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"I laugh in the face of danger!" — Simba in The Lion King
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Chapter 15
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During the few minutes that had passed, Shay and Griff began to bicker about which temp a burger is at its best. Those two would be the death of each another one day, but they couldn't live without the other.

I took the remaining orders out to the hungry group of customers.

I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose with my wrist, and minimized my eyes to slits to search for the numbers on the tables that matched the order. One by one, I delivered the plates to people, until there were none left.

By the end of my shift, my feet were in terrible danger of giving out any second now. Once I went back to the kitchen, the heat flew right at me.

"Guys, I'm heading outside for fresh air," I told Celeste, Shay, and Griff.

Celeste nodded before speaking,"Grab your jacket before you go out, though."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled at her motherly attitude. Since my mother had never actually been a mother, Celeste found it upon herself to be a good role model toward me. Her motherly protection did annoy me on some days, but I'd rather have that than nothing.

I grabbed my jacket, pulling it along my arms on my way out of the diner. I was in a alleyway that I recognized too easily. Uncle Dylan, Griff, and I would play hide and seek here, and hide from Dad, Shay, and Celeste.

The fresh breeze flew past my face, causing my hair to try and escape from the ponytail I had forced it into.

I moved closer to the entrance of the small building, yet I kept a distance. Kade and his group of friends would notice me if I moved any closer.

I smiled as I examined the night sky above me.

The moon protected the sun, and instead a dark beautiful blanket hooded the daylight from us. The bright stars looked as if they had been poured from a salt shaker and were sprinkled onto the night sky. They negotiated with the darkness, and partnered with the moon to allow bits of light toward us humans.

"What are you thinking about?"

With a gasp of surprise, I jerked around to see Kade's silhouette stepping closer and closer to me.

Instead of freaking out, I told myself not to care. I told my brain to deliver a message to my heart, and that was to not let Kade affect me.

It seemed that my heart was yet to receive the message.

I swallowed a thick void of emotion in my throat. "The moon."

I felt him step closer behind me, yet my back remained facing his body. "Anything else?" he asked me, his voice too deep for my hearing senses to take.

I kept my eyes on the bright moon above us. "The stars."

"Are you sure that's all?" Kade asked, though the challenge was clearly there.

I discarded it. He's not getting me this time.

I yanked around toward him, attempting my best look of anger. "Why do you even care?"

"I never said I did."

My chest fell with a tired sigh. "Then why are you even here, Kade?"

For both myself, and him.

His hard jaw clenched, and a look of anger passed between his eyes. He muttered something underneath his breath that I couldn't quite understand, before raising his eyes to mine.

"Because I wanted to talk to you," he answered, in a slow pace.

I threw my hands up to the night sky, my disbelief probably etched into my expression. "About what, exactly? What's there to talk about?"

I spared a glance at him. "Besides, shouldn't you be in there with your girlfriend, anyway?" I hated how badly my words were drenched with envy.

Please don't tell me I'm jealous. I thought. The very theory made me want to throw up.

His head tilted, a look of humor crossing his face. "Jealous, sweetheart?"

I rolled my eyes like a toddler, and crossed my arms over my chest. "Not at all. Just annoyed."

"At?"

I jerked toward him in disbelief. "You," I snapped at him.

Kades' lips continued to upturn at my words. The crazy bitch was enjoying this. "Why is that?"

I never wanted to slap someone as badly as I did at the moment.

I wouldn't fall into his trap. "Nothing. Just go back to your stupid, little girlfriend, Kade," I murmured.

Before I could reach the door, I felt my back being pressed against a hard surface.

What was with this man and hard surfaces?

There was a familiar urge someone gets whenever they're told to not do something. Then said person want to do it even more, simply because of someone telling them not to. They want to find out why they were warned in the first place.

That was what my heart and brain were disputing about. I could practically feel my brain yelling at my heart, to not pursue anything with Kade Ryder.

Yet, my heart didn't seem to like rules.

Kade was close, too close. His eyes peered down at me, and I felt my insides flutter at his tone. "Don't walk away from me, Kimberly." His voice was menacingly slow, taunting.

His aftershave scent mixed in with the minty breath against my face. It creeped up on me. "You smell good." My face went slack after my own words.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I held my breath when his lips got closer to my ear. His breath fanned against my trembling figure. "I might taste good, too. I bet you do, I know you do." I could feel my heart, along with my emotions, melt down into a puddle in front of him. "Tell me to leave you alone, because I can't find the strength on my own right now, sweetheart."

I forced my head to the side, to only have it turned back. His eyes examined me over closely, his thumb rubbed the smallest of circles under my warm chin. If I weren't so trapped, I thought I may have felt him shaking.

"You want to kiss me, don't you?" he whispered into my red tipped ear. "All I need is a yes, sweetheart."

I stayed silent. My joints were glued in place, I had no control over my body anymore.

He had control.

I could tell myself that I didn't want him to kiss me. That I would puke if he got close. But, I knew the truth. That shameful, undeniable truth.

I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to know if he could live up to his words. If all of these conflicting trials inside of me were for a reason.

In a swift move, he had my hands in his. Our conjoined hands were on either sides of our bodies, delivering unlimited amounts of electricity from head to toe.

"Kade—" I began before he said,"I know. I-I feel it too." His voice was shaky, scared. He was scared.

His breath fanned my face, the minty scent luring my lips toward his. Our heartbeats created a invisible link to one anothers.

Our lips were so close, I could move my head and we would be kissing.

He was the first to lean in.

"Hush, let me hear!"

I tore my head away from Kade's. The first thing I knew, was that the voice belonged to Raven.

I lowered my head in anger, sadness, but relief too. How I came that close to kissing the guy that hated me, I would never know.

I gently pushed Kade off of my body, and lifted myself from the wall. My legs were shaky as I marched back.

I pulled open the door, and out came Raven, Griff, Celeste, and Shay. They all caught theirselves before the shame filled their expressions.

I glared at everyone of them. "Seriously?" I mumbled under my breath.

I could feel the embarrassment coming off of my own body. It was more shame than anything.

I turned around to see a very amused Kade. His chocolate eyes slammed into my dull brown ones, and he grinned, before delivering a wink.

"So, you've been messing around with my girl's feelings, huh?" Raven's outburst caused my body to jerk toward her.

My eyes were widened to the size of saucers. I needed to get these people away from here before they managed to embarrass me even more than I already had.

I shoved them all inside, forgetting Kade's presence behind me.

"Great timing, guys!" I yelled at them.

Griff wore an innocent look, his eyes falling in shame. "I told them to get away from the door, but they wouldn't listen!"

Shay slapped his leg hard enough to make him wince. "Oh, shut up, Griff. Your were the first one to run over to the darn door."

Celeste's hands gripped my shoulders, and I believe she shook me into another dimension. "Baby, you two almost kissed! We all saw it!"

I rolled my eyes, averting my look to the floor. Never in my life had I been this embarrassed before. That was an overstatement, but right now, it wasn't.

"It would have happened if you guys wouldn't have been so nosy!" I shot a glare at Raven who wore the biggest grin.

"So, you did want to kiss him?" Raven asked, tilting on her heels.

I was not ready for that question, not yet. "No! I mean I don't know-"

"Oh hush, you wanted to kiss him and you know it!" Shay exclaimed, clapping with glee.

I covered my face with two hands, though they already knew I was as red as Elmo.

"Heading home," I dismissed as quickly as I could.

I heard their protests behind me while Raven and I walked to her car.

"Bye, Kimberly." Before I made it out alive, I turned to see Levi waving at me. He was standing alongside a sports car, a lit cigarette in between either finger.

Well okay.

Kade was right next to him, watching every one of my actions. His arms were tight against his chest, body still.

I sped up. Once we were in the car, Raven's' eyes lit up. She grasped either shoulder, shaking me.

"Spill," she demanded. "I wanna hear it all."

I sighed. I couldn't even get a breather before she jumped at me. "Spill what, Raven?"

She gave me a weird look, before squinting up her eyes. I laughed at her facial expression, it was very serious.

"Tell me what happened."

How I wished I could.

But, I couldn't tell her something that I couldn't figure out myself.