How We Began

by Sandra Corton

  He forced himself out of his car, and over to the front door. It was open, welcoming everyone it seemed. He walked in, hoping to skip seeing JoJo and find Melissa or Marnie. He wanted this unpleasantness over and done with.

  “You came.” Marnie gushed at him, as soon as he was across the threshold.

  He knew his mouth popped open at how much flesh she had on display. He couldn’t stop himself from blatantly staring. In the tiniest miniskirt with only a bra covered by a lacy, sheer top, she was eye catching to say the least. His body reminded him exactly why he liked parties. She was undeniably hot, and very willing it seemed.

  “So, you like what you see?” Marnie did a hip swivelling movement that had him panting for more, and forgetting why he was here in the first place.

  Before he could reply, an ugly, grey cardigan flittered through his mind. He couldn’t do this to Hat Girl again! As much as his body might want Marnie, his mind knew better. He would feel like the worst scum if he did anything with any other girl.

  “Come outside.” He called out to her.

  She fluttered her eyelashes, and smiled serenely. Isaac gritted his teeth, as he realised she had the wrong idea. She linked a hand through his arm with an excited giggle. He quickly separated himself, and headed back out of the front door.

  “We really need to talk…” A kiss engulfed him, stifling his protest.

  Just when he was about to respond, he managed to push her gently away. Marnie and her friends had been bullying the one girl that he wanted to spend time with. He had to deal with this now, before things got out of control.

  “Marnie, stop this,” Isaac turned away from her.

  “You can’t possibly tell me that this is about stupid Hat Girl!” Marnie snapped, making him turn to face her.

  “That’s exactly what this is about.” Isaac’s backbone re-established itself.

  “Look, you sister has already done her little spiel to us, so I don’t need to hear anymore,” Marnie’s eyes narrowed.

  “I think you do. Leave her alone. She hasn’t done anything to bother you.” Isaac told her firmly.

  “Uh, yes she has. I was to be your next girl. Now, all you do is stare at her.” Marnie accused, as she crossed her arms over her chest, thrusting her breasts out. Isaac deliberately tried to keep his eyes on hers, as he decided what to say in response to her delusion.

  “What made you think that I wanted you as girlfriend material?” He asked, feeling a tad guilty for using her the other day.

  “You’ve kissed me more than once.” Marnie stated proudly, making Isaac want to crawl under a rock for what he had to admit.

  “That didn’t mean that I wanted you to be my girlfriend.” He said the words, and felt like the biggest heel.

  “What!” Marnie’s scream of outrage had him gritting his teeth. “Are you seriously telling me that you’d rather have ugly, Hat Girl Kayla, as your girlfriend?” Marnie screeched even louder. It was enough to attract unwanted attention from everyone indoors. Isaac took no notice of her tantrum, instead he grinned, feeling triumph fill him.

  “Kayla is Hat Girl’s name?” Isaac asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

  “Of course it is!” Marnie stamped her foot, but that only made Isaac’s grin grow even broader.

  “Thank you, Marnie, you just made my day!”

  Marnie watched with astonishment, as Isaac let out a whoop of sheer elation. He headed straight for his car in almost a dance. He now knew her name! Kayla, what a cute little name to suit the very cute Hat Girl. One mystery had been solved, and by Marnie of all people. He couldn’t wait to tell Kayla that her secret was no more; now all he had to do was find her.

  Chapter 6 – What’s in a name?

  Monday couldn’t come quickly enough for Isaac. He wanted to see Kayla’s reaction when he said her name. All weekend he was itching for it to end. To Jay’s relief, they won the football match, but it had been a close one. Thanks to the gruelling practices they had endured, Steve had remained sullen, but played well.

  All of Sunday he waited anxiously, grinning to himself. When even Hayley mentioned that he was coming across creepy and disturbed, he knew he would have to chill for a bit. It was difficult to try and not grin like a fool, but he couldn’t help himself.

  With Monday came intense disappointment. Kayla had moved to sit next to another girl in her shared classes with him, so he couldn’t talk to her. She ignored anytime he even tried to approach her. By lunchtime, he had had enough; he couldn't find her anywhere, leaving him a cursing and frustrated mess.

  The rest of the week went along the exact same lines. She went out of her to avoid any contact with him whatsoever. He was dying to use her name simply to make her look at him, but he stupidly wanted the moment to be more private than that. He wanted to be the only one to see her reaction when he first said her name.

  She had to be torturing him, it was the only thing he could think, and he didn’t like it one bit. Even when he went to dance class to pick them up, she never travelled with Hayley and her other friends anymore. She always brought her own car, and left without a single word.

  If last week’s football practice had been bad, then this week's contained only aggression and determination. Isaac used every practice to take out the anger that he was feeling at having Kayla pay him no attention. He knew he was being too rough when one of his friend left with a bloody nose.

  He found his focus by mid-week, and was able to calm down a little. If he could figure out where she went for lunch, then he knew he would feel a lot better about things. His searching found nothing, and only increased his frustrations.

  “Now, that’s a pretty face,” Marnie’s voice dragged him from thoughts of Kayla. “C'mon, let's sneak into the library, I’m sure we could find a private spot there.” She twittered at him.

  Once again, he was thankful for Marnie’s words. The library, the answer was simple. Why hadn’t he thought to go there first? He was so stupid that he didn’t think about what Kayla would want to do in her lunchbreak. He had only been thinking of where he would go, no wonder he hadn’t found her.

  “Thanks, Marnie, but, no.” Isaac told her, as politely as he could manage.

  The bell rang heralding the end of lunch, and he knew that he could leave it until tomorrow. Now that he knew where to find her, as well as her name, he was feeling on top of the world. Tomorrow Kayla was going to know all about Isaac, whether she liked it or not.

  Kayla let out a sad sigh, as she parked at school. At least another Friday was rolling around, and she would be free of all these idiots from school for at least two days. She blamed Isaac for all the unwarranted attention that she had been receiving this week.

  Though she had avoided him as best she could, he was always there. Every day he smiled at her, as if she was everything he had been waiting for. There was something secretive in his smile, which made her want to talk to him. She had to force down the urge every time.

  "Good morning." That voice of his that haunted her dreams, managed to startle her in that moment.

  Why was he always bombarding her with his presence? She just never knew where he would pop up next. Secretly, she felt thrilled by his attention, but at the same time, he terrified her. Every morning he had started waiting by her car, and it seemed that today was no different.

  She quickly grabbed her stuff, and marched determinedly into the school. She saw the looks they garnered at being together, but it never seemed to worry him at all.

  Today his mood seemed ecstatic, and she could only wonder if she missed something. He gently extricated the armload of textbooks she had carried, making her heart flutter at how nice he was being. Yesterday, he had just walked her through the gate before going to his friends, so this was different.

  She clamped down on the smile that wanted to bloom on her face. She was only going to get hurt if she encouraged his behaviour, she reminded herself. It was incredibly difficult when he kept surprising her with his kindness.


  "I heard that we are going to be paired up in English soon, do you want to be my partner?" He asked, as they approached her locker.

  She simply shook her head at him, before trying to get her books back. He refused to relinquish them, and Kayla felt her heart clench. She didn't want him to see her locker. Every morning this week, she had found a nasty little surprise when she went to stow her books. Today was no different.

  Marine and Melissa stood there glowering at her, at least until they saw Isaac. They both winced, before backing swiftly away, but not before Isaac caught sight of them. He frowned at the other girls, his face contorting in anger, which surprised Kayla.

  "Why are you here?" Isaac demanded, staring between the two girls who refused to answer for a long moment.

  "My, uh, locker is here," Melissa twittered, while Marnie nodded quickly in agreement.

  "Don't lie! You always claimed that your locker was near mine," Isaac accused. "I guess you didn't listen to me the other night, Marnie. I told you to back off and leave her alone."

  "Seriously, Isaac, what are you even doing with her?"

  Melissa shook her head, while sending an infuriated glare at Kayla, but Marnie winced and tried to step away. Kayla simply stood there amazed by Isaac's defence of her. She wasn't sure if she felt more mortified or intimidated by what was playing out in front of her.

  "I'll have my books now, Isaac." Kayla spoke around the constriction in her throat.

  "Uh, yeah, sorry." Isaac absently handed her the books, while refusing to take his furious gaze from the other girls.

  Swiftly, Kayla threw her stuff in her locker. She backed out of the area, as the argument escalated. She was immensely pleased Isaac had stood up for her, but now she was afraid of what the girls might do in retaliation. Today would be one of those days where she hid from everyone's sight, and tried to become invisible again.

  She had made it through to lunch unscathed. Hostile, nasty glares were in every one of her classes, but she tried to ignore them. Nobody had hurt her, but she knew it was coming.

  It put her on edge that she seemed to have attracted the worst people towards her. Once again, she blamed Isaac. She spent most of her time cursing kissing booths to hell. She was happier when Isaac was simply a dream figure in her mind.

  She walked into the library, and let the soothing smell of the books relax her. Peace and serenity filled her; this was where she always felt like she belonged. Today, she had determined to lose herself in one of her big assignments that still wasn't due for another month.

  Finding the books she needed was the tricky part, but with a happy smile, she launched into her search. She heard more muttering and giggling than usual, which almost distracted her. She kept her focus, as she headed to the quieter, less used portion of the library. Silence and books surrounded her once again, and she smiled to herself.

  She heard footsteps approaching, but she decided to ignore whoever it was. That was until the smell of his spicy cologne hit her, and she could barely breathe. Her heart began thundering hard in her chest, but she stared at the book in her hands determinedly, with her back to him.

  "It looks like I finally found your hiding place," Isaac teased, while Kayla let out a snort. "Are you denying that I found you?"

  "It took you a week," Kayla said softly.

  She found that she had to rest the book back on the shelf, due to her hands trembling badly at his presence. She kept her eyes pointedly on the book, instead of him, but the words were a blur now.

  "Ah, she speaks," Isaac grinned, as if he had won some prize. She glanced quickly at him, and regretted it instantly. With great difficulty, she went back to staring blankly at the page in front of her.

  "So?" She shrugged, as she made the executive decision to ignore him until he went away.

  "So I think you owe me." His voice dropped lower, and thrummed across her senses.

  "I don't owe you anything. Now, if you don't mind I'm trying to get some study done, perhaps you should do the same." She hoped he would finally listen, but when he didn't move, she only felt more exasperated.

  "You know what, you're right," he inched closer to her, as he grasped her arm and gently turned her to face him. "We should study together." He clicked his fingers with a cheeky grin at his brilliant idea. Kayla just closed her eyes, and prayed that she wouldn't faint with him being this close to her.

  "I might consider it when you actually know my name." She replied, as she grabbed another book, and tried to slip past him, further down the row.

  "Maybe I do know your name." He sidled up behind her, and clasped his arms gently around her shoulders. She tried to prevent the gasp from escaping, as he made her face him again, but she couldn't.

  "Really?" She asked breathlessly.

  "Would you believe that I found out from the last person you would ever think of?" He let out a chuckle, as he leaned in close, and whispered a kiss across her cheek.

  "Who?" She stuttered.

  "Marnie." He admitted, but Kayla flinched at hearing her name.

  "Why would she tell you?" She asked, as she clutched desperately at the book in her arms.

  "She thought that I knew it already. I'm not going to mention her again. I won't let them hurt you anymore." He assured her, and she wanted to believe him.

  "Then stop doing this, and they'll leave me alone." She said softly, as she shivered against the caress he left upon her cheek.

  "That's not going to happen, Kayla." He assured her.

  He watched, as her eyes flicked to his filled with hope and amazement. She hadn't believe that he truly knew her name. Her moth popped open, showing her shock, before a small encouraging smile filled her face.

  "You really did know. I thought you were trying to trick me into telling you." She said with a shake of her head.

  "That did cross my mind, but I thought you might see that as underhanded." He admitted ruefully.

  "I would have." She agreed, as she unconsciously leaned towards him.

  "I'll remember that for future reference." He whispered the words into her ear.

  "This is crazy." She said, as she met those riveting blue eyes of his.

  "Is it?" He asked with a challenge in his tone.

  "Well, yes, I'm not your type." She told him the first words she could think of in her befuddled brain.

  "I have the strangest feeling that my type has changed recently." He assured her, as he skimmed his lips along her cheek.

  "To what? Someone like me?" Her voice went into a squeak and he smiled.

  "Not someone like you, just you," he replied softly. "Go out with me tomorrow after the game."

  Her heart began palpitating at that point. Did he just ask her out? He did, she was sure of it. Her mind simply couldn't grasp that one little fact. It didn't help that his lips touched hers, scorching her already addled mind with sensation. Excitement mixed with the trembling butterflies in her stomach, as she considered his words.

  The ecstatic joy filling her died, when she found herself struck with reminders of who Isaac was. The numbers of girls who he had dated, only to never date again. She knew she was setting herself up for disaster if she agreed to go on a date with him. She determinedly tried to put some distance between them, which made Isaac frown.

  "I can't." She whispered, without daring to look at him.

  "What? Why not?" He asked with surprise evident in his voice.

  "I won't be one of those girls." Her words were full of scorn, as she hugged her textbook closer to her chest.

  "What girls?" He asked in confusion, as he spread his arms wide.

  "Your girls. The ones that you date for five minutes, but they end up pining after you forever. That's why I have to say no." She told him firmly with a swift shake of her head.

  "This isn't like that! I promise you that it won't be like that. Please, Kayla, give me a chance."

  He set her such a pleading look that she almost gave in. She forced the memory of the day he had kissed Marnie into her mind. He co
uldn't have been so into her if he was kissing another girl. It didn't help the way Marnie or Melissa tried to clutch him close whenever Kayla was nearby. That only encouraged her determination. Isaac was better off, as nothing but a dream in her mind.

  "Really? What about kissing Marnie?" She asked calmly, and he let out a harsh breath.

  "Marnie means nothing to me." He said seriously, as he tried to regain control of the situation.

  "The girl before her then, what's her name... Melissa?" Kayla pointed out, making Isaac groan.

  "She's not important either."

  "See, this is my problem! You don't care what happens after you've had your fun with them. I will not be the next in your huge line of broken hearted girls!" She told him furiously, before going to walk away.

  "But this is different, you're different." He tried to argue his point, but she let out an inelegant snort.

  "Prove it, Isaac."

  She went to march away now that she had said her piece, but he refused to let her. He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him. Her eyes widened, as the book dropped from her fingers. He pushed her back against the bookcase, and she felt her breath leave in a tremulous flutter.

  Then his lips were on hers, and the rest of the world was lost. His soft persuasive lips caressed lightly against hers, resting briefly before skittering away. He swooped down again, except this time he bit her bottom lip. She moaned, as her body filled with shivers, and she found herself pressing back against him. Almost of their own accord, her arms wrapped around his neck to openly encourage him.

  His kisses turned increasingly heated, as he swept his tongue against the seam of her lips, and licked against her mouth. Her whole body flared with warmth and tingles, as he placed open-mouthed kisses down her throat.

  The raw noise that escaped her, as he suckled on her skin should have been enough to bring her to her senses. Instead, he kissed her harder, more demanding and wanting a whole lot more from her.

  "This is the difference. Can't you see it? Feel it? What we have is unfreaking believable." The garbled words shook her from the depth of the passionate spell she was under.