Goodbye Carter

f o u r t e e n

December 25th, 2014

"WELL I MUST SAY, this is quite a party."

I practically snort at Carter's comment, as I study the room around us. My parents had forced all the kids down into our basement to play, and for the teens to babysit. Carter and I both sat on the carpet in the corner, me braiding a little girl's hair while Carter dressed various Barbies into glittery, pink dresses.

"It's almost like I'm 8 again," I say with a chuckle, giving Carter a pointed look.

He laughs, "same, except I'm 8 and a little girl."

I almost laugh, but the little girl, Sarah, beats me to it, "you're funny," she giggles, struggling to turn around to look at him while keeping her head steady enough for me to continue braiding.

Carter gives her a soft smile, "what? Do I look like a little girl too?"

Sarah giggles once again, "you do!"

Carter gasps in excitement, "well, I think that must be the best compliment I've ever received."

It was my turn to laugh, enjoying Carter's interaction with the girl.

"Kennedy?" asks Sarah, "are you almost done?"

"Yup," I say as I tie the last portion of the braid, "you're good to go."

She stands up immediately, excited to finally go play with the other kids, "I'm gonna go play Barbies, thanks Kennedy!"

I laugh and give her a soft smile, "no problem,"

She bends down to whisper something in my ear, "I like him," she says, pointing at Carter.

I grin, "you do?"

She nods, "I'm glad that you have such a good boyfriend. I approve," Sarah says, giggling at the word 'boyfriend'.

"Thank you, Sarah. But we're not-" I try to explain before the girl interrupts me.

"Got to go! Bye!" She yells as she practically scurries off to go find her friends.

I turn to Carter, realizing that he must of her the exchange with Sarah. She wasn't exactly the most subtle little girl...

He meets my eyes, with a raise of his eyebrow, "well, I'm glad I at least have her approval."

We both laugh before turning back to watch the kids playing with various toys scattered around the room. As adorable as it was, that was gonna be a total bitch to clean up later.

"So," Carter says, filling the silence, "how's... um how's things with Aiden?" He stutters, not meeting my eyes.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. Why would Carter ask about Aiden? They both wanted nothing to do with each other.

"It's going okay," I say, unsure if I should indulge on my romantic life with my former crush, "you know, normal."

I see Carter nod out of the corner of my eye, "has he been good to you?"

I turn to give Carter a look, but he won't meet my eyes, "yeah," I say, "Aiden would never do anything to hurt me."

He scoffs, "right," he says, coldly.

"Carter..." I warn, "let's not do this. Trust me I know how you guys feel about each other, but he's a good guy- really."

"Kennedy," he says, making direct eye contact with me, "I know guys like him. I meet them everyday, he's just gonna hurt you. He isn't made for commitment, the minute something goes wrong he'll just go out and-"