How We Began

by Sandra Corton

  "I can't remember anything right now," Isaac paused, before glancing under the sheet, and breathing out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I've got my jeans on,"

  "Okay... okay, we, uh, need to, yeah, um... figure out why we're not at your place, and I’m not in Hayley's room." Kayla babbled, as she yanked the sheet over to cover herself. That wasn't such a good idea when she exposed more of Isaac's tempting body.

  "Just give me a second to wake up." Isaac muttered, as he let out a huge yawn.

  "Look, I know this is probably a normal situation for you, but it's not for me!" Kayla's voice rose into a panicked warble.

  "Kayla, calm down, and if you want the truth this is a first for me." Isaac's stark words left her once again dumbstruck.

  "That's bull." She pointed at him, but he shook his head.

  "No, it's not. I've never..." He trailed off, before clearing his throat. This time his face didn't just have a pink tinge, but he went as bright red as she was.

  "Never what?" She encouraged him to finish his sentence.

  "My reputation is just that... it's, uh, not real. I mean I'm not saying I haven't made out with girls, and got pretty damn close to... but, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, while Kayla just stared at him in utter disbelief.

  "Let me understand this, you're telling me that you, the guy who's dated nearly every girl at school, have never had sex before?" Kayla's face flamed to excruciating redness, but she was dying to know the answer.

  "Yes, okay. Most of the girls I've been with..." He shoved a hand into his hair, and looked anguished.

  "How can that be? Isaac, you are supposed to be the most notorious guy in our school. I know how many girlfriends you've had; it's been one a week for the last few years. Why are you lying to me about this? Did you spread rumours about your prowess around, because believe me I've heard some wild stories." She asked her eyes going wide, as she tried to understand the situation.

  "Not me." Isaac's jaw clenched, and then he glanced out the window.

  "Then who?"

  "The guys, they tend to exaggerate any story that I tell them. I told you last night that they seem to want to live vicariously through me. It started with one of the guys seeing me leaving a girls house early in the morning, and just went crazier from there." He admitted, as he looked anywhere, but at her.

  "I don't understand." She told him, crossing her arms over her chest.

  "One of the first girls I was ever with... well, I'm not going to bore you with details, but we were about to... you know," he stopped and cleared his throat again before continuing. "She said no, so I stopped. I thought that was it except she wanted me to keep her company, so I stayed the night because her parents weren’t home. Nothing happened." He babbled out an explanation.

  “And? How does that lead to the reputation that you’ve got?”

  “One of the guys saw me leaving her house the next day. They bragged about it at school, but I had told them that nothing happened. The girl broke up with me, because she thought that I was spoiling her reputation.” He made a sour face, and looked uncomfortable.

  "Okay, what's the reason for having a girlfriend every week then?" Kayla raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

  "Mostly because they are so bloody boring. All they want to talk about is stupid crape, and they want me to go shopping with them." He finished on a voice filled with horror.

  "It's lucky I went shopping with Hayley by myself yesterday." Kayla wiped a hand across her brow, still only half believing his claims. He smiled then, a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

  "You don't believe me." He said sadly.

  "It seems a bit out there, and the kind of story that you'd tell a girl like me." She admitted to him.

  "Look, I'm not saying I haven't been completely willing. I've been in front of a girl naked and totally ready, on more than one occasion."

  "Ewww, don't say that again!" Kayla interrupted him, as she slapped a hand over her ears, and regretted it when her head throbbed nastily.

  "They were always the ones to say no, they backed out of the deal. Most of the girls said nothing bad about me, but the guys blew it out of proportion. They were the ones that made every moment that I was with a girl to be so sordid."

  "I'm just trying to get why these stories would be in your favour. I've seen girls crying over you as if they wouldn't survive unless they went back out with you. The girls should have said you were terrible." She frowned fiercely, as she considered his words.

  "Honestly, Kayla, I don't know. The last thing I will ever understand is the female mind." He grumbled, until she sent him a pointed stare.

  "Okay, I think that's enough on that topic. Let's try and figure out how we ended up here." She gestured to her bed that they were both sitting on.

  Isaac shrugged, before looking around her room. The neatness and femininity of her room, without it being overly pink like Hayley's surprised him. He liked it in here it felt cosy and comfortable.

  He spotted his phone on the bedside table, and reached for it. A ton of messages from Hayley, along with as many missed calls made him groan. He scrubbed his neck, as he glanced around the room looking anywhere, but at Kayla.

  Admitting his biggest secret hadn't been easy, and knowing that she didn't believe him wasn't really helping matters. Sure, he did go through girls, but none of them seemed to want him in the end, just as much as he didn't want them.

  Melissa, just like Jo Jo was being one of the persistent ones. He had only spent a few days with her before deciding that she wasn't worth the effort. She may flaunt her body around, but she was a terrible kisser, and even more demanding.

  He was surprised that he hadn't developed some ineptness, or distrust with girls over the years. He still wanted them, most especially this girl right in front of him. He had been determined not to rush things with Kayla, so it seemed odd that they were at her house, and in her bed.

  Think, he demanded of his brain, and slowly the fuzziness from his mind cleared. Damn, he'd been a humongous idiot! He glanced over to her swiftly to assess the damage, but he couldn't see her face with her hair flaring wildly around it.

  "Uh, Kayla, what exactly do you remember about last night?" He hedged around the idea, hoping that she would remember.

  "Not much after the Tunnel, uh, ride," she stalled, and he knew that she was blushing.

  "That's because you hit your head. We were walking back over to the Ferris wheel, and you slipped on something. You were on the ground, and I hadn't even realised. I'm sorry," he looked at her, but she remained glued to the spot.

  "Truly?" She asked, as her hands went to her head. "Well, that's embarrassing. Might explain the headache, but definitely not why we are here." She mumbled the last words to herself.

  "I didn't want to take you home with me, because Hayley would have freaked out, so I came back here." He offered an explanation, which only set her to scurrying away from him.

  "How did I end up dressed like this?" Her voice went into an almost hysterical screech.

  "Your Mum dressed you in that. I swear that I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I wasn't even in the room." He raised his arms up defensively.

  "My Mum?" She asked in confusion.

  "She was here getting ready to go to work, when I was trying to figure out which key opened your door. Boy was she surprised to see me holding you in my arms."

  Isaac winced at the memory of her Mum's furious, worried eyes. He knew how bad it must have looked from her Mum's perspective. Daughter goes out on a date, and not long later carried unconscious into her house. She had been so nice to him about it, once he explained the situation.

  "I told her what happened and she believed me. You were so dizzy, and not really with it that she was about to call in sick for work. I was going to leave you in her care, but an emergency call came through at the hospital. I told her that I'd look after you. She explained what to look for if you were going into concussion, and to ring her right away if anything changed." He to
ld her honestly.

  All Kayla could do was blink at him, as she tried to piece together the night. Her brain throbbed angrily in response. Without thinking, she pressed a hand to the back of her head only to find a large painful lump that completely backed up his story.

  She had hit her head. For some odd reason, she could only recall the beginning of the date, and only blurry visions after that. She did remember hearing her mother's worried voice, but very vaguely. She was sure that she heard Isaac panicking about what to do now, but it seemed so distant.

  Then a flash of comprehension left her feeling utterly humiliated. He was in her bed because she had asked him to stay. He had been checking on her, asking her to answer some dumb questions when she said stay. He had insisted that the couch was just fine, but she had tugged on his hand until she forced him next to her.

  Bumping her head was one embarrassment that she could eventually live with, but demanding that he get into her bed was completely mortifying. A groan of utter anguish escaped her, as she put her head in her hands.

  "Kayla, what's wrong? Is your head still hurting? Do you want me to call your Mum?" He asked frantically.

  "You're here because I asked you to be here," she told him from between her fingers.

  "You were a bit insistent," he told her with a grin, as he realised that nothing was wrong.

  "Sorry." She told him, as she chewed on the inside of her lip.

  "That was fine by me, Kayla," he said a bit smugly, and she finally felt brave enough to send him a glare. "How does your head feel?" His concern for her had her softening up, and her embarrassment melting away.

  "Sore," she rubbed lightly over the spot again. "Sorry I wrecked our date."

  "Stop apologising." He told her, as he leaned towards her.

  Thankfully, his phone began vibrating in his hands then and he answered it. She felt a deep breath leave her, as she got off the bed. She realised it was Hayley on the phone when he began specifying exactly what had happened.

  She watched his bare back pace away from her, as she once again tried to organise her thoughts. It took her a moment to realise that it was finally her chance to get out of her pyjamas. She had no idea why her Mum had dressed her in these. She quickly jumped off the bed. and rummaged in her wardrobe.

  She turned back, triumphantly clutching her clothes only to find Isaac's gaze fixed firmly on her backside. She blushed and quickly moved away.

  She ran out of her room. and down the hallway to the bathroom. Running was not such a good plan, as the headache pounded and she became dizzy. She gasped out a breath, which only attracted Isaac's attention.

  "Kayla, what are you doing?" Isaac called out, as she leaned into the bathroom door unsteadily.

  "Getting changed if you don't mind! My Mum will be home from work soon, and I don't want her getting the wrong idea." She said the words, but her eyes ogled his bare chest, as he entered the hallway.

  "She knows I'm here. She called when she got to work to check on you, and I called her a few times to tell her that you were okay. This won't come as a surprise to her, I promise." He tore his eyes from their constant wandering over her body.

  "That's just great, but I'm still changing." She went into the bathroom, and shut the door behind her.

  She stood there on the cold, tiled floor gritting her teeth against the dizzy feeling. Her palms landed on the sink and tightened. Slowly, she opened her eyes only to shut them again, when she noticed her reflection in the mirror.

  She had to stifle the groan at how untidy, scruffy, and horrible she looked. Her hair was standing out from her head wildly with even her new fringe askew. Last night's makeup smudged across her cheek, and her eyes were red rimmed from having her contacts in all night. Simply put, she looked terrible.

  "You okay?" Isaac knocked on the door, and she jumped back startled.

  "Fine, thanks. You could have mentioned how horrible I look." She called out, and then regretted the words instantly.

  "What? You look cute being a bit messy, maybe sexy due to those clothes..." He cleared his throat, but said nothing more.

  She caught a breath, as she changed as quickly as she could. She threw on some comfortable track pants, a shirt, and one of her brother’s old hoodies. She shoved her unruly hair into a rather messy bun, and scrubbed at her face.

  She changed her contacts, and grabbed at a set of her glasses that she always kept in the medicine cupboard for emergencies. Feeling adequately tidied, she headed slowly back out the door.

  "Why do you wear such baggy clothes?" Isaac asked from behind her, as she turned to her bedroom. His shirt from last night once again covered his chest, which was a bit disappointing.

  "They're comfy," she replied, as she tugged on Mitch's hoodie.

  "And you wonder why I never noticed you?" He made a tsking noise.

  "I'm not about to start prancing around in miniskirts, just because that's what you would rather." She snapped, as she tossed her pyjamas into the hamper, hopefully where Isaac's eyes would never see them.

  "That's not what I meant. That dress that you wore last night wasn't too short or revealing, but you looked great in it. This just does nothing for you." he reached over, and ran a hand down her side.

  "Okay, enough about my clothing choices." She rubbed at her forehead, and he became instantly concerned.

  "Do you want some breakfast? I admit I'm not a great cook, but I can make toast." He offered, as his eyes enveloped hers.

  "Uh, yeah, that would be a great idea."

  Moving him away from her bedroom allowed her to breathe a bit more freely. She was still internally panicking about waking up beside him. There was no way the image of Isaac on her bed would ever leave her mind now. She didn't know whether the lovesick sigh or the freaking out would win just yet, so it was easier to remove him from her room.

  He sat her at the breakfast nook, and began fussing around the kitchen. She liked seeing him in her house, she admitted to herself. When he couldn't find the bread, he began frowning and searching more obscure places.

  "Try the freezer," Kayla suggested.

  "The freezer? Who freezes their bread?" Isaac asked, tilting his head towards her with a puzzled look in his face.

  "There are normally only two of us here, so we don't go through as much bread as a normal family. When Mitch still lived here we went through a loaf a day."

  "You miss him," Isaac said simply, as he finally discovered the frozen bread.

  "Yeah, he's so crazy and fun. He rang me the other day, and said that he'd be home next week. I'm really looking forward to seeing him."

  "You said that your Dad's coming home soon to, so will they be here at the same time?" Isaac asked, and Kayla sensed an edge to his question that seemed rather nervous.

  "Not really, which is sad. It would have been nice to have a family dinner or something. I'm sure Dad will probably drive up to Mitch's place. Dad's not arriving until the week after next; still it will be good to see both of them." Kayla said, as she swung her legs slowly on the stool.

  "I finally get it, forget what I said earlier." He told her with a surprisingly embarrassed look.

  "Huh, what do you mean?" She looked at him in confusion.

  He turned away to the toaster, but said nothing. She rubbed a hand over her hair, fussing with its messiness to distract her from the increasing awkward air between them. The toaster flipped in the silence, and Isaac automatically reached for the slices of toast.

  "What do you want on it?" He asked softly, without looking at her.

  "Um, golden syrup." She replied, and he reached for the bottle of liquid gold that she placed next to him.

  The scratching of the knife against the bread was the only sound in the room. Kayla bit her lip, and wondered how to get back to the easy conversation that they had been having.

  "Thanks." She said, as he handed her a plate of toast.

  She smiled when she realised that he had even cut it up into little triangles for her. He went back to g
et his own toast, before sitting down next to her. She thought the dreaded silence would return, but Isaac surprised her.

  "You spend a lot of time on your own, don't you?" He asked, before biting into his toast.

  "Sometimes. Mum tries to be home for dinners and stuff, as often as she can. Like last night, if emergencies happen then she stays longer at the hospital," Kayla explained, as she wondered where he was going with this conversation.

  "It makes sense now why you wear their clothes. I guess this is your brothers?" He reached over and touched the hoodie that she had on.

  "Um, yeah, it is." She looked away from him, feeling uncomfortable about what she was admitting.

  "Hayley once told me that the hideous grey cardigan was your Dad's, and I, geez... all I saw that day at the kissing booth was that grey cardigan. I never realised it might have some meaning to you,"

  "Mum bought Dad that cardigan for his birthday a few years ago, when he was home. I saw his face when he opened it, and I knew he hated it. He wore it every day, until he went back. He had intended to shove it deep into the cupboard, but I told him that I would take it. That cardigan is just... well." She couldn't say anymore, as her throat went tight.

  "It showed his dedication to your Mum." Isaac said, with his voice full of awe.

  "Yeah, I guess it did." She bit into her toast, hoping to leave this topic alone.

  "That means enough with the D&M's, huh?" He asked in a light voice.

  "Please." She sent him a pleading look.

  "I have to agree, or you might try to reef more personal information out of me." He let out a grumbling noise.

  "I'm still not sure that I believe you, after all the girls are still swooning after you even when they've been dumped." She pointed out.

  "Hey, some of them are dumping me, you know! Plus, I'm just an awesome kisser, and they want another chance at these." He sent her a devilish smile, as he tapped his lips. That only started her heart madly racing in her chest, when she thought of him kissing her last night.

  Before she could answer, a knock resounded from the front door. Kayla hopped off her stool with great reluctance. She had a feeling that she knew exactly who was on the other side of that door, and she wasn't ready to face Hayley yet. She flung the door open wide, and her mouth dropped open.