C is for College
"Come on, Travis," Conner whined, poking his brother in the chest. "She's leaving for four years. You'll probably never see her again."
"Shut up," he said, tapping the top of his soda can nervously.
"This is your only chance to do something about it. Get some balls, for once!"
"I said shut up!"
"You've loved her forever, and now she's leaving forever. You have to tell her."
"I don't have to do shit."
"It's not that hard. 'I love you! I want to spend the rest of my life with you! I-' "
"Am I interrupting something?" Both boys were startled by the voice. They turned around to find Katie standing in the doorway with a small smile on her face. Even though today was her last day at the camp, she was still wearing the dreaded orange shirt under her pink jacket.
"No," Conner said, straightening up and heading out the door. "I was just leaving." While passing by the girl, Conner turned and gave her a small hug. Travis couldn't help but be a bit pissed. How come he got a hug?
After Conner had left the room and mouthed 'Get some balls!' to his brother behind Katie's back, she stepped out of the doorway and into the middle of the room. "Hey," she said quietly.
"Hey," he whispered back. There really wasn't a need to whisper, but it just made them feel better. He stood up and went to the middle of the room, too. Their faces were only a few inches away, but Travis was trying really hard not to think about that.
"I'm leaving soon," mumbled Katie, while looking down at her feet. She was also trying not to think about their close proximity or the blush creeping onto her cheeks.
"I heard."
"I tried coming by earlier to say goodbye, but Conner said that you weren't here."
Travis blushed, too, when Katie looked up and their eyes met. "I went out to the gas station to fill up the camp van. Chiron asked me to."
"That's good." There was a long silence, but it wasn't really awkward. It was comforting and nice, and Travis enjoyed it. He wished that they could stay like that forever, just the two of them, standing in the middle of the Hermes cabin in blissful silence.
"I don't want you to go," he whispered, blushing an even darker red.
Katie smiled a sad smile. "I don't really want to go, either. This place is my home. It has all my friends and family. I don't wanna leave."
"You can still come for Spring Break, and Christmas, and summer and stuff, though, right?"
She shrugged. "My dad wants me to start spending more time with him. He said that we were never really together during my childhood so he wants to fix it."
Travis snorted, making Katie smile a bit. "It's not your fault that your dad's an ass and he never paid any attention to you so you had to come here. Why does he want to fix it now?"
She chuckled. "I don't know."
They stayed in that quiet peace for a bit longer before Katie held out her arms. Travis went into them gratefully. He had been wanting to hug her ever since he went through puberty, got hormones, and realized how beautiful Katie had become. It was just how he imagined it, but ten times better. She smelled like flowers - what would you expect from a daughter of Demeter? - and a slight hint of marshmallows. Her arms were soft around his upper back, and he gasped slightly when the tips of her fingers touched his neck. The tips of her dark hair brushed his face. It tickled. He smiled. It felt like he had died and gone to heaven. But he was reincarnated all too soon. She started pulling back and Travis sadly let go.
There was a honk in the distance. "That's Argus. He's my ride." Travis nodded. "I better get going." She walked out towards the door with a small wave goodbye. Travis watched her walk out sadly. She was about to leave forever. He had to do something. He had to get some balls as Conner put it.
He took a deep breath and ran out the door. "Katie!" he shouted as he ran up behind her. She didn't get far, just past the Hermes cabin steps.
"Yeah?" she asked when she turned around.
"Katie, I need to tell you something."
She looked confused. "What is it?"
Travis took another deep breath before speaking. "I-I don't want this to be it." Katie opened her mouth to object, but Travis shushed her and kept on going. "I know, you gave me your phone number and email and stuff, but I don't just want to be that friend of yours that you email when you have nothing to do on a Saturday night." She started smiling and was about to talk again, but he shushed her once more.
"I-I know you're gonna be busy and all lately, but, uh, I was wondering if maybe sometime soonish may-maybe we could do something together, like see a movie and get some dinner, or it doesn't even have to be dinner. It could be lunch or breakfast or brunch, even. Shoot, it can even be a nice, friendly snack high in protein and low in fat. I just . . . I just want to see you again."
Katie smiled when he finished his rant. Shit, he thought. She's laughing at you. Nice job, Travis. Way to make a complete and utter fool-
Travis's thoughts got cut off when he felt something on his lips. They were soft and sweet and holy shark bandanas! They were Katie's lips. Katie's lips were on his. Katie was kissing him. Katie was kissing him. After getting over the shock, he got into more shock. He wasn't kissing back. What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he kissing back? Don't just stand there, kiss her.
He gasped a bit, finally getting control over his own body. He slid a hand up to cup her cheek and slid another around her waist to pull her closer. It was just possibly the best kiss he's ever had. Her face was soft as he rubbed his thumb across her cheekbone and her lips tasted like chocolate. Was that weird? Hadn't he read somewhere that most girls tasted like strawberries? His last girlfriend tasted like strawberries. And the one before that, too. But Travis didn't care. He liked chocolate ten times better than strawberries. Strawberries are healthy. Yucky.
After the lack of air was making it hard for both, Katie pulled away and smiled. "I'd love that," she said, disentangling herself from his arms and slowly walking backwards.
She'd love what? What was she talking about? Kissing him? Yeah, he'd love more of that too. Travis tried hard to think back before the kiss completely destroyed most of his brain cells.
The brunch movie snack thing. He tried to open his mouth and reply but he couldn't even talk. Instead, he smiled and nodded in agreement. She giggled. Gods, he loved that giggle. "I'll call you later," she told him, still walking backwards, watching his shrinking figure disappear. Travis nodded again, still with that stupid smile on his face. Katie laughed once more before sending him a small wave and turning around.
After sighing a happy and content sigh, Travis turned around to go back to the cabin. He was not expecting his brother to jump out at him from hiding in a bush.
"You got balls, bro!"