Young Annabelle (Y.A Series Book 1)

by Sarah Tork

  I didn’t respond with words, instead I grabbed him around his naked waist for the first time and pulled him towards me with urgency. He pressed his lips back into mine, moving with a pace that rivaled where he’d left off, then surpassing it as the kiss intensified into a necessity to remain alive.

  Vital to his survival.

  The force made my head tilt further and further into his pillow until there was nowhere else to sink to – the mattress was too strong for me to dent into it.

  I realized the area around my breast was vacant, he hadn’t returned to massaging it. I searched my body for his hands as my eyes remained closed and my lips were busy matching his intensity. But the fire of his touch wasn’t enough to distract me when I felt my t-shirt beginning to slowly rise. Cold air blasted my skin while his fingers lightly caressed it. I let him have that tiny sliver of skin, my stomach was still covered after all. His fingers began crawling up underneath my shirt.

  “No,” I murmured into his kiss. My arms unlocked from around his shoulders and slid down to where his hands were. I tried to tug them out, no match for his strength, but he stopped moving and pulled back on his own. Once his hands were off my stomach, I pulled my t-shirt back down to cover the little bit of skin that was showing.

  “What’s wrong?” He was panting and looking confused.

  I propped myself up on my elbows and rested my back against his headboard.

  It’s time to call it quits. I ordered myself.

  “Nothing, I just think we’re going way too fast.”

  He slid off me and rolled over onto to his side of the bed, leaning into me, his arm encircling my waist.

  “What?” James panted wildly. “We just started.”

  I glanced down and saw him shamelessly pouting at me.

  “Calm down, Tiger,” I laughed, shaking my head.

  “Back to ‘Tiger’, huh? If that’s what you wanted all this time, then why didn’t you say so? I’ll show you ‘Tiger’,” he said cockily, squeezing my waist with his arm to pull me closer to him.

  “I’m thirsty,” I announced suddenly, angling slightly away from him.

  “I’m sorry, what a horrible hostess I am. Would you like a glass of water?” James playfully responded in an exaggerated voice.

  “Yes, I’d love a cup of water,” I responded, mimicking his mock-politeness.

  He jumped up and crawled off the bed. “One cup of water, coming up.” He opened the door and sauntered out, not bothering to put his shirt back on. I sat back and watched his half-naked body walk down the hall to the stairs.

  Damn, he’s cute….

  I grinned widely and mentally patted myself on the back. Not too shabby, even if this was just a little bit of fun.

  I wasn’t putting myself out there.

  I knew this was just a bit of fun for him too.

  He was too good looking and when school started there would be a bevy of beauties lining up to be his arm-candy. I knew I wasn’t ugly, but I was definitely not arm-candy material.

  I imagined the two of us walking side by side in school – we just didn’t match. I was overweight and average looking while he was tall, muscle-bound, and extremely good-looking. Yes, he acted like a stupid asshole most of the time, but with those physical attributes the hot girls at school wouldn’t care how he acted – they’d think anything he did hot.

  Just like you do! I scolded myself, realizing I was just as bad. I accepted his faults or, rather, pushed them to the side when it came to experiencing the benefits of being the aim of his current affections. I was a fraud; whatever I stood for instantly took a back seat, and not gracefully either – I practically kicked my instincts and morals to the curb whenever I was around him. Little by little, he cracked whatever shields I had.

  “Whatcha thinking about?”

  My eyes flicked up and see James standing in his doorframe with my cup of water, staring at me.

  I gave him a small smile and shook my head innocently. “I’m not thinking about anything but your cute ass.” I ostentatiously gave his body a once-over, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Well, that makes sense,” He laughed and brought me the cup.

  I gulped down half of it then placed it on his side table.

  “Thanks,” I said as he crawled on the bed beside me.

  “No problem, anything you want,” he responded sweetly.

  He’s nice.

  I stared straight ahead as the realization hit me: if he kept treating me like this, I’d fall deeper and deeper and when it all came crashing down, what would I do then?

  “So, you live here with your dad and step-mom?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “That’s right,” he replied hesitantly.

  “How’s it going so far?” I continued.

  He let out a long breath and waited a few seconds before responding. “It’s temporary.”

  “That’s it?”

  “What do you want me to say? My mom wanted to go traveling with her new boyfriend, so I got shipped to my dad’s and have to spend my senior year at a brand new school. Is that enough for you?” His sweet voice had turned bitter.

  “I take it you miss your old school? Bet you were Mr. Popular back there, huh?” I turned to face him and watched as my comment changed his pissed expression into a big grin.

  “Of course!” James exclaimed. “I was the man!”

  “Bet you had a line of ladies after you,” I laughed, nudging his shoulder.

  “Oh, the ladies.” He pretended to sniff back his tears. “Those poor girls, what are they going to do without me there to look up their skirts?”

  I could do nothing but grin and shake my head at him.

  “They must have had a funeral for you when you left.”

  “Yes, they did, actually. I heard it was really sad.” He pretended to sniffle more and I couldn’t help laughing. He shifted his body closer to mine and wrapped an arm around my waist. I sank into his embrace, comfortable being close to him again. He rested his head on my arm.

  “Your turn,” he whispered.

  “My turn?” My body was distracting me by welcoming back the familiar sensations that his touch triggered.

  “Yeah. I ask, you tell.” His lips gently caressed my arm.

  “Okay,” I answered softly.

  “What happened this morning?” As he asked, he squeezed his arm around my waist, pulling me closer.

  I paused for a few seconds.

  I didn’t know how much I wanted to share.

  I certainly didn’t want his pity. But it would be kind of nice to talk about it to someone besides Jenna. I hadn’t known James for that long, but from the beginning I’d felt very comfortable with him.

  Even though he made me nervous.

  I might not have any chance in the real world but, right now, it felt right to just go with it and just see what happens.

  You’re with him now, that counts for something.

  “My mom was just harassing me about my food. It’s been like this since the beginning of summer. So this morning I just had enough and cracked. I yelled at her and my dad then left the house not telling them where I was going or when I was coming back,” I explained tiredly.

  “Was it like you wanted to run away?” James asked sounding like he understood exactly what it felt like to be harassed by parents.

  I thought about it for a moment.

  When I was packing my bag, grabbing the basic essentials, I had felt a rush of adrenaline pump through me as if the choice I was making was a big one.

  One that made a statement.

  I had walked out while they were scolding me, just like I had two weeks ago, but this time it was different. I’d had enough of their constant nagging about what I ate and how I looked. This time, I did something to show them that their actions were not okay: I had walked out without giving any information as to what I was going to do, where I was going, or when I was coming back. In a way, I had hoped it would remind them that my days as a teenager who had to l
isten to them were almost over.

  The express train to adulthood was coming straight for me and, whether they liked it or not, that feeling of being able to decide what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it wasn’t going to go away. In fact, it was only growing stronger each day. My attitude was definitely heading for a direction where I would finally feel in control.

  “Yeah, that’s what it felt like. Sort of. But ‘runaway’ is more of a kid term. I’m going to be eighteen in April and, until then, I’m putting my foot down when it comes to doing things I don’t want to do.” I felt empowered by my words.

  “That’s right. Do whatever the hell you want to do,” he proclaimed then laughed into my arm.

  I laughed a little too but stopped when James began to snuggle deeper into me, his body rubbing against mine.

  Well, the deep chat ends here.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I asked, staring down at his head.

  “Enough talking,” he murmured.

  “Oh yeah, then what are we going to do?” I asked, laughing.

  “Oh, I can think of a few things…”

  He got up and pushed himself off the bed. He stood at the edge of the bed and grabbed my feet. I stared at him in confusion as he pulled my legs. I slid down the headboard, my head hitting the pillow, and James lowered my legs back onto the bed.

  “There you go, that’s better,” he exclaimed, climbing back over the bed to hover on top of me.

  I just got manhandled!

  I grinned as he pushed aside a strand of hair from my face.

  “Much better,” he said softly as his fingers caressed my cheeks.

  We gazed into each other eyes. My stomach began feeling soft and squishy. A warm, gooey hug squeezed my heart, sending waves of brand new feelings through my body.

  Shit!

  I think I’m going crazy!

  Before I could say anything to stop the madness, he leaned in and planted his lips back on mine.

  Oh!

  Okay!

  I was taken aback by the sensation his lips shot into my body. My body rejoiced happily at the return of his touch, as if it had been drowning and his lips were the life raft.

  God!

  I returned his kiss, moving my arms around his shoulders as his body sunk further into me.

  *~*~*

  I took out my phone and texted Mom:

  Annabelle: I had a nutritious lunch

  A few minutes later…

  Mom: Thank You!!!!

  I closed the message and tucked my phone back into my backpack. I had just left James’s house after an hour and a half of kissing and fondling.

  I’d let him touch my boobs again, which made him think it was okay to pull my shirt back up but I’d stopped him immediately, telling him that I wasn’t comfortable with that part, that it was too soon. Although I had no problem with him being shirtless; his body was perfect, beautiful, and muscles galore. My hands began buzzing with sensation at the memory of the circles they had made over every inch of his naked chest.

  That was nice… I remembered each muscle my hand had grazed.

  Unlike him, my body, especially my stomach, was nowhere near naked-ready. Even a small sliver of skin exposed made me nervous at what he would think or feel when his hand met the roundness of my skin.

  But now that I had time to think about it, if I was a bit skinnier and my stomach was flatter, would I have let him lift up my shirt? Would I have let him pull the entire thing off? Would I have gone the whole way with him? I’d practically groped his entire body and let him do the same, and he wasn’t even my boyfriend nor was my body even close perfect.

  Would I be more of a slut if I were skinny?

  The thought horrified me.

  Damn!

  I would…I think I would have…probably…gone all the way…

  I hugged myself, shocked at my own admission. It felt good, really good, kissing him. I didn’t mind when his hand kept caressing my breasts. I had to control myself; my emotions were all over the place. With what happened this morning, then meeting James and ending up in his bed having a marathon kissing session, I’d better re-evaluate my decisions next time my mind was not in the right place.

  The events that took place this morning had left me emotionally damaged, so much so that my brain had lost all logic. That was how I so easily let James take me to his bed and kiss the hell out of me while copping many feels.

  It did feel nice though…No! I shook my head. I had to snap out of this ‘feels nice’ thing. If things kept going at this pace with him, what would happen next time?

  Because I was sure there was going to be a next time.

  He definitely would want something more in our next meet up; he had taken his shirt off, lay across my body, and held on to me as if he wanted his body imprinted onto mine.

  He probably expected the next time to be my turn to be au natural on top – with or without a bra, whatever floated my boat, as long as there was some major skin showing. In my case it was a lot of easily jiggle-able skin that needed the help and support of a structured shirt to keep it pushed back.

  Oh my God, am I ever going to have a flat stomach? I wish I did! I tormented myself for a few seconds but stopped when I realized what might potentially happen when I became more confident with how my body looked.

  I’d become a big slut, sleeping with anything that would have me!

  I shook my head at the exaggeration.

  No! Not everything that would have me, but probably – definitely – give James the green light to do his thing!

  My phone beeped.

  I paused on the sidewalk to grab my phone.

  New Message from: Tiger!

  James! I was instantly excited at the sight of his name, even though I’d only left him twenty minutes ago.

  I opened his message with a huge smile plastered across my face.

  You are sucked in! Totally in deep! I thought as his message popped up.

  Tiger: I wish u let me take u home…

  Annabelle: And I wish u wouldn’t text while driving to baseball practice!

  James’s phone had rung while we were kissing. By that time, things had cooled off a little but were still going at a nice pace. He grudgingly got off me and checked the caller ID before answering.

  “Yeah?” he answered curtly.

  I heard a muffled voice from the other end.

  “Oh, yeah, shit. Okay. See you in ten,” he said to the phone then hung up.

  I rose up on my elbows and stared at him as he put his phone back on his side table.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  He let out a long sigh and turned to me. “Baseball practice was rescheduled for noon.”

  “I thought it was canceled?”

  “It was. Sort of. The assistant coach told everyone to be available around noon just in case it was rescheduled,” he explained, giving me a quick peck on the lips before grabbing his uniform shirt off the floor and pulling it back on.

  “Okay,” I replied, getting off the bed.

  Damn! I thought, disappointed, as his beautiful body was sheathed again.

  “I’ll drop you off at home,” he said as I reached to pick my backpack off the ground.

  “No, that’s okay, I want to walk. Get some fresh air, you know.” I slid my bag over my shoulders as I explained.

  I stretched my arms out and took a deep breath while he locked the front door. It felt like I’d been cooped up inside a musty, sweaty cave for God knows how long, but my phone said we’d been up there for less than two hours.

  My phone beeped.

  I checked the new message as I continued down the sidewalk.

  Tiger: Baby u care about my safety, I’m touched. Miss u, can’t wait to see u again!

  He misses me!! I gushed mentally.

  My heart swelled with joy.

  He missed me and couldn’t wait to see me again.

  With an exclamation point!

  What did that mean?
<
br />   Did that mean next time would be even more exciting than the first time?

  Shit! His expectations of where we were going had jumped big time! I knew one thing for sure: as long as I was still in this body, with all its jiggly bits, there was no way anything was escalating, including his excitement.

  Even if he missed me and couldn’t wait to see me.

  New high! I thought happily, planning to remember his words the next time he decided to piss me off by acting like the asshole version of himself.

  Annabelle: That’s sweet. Have a good practice

  I pressed send and tucked my phone back into my bag. I didn’t want to see any more messages from him today.

  It was enough. My body and mind couldn’t take anymore of him.

  Okay, I was lying, my body wouldn’t mind taking a little more of him but that wasn’t the point. I needed to maintain some ground control when it came to him. I had to show him – and myself – that there were limits where he was concerned.

  Even if I really, really didn’t want to.

  *~*~*

  I walked to Subway and grabbed a 6-inch whole-wheat turkey sub, no sauce, and heavy on the lettuce.

  This is healthy, I told myself as I bit into my sandwich.

  It was around 1:30 pm when I went back home. Not because I wanted to, but because I had nothing to do and I didn’t want to spend any more money. I had to save every penny for when I could finally move out.

  I unlocked the front door and walked inside. As I pulled off my shoes, I heard the familiar sound of excited footsteps rumble up the basement stairs.

  “Annabelle? You’re home?” Mom called as she ran up the stairs.

  “Yes,” I answered brusquely. I was still pissed at her for the stunt she pulled this morning and had no intention of letting her off easy.

  “How was your morning?” she asked breathlessly as she walked over to me.

  “It was fine,” I replied suspiciously.

  “That’s good.” She was trying her best to be nonchalant. I wasn’t buying it. Her hands were shaking subtly next to her thigh.

  “Alright, well I’m going to my room,” I announced as I took a step towards the stairs.

  “Wait!” Mom blurted out.