15. Coffee

It doesn't take long until I capture her lips with mine and my hands get entangled in her hair.

It's not easy to realise that I'm kissing Eve in that moment. Everything seems so unreal and all my mental and physical power seems to be overtaken by the present situation. Her hand finds my neck as she holds me and nibbles my bottom lip. I let out a soft moan lock our lips together even harder, making her gasp in surprise.

She slowly backs up from me and takes my face in. Not physically as I would have liked. She just observes me and sighs, backing backing away for good.

She turns away from me as I stay against the counter. Not really able to move, or think for that matter. Flirting with her just seemed so natural, but I hadn't realised that my feelings were kind of reciprocated? She had been attracted to me too? It all feels so surreal.

"Alex..." She starts and takes a deep breath in. She holds it in and slowly exhales it out, along with all the created stress on her face. I reach for my back pocket and offer her a cigarette. She looks at me strangely.

"Thank you.." She says, rolling her eyes as she does and putting it on the kitchen table between her.

"This can't happen again, okay?" She says. Her words almost feel as if they are echoing in my head.

"Why?" I ask simply

"Don't." She says more sternly "We got carried away. I cannot let this happen again and I'm not.. this type of person. You're barely legal. You should hang out with girls your age, okay? I appreciate your presence and all you've done for Cindy and... I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy the small bond we created because I feel like I know you but" she sighs again before continuing "But this can't happen again, Alex."

I gulp for a second and move away. I take a deep breath and try rationalising my thoughts. I have been so stupid. Of course she wouldn't see me as anything other than a horny teenager. I try not to cry for a second, feeling awfully stupid for caring about her. Looking into her eyes at that moment was a huge mistake. They showed pity. Or sadness. I don't quite know. I divert my eyes quickly.

I nod and make my way out the door. I would have loved to say something, anything. A goodnight, or simply an "okay". I don't want to leave like this. But a part of me hoped that she would come after me, which she never did.

Once I cross the path to my house, I see my dad watching TV on the couch.

"Hi dad" I say, knowing that it would be suspicious of me not to say anything.

"Hi sweetheart." He says, not taking his eyes off the TV. Right.

I sigh, going upstairs and laying in my bed once in my room, staring at the ceiling. It's only been a day since the school year has started. What have I gotten myself into.

**

"Why are you so mad today?" Neil asks as he is hanging onto my bike seat while skating, while we make our way to school.

"I'm not mad" I reply firmly, focusing on the road in front of me

"Sure" He says but doesn't push it

My thoughts drift to Eve and how we probably won't talk again. How I'm supposed to explain to Cindy that I can't hang out with her anymore. How I won't ever see Cami and Jour again. How she'll probably go back to her stupid husband.

Once arrived at school, I park my bike as he takes his skate in hand. I don't like feeling estranged from Neil. I should tell him.

"Eve and I kissed" I say, staring into the corridor full of people of high school. I don't see his shocked expression but feel his head turn towards me

"YOU WHAT?" He says way too loudly for my liking. As he sees me not replying, he gets in front of me, blocking my way. "Did I hear that correctly?" He raises his eyebrows, still processing it, as I nod.

"She doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. That's why I'm mad. We can drop it now." I say, opening my locker and dropping a few books and my lunch.

"Alex I love you but I will need some context here??" He says and I smile a bit

"We have class, I'll tell you later" I say "Wait what do we have?"

"Math" He says

"Ugh..." I sigh. Whoever decided to put math as the first hour in my schedule on a Tuesday morning deserves bad things.

"Do you.. Want to skip?" Neil smirks and I hesitate

"Come oon" He says, grabbing my arm "We could go get something to eat. I'm so hungry." He says

"How's your mom?" I ask out of the blue. The fact he didn't have breakfast made me think of his mom. She always prepares breakfast

"She's good I think. She was still sleeping when I left tho" He says as we make out way to the parking lot.

There's this really nice coffee/sandwich place not far from our school. We used to always go there last year.

"Where's Sam?" I ask

"I don't know actually. I didn't think of asking for his number." Neil says and I nod

**

Once arrived, we take place at a random table and Neil goes to get us drinks. I sigh looking out the window while he's gone. Skipping class is probably a bad idea right now but I genuinely could not care less. It is the second lesson so it shouldn't be so hard to catch up after all.

Minutes later, Neil comes back with our signature drinks, iced latte with oat milk for me and cappuccino for him.

"So" he starts while stirring his coffee "Mind telling me what happened?" He says, wanting to know about Eve

I decide to tell him everything. From the first time I saw her to the first time we touched, to our talks on her Porsche, to the kiss that made me loose her. All of that happening in a matter of 3 weeks.

"That's... sweet. That's sweet Alex. Never knew you'd fall in love like that" He chuckles, subtly bullying me "I mean, never since Casey anyways" He adds

"I was never in love with Casey." I say truthfully

"Sure" Neil says, sipping on his coffee, suddenly he looks behind me, through the entrance of the shop.

"Isn't that... Eve's husband?" He whispers the last part as I turn around, eyes wide.

There he was. Harvey, dressed with a dark blue suit and work case, next to a blonde woman, also dressed in formal clothes, that appears to be way younger than him.

"Fuck" I mumble