Beyond the Ordinary

Chapter 53

A/N - Kyle's dog^^

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KATE 

"How did you explain to Amy about why I'm coming to your house tonight?" I asked Kyle, shutting my locker.

"Um, I haven't exactly... told her..." he confessed, his voice trailing off.

"What? Why?"

"She's just a naturally jealous person, I don't want to give her a reason to doubt me," Kyle admitted, shrugging.

"But why wouldn't you tell her? That just makes you look more guilty," I declared, opening the door to the parking lot.

"I know, you're right. Damn, you're good at math and relationships, what are you, like secretly twenty-one and going undercover as a high school student or something?" Kyle asked, raising his eyebrows.

I blushed. "No, it's just, I'm very observant, I guess?" I said, but it came out sounding like a question.

Kyle shrugged in response and led me to the very end of the parking lot, unlocking the doors to a silver truck.

"Nice ride," I said, climbing in.

Kyle smiled and buckled his seatbelt before starting the truck. Immediately the radio began blaring the country station. Kyle cursed under his breath, shutting it off.

"Sorry about that," he quickly apologized, pulling out of the parking lot.

"You like country music, I see," I said teasingly.

He just shook his head. "Only sometimes."

We fell into a comfortable silence and I glanced out of the window, breathing in the scent of Kyle's car which smelled strongly of burnt popcorn and Coca-Cola.

"I work at the movie theater," Kyle told me, reading my mind.

I glanced at him, silently wondering why I hadn't seen him on the night I'd gone to the movies with Axel.

"I work only on the weekends, but it still doesn't make my car smell any less like popcorn," Kyle said, chuckling.

I smiled. "Do you like it there?"

Kyle shrugged. "Not really, but it gives me a little extra cash so it's worth it."

I only nodded and looked back out the window.

I heard Kyle sigh beside me before he said, "By the way, I should warn you about my mom, she's a little... overly-friendly."

He turned on his blinker, turning onto a narrow road.

"That's okay, most mothers are when they meet new people," I replied.

"That's partly true, but my mom... oh, you'll see. She's special," Kyle said, smiling lightly.

A few minutes later, Kyle pulled into the driveway of a small house with a long front porch. Kyle cut the engine and turned to face me. "Also, I should warn you, I have a dog," he confessed.

I smiled. "That's fine too, I love dogs."

He sent me a nervous smile before opening his car door and shutting it behind him. I got out as well, taking my backpack with me before following him, the shells of his driveway crunching beneath my boots.

We reached the porch and I could hear his dog, barking loudly as it heard our footsteps approach the door. Once the door opened, his dog barked even louder and stuck out his large tongue as Kyle bent down into a crouch to greet him.

"Hey boy, did you miss me?" He said, the dog licking his face like it was his last meal.

"Kyle, who's your friend?" A woman's voice asked.

I glanced up from the dog to see a woman, definitely his mom, standing at the door, her dark brown eyes meeting mine.

"Hi, I'm Kate, nice to meet you," I said politely.

His mother grabbed the dog by his collar, letting Kyle and I walk into the house. Once inside, I noticed that his house looked much larger on the inside than it did on the outside.

"Nice to meet you, Kate," his mother said, letting go of the dog before pulling me into a warm hug.

I glanced at Kyle in surprise and he just smirked as if to say, 'I told you so.'

"Kyle has told me so much about you," his mother said, hugging me tighter.

I looked over at him again only to see that he was rubbing the dog's stomach as it laid on the floor, its tongue hanging out of its mouth.

"That's Cooper," his mother said once she'd let me go.

At the sound of his name, Cooper's ears perked up, finally taking notice of me. He got up quickly and strutted towards me, sniffing me. I put my bag onto the couch and bent down into a crouch, letting Cooper sniff my hand. He licked it as if to say, 'Hello.'

"Hi Cooper," I said, petting him.

"He likes you," Kyle said, crouching down beside me and petting him as well.

Kyle's mom headed into the kitchen, shutting the door behind her, leaving Kyle and me alone with Cooper.

"His ears are so soft," I stated, petting Cooper's ears.

"Careful, he might-"

But whatever Kyle was trying to warn me about didn't happen, instead, Cooper looked at me and stepped onto my legs, licking my face.

Kyle looked surprised before he started laughing. "Okay, I lied, he really likes you, are you sure you're not a dog whisperer or something?"

I rubbed Cooper's neck, making him drool all over my white tank top. Kyle chuckled before pulling Cooper off of me.

"You're a good boy, yes you are," he declared, kissing the dog's head.

"Fuck," I cursed, looking down at my shirt.

"Cooper, lunchtime!" Kyle's mother called from the kitchen.

Cooper perked up his ears and disappeared into the kitchen, Kyle's mother peeking her head in before shutting the door once again.

"Your shirt is soaked," Kyle said, trying not to laugh. "Here, I'll see if I have something you can wear," he insisted before taking me up to his room.

Kyle's room was a lot like how I'd have imagined a boy's room would look like. There were movie posters hung on his walls and a dog bed in the corner. There were comic books and regular books on a shelf beside his bed and a large wooden closet on the opposite wall.

"Nice room," I said while he tossed me a hoodie.

"Sorry, it's kind of messy," he admitted, shutting his closet.

I shrugged, brushing it off. "It's fine, I didn't even notice."

"Here, let me show you where the bathroom is," he offered, shutting off his bedroom light once we'd entered the hallway.

I followed him down the narrow hallway until he finally stopped in front of a white door, opening it and turning on the light. "Here you go, I'll be in the kitchen when you're ready," Kyle said before heading back down the hall.