ch.1

i never wore lipstick

I never wore makeup. Not unless it was the dead of night and no one was around to see me painstakingly apply red lipstick, and kiss a tissue in order to visualize how it would be when I was President and started kissing babies. As if.

I never wore makeup until I began seeing my best friend differently.

It was the summer of 2010, I would be entering my junior year and he would be a senior. I began to wear mascara and constantly swiped on chapstick. The chapstick certainly wasn't new and the mascara was an old stand-by. Much like cleaning my room— barely thought of, and, in the same sentence, unheard of. So that was why Ray began laughing at me when I surfaced from the deep end of the pool. Apparently I had mascara streaming heartily down my cheeks and dribbling into the bright water.

"Oh—!" I wasted no time in dunking myself back under the water to scrub my face somewhat clean and very pink. I poked my head up.

Ray was at the edge of the pool with a towel in hand.

"Thanks." I blushed deeply at his smile.

"You missed a spot," he shifted and squinted at me.

"Where?"

"Ri-ight—" His warm thumb rubbed across my cheek in a slow circle, but he was no longer looking at my mascara tread marks. Ray stared into my eyes and I could feel my body turn pink, especially when my mom opened the back door. "—here." He stood and smiled at my mom, then held a hand out for me. Naturally, I pulled him into the pool; he toppled over and landed on top of me. Oops.

"Wren!" I could hear her reprimanding me from where I floated, underneath my now, water-logged friend, Rayhan. I smiled brightly. Summer was good, because he winked back and pretended to drown. Too bad for him we were in the 5" part of the pool, while he was a near 6"1' .

I came up for air and waved at my mother, Sara Traynor, happily, she was the 'hot' mom you always hear about. At 44 she still looked like the model she could have been, with caramel colored hair cut in long layers; it hung in waves to the middle of her back. She had blue eyes and she never smiled. She grinned, crookedly, like a Cheshire cat.

Now, my mom is 5"2' and my father is about 5"8'. Me? I stand at 5". Huh. I get most of my features from my dad, Zeke. The whole 'green eyes, pale skin, straight black hair, and dry sense of humor' package. I got my spankin' body from my momma, along with the height deficiency. Shame. But I don't complain because I can put an entire cow away and still wear this green bikini! Plus, all the guys want to carry me around or— in rare cases, pretend to stuff me into a trash can.

My dad is a car mechanic and my mom is in accounting, fresh out of night school with a Masters degree. This is great, because now I can have her backpack and ditch the purple nightmare from elementary school.

I fell out of my thoughts and into a very warm and very wet bear hug from Ray, complete with bruised ribs and a shortage of oxygen. "Ow! Let go!" I struggled briefly and caught my breath, only to redouble my efforts when he began to tickle my sides. "Ahaha-ha!" I wiggled and squirmed to no avail, so I gave up and went limp, which is no small feat when you are as ticklish as I am. AHA! I was free! I swam to the opposite side of the pool.

I heard my mom mutter an exasperated, "Oh bother." then the sound of a door closing behind me.

"Hey, Ray!" I taunted in a sing-song voice, "Where's your swim suit?"

"Very funny, Wren! These were new pants." he glared at me before pulling off his shoes, flip-flops, and then his shirt. I watched him wring it out and lay it flat on the blistering concrete patio. The pants followed. I laughed when I saw his boxers, they were Sponge-bob. "Like what ya' see, do you?" he teased and swam over to where I was propped against the pool wall.

"Oh, yes." I said dryly. "I've always had a thing for starfish and fry cooks!" I grinned quickly, and then slipped under the water to slick back my hair.

He was smiling when I resurfaced. "I saw you at the park yesterday, is that what you do in your spare time, swing?" questioned Ray.

"No, I prance around in my underwear shouting, 'HATE CAKE AND SIN CHIPS!' in a frantic fashion." I told him, deadpan.

He grinned broadly at this and said, "That sentence is everything I like about you."

"Now you know what I do with my spare time, how 'bout you. You got a job?"

He shrugged. "Not officially," I saw his cheeks flush a warm pink against his dark skin.

"Explain señor." I knocked his arm with my elbow.

"I baby-sit for the Kale family." He pulled a face and rolled over, hiding his face in his arms.

I giggled quietly, rubbing my hand between his shoulder blades. "Don't worry, Ray. Those kids are so cute, you won't know what to say, and I promise it will never be no." I gave Mr. Sulks-alot a firm pat on the ass and kicked off the wall to begin swimming laps.

Eventually Ray turned back around because I felt his eyes on me. I didn't mind; I watched him, too. I think we would both do it unconsciously because I sometimes found myself staring at his profile during one of our many movie binges or as he concentrated on one of his drawings.

I am a huge bookworm, and Ray was obsessed with music, like me. He would always agree to go to the bookstore with me, and he didn't mind the library, which was awesome. He usually wandered over to the music/CD section, leaving me to prowl the fiction shelves of Borders. We had a good system going for us and many times I caught him watching me read, or trying to read. I would casually glance up at him and smile as he listened to his iPod.

I finished the lap I was on and clambered out of the pool, jumping back in moments later when the pavement singed my poor feet. "Dammit!" I yelped and startled Ray from his 'deep' thoughts.

"What happened?" he raised an eyebrow and stared, concerned.

"Oh. Well, I think I might have fried my feet," I gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry."

He raised both eyebrows. "Sorry?"

"For startling you...yeah." I smiled slightly and rubbed my neck.

"You want my shoes?" he pointed just to the left of me.

"Oh! Do you mind? I'll just run and grab mine," I said hurriedly. Ray shook his head no, which confused me.

He swam over. "I don't think so," he hoisted himself up and slipped the flip-flops on. "You're too tiny. My feet have to be six times larger." he grinned and began walking to the back door. "I'll be back in a sec!"

When Ray came back outside I was sitting on the bottom of the pool. I came up for air and to see if he had returned, there was a pair of small ballet flats in front of me. "Thanks!" I pulled them on gratefully, dried my hair with a towel and pulled on some shorts; Ray had wrapped a towel around his hips.

Ray led the way inside to plop on the couch, Boo, my cat, settled onto his lap. I smiled and grabbed a water bottle and tossed a bag of Cheetos onto the coffee table. I glanced up at Ray and munched happily on a neon puff, that cat of mine was infatuated with him. I snickered at the adoring looks they gave each other. "What is this?" I sipped at my water. "Did you two join the Society of Mutual Admiration, because I think you have turned my kitty gay." All I received was a glare from Ray, then he turned back to my deviant cat.

"Boys," I muttered under my breath. The vacuum cleaner sounded from upstairs, probably my mother. I stretched out on the red couch, and stared at the two idiots on the other.

I allowed myself to forget my surroundings and slipped into my memories, trying to ignore the loving mews Boo made. I grinned slowly and remembered how I had found such an odd cat.

It had been a cool November day last year and I was jiggling my key in the ancient lock to the front door and my backpack was heavy with tonight's homework. I jumped back in shock; there was a mewling ball of black fluff inside the flowerpot.

"Hey there. What are you doin' in there, boo?" I had a habit of calling people and animals 'boo'. I remembered grinning like an idiot as I pushed open my front door; the little kitten overbalanced and fell out of the pot. "Aw. You're so tiny!" I exclaimed as I cradled the black and orange cat against my shoulder. I'd never had a pet before. I was hoping against hope that my parents would be overcome by it's pure cuteness and allow me to keep it.

After rummaging through the kitchen cabinets and finding nothing that the kitten would eat, I poured him (I had checked) a small saucer of milk. I knew that you shouldn't give milk to adult cats but this was a kitten, it couldn't hurt. The little tyke lapped it up greedily and waddled across the tiled floor to where I sat against the cabinet. "Was it yummy? Hum?" I reached a finger for him to sniff; instead he pushed his entire head into my hand. Gah! He was too cute!

I decided to call him Boo, for obvious reasons. To begin with, his black fur and orange stocking feet reminded me of Halloween; another, he had scared me when I first saw him, plus, he liked the name.

I also made up my mind to ask my dad about keeping him; he got home earlier than mom and was fairly laid back after a day at the shop.

It went over well, surprisingly. Dad took one look at Boo, asleep on my chest and then looked at me, sprawled awkwardly on the kitchen floor. I didn't even have to say a word. "You gotta buy the kitty litter. I'll handle food, toys, shots, and—" he winked. "Your mother."

"I would totally hug you, but..." I said this quietly and Boo stretched, went limp, and slept on. "I have a fur ball asleep on my chest, Dad."

"Well, as long as you do your schoolwork." he said sternly and jerked a thumb over his shoulder at my bag, where it lay forgotten on the floor.

"Dad," I whined. "It's a Friday."

I grinned at the memory, and opened my eyes to a darkened room. I squinted over at the other couch, Ray was asleep and the clock beneath the television blinked 1:17 a.m. I yawned widely and stretched the muscles in my back. I had fallen asleep, someone had thrown a knit blanket across my body and I was betting on Ray.

I guess my belly woke me up because it grumbled loudly. I was still tired as I glanced around the kitchen pantry and found what I was looking for: ramen noodles; I grabbed three packs. Two for Ray. One for me. I yawned again and began boiling the noodles one pack at a time. I was finally beginning to wake up and I felt restless, hyper. Damn ADHD.

"When you first left me I was wanting more
But you were fucking that girl next door, what cha do that for (what cha do that for)
When you first left me I didn't know what to say
I never been on my own that way, just sat by myself all day"

I gave an experimental flick of the hips, effectively shutting the pantry door and proceeded to mutilate the hula dance with my nonexistent dance abilities.

"I was so lost back then
But with a little help from my friends
I found a light in the tunnel at the end
Now you're calling me up on the phone
So you can have a little whine and a moan
And it's only because you're feeling alone"

"At first when I see you cry,
yeah it makes me smile, yeah it makes my smile
At worst I feel bad for a while,
but then I just smile I go ahead and smile"

Very soon I was dancing in earnest across my kitchen, like a fool, holding an invisible microphone and singing "Smile". Which is bad, because Lily Allen is strictly for afternoons.

"Whenever you see me you say that you want me back
And I tell you it don't mean jack, no it don't mean jack
I couldn't stop laughing, no I just couldn't help myself
See you messed up my mental health I was quite unwell"

"I was so lost back then
But with a little help from my friends
I found a light in the tunnel at the end
Now you're calling me up on the phone
So you can have a little whine and a moan
And it's only because you're feeling alone"

I danced my way back to the stove, just beginning to pour the food into two separate bowls, steaming and smelling like chicken broth.

"At first when I see you cry,
yeah it makes me smile, yeah it makes my smile
At worst I feel bad for a while,
but then I just smile I go ahead and smile"

"lalalalalalalala lalala"

I kept the singing up and swished my hips to the music in my head until I heard muffled laughter.

Ray.

I froze, beyond embarrassed and blushing scarlet, and then I turned around. I really regret the decision, too.

"Oh," I said plainly. "I guess you heard me singing, too?" he nodded and I groaned aloud, his smile only widened when he saw the heaping bowl of noodles. His stomach growled at the smell and I handed him a spoon and put the bowls on the round breakfast table.

"Speak of this to no one!" I hissed as I grabbed my own spoon and we both sat down to devour our meal.

"Down, girl! Down!" said Ray in a cheery voice. "I kind of liked the singing, but the dance attempt was tragic. Like the tale of poor Juliet and that of her Romeo."

"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.
Be not her maid, since she is envious.
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off. "

Ray paused for a breath and then resumed his mad monologue of love.

"It is my lady; O, it is my love!
O that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold; 'tis not to me she speaks.
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
"What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!"

Ray finished in a dramatic bow that almost knocked his bowl over and I grinned at him, but no! I will not be deterred, poetic fiend! So I narrowed my eyes and stopped smiling.

"I'm serious, Ray." I pleaded, in a half-assed attempt at a threat. It sounded funny.

"Only," he reasoned, "if you stop pulling me into the pool like that." Then he chuckled. "Just ask if you want me to strip next time." He looked very smug as he slurped down a spoonful of noodles.

"What!" I almost broke my neck I looked up so quickly.

"Just kidding, Wren!" Ray sang happily. I took a bite and chewed fast, my face warmer than the soup.

"Fine."

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Author's Note-
Should I continue?
Leave me love, my sex kittens. I less than three you! (Especially after reading your reviews!)

-Tay