Autumn was never Kirsten's favorite season. The plants die, the animals disappear (although she can't complain about the lack of bugs) , and the trees lose all of their leaves.
The bare trees were the worst thing about Fall. They did just what the name implied- fall. The dry brown leaves were everywhere. Thankfully, her yard was bare of trees or any other foliage that would drop leaves in her yard.
Her neighbor's yard, however, was not bare. They had several trees in their front yard, and all of them dropped leaves every Fall. She often woke up to the whir of the leaf blower blowing leaves into her yard.
There was a pile of leaves in her front yard, all on the side of her neighbors house. While she didn't particularly care about lawn maintenance, the fact that her neighbor had purposely blown them onto her yard annoyed her. So one Saturday morning, she set out to clean it up.
Camille was busy, so Kirsten put in her headphones and grabbed one of the rakes from the garage and started to rake the leaves into a neat pile. It was a peaceful morning. The sky was blue, the birds were singing. Cars passed by every once in a while, but overall it was quiet.
Kirsten estimated that she had been working for about an hour when a familiar convertible pulled up in the drive. Cameron sometimes showed up without warning, but he was always a welcome sight.
"Good morning!" he said cheerfully, his shoes crunching on the leaves as he walked toward her.
Kirsten pulled out an ear bud. "What are you doing here?"
" Is a 'Good morning to you too, Cameron.' Too much to ask?"
"Yes." Kirsten rolled her eyes and continued to work.
"I didn't know you were so into lawn care, Stretch." He said.
"I'm not, but my neighbor certainly is." She motioned to across the yard, where it was bare. All of the leaves were sitting on one side.
She looked down again, and before she knew it another rake had joined hers. Looking up, she realizing Cameron must have gone inside without her noticing to grab the other rake.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Helping you? Friends do that sometimes, you know."
Kirsten stared at him in confusion. Why would he waste his Saturday morning raking leaves with her? Surely he had better things to do.
They worked in silence for several moments, piling the leaves into one giant mound. She was sweeping the last of them into the pile when a pair of hands pushed her from behind. She fell forward, straight into the pile. The leaves scattered around her, cushioning her fall.
Twisting around, she saw Cameron doubled over with laughter. His arms were wrapped around his stomach and his entire body was shaking.
Kirsten glared at him. "What was that for?"
"The look on your face!" he laughed. "It was priceless!"
She narrowed her eyes. His entire face was lit up with laughter, and she could only compare it to looking at the sun. Her stomach fluttered, and even though the morning's work was set back, she wasn't mad at him. She stared at him for a moment before laughing too.
Then an idea crossed her mind. She stuck out her hand, and just as he took it to help her up, she yanked on it, effectively pulling him down on top of her.
He fell forward, barely catching himself before he completely crushed her. One hand was planted beside her waist, barely grazing the skin where her shirt had come up from the fall. The other was next to her ear. Kirsten looked up at him, and she realized that his face was inches from hers. His green eyes were wide with surprise, and she could feel his warm breath on her face.
The closeness was making her entire body buzz. Her heart was pounding, and she was honestly surprised he couldn't hear it. Even though the air was cool, she felt like she was in Florida during the summer.
"You ruined our pile." She forced the words out.
"Hmm, I recall you pulling me down here too." He said, his breath tickling her face.
"Only because you pushed me!"
He laughed slightly at that. Neither one of them had moved away from each other. They fell silent again, and Kirsten studied his face. The Fall sunlight reflected off his curly brown hair, making reddish flecks stand out that she had never noticed before.
Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, she dragged him the rest of the way down to meet her lips. He was shocked at first, but she could hear the leaves crinkle as he clenched his hands into fists. Kirsten sighed as he bit down on her bottom lip. Releasing his shirt, she let her fingers roam through his hair.
He broke away first, gasping for breath. "What…what was that?" he gasped.
Kirsten realized in an instant that there was a chance he didn't feel the same way she did. She didn't even think about him, she just acted on impulse. "I'm sorry. I thought…"
"No, don't be sorry." He whispered, seeing the drop in her expression. "It's fine. Great, even. Amazing."
Kirsten smiled and sighed in relief. Cameron rolled off of her and stood up, holding out his hand to her. This time she took it and stood up.
"We should probably finish this." She motioned to the now flattened pile of leaves. "We can finish this-" she motioned between them, "Later."
Cameron grinned at her. "I'll race you!"
Kirsten grabbed her rake from off the ground and started back to work.