Elly & Kent - The Complete Story: Includes Books 1-3

by Marie Cole

  He blinked again. "...It's fine. Are you enjoying it?" He finished off his sweet tea.

  I grinned, the heat slowly leaving my cheeks, "Yeah." The conversation was still too tame. I was going to need to liven it up if I was going to get back at Kent. "So when you get a girlfriend, how would you two like, get in the mood? I'm just trying to picture you in a relationship in my mind." I waved my spoon around in a little circle and then stared into it with slightly narrowed eyes.

  Kent frowned and shook his head. "Elly, come on. You done with that ice cream yet?"

  I shook my head as I looked at my bowl, there was still a huge scoop left. "Nope." I looked at him with a victorious smile. "So ...really, would she try to make out with you while you're playing video games?"

  His eyes shifted back and forth from the people around us and back to me. "While I'm playing video games? No. Whatever she chooses to do can't block my view. There are other things though." His cheeks were blushing brightly as he flagged a random waitress down to ask for more tea.

  I waited for the waitress to leave before continuing. "I just need to know what I need to tell your future girlfriend if she asks me how to get your attention during the late night gaming sessions. You know I like to be prepared."

  "Getting naked will always draw my attention away from a game," he started to say something else but he didn't get the thought out of his mouth.

  I watched him and waited, holding a piece of cake on my fork until he continued. "But? And?" I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

  "If she touches places then I'm not going to worry about a video game. Or if she wants to have a joint shower or something... I dunno, Elly. Can we... not talk about this around so many people?"

  I didn't know why it upset me so much. But it did. I put my spoon down and then set my napkin on the table. "Sure. You get the check and I'll be right back." I had to get out of there before I started to cry.

  I stood up and made sure I didn't pass directly by him in case he tried to stop me. Once safely in the bathroom stall I balled up some toilet paper and held it to my mouth to stifle the sob that escaped.

  It was so obvious that he wasn't going to try anything. So obvious that when he envisioned girls doing things to him it wasn't me he was picturing. I was so stupid to think that he was into me that way. He wouldn't ever see me as anything other than his fat friend, Elly. I cried for a few more minutes and then pep-talked myself into freshening up and getting back out there. Sitting in a stall and crying wasn't going to fix anything or change the fact that he wasn't into me that way.

  I blew out a breath just before I sat down and assessed him, "Ready to go?"

  He was very hard to read sometimes, but this wasn't one of them. He was confused by my sudden departure. He blinked at me. "Yeah I...guess. Is everything alright?" He asked as he stood from his chair. "Did I say something wrong, Elly?"

  I stood up too and looked away, shaking my head, avoiding eye contact because if I looked at him directly in the eye he might see how puffy my eyes were. "Nope. I'm fine. Let's go." I led the way again, quickly exiting the restaurant. I stopped beside the car, waiting for him to unlock it, my arms across my chest defensively.

  I held my breath as he came towards me. He leaned against the car beside me and spoke up. "Alright, something is eating you. Talk to me, Elly."

  I called on my inner bitch and somehow managed to get the strength to roll my eyes. "Just open the car so we can go, please."

  "This is your birthday, Elly. You're pissed off about something and I want you to tell me what it is." He was being defiant as far as opening the door.

  My inner bitch wanted to be defiant too. "Yes, it's my birthday and I don't want to talk about it. So open the door. The birthday girl wishes it."

  Kent sighed as he pulled his keys out and unlocked the door for me.

  Chapter Two

  Neither of us said anything for a long time until I spoke up as we passed the convenience store. "I thought we needed supplies."

  "I've been planning this for weeks, Elly. I have everything at my house already. Cake, Little Debbies, Mountain Dew, Twizzlers, more ice cream. Whatever we need."

  "Oh." I was silent the rest of the way, thinking about what a bitch I was being to him, my best friend. All he'd done was taken me to the restaurant I'd been daydreaming about, researching, and staring at on the web every spare moment I had. I was being unreasonable and a terrible friend. I was going to have to make it up to him.

  As we pulled into his driveway I looked around for his mom's car and when I didn't see it I asked, "Where's your mom?" I got out of the car and followed Kent to the side door leading into the kitchen from inside the garage. There wasn't anything extremely unusual about his mom going out for groceries or to visit a friend, but she always came back within an hour or so.

  "She went on a retreat this weekend. I asked her if you could come over. She said the same thing she always says." He did his best mom imitation. "'If Elly comes over and stays, you can't sleep in the same room.'" Kent put his keys on the counter and then started taking off his shoes.

  "And my mom knows that your mom isn't here?" I sounded skeptical because I was. My mom knew how I felt about Kent, at least she thought she did. I didn't talk to her about it or anything but she'd had the talk with me over the summer. And she'd even had the audacity to mention Kent by name, much to my embarrassment.

  "My mom said she talked to yours. I'm not sure what was talked about. Do you want something sweet?"

  I couldn't believe he was being so nonchalant about this. This was huge. We were here alone. My heart was beating rapidly as I imagined all the things we could do. We could jump on his mom's bed. We could play ball in the house. We could make out on his bed.

  My cheeks flushed at the image that my girlhood so desperately wanted. I bent over and unlaced my Docs, trying to remember what he'd just asked me.

  "Uhmm...when do I not want something sweet?" I was being more like myself so my inner bitch must have retreated. I was grateful.

  Kent opened the cabinet and got down a couple of glasses and filled them with Dew before going to the fridge to grab the sweets he'd been storing there.

  With my shoes unlaced I slipped my feet out and then tugged on the back of my skirt, making sure it was decent. I stood up and grabbed an armful of junk food from him so he didn't carry everything. It was time to apologize, I decided, so we could leave it here in the kitchen and it wouldn't be weird in his bedroom.

  "Kent, thank you for the birthday dinner. I'm sorry I was such a bitch about it...but I just...I wanted to let you know that I do appreciate it. It was really cool of you." I offered him a smile, hoping he would accept my thanks and apology.

  "It's alright, Elly. I shouldn't have embarrassed you at the restaurant with the singing. Next time I won't be a douche bag like that." He smiled to me then leaned down. I held my breath as his face came closer and closer to mine. Was this it? He placed a little kiss on my cheek and I closed my eyes tightly, still hoping he'd give me more than just one kiss.

  "Happy birthday." He stood up straight, sipped some Dew and moved to the stairs. "Now c'mon. I'm gonna kick your ass at some video games!"

  My heart was hammering in my chest. He'd been so close. And yet...nothing. Brush it off, Elly.

  "Yes, I will kick your ass at some video games." I shoved him to the side and ran up the stairs to his room, yelping when he closed the gap and gained on me. I stopped at the next to top step and spread my body out across the stairs so he couldn't go up. I was slightly winded. "Hey! I'm the birthday girl you have to let me win!"

  Kent looked at me, our eyes meeting when I was a step above him and he grinned. "Alright, alright. I'll let you win. This time. Because it's your birthday."

  I smiled and wondered what else I could talk him into doing for the sake of it being my birthday. I turned around and walked slowly towards his room. He had plenty of time to blow past me and be a douche if he wanted to. But apparently he was a man of his word, even
when I knew it was killing him inside. He loved to win. He simply followed me. When we went through the door he said, "Alright, you won. You beat me to my room."

  I put the junk food on the middle of his bed and then looked at the glasses in his hands. I snorted with laughter and pointed at them. "Oh my god, your mom is going to be so pissed." His race up the stairs had cost him lots of Dew, the glasses were both only a third of the way filled.

  He looked down at the glasses and then at his Dew-stained shirt and shook his head. I felt my giggles die down to a smirk after a few seconds, "Aren't you going to go mop it up? I'd help but, you know... It's my birthday."

  Kent set the mostly empty glasses of Dew down on his desk. Without a word he left the room and was gone only a little while before he came back again. "Alright.. so a minor set back. I need to shower because I'm all sticky."

  "Damn the bad luck." I shook my head in mock disappointment as I turned on the gaming system. I was going to need practice if I was going to stand a chance at taking the title tonight.

  "I'll be back soon. It doesn't matter how much you play you're still not going to beat me!" he said with a chuckle as he snagged some clothes from his dresser and moved down the hallway.

  I glanced at him as he left the room, my eyes widening as I stared at his naked back. He must have taken off his shirt. The TV yelled at me, noting my defeat and distraction. "Shit!" I looked back to the screen and got lost in the game again, determined to make him work for his victory at the very least.

  Three rounds went by and he finally returned in a t-shirt and jogging pants. He sat beside me and watched me play for a bit. "Not bad... Not bad..."

  "Don't patronize me." I stopped playing and grabbed the other controller, tossing it at his chest, knowing he'd catch his precious electronic accessory. I restarted the game and grabbed a Twizzler as I sat back and waited for it to start.

  As the game was starting back up he stole the partial Twizzler from me. "Finders keepers."

  I watched with an open mouth as he popped the other part in his mouth. It was times like these that I wondered if he was teasing me. If he knew I was hot for him and that something like stealing a Twizzler from my lips and finishing it with his was almost the same as us kissing. In my mind, anyway.

  I shook those thoughts away and mumbled under my breath, "Jerk face." I grabbed another Twizzler when it was a good moment to stop repeatedly pushing buttons. I squealed and moved as we played. When I realized I was beating him I yelled,

  "Ha! Suck it!" I was not a gracious winner.

  "Now who's being the jerk face?" He stuck his tongue out at me as he stood and went to get a snack, finishing his Dew as he walked out the door.

  I grinned as I watched him retreat, I was very proud of myself for beating him at his own game. "You're always the jerk face. You are up here all the time practicing and give me low self esteem when you whoop my ass. How does it feel now, babe?!" I opened up an Oatmeal Cream Pie and took a bite as I watched him disappear down the stairs. "Don't be long, it'll give me too much of an edge."

  "Pfft, whatever Ms. Smarty Pants! You want more Dew?! I'll just grab a two-liter and bring it up."

  I shrugged, tilted my head backwards and yelled back. "Sure! Why not?!"

  After a minute or two I heard his feet thudding on the stairs and he made his appearance with a two-liter in hand. He filled the glasses back up and brought them over as he took a seat next to me again. "You know we can do something else if you want. I got some movies or something like that. You can even use my computer if you want to so you chat to people. It's your birthday, Elly, so this should be about you."

  "Way to try to get out of getting your ass beat any further." I grinned.

  "Whatever," he frowned as he turned his head to me, "I'm just trying to be nice here!"

  I got up and lay back on his bed, crossing my legs at my ankles, making sure I didn't embarrass myself in my skirt. "Whatever. You're just trying to save face. You can't fool me."

  "Yeah, maybe. Maybe I'm just trying to not be an asshole." He lay back on the bed beside me with his hands on his chest.

  I scooted over closer to the wall so that he had enough room. I didn't want him thinking I was putting the moves on him. I wasn't sure I was up for more birthday rejection. "I'm not sure it's working." I teased him.

  "You like giving me hell, don't you!?" Kent laughed as he turned on his side. "So, more games? Movie? Snacking? What you want to do?"

  "I want you to watch a chick-flick and paint my toenails." I grinned at him, my head turned to the side. "And then you can feed me cheese balls and fan me with a large reed."

  There was a long pause as he lay there beside me, looking over my face, I could only assume he was checking for seriousness. "Alright. Chick flick, and I'll paint your toenails, but you're on your own as far as the fan and cheeseballs go!"

  "Too bad...that would've made it the best birthday ever. Now, it's just average." I sighed dramatically and then slid off the bed, going downstairs to find a chick-flick. His mom loved them too so there were plenty to choose from. I came back upstairs with the classic, Dirty Dancing. I popped it into his cassette player and then took my spot on the bed. I looked down at my fish-netted toes and cursed. It was going to be hard for him to paint my toenails when I was wearing these damn things. I looked at Kent, "Turn around or cover your eyes or something."

  He blinked at me, confused. "Why do I need to cover my--" his eyes shifted down my legs and over the stockings, "oh," he said softly and then turned around.

  There was some rustling as I lifted my skirt and shimmied out of the fishnets. Once they were off I put them on the back of his desk chair and then grabbed his yellow blanket. I got comfortable on the bed and put the blanket over my lap, covering my now nude legs. My feet were sticking out so he could paint my toenails. "What colors did I leave here?"

  "Uh, I dunno. Let me check." He stood from the bed and moved over to his desk where I'd stashed my nail supplies. "Purple, red, and orange." He said as he picked them up.

  "Purple." I stayed where I was as I stared at his back, his confident posture. It wasn't something that he showed around most people. But I was proud that he felt comfortable enough around me to show it. "I'm going to miss this special treatment."

  He put the other two down and kept the purple in his hand. He grabbed some cotton balls and came back to the bed. He put the cotton balls between my toes. I bit my lower lip to keep from giggling. "Yeah, yeah. Don't think this is our new thing." He put my foot on his leg as the movie started.

  I settled back against his pillows as I turned my attention to the movie. Kent was paying more attention to my toenails than the movie so he didn't screw them up.

  As Baby's hair was getting blown around in the wind, I was thinking about how I was slightly disappointed that he wasn't disappointed that something intimate like this wasn't going to be our new thing. I was also trying to figure out how to get Kent to be my boyfriend, but I wasn't sure I even knew where to start. I couldn't just outright tell him how I felt, it could ruin our friendship. Once it was out there it couldn't be taken back.

  I'd tried doing the Baby tactic, just hanging out with Kent a lot but it didn't work out as well for me as it had for her. But I guess she went to Johnny one night and kissed him to seal the deal. Is that what I had to do?

  I sighed softly and turned my attention to him working on my toenails and looked at the TV whenever he looked up, or looked like he was going to look up. My yawning progressed through the movie and near the end where Patrick Swayze delivered his famous line, 'Nobody puts Baby in the corner,' I felt my eyes falling closed.

  My eyes popped open when I felt him retreating. "Where are you going?" I cleared my throat to try to get the sleep out of my voice.

  "I was going to pick things up and let you sleep, Elly. That's all. You can sleep a little if you want."

  I looked at the TV, and then back to Kent. "I'm good. I'll help you clean up."

  "Why don't you just h
ang out there and I'll pick things up then I'll put another movie in for us."

  "What time is it? I told Jake I'd be online tonight so he could wish me a happy birthday." I hated to do it but I was trying everything I could think of to try to spurn some sort of jealousy in Kent, to get him to realize that he didn't want to be my guy pal forever. This Jake plan had been in action for a few months and he hadn't showed anything yet.

  "Oh, you made plans with Jake?" I saw him chewing on his lip as he stood. "The computer is over there. I'm gonna put the Dew up so it doesn't get hot."

  If he was being jealous he was hiding it behind a blank face. I sighed as I watched him leave the room. I grabbed my fishnets and put them on in the bathroom. I returned to his room and booted up the computer. I stared blankly at the screen as I sat down in front of it, waiting for it to load.

  I heard him banging around downstairs and knitted my brows together as I stared at the top of the stairs. What the hell was he doing down there? Cooking a gumbo?

  I logged into AIM and then waited for the familiar ding signaling a new instant message. I smiled at the computer as Jake IMed me. He was a hot 19 year old boy from Texas, and I had met him in a chatroom called "The Coffeehouse." We'd clicked almost immediately. Our conversation flowed, we joked and asked lots of questions of each other. Jake had recently gotten a girlfriend and I was always asking about how that was going. I had no idea what real relationships were like as I'd never experienced anything in the dating world.

  I started typing away to Jake, and after ten more minutes of missing Kent I went to the top of the stairs and called down to him. "Hey, you okay down there?"

  "Yeah. I'm okay." He was gone a little while longer. Finally he came back to his room and walked over to the TV. He switched to the gaming system before sitting down on his bed. I watched him skeptically.

  "What the hell were you doing down there? Licking your wounds from the crushing defeat?" The good thing about IMing was that usually the other person took a little while to respond, which gave me lots of chances to bug Kent.