Kissing Carter: A College Romance

by Zara Rivas

  He smirked. "I live here, and I'm fine."

  "That's debatable."

  "You should let me get you some breakfast or something," he said, leaning back onto his pillow, crossing his arms behind his head.

  "I'm not hungry," I told him. "And you look like you could get some more sleep anyway."

  There was a worried look behind his eyes. "You're not upset or anything, right? Last night…well…"

  I leaned over him, kissing his nose before I found his lips.

  "Last night was amazing. It's nothing like that, I'm just about to burst, and I think that is one puddle that would even bother you."

  He laughed. "Can we have dinner later?"

  "Yes," I muttered as he leaned in for another kiss.

  I let myself get lost in his kiss for a moment before I pulled away and grabbed my purse and shoes. Carrying my shoes in my hand, I sprinted towards the bathroom.

  I didn't have any clean clothes with me, so I had to take a detour back at my room before I could hit the showers. I pulled my phone out of my purse, checking what I had missed as I made the walk back to my dorm.

  Besides some Facebook notifications, I had a text message from Ashley, one from Charlotte, and a missed call and voicemail from a number I didn't recognize. I opened Charlotte's text first, the familiar guilty feeling overcoming me as I read it.

  Char: Hey, what's going on?

  I took a deep breath, holding my fingers over the screen. My heart pounded loudly in my chest. I had to do this. I couldn't go on pretending Carter, and I didn't have anything going on, especially since we had just slept together.

  Can we hang out tomorrow?

  When I reached my dorm, I pulled out my key and unlocked the door, slipping inside. It was after eleven, so I didn't have to worry about waking Ashley up.

  She was hunched over her desk and jumped slightly in her chair when I walked in. "I was worried about you!" She said, looking me over. "Wait a minute… did you…"

  I knew what she was about to say, and I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my lips.

  "You did it! You spent the night with him!"

  "Shh!" I told her, even though we were in the privacy of our room.

  "So, how was it?" She asked, a grin appearing on her lips.

  I rolled my eyes at her, but I was pretty sure the smile gave away the answer.

  She stood up and started making celebration dance moves. "I called it. I called it."

  I grabbed her pillow off her bed and tossed it at her. "I'm going to go take a shower in a few."

  "Promise me you will give me some warning when you want to do it here. I do not want to walk in on that."

  "I promise," I told her, picking up my phone to listen to the voicemail.

  "Hello Harper, this is Mrs. Phillis, I'm an academic counselor here on campus. I spoke to your parents, and they told me you were interested in setting up a meeting with me. When you have a moment, give me a callback, and we can set up an appointment. Have a great weekend."

  I groaned as I ended the voicemail. Seriously? My parents didn't even trust me enough to take care of this issue; they had to call for me?

  I was ready to start complaining to Ashley when I saw Charlotte finally replied to my text.

  Char: Of course. Come over whenever I am studying in my room all day.

  I couldn't remember a shower ever feeling that good. It was as if the hot water magically removed the stress and frustration my parents were causing me, the nerves I had from dealing with Charlotte tomorrow, and of course, that awful juice, even though that took some extra scrubbing.

  Wrapping my extra soft, white robe around me was pretty much the cherry on the top.

  I walked back to my room, nearly forty minutes later, and stopped short when I got to the door. Sitting off to the side, on the floor, was a vase with some flowers in it. My heart started beating rapidly as I reached down and picked it up, holding the flowers up to my nose so I could inhale the aroma. There was a small white card inside, so I reached in and pulled it out, butterflies filling up my stomach as I noticed the familiar handwriting.

  You said you didn't have a vase, and that needed to change. You deserve to get flowers.

  Love,

  Carter

  Tears filled my eyes as I pushed open the door. I was pretty sure this was the only time I had ever cried tears of joy because of a guy. Not that Carter was just a guy, because he wasn't. He was… well, he was way more. He made me smile and laugh, even at times, I didn't think it was possible. He made my stomach feel like a home to a family of butterflies. Yeah, he wasn't just a guy.

  Ashely looked up from her desk, not as shocked to see me this time. She eyes the flower in my hands.

  "They give those away for showering now?"

  I laughed, placing them on my desk, then quickly wiped away the tears. "They were outside; they are from Carter."

  She looked at me with a questioning look, probably confused about the fact I was trying not to cry. Instead of explaining, I handed the card over for her to read.

  She looked it over, then shook her head at me. "You know I'm extremely jealous of you. Does he happen to have a brother?"

  It was my turn to shake my head. "Only child. And trust me, Carter normally isn't like this. I'm pretty sure this was his very first time giving flowers to a girl."

  She shrugged. "Love turns you into a sap."

  I immediately wanted to make a joke on the fact she had stupidly used the word love when referring to Carter, but then another thought hit me.

  Was Carter starting to love me? Sure, I knew he had feelings for me, clearly, but was he even capable of love? I wasn't sure what was scarier, not knowing, or finding out.

  I pulled out my phone, sending a message to Carter.

  Thank you for the flowers. And the vase. Can I tell you how cute you are?

  Carter: It was nothing. :) And yes, please do. Don't leave anything out.

  I knocked softly on Carter's door, holding up a plastic bag as he pulled open the door.

  "Thank you for bringing me… a bag? How thoughtful," he said with a grin, gesturing for me to come in.

  "Hey, watch it," I scolded him. "They're just so happens to be tacos in this bag, but I don't have to share them."

  "You brought tacos?"

  I tapped my chin. "Hm, I could've sworn I just said that."

  He grinned and pulled me into a kiss, lightly brushing his fingers against my face.

  "It's kind of like my version of flowers for you," I told him, sitting the bag down on his bed as he reached into the mini-fridge, pulling out two bottles of water. "I'm pretty sure I couldn't bring anything better than food."

  "Something's are better than food," he said with a sweet smile, offering me a bottle.

  "Like video games?"

  He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head at me. "I meant you."

  "Oh, right." My face started to blush.

  I glanced around his room, which had had cleaned while I was gone, and opted for a seat at his desk to avoid making a mess in his bed. I adjusted my legs, hitting my foot against something hard under the desk. I glanced under, noticing a bag of apples sitting there.

  "Why do you have a bag of apples under your desk?"

  He looked slightly embarrassed. "I, well, know you like them and thought you might like to have them when you're here. Or in the mornings, so you're not hungry. Not that I'm implying you will be sleeping over."

  I laughed at the way he was blurting it out, clearing he was nervous, waiting for my reaction. I stood up and wrapped my arms around his neck.

  "So first you got me flowers, then you went and got my apples for your room because you know I like them?"

  "I…yeah. Pathetic?"

  I shook my head. "Pretty adorable," I corrected him.

  He grinned, clearly proud of himself. "Oh yeah? Does it give me points?"

  "Major points."

  He raised an eyebrow at me. "Enough points to maybe skip dinner a
nd head to bed early?"

  I removed one of my hands from around his neck, using it smack him. "Eat your tacos before they get cold."

  He laughed, opening the bag up to pull out five of them. Five! "Hey, I have to try."

  I didn't want to tell him that I almost gave in.

  I showed up at Charlotte's door with a bag of her favorite chocolates in my hand. I knew it looked like a thoughtful gesture, but I had an alternate meaning behind it. I was hoping that somehow showing up with chocolate would make the bombshell of me dating her best friend less traumatic if that was possible.

  I stood in front of her closed door, exhaling deeply, quickly running the pre-planned speech out in my mind. First, I would tell her that I wasn't quite how this happened, which wasn't a lie. One second, Carter was a friend that spends most of his time annoying me, and suddenly he was someone that I wanted to kiss. All the time.

  Then I would tell her that I never wanted to hurt her, which also wasn't a lie. Neither of us wanted to hurt her, which was part of the problem; it was so hard to tell her.

  I would finish my little speech up by telling her things weren't too serious now, but we wanted to give a relationship a try. Okay, that might have been a slight white lie, but I had to ease Charlotte into this idea slowly. She still thought we could barely stand being in the same room together.

  I would also throw in there the fact that she was the best sister anyone could ever ask for. Hey, flattery never hurt anyone.

  Right, when I was going to raise my hand to tap lightly on her door, it suddenly opened, and my eyes met a familiar pair of grey ones.

  "Hey," she said, giving me a surprised smile. "Were you just standing out here?"

  "Yes, I mean, no. I mean, I was just about to knock."

  Great, I was already known off; this was not how I planned for things to go.

  "How did you know I was here?" I asked her.

  "I didn't," she said with a laugh. "I thought I heard something. Come on in."

  She held the door open wider, stepping aside so I could walk in her room. It was the complete opposite of Carter's. It was really neat, not a thing out of place, and was decorated soft and girlie. It was the kind of room you could walk around barefoot in and wouldn't have to worry about stepping in any foreign liquids.

  "These are for you," I told her, handing her the chocolates.

  She gave me a grin and tore open the bag, pulling a piece of chocolate out. Opening the wrapper, she plopped it into her mouth, then tossed the wrapper into a small garbage can. Her eyes closed for a second at the taste, then she opened them back up. "My favorite."

  I sat down at her desk, glancing at the framed photo sitting on it. It was of her and Noah, and they looked so happy, so wrapped up in each other. I couldn't help but wonder if Carter and I looked that happy when we were together. I tapped my fingers against her desk, hoping the soft yellow color would bring me good luck. I had picked yellow on purpose, the color of friendship and forgiveness. Or so they say.

  "So it's Carter's birthday in two weeks, and I thought we could all go out and do something for it," Charlotte said, writing something in her planner.

  In the back on my mind, I knew his birthday was coming up, yet I felt surprised to hear it was so soon. My family had celebrated his birthday as far back as I could remember, however, I didn't have the date engraved in my mind the way Charlotte did. At least, not yet. I couldn't believe he hadn't mentioned anything to me about it.

  "Does that sound good?" Charlotte asked, looking up at me over her planner.

  I nodded, twirling my hair nervously around my finger. I had to push my feelings about his birthday out of my mind, because I knew that Charlotte had just given me an opening, one I might not get again. I cleared my throat.

  "So, speaking of Carter…" I bite my lip, stalling for time. The words were in my throat, dying to escape, yet my mouth didn't seem to want them to get out. "Have you ever thought about dating him?"

  Okay, that wasn't part of my speech. However, it was buying me time to get the guts to say it, and this would help ease into the conversation.

  She snorted a laugh. "Uh, no. I can honestly say no to that."

  I nodded, aware that it was my turn to speak.

  "Carter is an amazing person, and I love him, but he isn't boyfriend material."

  Her words felt like a kick to my stomach. "People can change," I told her, feeling the need to stick up for him.

  She let out another laugh, placing her planner down next to her. "They can, but come on, Carter doesn't want to change. He likes the chase; it's practically his hobby."

  "I haven't seen him chasing any girls lately." I knew my words came out harsh, and I could tell that Charlotte noticed them as well.

  "He was just going after some freshmen the other week," she said, a curious look in her eyes. I knew she was wondering why I was suddenly so interested in Carter's love life.

  "What?"

  She shrugged casually. "It was the week we went home to visit. I bumped into him in the hallway; he told me he was meeting up with some hot freshmen girl he had just met."

  I jumped up off the seat. "That can't be true."

  My eyes burned as tears filled them up. Charlotte's face went from curious to confused, and then to concerned as she took my actions in.

  "Harper, why are you-"

  "Are you sure he said that?" I asked her, cringing at the sound of my voice.

  She nodded. "I don't remember his exact words; it was typical of him, so I didn't give it much thought."

  Typical of him.

  I felt the tears threaten to escape, so I tried wiping them away quickly. I knew I was becoming an open book, but I didn't care. Carter wouldn't do this to me, would he?

  "Harper, do you have a crush on Carter or something?" Her voice was kind and gentle, and it made me want to cry more. I wish I could've turned to her about Carter this entire time.

  I shook my head. "No, it's not that."

  I was hoping she would ask me, so I wouldn't have to say it, but she just sat there, looking up at me, waiting. "We… um…. We have been messing around… and I… think I like him."

  I don't remember ever saying those words, but they were out, and they hung in the air.

  "Oh, Harper." Her voice wasn't upset or angry. No, it was much worse. Her voice was sympathetic like she was hurting for me. "And that was going on when he was with that girl?"

  I nodded, unable to speak.

  She got up off the bed and wrapped her arms tightly around me. I bent my head down to rest it on her shoulder.

  "Why didn't you tell me?" There was a new tone of hurt in her voice, and I knew this time it was her that was hurting.

  "I didn't want you to be upset with me."

  She pulled away from me so she could look in my eyes. "I wouldn't have been upset with you if you were honest with me. You're my sister, and I love you. I won't lie, it sucks you were doing this behind my back, but we will get past it."

  I let out a soft laugh, wiping the tears away.

  Suddenly she was wrapping her slim figures around my wrist. "Come on," she demanded, pulling me towards the door.

  "Where are we going?"

  "To see Carter."

  Carter

  "You have some explaining to do!" Charlotte said, bursting through my door.

  I nearly jumped out of my seat and quickly saved the paper I was writing before I shut my laptop screen. I stood up and ran a hand through my hair. "Damn Char, have you ever heard of knocking?"

  My eyes fell behind Charlotte, and I saw Harper there, causing my heart to start racing immediately. That is until I noticed the look on her face. She didn't seem happy to see me, but instead, she looked pissed off. Her face matched Charlotte's. What the hell did I do?

  "What's going on?" I asked both of them, though my eyes were still on Harper.

  She didn't just look pissed; she also looked hurt. Her large, light blue eyes were glossy and rimmed red as if she had been crying. If Char
lotte weren't standing there glaring at me, I would've walked right up to her and brushed my fingers over her eyes.

  Charlotte placed her hands on her hips, standing on her tiptoes to try to gain some height on me. "You have been hooking up with my sister."

  It was a statement, not a question, and I knew that mean that Harper had finally told her about us. She had warned me last night she was going to talk to Charlotte, but she never gave me any warning that they would show up.