"Hey, cut it out!" Cyndi yelled as two boys followed her closely, knocking her books out of her hands and into the dirt of the road.
"Wha' are ya gon' do, petite? Get ya demon eyed freak o' a boyfriend ta fight us?" The taller of the two teased as she knelt down to pick up her stuff.
"Remy's not my boyfriend." Cyndi sighed as she dusted off her books and stood once again, facing the bullies. She had gotten used to this. School had been a real pain in the ass ever since she moved. Though no one truly had cause to pick on Cyndi, they knew she hung around Remy...the mutant, and simply doing that made her vulnerable to bullying. If they had only known that she was a mutant as well, things would've been much worse for her so she put up with being teased and harassed. She couldn't fight back unless she wanted the whole entire town to know what she was. Hell, Remy didn't even know what she was and she preferred to keep things that way for as long as possible.
"Ya know, if ya lost the freak, ya'd be pretty popular." The shorter, chubbier boy replied.
"Popularity is for people who are so insecure with themselves that they feel they need to push others around to feel good about themselves." Cyndi replied cheekily as she began to walk away.
"Is dat wha' ya t'ink, petite?" The chubby one smirked as he and the taller boy followed her.
"Yea...now go eat something. You're losing your sexy figure with all this walking you're doing." She spat out as her steps quickened. She knew that was a dumb move but she couldn't help it. She was just naturally sarcastic; it was the Brooklyn girl in her that made her do it.
"Ya gon' regret dat. See ya in class tomorrow...ya won' last de day." The chubby one threatened as he and his friend stopped walking after her. She rolled her eyes and kept her pace. It was times like these when she wished Remy went to public school instead of being home schooled. At least he could protect her instead of her always being pushed around on the way home from school or being shoved against the lockers when she walked from class to class. It wasn't even that she wasn't pretty or anything; it was the fact that she hung around a mutant. It was guilt by association that got her into trouble everyday. If she had chosen to befriend jerks like the two who had just picked on her, she could've been popular and she knew this, but popularity meant nothing to her. She didn't want to be one of those girls that teased the less developed or less attractive girls. She didn't have a cruel bone in her body.
She sighed and headed home where she would change before going over to Remy's house to do homework with him.
"Ya quiet today, Chere. Somet'in wrong?" Remy noticed, casting a sideways glance at his dear friend.
"No, why do you say that?" She asked gently not looking up from her notebook as she wrote.
"Ya look sad...an' ya not talkin'. Remy usually has ta beg ya ta shut up..." He smirked playfully as he nudged her softly with his elbow. The right corner of her mouth perked up a bit but wouldn't grant Remy a full smile but it was better than nothing in his book.
"I t'ink we need ta go do somet'in fun. We been at dis fo' 2 hours." He declared as he shot up from the kitchen table and shut her books.
"Heeeeeeeeeey..." She whined as she looked up at him.
"C'mon...we're goin ta de lake." He smiled as he extended his hand to her and she reluctantly took it, letting him tug her out of her chair and to her feet.
"Remy, I have a report due tomorrow...I gotta finish it." She whined as he proceeded to pull her out the door and down the gravel driveway towards the road. He smiled and looked at her over his shoulder.
"We haven't gone ta de lake in weeks, Chere." He said with a grin.
"Just for a little while, Cajun. Then we gotta go back, my Aunt'll kill me if I'm not home by dark...again." She sighed as they walked along the quiet road. Once they arrived at the lake, Remy grinned to himself when he found that they were the only people there. He loved being alone with her there. It was where they first met and today, Remy hoped she would let him kiss her there for the first time. He had spent the entire summer thinking of ways to do it and today would be the day.
They walked over to the dock and sat down at the end of it, taking off their shoes and letting their bare feet dip into the water. Cyndi would giggle every so often when a fish would swim up and brush against her toes thinking they were a fisherman's bait or something, and Remy would in turn smirk at the sheer sound of her laughter. It was unbridled, uncontrolled and simply adorable. If there were ever a way to personify her; it was through her laugh.
"Chere?" He said softly after a good 10 minutes of silence.
"Mmm?" She mumbled as she gazed out at the sun getting ready to set behind the trees ahead of them. Remy bit his lip and tentatively scooted himself closer to her, their shoulders touching now.
"Are you cold?" She asked, noticing him coming closer to her.
"Non...Remy jus'...wanna sit a lil' closer." He said gently as he studied the profile of her exquisite face. The slight curve of her forehead, the length of her thick eyelashes, the slope of her nose with its subtle upturn at the tip, the pout of her pink lips which were parted at the moment and looking oh-so-kissable.
"And you talk about me being quiet today." She accused with a grin after another 5 minutes of silence had passed.
"Remy's been meanin' ta ask ya somet'in." He finally said in a quiet voice that sounded foreign coming out of his own mouth.
"Alright. Hit me with it." She smiled as she turned her head to look at her friend.
"Dunno how ta say it, Chere." He sighed in frustration as he ran a hand through his short auburn hair, trying desperately to keep his unruly bangs at bay.
"Since when don't you have words?" She asked with a giggle, her blue eyes glistening in the reddish-orange glow the sun gave off. Remy shrugged childishly in response.
"Just say it. Whatever it is, it can't be as bad as you're making it out to be." She replied.
'Easy fo' her ta say...' Remy thought to himself. He sighed and decided to finally just come out with it.
"Can I kiss ya?" He asked in an unsure tone.
"You want to kiss me?" She repeated, making sure she had really heard what she thought she had heard.
"Oui. Can I?" He said as he moved just a little closer to her.
"I-I guess. I guess that'd be alright." She said gently. What harm could their be in just one little kiss?
"Ever kiss a boy befo'?" He asked softly as they turned to face each other. She shook her head slowly and turned her head away in embarrassment.
"You've probably kissed a bunch of girls." She replied. He shrugged and nodded. Sure, he had been kissing since he was 5 and he had even kissed a couple of the girls at Cyndi's school, but it never meant anything to him. What was a young man to do when a girl threw herself at him? It was the work of a true gentleman to politely kiss back then turn a pretty young woman away. This lesson was instilled in Remy thanks to Henri.
"Never meant not'in." He replied. When she didn't turn back, Remy reached up and held her chin in his hands and turned her face to his.
"Remy'd really like ta be ya first kiss, Chere..." He whispered.
"Why's that?" She asked with a little smile that reached her eyes and made them sparkle.
"Jus' coz..." He said, sounding dumber than he had intended.
'Merde. Coz? Wha' kinda answer is dat, homme?! She not gon' let ya now...' Remy scolded himself.
She chuckled and looked down but before she could completely turn away again, Remy leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on her lips. At first, she was caught off guard and kept her lips tight but once she warmed up to things, her mouth relaxed and she closed her eyes while Remy caressed her lips with his practiced mouth. As a boy who recently turned 14, he was far too good at this Cyndi had concluded and kissing him felt dangerous. Wonderful. Scary. Perfect. She couldn't quite decide which it was as her mind was reeling.
Upon hearing her whimper in response to his kisses, Remy couldn't help but smile in satisfaction against her mouth and when she started to kiss him back his heart soared. Reluctantly, he pulled away when he felt her starting to move away and their eyes never left the others.
"We shouldn't be kissing..." She said gently as she finally broke eye contact a moment later and turned her face away yet again.
"Wha'? Why?" He asked gently. He couldn't comprehend anyone denying themselves the simplest of life's pleasures...especially after a kiss like that.
Silence.
"Wasn' it nice, Chere?" He asked quietly.
"Yes." She admitted. She couldn't lie to him but God save her for the way he had made her feel just then. She didn't feel like a kid anymore...and it scared her.
As if needing another reason to be upset, she wondered what would her Aunt Di think about her kissing boys? And it was bad enough she got harassed at school just for being Remy's friend...what would happen to her once people knew that they had kissed? Surely he would tell Henri who would in turn tell his friends...
"Den wha's wrong?" He asked. Suddenly, she got up, slipped into her flip flops and grimaced.
"I have to go home...the sun's down and my Aunt's gonna kill me." Cyndi said abruptly as she started to walk off. Confused, Remy grabbed his sneakers and slipped his feet into them so he could catch up to her.
"Wait...don' go, Chere..." He said breathlessly.
"Remy, I can't stay. I'm already in big trouble thanks to you...if I get home in the next 15 minutes, it won't be as bad." She sighed as she continued to walk.
"But, Chere...?" He called after her.
"Leave me alone, LeBeau." She called over her shoulder as she walked off towards the road. He sighed and his face fell in sadness. He hadn't meant to get her into trouble, he really hadn't. He just wanted to spend a little time with her since he rarely saw her during the week while she was in school. How would he make things up to her and would she even want to talk to him the next day? He groaned at the thought and started for home.
The next day...
Remy waited by the gates of Cyndi's school for her to come out and once she finally appeared, Remy's eyes lit up. Hopefully, she wasn't too mad still.
"Bonjour, Chere." He smiled from his spot leaning against a large oak tree.
"Are you stalking me now?" She asked softly, walking past him.
"Non...Remy has somet'in fo' ya." He replied, his smile unwavering despite her bad attitude. She stopped and smiled a little, turning around to face her friend.
"What?" She asked.
"Fo' you, mon ange." He said gently as he thrust a bouquet of flowers towards her.
"Thank you, Remy. That's very, very sweet." She said as she took them.
"Remy's hopin' dat he didn' get ya into too much trouble last nigh'..." He replied as he walked her towards her house.
"It wasn't so bad." She said as she hooked arms with him and they walked along the dirt road.
"Jes suis desole, Chere. Not fo' de kiss, though." He smirked.
"I'm not sorry about that either." She admitted with a smile. At that, his heart felt as if it would burst into a million pieces because it was so full.
"Maybe we coul' do it again?" He asked curiously.
"When it feels right...sure." She replied coyly.
"It didn' feel righ' last nigh'?" He chuckled. There was no response, just a laugh.
"I dunno what I felt last night..." She smirked over at him.
"Didn' feel bad though, did it?" He smirked back, two dimples showing on either side of his mouth as he did this.
"I'm not gonna get myself in anymore trouble by answering that..." She said with a coy grin.