Hitchhiking

Part 4

June:
I walk back inside my house, weaving through groups of people on my way to find Quinn. She texted me with two simple words: "Let's talk". I have no idea what it's about but I'm about to find out. With a can of Mike's Hard in my hand, I walk through the kitchen and down the three steps to the lower-set room next to it, the "playroom" as we called it when my sister and I were younger. There, I find Quinn with a few girls from school. When she sees me, she excuses herself and comes up to me.

"You got my text!" she exclaims over the music, clearly a little tipsy.

"Yeah, what's up?" I call back.

Without responding, she takes my free hand and drags me halfway upstairs to the platform. There, she holds my waist and pulls me close. Her cheek brushes mine as she leans in to talk into my ear. I gently touch her bicep.

"Kenny's been looking for you," she says into my ear.

I pull away enough to look her in the eyes. "What? Why?"

Quinn shrugs. "Says he wants to talk to you."

"Why?"

"Dude, I don't know. Why don't you just see what he wants?"

I have a moment of hesitation where Quinn and I are just staring at each other, Quinn's hand on my waist tightens. "Fine," I surrender. "Where does he want to talk?"

She hums for a second, seemingly trying to remember what she heard. "Oh! I think he said something about your mudroom."

"Fine. Whatever. You can tell him I'll be waiting there."

"Okay, come find me after, tell me what happens!"

"Yeah." I quickly but carefully pull out of her grip, leaving her on the platform. I travel through groups of people to the mudroom next to the garage. There, I wait for Kenny to arrive. I know the word will get around very quickly. I'm only in the mudroom for maybe five minutes. Then the mudroom's door is opened.

"Hey," Kenny greets me, running a hand through his short red hair. His tight black Under Armour t-shirt squeezes his body perfectly. I have to remind myself that I can't think about him like that anymore. But I still find myself fighting a glance lower. He closes the door behind him.

I keep my voice flat and unchanged. "Hi."

"Thanks for talking with me."

"Well, we haven't really talked yet, so."

"Right. Um. Look, I'm sorry."

"Okay."

"June, I'm serious. I hate how we ended things."

"I don't know what to tell you, Kenny. You're dating that Emma girl now. Why are you even talking to me?"

He crosses his arms over his chest. "Because I miss you." He slowly steps towards me. I step back until I hit the wall and he has me cornered. My heart beats out of my chest. "Please. Let's just forget about Emma for a bit." He takes my hands in his. "We can have one night to ourselves. I heard your parents were out until tomorrow."

"Kenny—"

"I can crash here and we can go all night. Anything you want." By now, Kenny is so close, I can feel his breathing.

"You have a girlfriend," I manage.

"We haven't been together long. She doesn't have to know."

Before I can respond, he leans in. I don't have time to process anything before his lips are on mine. He holds my hands to my sides as he kisses me. I try to pull away but he only follows my head back and pushes me further against the wall. When he has me where he wants me, he escalates things, sliding his hands up my arms to my chest. I keep my hands firmly planted on the wall behind me, too in shock to do anything else.