“Mikayla… Come onnnn!!” Meg screams at me like a banshee.

I stand up suddenly and hurl myself through the window, tripping on the eave and falling so unladylike, flat on my ass. “What is wrong with you?” She looks at me like I’ve grown a second head.

“Big boy farm.” WHAT? Please, Kill. Me. Now.

By the time I’ve calmed my rapidly beating heart and convinced Megan that I’m not completely insane, I find myself stumbling down her driveway and onto the driveway next door. We’re greeted by a lady who looks to be in her late 30’s, wearing sweats and unloading boxes from a cherry red truck. She sees us and instantly smiles. “Hi, you young ladies must be our neighbors?” she says, wiping sweat from her brow.

“I am, my name’s Megan,” she reaches out to shake the ladies hand. “This is my best friend Mikayla,” she nudges me.

“Uh. Hi, I’m… um Mikayla,” I say, shaking her hand. My eyes are cast downwards. I don’t want to look too much at the ladies face. She’s more than likely the mother of the boy whom I’ve just been eye licking.

“Well, you girls are just the prettiest picture,” she drawls in a thick Texan accent. “I’m Sam,” she faces the house, “Henry! Boys!”

Im still looking at the concrete of the driveway when I hear the front screen door open and close a couple times.

“Yeah, Ma?” says a male voice. I jerk my head up and see him, like, really see him. Brown, like the color of syrup, his eyes. He recognizes me and stands in front of me with a smile.

“Honey, this is Megan, she’s our neighbor.” He takes his cap off and shakes Megan's hand, never taking his eyes off me. “And this is her best friend Mikayla.” We shake hands, and I swear, sparks fly and my hand tingles with a sensation that roots me to the floor, something I have never felt before. “Girls, this is my son James, I have another one somewhere, much younger. I’m sure you’ll see him soon.”

“Nice to meet you.” James finally lets go of my hand and I weep internally.

Megan’s looking at me like she’s watching the third head ooze from the second head I’ve just grown. Luckily, she saves the day by actually talking to this James kid. I’m still trying to get over the physical shocks that have just sparked my body into life. They talk about school and sports and why they moved here, what there is to do in our small town, and everything else small talk might consist of.

From this, I get that he’s a freshman and will be going to our school. Great. I’ll be a struck dumb and mute for the next four years.

I hear my name, but I don’t know what was said.

Megan nudges my side, I look up at her, her eyebrows raised and head jerking towards James. I slowly look over to him. “Huh?” Im so fricken eloquent I can’t even handle it.

He clears his throat, “It was nice meeting you Mikayla, I have to get back to helping unpack. Hopefully I’ll see you around school or something.” He says it more like a question than a statement.

Before I get to answer a kid comes barreling toward us, he can’t be more than 8 years old. He runs straight to Meg and me so fast I don’t think he can stop in time. Both Meg and I put our hands out to stop him from crashing into us, but his legs save him and he stops mere inches from us. He glares at Megan, then at me. Seconds which feel like minutes pass, neither saying anything. Then he smiles, “Hey, have you seen my baseball?”

We can’t help it. We laugh.

2 weeks later, James and I are dating.

***

“You okay there, Miss Mikayla?” Heidi asks from across the limo.

I must’ve zoned out.

“Yeah…” I huff. “I just… I can’t believe I didn’t see it coming,” I say, as I pick imaginary lint of my dress.

“No one suspects the people they love of douchebaggery,” Heidi looks at me sympathetically.

“Or slutbaggery,” Lucy adds.

Chapter 6

*Jake*

We get to prom within seconds of the announcement. Heidi goes from the girl we know to the girl everyone expects her to be. She prances on stage, smiles and says a few words. Prom King is Doug, the quarterback. Of course he is.

They pose for photos but it’s awkward as hell because Doug knows Dylan’s watching and you don’t fuck with Dylan. Doesn’t matter that physically, they’d be a decent match up. There’s only one thing Dylan loves more than basketball and that’s his girl. And there’s a huge difference between basketball and Heidi. We’d give him shit if he weren’t so serious about her. He’s not the hearts and flowers kind of guy, but he’s the heart and soul kind, and fuck if every girl would rather that than flowers.

***

We’re all watching the stage when I see Casey sauntering towards me, I panic and step closer to Mikayla. It’s a dick move but I didn’t know I was doing it until it was done. Mikayla looks up at me, eyebrows drawn in and I guess she must sense my panic because she follows my eyes to Casey and I think she understands. She wraps her tiny little arms around my waist and her side presses against mine, her head getting comfortable in the crook of my arm as I put my arm around her shoulders.

“Hey, Jake,” Casey coos inches away from us. “Who’s your little friend? I haven’t seen this one around before.”

I flinch at he words and I feel Mikayla tense next to me, but only for a second before she recovers herself.

“Casey, this is Mikayla.” Mikayla laughs once, “Baby, you don’t have to be so formal.” She reaches a hand out to Casey. “Jake calls me Kayla. Do you go to school here, Lacey?”

“It’s Casey.”

“Oh.” Mikayla nods once, smiling at Casey. Then she looks up at me. Big brown eyes like Bambi. She rubs her hands up and down my chest. “I’m thirsty, babe. Let’s get a drink then head to the hotel,” she says loud enough for Casey to hear. Then she gets on her toes and whispers in my ear, “I’m not wearing any underwear.” I don’t know if Casey can hear her, but I know she can see my eyes widen in surprise. What she can’t see is my dick twitch at the thought.

Fuck, I’m such a guy.

I look down at her, and she’s smirking back at me.

“Well, have a good night,” Casey interrupts, and then backs away.

Heidi comes back from the stage, “Was that Casey? What did she do to you this time?” she asks, watching Casey walk back into the dance floor. She turns to us and motions her finger between us, “And what the fuck is going on here?”

Then we realize we’re still locked in each others arms and we both abruptly let go. I’m a bit more hesitant than she is though, and I can’t help but try to look down the back of her dress, to her ass, to see if she really isn’t wearing any underwear.

I’m an asshole.

“Let’s go, I’m bored,” Cam says as Logan comes back to the group with disheveled hair and his tux all out of sorts.

“I’m ready,” Logan says, as we all stare at him. “What? I just gave some band geek a night they’ll never forget.”

***

We’re all in the limo and driving through some heavy woods. I can tell Mikayla is getting worried because her eyes keep darting out the window, then to her phone.

I nudge her, “Don’t worry, I told you, I’m not a psycho, I’m not going to kill you. We can drop these guys off and you can take the limo home if you want.”

“It’s okay,” she smiles. “I’d rather be here than anywhere else.”

***

*Mikayla*

The limo stops at a clearing in the middle of nowhere and we all file out. There’s an old truck that surely doesn’t run anymore, and a bonfire. Logan and Dylan start lighting the fire and Cam and Jake jump into the bed of the truck and pull down a couple chairs and a cooler full of beers. They start passing the beers around while the girls set up the chairs.