As I was sitting there, shocked at what I had just discovered about myself, I heard Jeff's voice, still a little shaky from the tears, but also with a hint of laughter in it.
"Kim, look........quick before it moves........" he half-whispered.
I put down my magazine and looked across to see Jeff pointing at his leg. A butterfly was resting on his skin. It was pure white and its wings fluttered slightly as it rested there. I slid up the bench to get a closer look, until I was right next to Jeff.
"Wow....." I said, a sense of wonder in my voice. "I love butterflies, don't you? They're so graceful and peaceful. I like to call them flutterbys........"
Just then, the tiny creature took of into the air and danced over the fence as we both watched. Jeff turned to me and smiled.
"You really like them huh?" he asked.
"I love them...." I beamed back. "I always have, I don't know why..."
"Well, I'll get you one some day," he said, "I promise." He stroked my cheek gently with back of his fingers. Surprised by his sudden touch, I grasped his hand, gently pulled it away from my skin and stood up.
"I'm hungry," I lied, trying to justify my moving away so quickly. I began to slowly walk towards the house but Jeff stood up and put his hand on my arm, gently turning me round to face him. He looked me up and down, studying every inch of my body with those dreamy eyes, which finally came into contact with my own.
"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asked, his deep voice making every nerve in my body tremble.
"........No......." I whispered. I had always lived in my sister's shadow. Upon seeing Beth, any man would immediately divert their attention to her.
"Well, you are.........." he said, positioning each one of his hands on my hips, causing my heart to beat with such force that I felt sure it would smash through my rib cage at any second. "..........you're golden brown hair that shimmers in the sunlight, your rose red lips, your deep brown eyes...............the way you are always there for anyone when they need you........the way you skip down the stairs in the morning.............the way the room becomes warmer and lighter when you enter........I've watched you since I got here.........I was right yesterday, I did choose the wrong sister......."
I turned away from him shyly and tried half-heartedly to escape his arms, but he pulled me closer to him and spoke again, this time whispering into my ear.
"Kim, I don't want Beth.........I want you..........I need you."
He slipped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled my lips onto his. At first I resisted but, as he slipped his tongue into my mouth I couldn't fight him anymore. I returned every bit of passion that he gave to me, as his hands explored my body.
It was several minutes before our lips parted. I hugged him close to me, my heart still pounding in my chest. I was more happy than I had ever imagined I could be. But then I thought about Beth and what would happen when she found out. And a single, simple question danced around my mind.
~What happens now?~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*A few minutes later I was sat on the bench once again, beside Jeff*
We rested in eachother's arms, with a silent contentment. I finally found it within myself to ask Jeff the all-important question.
"Jeff........" I began, nervously. "What happens now? What about Beth, and my parents...........I can't stay here........."
Jeff stood up, leaving me on the bench. He ran his hand over his hair, as he always did when he was thinking and then he smiled. He grasped both my hands and pulled me up so that I was standing facing him.
"Come to Cameron with me," he said excitedly. "My dad and Matt will love you and I wanna be with you."
I couldn't help but smile, even though I was nervous about the whole idea.
"What do we do until then?" I asked him.
"Until I can get us a flight home, we'll have to hide it from your family. I'm gonna tell Beth its over and book into a hotel for a night or two. Don't worry, it won't be long. Just promise you'll come with me," he said eagerly, looking into my eyes.
"I promise," I nodded sincerely.
We spent the rest of the afternoon simply enjoying eachother's company. We talked, drank a lot of lemonade, sunbathed, even played badminton over the washing line. But when it got to 5pm it was time to begin our act, to pretend we hadn't shared the tender kiss in the sunshine, that I hadn't promised to leave with him.
We got ready for my family's return to the house. Jeff switched on the TV and started to watch some program about crocodiles while I curled up on a nearby chair and studied a WWF magazine.
"How are you going to tell her?" I asked looking up from an article titled 'The come-back kid' and peering out of the window to make sure that none of my family were walking down the garden path.
" I dunno......" Jeff said thoughtfully. "I guess I'll just come right out and say it, no hesitation, as soon as she walks through that door." He gestured towards the front door of the house by tilting his head in its direction.
I got up from my seat, nervous but I didn't know why.
"In that case.........I think I'm gonna go to my room where its safe," I giggled. I brushed the side of Jeff's face with my hand as I passed him on my way upstairs and he took it gently and kissed it.
"Probably best," he sighed, releasing my hand.
I had been sat in my room, listening to some music, when I heard a faint noise that sounded like the front door closing. I crept across to my CD player, so that the creaking floorboards wouldn't give my game away, and turned the volume to low. I could hear what sounded like Jeff's voice say something calmly. There was silence for a while and then I heard and unmistakable noise. It was Beth squealing something like "Fine then, just get your things and go! You'll soon come crawling back!" I smiled. Jeff had done it, he'd escaped and, unknown to my sister, he was taking me with him. Then, I turned the volume on my CD player back up and lay back on my bed, excited as I thought of boarding the plane to Cameron with Jeff.
I guessed that Beth would still be in a foul mood after what had happened earlier so I didn't dare leave my room until dinner time. Until then, I occupied myself by imagining the scene as I met Jeff at the airport in just a few days.
~I'll wear a little sports dress and have my hair loose........I'll arrive in a taxi and see him waiting there at the entrance with nothing but his sports bag. He'll take my suitcase and we'll hand our tickets in..........and finally we'll board the plane, and he'll put his hand on mine and we'll take off.........to a new life.......together.......~
"Kim, look........quick before it moves........" he half-whispered.
I put down my magazine and looked across to see Jeff pointing at his leg. A butterfly was resting on his skin. It was pure white and its wings fluttered slightly as it rested there. I slid up the bench to get a closer look, until I was right next to Jeff.
"Wow....." I said, a sense of wonder in my voice. "I love butterflies, don't you? They're so graceful and peaceful. I like to call them flutterbys........"
Just then, the tiny creature took of into the air and danced over the fence as we both watched. Jeff turned to me and smiled.
"You really like them huh?" he asked.
"I love them...." I beamed back. "I always have, I don't know why..."
"Well, I'll get you one some day," he said, "I promise." He stroked my cheek gently with back of his fingers. Surprised by his sudden touch, I grasped his hand, gently pulled it away from my skin and stood up.
"I'm hungry," I lied, trying to justify my moving away so quickly. I began to slowly walk towards the house but Jeff stood up and put his hand on my arm, gently turning me round to face him. He looked me up and down, studying every inch of my body with those dreamy eyes, which finally came into contact with my own.
"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" he asked, his deep voice making every nerve in my body tremble.
"........No......." I whispered. I had always lived in my sister's shadow. Upon seeing Beth, any man would immediately divert their attention to her.
"Well, you are.........." he said, positioning each one of his hands on my hips, causing my heart to beat with such force that I felt sure it would smash through my rib cage at any second. "..........you're golden brown hair that shimmers in the sunlight, your rose red lips, your deep brown eyes...............the way you are always there for anyone when they need you........the way you skip down the stairs in the morning.............the way the room becomes warmer and lighter when you enter........I've watched you since I got here.........I was right yesterday, I did choose the wrong sister......."
I turned away from him shyly and tried half-heartedly to escape his arms, but he pulled me closer to him and spoke again, this time whispering into my ear.
"Kim, I don't want Beth.........I want you..........I need you."
He slipped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled my lips onto his. At first I resisted but, as he slipped his tongue into my mouth I couldn't fight him anymore. I returned every bit of passion that he gave to me, as his hands explored my body.
It was several minutes before our lips parted. I hugged him close to me, my heart still pounding in my chest. I was more happy than I had ever imagined I could be. But then I thought about Beth and what would happen when she found out. And a single, simple question danced around my mind.
~What happens now?~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*A few minutes later I was sat on the bench once again, beside Jeff*
We rested in eachother's arms, with a silent contentment. I finally found it within myself to ask Jeff the all-important question.
"Jeff........" I began, nervously. "What happens now? What about Beth, and my parents...........I can't stay here........."
Jeff stood up, leaving me on the bench. He ran his hand over his hair, as he always did when he was thinking and then he smiled. He grasped both my hands and pulled me up so that I was standing facing him.
"Come to Cameron with me," he said excitedly. "My dad and Matt will love you and I wanna be with you."
I couldn't help but smile, even though I was nervous about the whole idea.
"What do we do until then?" I asked him.
"Until I can get us a flight home, we'll have to hide it from your family. I'm gonna tell Beth its over and book into a hotel for a night or two. Don't worry, it won't be long. Just promise you'll come with me," he said eagerly, looking into my eyes.
"I promise," I nodded sincerely.
We spent the rest of the afternoon simply enjoying eachother's company. We talked, drank a lot of lemonade, sunbathed, even played badminton over the washing line. But when it got to 5pm it was time to begin our act, to pretend we hadn't shared the tender kiss in the sunshine, that I hadn't promised to leave with him.
We got ready for my family's return to the house. Jeff switched on the TV and started to watch some program about crocodiles while I curled up on a nearby chair and studied a WWF magazine.
"How are you going to tell her?" I asked looking up from an article titled 'The come-back kid' and peering out of the window to make sure that none of my family were walking down the garden path.
" I dunno......" Jeff said thoughtfully. "I guess I'll just come right out and say it, no hesitation, as soon as she walks through that door." He gestured towards the front door of the house by tilting his head in its direction.
I got up from my seat, nervous but I didn't know why.
"In that case.........I think I'm gonna go to my room where its safe," I giggled. I brushed the side of Jeff's face with my hand as I passed him on my way upstairs and he took it gently and kissed it.
"Probably best," he sighed, releasing my hand.
I had been sat in my room, listening to some music, when I heard a faint noise that sounded like the front door closing. I crept across to my CD player, so that the creaking floorboards wouldn't give my game away, and turned the volume to low. I could hear what sounded like Jeff's voice say something calmly. There was silence for a while and then I heard and unmistakable noise. It was Beth squealing something like "Fine then, just get your things and go! You'll soon come crawling back!" I smiled. Jeff had done it, he'd escaped and, unknown to my sister, he was taking me with him. Then, I turned the volume on my CD player back up and lay back on my bed, excited as I thought of boarding the plane to Cameron with Jeff.
I guessed that Beth would still be in a foul mood after what had happened earlier so I didn't dare leave my room until dinner time. Until then, I occupied myself by imagining the scene as I met Jeff at the airport in just a few days.
~I'll wear a little sports dress and have my hair loose........I'll arrive in a taxi and see him waiting there at the entrance with nothing but his sports bag. He'll take my suitcase and we'll hand our tickets in..........and finally we'll board the plane, and he'll put his hand on mine and we'll take off.........to a new life.......together.......~