  “Where’s her dad then?” Isaac asked, feeling surprisingly moved by Hayley’s words.

  “I’m not giving you any more ammunition.” She snapped, and turned her face to the window.

  “C’mon, Hayles, at least give me her name.” Isaac pleaded, but she shook her head violently.

  “If you can’t figure out who she is, then I refuse to tell you!” Hayley grouched at him.

  Isaac knew from the stubborn set of her jaw that he would have no chance at changing his sister’s mind. He grumbled to himself as he drove them home. She refused to mention the girl again, no matter how much Isaac tried to get anything out of her.

  It wasn’t until later that it dawned on him that he now knew where to find this girl. All he had to do was pick Hayley up from dance class. He grinned to himself, his mood restored. He now had a plan, and he knew that it would work.

  Chapter 3 - A little understanding goes a long way

  Kayla breathed a sigh of relief that she wouldn’t have to face Isaac today. It still meant that she would have to face her dance class friends. They had been bugging her like crazy to tell them all about the kiss. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold out from saying how wonderful it was. Her defence from their prying was that they should have paid for a kiss, if they really wanted to know.

  She parked her mum’s minivan at the front of the studio, and let her friends clamber cheerfully from her car. Her gaze fell to the spot where Isaac normally parked. The other day after class when she had seen his car there, her heart had started furiously pounding. She had been hardly able to breathe when he seemed to look in her direction.

  Maybe she had imagined it, but she thought he had sent a wink her way. Sure, it had a nervous anxiety running through her now that he was paying her attention, but secretly she felt thrilled as well. She had panicked and quickly said her goodbyes before getting in her car and leaving.