By the time I arrived home I was soaked again, now having to hold up my borrowed joggers that were heavy with rain. I trudged through into the kitchen -where I could hear my papa clattering about- leaving a trail of water along the way.
"I'm h-h-home." I chattered, waiting momentarily as Francis turned the dial on the radio to quieten it before turning to beam at me.
"Sorry cherie, I was going to pick you up from school considering the weather but I lost track of time." He explained apologetically, wiping flour covered hands against his apron. The kitchen looked as if a bomb had gone off, counters covered in flour and sticky puddles, littered with colorful packets. The counter behind my father was already filling up with undecorated cakes and cookies, steaming gently in the cool of the kitchen.
I had completely forgotten my promise to help him out, his bakery having received an unusually large order for a party happening this weekend.
"Yeah I uh, kinda forgot about tonight. Sorry."
"I can see that," He said with a soft smile, eyes appraising my outfit for a moment before turning back to his work. "I hope you are being safe."
I felt my face flush crimson in response to what he was hinting at and I was quick to stutter out my explanation.
"It's not like that," Although part of me wished it was. "I got wet in the rain and borrowed some clothes." He knew I had made a new friend, it being obvious when I started coming home late every night. He had been very happy that I was finally 'branching out' as he'd called it, always worrying that I was lonely when he wasn't around, he'd even baked me a cake to celebrate.
But then again that was my papa's answer for everything, bake a cake, they were great for celebrating with or as comfort food when feeling down. His culinary skills had rubbed off on me and now that I was older I was often roped into helping, not that I minded really.
"I'm just going to grab a quick shower and some dry clothes and then I'll be back." I finally said, turning his music back up as I scooted passed to reach the stairs.
When I arrived at the top I lent into the bathroom to flick the shower on so the water could warm, then ducking into my own room. My bag got ditched in the corner and mobile got thrown onto the bed. As soon as I let go of the waistband, the pants fell to the floor with a soft splat. Gross. I hung them up to dry and grabbed my fluffiest towel, shutting myself in the bathroom thereafter.
It wasn't until I was finally stood under the warm spray of the shower that I let out the long shaky breath I had been holding in since Alfred had kissed me. Wow, what a thought. Alfred Jones had kissed me… And then he had apologised. Did that mean he regretted it?
The thought hurt like a knife to the gut and I was quick to banish it from my mind. No, this was supposed to be a happy moment for me, I'd just gotten my first kiss and I wasn't about to let my anxiety ruin it. It hadn't been what I was expecting if I was honest with myself, the books I so loved to read always described a first kiss like fireworks, intense and passionate. But perhaps it was a bit unfair to judge, I'd been caught by surprise and it had only been a brief warm pressure, not really giving me time to react before he had pulled back.
Or maybe I was just some kind of freak that didn't like kissing? I shook my head to again dispel the negative thoughts, deciding to simply allow myself to smile and enjoy the heat of the shower.
OoooooooooooO
It was ten at night by the time we had finished and had a large collection of finely decorated cakes, I was left on cleanup whilst papa quickly whipped us up some omelets for dinner. After spending a shocking amount of time trying to scrub icing off the counters I ditched the now blue cloth into the sink and took a seat at the small pinewood table in the corner of the room. There was a stretch of silence while he flipped them onto plates before joining me at the table and placing one in front of me.
"So, do I get to know the name of this mystery friend yet?" Francis questioned, spearing a piece of omelet and popping it into his mouth. I shook my head in reply, busying myself with cutting my food into little squares. I knew if I told him anything about Alfred he'd go searching facebook or something, and for now I wanted to keep him to myself. So I changed the subject.
"Why don't we talk about your love life for a change? I saw some posters around town advertising a date night thing at the weatherspoons bar next month, maybe you should go?" I promoted, taking a bite of fluffy perfection and humming appreciatively. He made a sound in the back of his throat and rolled his eyes.
"Matthieu, you know I am too busy."
"You have been too busy for ten years now papa. You never know, you might meet someone nice. I want you to be happy." He smiled softly at that, leaving me to eat in silence while he went and washed his plate. By the time I was taking my last bite he had turned, leaning against the sink and watching me thoughtfully.
"Okay, I'll make you a deal. If you tell me one thing about your friend, preferably his name, then I will go."
"Deal." I agreed quickly, before he could change his mind. I took my time getting up and placing my plate in the sink, giving me a moment to think.
"He kissed me today." I blurted, immediately bolting up the stairs straight after.
"Non non non. NON! You cannot drop a bombshell like that on me and then leave." He yelled after me but I was already at the top of the stairs and heading for my room.
"I will get you one of the posters tomorrow. Night papa." I called back, slamming my door straight after and falling onto my bed with a chuckle.
The pulsing flashes of my phone lit up the dim room every few seconds, alerting me that I had a text. It wasn't long before it grew too annoying to ignore and I rolled over to grab it, unlocking it with a flick of my thumb to find not one text, but several sent over the course of the night.
'Al- Hope you got home safe'
'Al- Did you drown in the rain? :)'
'Al- Ugh my dad got home early and decided he wanted to cook D: Save me.'
'Al- Mattie?'
'Al- Maaaaaatie?'
'Al- Did I upset you?'
'Al- ): '
'Me- Sorry I was helping my paps decorating cakes all night. Was fun.' Was the reply I sent his way, dropping my phone in favour of getting into my PJ's and slipping under the covers.
'Al- You're alive! :D' Lit up on my screen just as I was about to take my glasses off and go to sleep, assuming that's what he was already doing.
'Me- :p why aren't you asleep?'
'Al- It's friday and I'm not a grandma'
'Al- Plus there's a whole lotta zombies that need killin' ;) wuu2?'
I rolled my eyes even though he wasn't here to see it, even if it wasn't a friday I'd learnt Al had a penchant for staying up all night playing video game. On more than one occasion I'd been woken up by texts from him telling me about something 'awesome' that had happen in one of his games, it generally wasn't appreciated.
'Me- I'm in bed'
'Al- Nice. What you wearing?'
'Me- Um pajamas?'
'Al- Boring. Wanna know what I'm wearing?'
My phone buzzed again before I could reply to his strange question, this time it was an image I received and I was hesitant to open it. As if to build up the suspense it took forever to load after I finally clicked it, but boy was it worth the wait. He was sat at his desk, phone held arm's length away so he could get his whole torso into the shot and all he was wearing was a mischievous grin. My gaze wandered down from his winking gaze to sweep appreciatively over broad shoulders and then lower still, following the trail of hair down from his bellybutton to the where the photo cut off teasingly low. I realised I wasn't breathing and took a shallow gasp, god were those abbs? How long did he say he'd played football for? How could someone who ate burgers all day look like that, it was completely unfair. I'd always thought that I didn't really have a type but apparently I did, sunkissed American jock yes please. The image disappeared -much to my disappointment- to be replaced by Alfred's newest text.
'Al- What are you up to now? ;)' He had asked and I felt my face grow hot as I realised more than ten minutes had passed and I hadn't replied. God what must he be thinking.
'Me- sleeping' I really didn't know what else to put.
'Al- Yeah surrre. Don't I get a pic in return?'
'Me- Goodnight Al'
'Al- Night x ;)' I waited long enough to see his final reply before I threw my phone to the other end of the bed and huddled down under the sheets. But it wasn't long before my hand was snaking after my phone with frustrated sigh and I had changed my mind about sleeping.
