Okay, so before I start, I'd just like to say that, yes, this story is up on the My Candy Love website(just look for LynnScythe). Also, I wrote this story for my friend Ashleigh(she's also the main character, hehe), so most of the view and opinions come straight from her. This means, any offending comments are not my fault and you can suck it. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
"Where, are, yooou?" A voice singed from an unknown position. In my hiding spot, the tight fitting cabinet, I forced myself to keep my fear in. It was coiling in my stomach, making me want to throw up and go to the toilet, but I knew I couldn't move. If I did, then he'd find me. Soon I heard footsteps.
"Are you here, Lee-Lee?" The sound of cupboards opening with enough force to smash the doors against their surroundings. "Maybe here?"
I gritted my teeth together to keep from crying out. If he continued on like this, he'd find me any second now. The footsteps came closer and I could see the shadow of legs at the base of door. Slowly the hinges squeaked as they opened and revealed the grinning face of my pursuer. His arms shot in wrapped around my waist, pulling me out as I struggled and screamed. It seemed my struggling was too much for him, though, because soon we both fell to floor. For a second we both stared at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Found you, Lee-Lee!" Ken's small, round face was filled with joy. Still giggling, I reached out and picked up the round glasses that'd fallen off his nose during the game.
"You cheated!" I accused him as I slid the glasses into place.
"How can you even cheat in hide-and-seek?"
"I don't know, but you did!" My comment brought on another fit of laughter. It took me a minute to realise Ken had stopped.
"What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly conscious that he was staring at me intently.
"It-it's nothing." He mumbled, shifting forward. "I'm just really glad we're friends."
Mimicking him, I moved forward in too. "Yeah, me too."
Ken opened his mouth to say something else, but closed when he noticed that we were still leaning towards each, getting closer and closer...
Slowly my eyes opened as I felt the last remnants of my dream disappear. What was I doing? Dreaming of the past like an old man on his porch swing… I mean, I hadn't even seen Ken in three years, why was I dreaming about playing games when we were five? Well, we didn't only play games… I blushed, remembering the first and last time Ken and I had accidentally kissed. I shifted my position so I could grab the familiar teddy bear off my desk without getting up. Ken's gift always cheered me up. I was sure that, not only the kiss, but this bear hadn't meant anything to him, but it'd meant the world to me. I sighed and hugged the bear tightly before rolling out of bed. It didn't matter anyway, Ken was gone. Shipped off to military school for God knows how long. But, damn, I missed my little Kentin.
"Hurry up, Ashleigh!" My mum called out to me. "School starts in twenty!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" I shouted back with a smile. Usual morning routine, the normality of it woke me up quickly. Since it was school, I just pulled on a dark blue blouse and a pair of jeans, leaving my short ash-blonde hair free to roam. I quickly sprinted down the stairs of my apartment, giving Mum a kiss good bye, of course, and out the door. Once outside, I leisurely walked to school, enjoying the peace the cool, morning air gave me. I made it to my class with ten minutes to spare and decided to spend it reading my new romance novel. However, I was soon interrupted.
"Do you have the report?" An irritatingly familiar voice said. I looked up from my book to see Nathaniel standing over me.
"What report?" I asked innocently, even though I knew exactly what report he was talking about.
He sighed. "The one on the field trip we took last month."
"Ooh! That report."
"Have you even started the report?" Nathaniel stared at me dully.
"I'm sorry." I whispered, forcing tears into my eyes. "It's just that these past few weeks have been really hard for me, with my cat dying and my baby brother almost being killed…" Of course I was lying, I didn't even have a cat or a brother, and it was obvious Nathaniel wasn't being fooled either. So I changed the tactic. "It's also been," I lowered my voice and leaned in. Nathaniel fell for the bait and leaned in with me, "that time of the month."
It was amusing to suddenly see his spine straighten and for him to suddenly straighten his tie, nod and mumble something about finishing the report whenever I wanted and walking off. I couldn't help but laugh to myself. My laugh was cut off by a sharp tug at my hair though. I spun around to see Castiel grinning at me.
"That was mean, you know." There was satisfaction in that grin, so I just poked my tongue out at him and turned back around. Castiel and I weren't the best of friends, or friends at all, but there was one thing we agreed on; the student body president was annoying!
I was just about to go back to my book when someone I hated more than Nathaniel walked through the door; his sister. Amber and her 'posse' strode into the class like they owned the place. She shot me a smirk before slinking off to her seat, speaking loudly.
"Do you remember that little nerd boy from a few years back?" She asked her minions and my head snapped up. She couldn't be talking about Ken.
Could she?
"Well, anyway, I was talking to Nat earlier and I saw his silly picture on the enrolment form." She laughed at her own joke. "What was his name again? Kyle? Keenan? Oh, wait! I've got it." She paused and I knew it was to annoy me. And it was working. I wanted to wrap my hands around her throat and strangle the name out of her. "Wasn't it... Kentin?"
Holy Jesus Harold Christ!
I bolted from the classroom. I had about five minutes until the teacher walked in, but none of that mattered if Ken was back. Heck, I didn't even care if I gave Amber the satisfaction of watching me sprint. The first place I headed was the student council room to check with Nathaniel to see if his sister was actually telling the truth. I'd just approached the door when it suddenly opened and someone stepped out. I didn't have enough time to slow down, causing me to crash right into them.
As soon as we hit the floor, I could immediately tell the person below me was a boy. With a bit of struggling, I managed to crawl off him and apologise.
"I'm so, so sorry!" I cried. "I was in a rush and didn't see you come out."
What sounded suspiciously like laughter came from his direction. I turned to pin him with a glare, but my face went slack when I saw him. Long legs clothed in dark-green cargo pants and black combat boots were sprawled out around me, but what got my attention was what was attached to them. He was wearing a simple, black singlet, accompanied by a dog-tag necklace, with a white, unbuttoned shirt over it and had eerily familiar, rusty brown hair. Then his eyes opened and I was struck by the intense gaze of his jade-green pupils.
"Ashleigh?" At first, it confused me how he knew my name, and how he could speak without moving his lips. Then it struck me that he wasn't speaking.
Nathaniel was.
"Why are you here, Ashleigh?" I looked up at the blonde haired boy as he glared at me. "Class is starting soon, you should be there." God, he sounded like my mother. "You better get there before Mr. Faraize if you don't want a detention."
As much as I hated to admit it, Nathaniel was right. I'd gotten into enough trouble lately and couldn't get another detention. It was as if someone was trying to create different situations where I'd conveniently spy on people and suddenly decide I should figure out their life stories… or help them find something they'd lost.
"Okay, Nat." I got to my feet as he protested about using his oh-so-hated nickname. I ignored him and looked at the boy-man?- I'd knocked over. "I'm sorry I made you fall down, I'll buy you lunch sometime?" Getting fifteen bucks a day from an unknown source did have its charms sometimes. I turned without hearing his answer and quickly walked back to class.
Turns out I got there a second before Mr. Faraize, just squeezing through the door and sitting down before he reached his desk. I tried to ignore Amber's smirk and Castiel's eye roll, but it was hard when they were sitting right there. I squirmed in my seat, feeling their gaze burn in my back and tried to concentrate when Mr. Faraize began the lesson. Luckily, it, and the stares, were interrupted five minutes in by the arrival of a boy. The same boy I'd barrelled into, shoved to the ground and walked away from with just the promise of lunch. The boy's eyes caught me as he looked around the class, and I thought I saw a hint of satisfaction in them. If I did though, it was gone in the blink of an eye. He walked up to Mr. Faraize and handed him a slip of paper. It was then that I noticed the black, fingerless gloves he wore. It was surprising how they suited him.
Wait, what was I doing? The guy most probably always wore that kind of stuff, of course it suited him!
Mr. Faraize quickly read the note before nodding and indicating for the new boy to take a seat. That was strange… And unfair! On my first day, I had to be subjected to the torture of introducing myself! Why'd this guy get off so easily? Was it because he seduced the principal with his looks?
Okay, no. I did not want to go down that road. New kid, or not.
When the bell finally rang, I jumped up and quickly gathered my things, eager to resume my search for Ken. I made to walk out the door, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me, and allowed everyone else to reach the door. I watched in horror as a tug-of-war with limbs commenced to get out first. I knew that trying to leave would mean almost certain death, let alone beating the kids already there. So, in true Ashleigh-style, I turned my anger on the one who destroyed my dream.
"Just what do you-" Like the last time I saw him, my face went limp as soon as I laid eyes on the new kid.
No, I had a rant to rant, and no pretty face was going to stop me.
"Just what do you think you're doing!" I managed to finish this time, ignoring his knowing smirk.
"I wanted to talk to you." His voice hit me square in the chest. I felt like I'd known it forever, and yet… I looked at his face. No, I was being silly, hearing what I wanted to hear. Letting my anger get the better of me.
"Yeah, well, I don't." Why did it hurt to see his face drop slightly? To see the sad look in his eyes? I couldn't help but try and correct myself.
"Look, I'm sorry I was rude. I'll still buy you that lunch. It's just… It's just that I'm looking for someone." I saw the interest in his eyes, and it made me happy. It also made me compelled to say something more. "He's very important to me."
God, that was the worst choice of words in the world. Forget about sadness, this was anger and irritation in a cup. "I'm sorry I stopped you then." He spat like he had the right to. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend."
Hold up, what was this guy's problem?
"Look mister," I snapped, disregarding his surprised expression, "I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I can tell you two things right now." I held up a hand when he tried to speak. "One, you have no right to look so pissed about something involving my life. And two, I don't have a boyfriend,-" ignoring the puppy-like happiness- "but my heart's not something you can just take." I let out the breath I hadn't known I was holding and placed my hands on my hips. "So, if you want it, you've got to get to know it." I may not be the most 'social' person, but at least I had standards, right?
I watched his face turn thoughtful. "What if I already knew it? Then could I have it?"
"Yeah." I snorted. "No one knows my heart."
He had the nerve to laugh. "I don't know, I was pretty well aquatinted with it a few years back."
I felt the colour drain from my cheeks and my arms fall around my waist. "What are you talking about?" I whispered, even though I knew the answer.
"Oh, come on. Don't you know?" I began to feel more and more light-headed as he continued to talk. "Am I that hard to remember, Lee-Lee?" The room spun(or was that me?) at the silly, childhood nickname.
"Please…" I didn't get to finish my sentence before the world went black and I fell to the ground.
I woke up in a surprisingly comfortable bed. Even more surprising was the fact that the school only had one bed, and that was in the nurse's office.
But why would I be in the nurse's office?
The memories came rushing back and I sat up and gasped.
"Oh good, you're awake."
At the sound of his familiar voice, I immediately forced myself back into the bed and closed my eyes, willing him too disappear. When it became obvious from his apparent laughter that he wasn't leaving, I gathered enough courage to speak.
"What," I forced out through gritted teeth, "are you doing here?"
"Actually, I feel kind of obligated to be here." Ken replied with a smirk in his tone. "Especially since it was me who brought you here."
Of course he did. I groaned and buried my face into the cushion below me. "Where's the nurse?"
"She left. Something about getting supplies or something." There was a pause and suddenly his voice was right next to my ear. "Did I make you faint too, Lee-Lee?"
Of course you did!
"I told you not to call me that." I mumbled into the pillow, trying to hide my blush.
"And I told you not to call me Ken, but you're not going to stop, are you?"
I didn't speak for a minute before sighing. "I guess you're right."
Surprise was clear in Ken's voice. "Am I to except such easy compliance forever?" He took on a darker, more amused tone. "It seems you've become quite obedient, Lee-Lee. What happened to that curiosity of yours?"
Finally I lifted my head from the pillow, but it was only so I could throw it at him. Ken caught the pillow in his left hand, and used his right to throw his own at me. The pillow hit me square in the face, sliding off and falling on the bed with a muted thud. I growled at the look on Ken's face. It was obvious he was trying not to laugh. I pushed myself up until I was kneeling on the bed and towering over him. Then I lifted the pillow and hurled it downwards with all my might.
Which wasn't very much.
Especially with a pillow.
The pillow bounced harmlessly off Ken's head and onto the floor, leaving me weaponless. I gulped when Ken grinned and stood, easily reaching my height. He then proceeded to push the pillow into my chest and, in my surprise, reach out and brush his fingers lightly over my rib cage.
Now that just wasn't playing fair.
Tickling was against the rules, but I couldn't help the little bubble of laughter that escaped my lips as he continued knowingly to wriggle his fingers around those sensitive spots that made me clutch my stomach laughing. I reached out to grab the pillow and fight back, but as soon as my fingers curled around the soft material, something else tugged at the other end.
"Na-ah!" Ken laughed. "First rule of combat; never give your opponent a chance to fight back."
Of course, I began to whine. Even if it was interrupted by giggles. "That's not fair! You've actually been trained in this kind of thing!" I pulled the pillow towards me. Ken responded with his own yank.
"Oh, please. It's not like military school teaches you how to tickle small girls."
I gritted my teeth against the comment, and his onslaught of tickles, and gripped the pillow tighter. "It wasn't too long ago you were smaller than me, Kenny."
Ken's hands became rigid, leaving me panting on the bed, and his voice took on a darker tone. "Don't call me Kenny."
"Oh, yeah? Watcha gonna do about it?" I couldn't help but smirk. My mistake.
"I'll make you stop." Ken tried to pull the pillow out of my hands, but in desperation I heaved it towards me.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
The sound of fabric breaking froze us both in our tracks, but it was too late; the damage was already done. It was as if someone had set off an explosion. Of feathers. One minute, the room was it's usual, feather-free self, and then next…
"I think we should leave." I whispered. I so didn't want to be here when a teacher arrived.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Ken agreed and grabbed my arm to help me to my feet. Then, we calmly walked at of the room, leaving a nice, little trail of feathers behind.
"Okay, so what do we do now?" I forced myself to ask. I'd just spent the last five minutes pulling feathers from my hair and wasn't really in the mood to go back to class.
Ken looked around until he found an old clock hanging from the wall. "It's actually just about lunch time, wanna go there early?" The thought of food made my stomach growl in anticipation. And the thought of getting in line first made me smile with malice. I quickly set off down the hall.
"Don't forget you're buying." Ken said as soon as he caught up with me, and the excitement of lunch disappeared. I turned my head to protest, but he held up a finger a silenced me. "You promised, remember? Twice."
"Yeah, yeah, I remember." I couldn't help but frown. "What do you want?"
"Chocolate cookies." He said without hesitation. I stared at him. He could buy whatever he wanted, but he chose /cookies/?
He shrugged when he saw my face. "I like cookies, okay? And we don't get them very often in military school."
That made sense, I guess. "I see. Sure you don't want anything else?"
Now it was his turn to grin evilly. "I'm sure."
Ken was sure alright. Six packets containing twenty cookies sure. I should've known he was up to something. And now he was just sitting there, stuffing his face.
"So…" I said to break the awkward, crunching silence of his cookies as he bit into them. "You're back."
"Yep." A muffled reply.
"For how long?"
"Forever."
"Really?" I raised my eyebrows, before forcing them back down. "Did your dad decide you were strong enough to come back?"
"Something like that."
Boy, he wasn't giving me much, was he?
Or, at least, he wasn't.
He stopped eating for a second and swallowed. The remaining crumbs on his face was adorable before he wiped them off and scowled. "Look, Ashleigh-" Oh my, God, was that my name?-"I was there for three years. I hated every day of it, but I still made it through. The thought that you were waiting for me was the only thing that made it bearable. When I eventually convinced my dad I was good enough to leave, he insisted I go to a different school, but I put my foot down and got to re-attend Sweet Amoris." He sighed. "Happy?"
Honestly, I didn't know what I was. Choosing to pay no attention to the whole 'only you made it bearable' part, I thought about the emotions coursing through me. Confused? Yes. Happy? Not so much…(the answer was actually utterly and entirely yes, but I was still ignoring parts of his speech.) Completely annoyed at Ken's dad? Oh, hell yeah!
"What's up with your dad?" I glared all angstly into the distance. "Does he have a problem with you or something?"
"Not at all." Ken replied with a shrug. "He just doesn't think I have it in me to bring a girl home."
I thought that over. "I wish I could prove him wrong…"
Luckily, Ken caught on pretty quickly. "Want to come over tonight then?"
"Tonight?" I displayed open shock on my face. Tonight was pretty close. Like, five hours close.
"Why not? You busy?"
"No… Not at all…" I mumbled without thinking and Ken smiled.
"Awesome. I'll take you home after school." He cocked his head to the side. "I assume you still walk to school."
"Yeah…" I glared suspiciously at him. "Why?"
"No reason." A Cheshire cat grin appeared as he lifted a cookie box. "Want one?"
Still glaring, I took a cookie out and slowly began to eat it. I finished it in seconds and quickly reached for another. Ken began to laugh and I poked my tongue out at him. A few cookies later, deja vu hit and I remember the last time we'd done this. We'd gone out after school, walked around and ate a whole bag of cookies(that was a lot to him back then, okay?).
It was also the last I'd gone out with Ken.
And this made me remember how much I'd missed him.
Just like he'd promised, Ken came to pick me up after school. What I didn't expect was that he'd be driving. Now I understood his smug attitude earlier.
"You got your license!" I squealed as I ran up to the burnt orange chevy mustang with twin black stripes that started at end and continued to the other. Ken sat in the driver's seat, boasting a huge smile.
"Of course, it's not that hard." He joked and I blushed. In truth, I had failed the test four times and wasn't wasting any more money on a fifth until I was sure I could actually drive.
Ken saw my face and acted accordingly, which meant teasing me. "Don't tell me… You can't drive?"
I hung my head in shame. "I'm a failure behind the wheel." Just like I hoped, it made him laugh.
"Get in, Lee-Lee." He waited until I was settled in and buckled up before starting the engine. "If you're lucky, I might give you a lesson sometime."
"Come on, we both now you can't; you're only on your P's!" I joked, even though the idea of driving this beauty was mouth watering.
Ken chuckled along with me. "True, but the way you're going I'll be fully licensed before you're even close to ready."
I hated that he was most probably right. "Fine, you've got yourself a deal." I found myself gently touching the car's interior. "I can't wait to test her out."
"Whoa, there! Slow down, Speedy Gonzales!" Ken suddenly spurted out. He then tried to laugh, but it came out rough and croaky. "How do I put this…" He took a deep breath. "You're never touching my baby for a million years."
How blunt.
"Why not?" I whined.
"'Why not?'" He mimicked in a nasally voice. "I wonder why? The klutz who can't even walk straight behind the wheel of a classic piece of true workmanship?" He shot me a look. "Nope, never."
Damn him and the truth. "Fine! I'll buy my own, and it'll be twice as classic and cool as yours!"
"I'd like to see that." He smirked and I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. Then I stared out the window for effect, so he'd know I was pouting. But if I had any hope of budging his resolve, I was sadly mistaken. Ken continued to drive, not talking, until we pulled into the backyard of a familiar house. I stared at it in amazement.
"You didn't move?" The question came out before I could stop it.
"Yeah, Mum refused to leave even after I left." Ken was suddenly behind me, pushing me towards the door. "Don't worry; she doesn't bite. It's Dad you gotta look out for."
"Ashleigh! Is that you?" A high pitched voice cried before I was trapped in a giant bear hug by Ken's mum. "I haven't seen you since you were this big." Her arms disappeared from around me so she could spread her hands to the size of a small fish.
"I don't think she was that small, Mum."
"Oh, you're right." She widened her hands a bit. Ken and I shot each other a look before bursting into laughter.
"What's all this giggling about?" I watched as Ken's dad burst into the room. " Damnit Kentin, I told you-" His rant cut off as he saw me. "Ashleigh?"
"Hello." I lifted my hand in a little wave.
Ken's dad ignored me and turned to Ken. "I'm proud of you son. You've finally grown up."
"What- Dad!" Ken backed away as his father stalked towards him with tears in his eyes. Suddenly, there was a hand around my arm.
"Come on, Lee-Lee, let's go." Ken yelled as he dashed out the room, followed by his dad.
"Let me love you!"
Eventually we escaped the antic of Ken's crazy parents(mainly his dad). We ended up sitting on the hood of his car as we laughted about the look on Ken's dad's face when he brought a girl home.
"So, tell me," I began to ask, "what's military school like?"
"Tough." Was the automatic answer, but Ken soon smiled and explained. "It's exactly what the name suggests. It's like going to war, except you're not only learning how to fight, but how to read and write as well."
"Wow." I breathed. "That sounds rough."
"It was." I was surprised by the confession. The way Ken was now, it didn't seem like he had trouble there.
"You either toughened up or broke." He smiled grimly. "And the way the 'teachers' acted, I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying to force us into the latter."
This new Ken was amazing. He was so… Complicated. The Ken I knew was care-free, but hopeless. This Ken was driven, but dependable. And I wasn't sure which was better.
"You've changed Ken." I whispered, more to myself than him. "You've changed so, so much."
I heard him laugh weakly besides me. "For better or for worse?"
I slid off the car and turned to face him. "I have no idea."
His face softened as he stared at me. "I'm still the same Ken." It came out softly and I had to turn from his gaze.
"How can I even know that?" As soon as I said it, I remember earlier that day. The pillow fight, the cookies…
His face changed as he thought. "Hey, you remember that time when we were five?" I looked up, surprised Ken was mentioning it. "I was over your home and we were playing hide-and-seek."
"Y-yeah." I blushed, also remembering the kiss.
"That was the first time I knew I loved you." The comment made my heart stop, but I soon kick-started it, knowing that Ken was just teasing me, like he always did.
Wasn't he?
"I remember everything about that day." He sighed. "Sometimes I wish I could just go back."
I decided to play defensive and snorted. "Yeah, I also remember you having glasses."
That made him laugh. "I still have them. Wanna see?" He reached into his pockets and pulled out a gigantic pair of circular glasses and quickly slipped them on. Looking at him now, I realised that even though he'd changed so much, he was still my Ken. Without thinking, I gently plucked the glasses off his face. Then, in his surprise, I reached up, his new height natural to me now, and pecked him on the cheek. I turned around when my heels touched the ground and began to walk away. A hand around my arm stopped me. Ken spun me back around until I was pressed against his chest.
"What was that, Lee-Lee?" He whispered in my ear, causing me to blush uncontrollably.
"It-it was a ki-kiss." I managed to stutter out.
"You call that a kiss?" He sighed. "And especially after I just told you I love you." His resigned expression disappeared as an evil grin revealed itself and he chuckled. "Poor Lee-Lee, shall I show you what a real kiss is?"
I felt my eyes widen at his words and I began to squirm furiously. "Just what do you-" My protest was cut short by Ken's lips against my own. At first I refused to budge, but I soon melted into him as he gently explored my mouth. I'd just started to kiss him back when he broke off and beamed at me.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time." I was too caught up in my own surprise to even breath, let alone respond to Ken's comment. When I finally did look up, Ken's smile seemed to dull a bit.
"Did you enjoy it?" He asked, slightly uncertain.
"Oh God, yes." The word spilled out before I could stop them and Ken's uncertainty disappeared as he burst into laughter. I couldn't help but burn red, but instead of telling him to stop like I usually did, I tugged his head down and forced him to stop.