End of the Innocence by John Goode

Author:John Goode [Goode, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Young Adult, Contemporary, Gay, Romance
ISBN: 9781613724941
Google: y9WtNAEACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 16145072
Publisher: Harmony Ink
Published: 2012-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

KYLE

MY heard hurt as if Tony had hit me with a sledgehammer.

Even though I knew breaking up the fight had been the right thing to do, my head was telling me something completely different. However, as the three of us sat there and watched the party begin to pick up, I knew it was worth it. I noticed Kelly wandering around looking over to us once in a while. I got my feet under me and very slowly straightened up; Brad and Jennifer looked at me like I was Bambi learning to walk. “Be right back,” I told them and wobbled over to Kelly.

“How’s your head?” he asked as I got closer.

“You ever see those hippos dance in Fantasia?” I asked him. He nodded. “Like I was their dance floor.”

He barked out a laugh that looked like it was as unexpected to him as it was for me. “You’re kinda funny.”

I laughed as I took another sip of my drink. “I think that was the nicest thing you ever said to me.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, well don’t get used to it. I still don’t like you,” he said with no meanness in his voice at all.

“You can come and sit with us, you know,” I offered, gesturing toward where Brad and Jennifer were.

He shook his head. “Nah, I don’t… I ain’t ready for that yet,” he stammered.

“You can’t avoid him forever, Kelly.”

“You’re not going to tell him are you?” he asked me in a panic. “’Cause I don’t want him to know!”

“Calm down,” I said quickly. “Seriously keep acting like that, and you won’t need to tell anyone.” Kelly calmed down, but I could see the lurking panic in his eyes. “I am not going to say anything to anyone. Just like I told you upstairs. Who you tell is your choice. But Kelly, I’m serious when I say you should tell him how you feel.”

“Why?” he asked me back. “What good would that do?”

I tried to compress the thousand or so thoughts that were racing through my mind into words so I could get him to understand what I was saying, but all I could come up with was, “You will feel better after, Kelly. You have to trust me on that.”

I expected him to say something ugly or sarcastic in return, but instead he just looked at me in silence before he said, “I don’t want to say anything to him about it.”

“Okay. You’re still welcome to sit with us,” I repeated as I wobbled back to the couch and Brad.

“Hey, geek,” Kelly called back to me. I sort of hunched around and looked at him. “Thanks for this,” he said, gesturing to the party. “It’s kinda cool.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, smiling around the headache.

“Don’t let it go to your egghead,” he said bitterly, but he was smiling when he said it.

“How’s your head?” Brad asked when I sat down.

“Sore, but I’ve had worse.” I saw his expression change slightly, and I realized that was probably the wrong answer. “I never told you I practiced MMA when no one was looking?” I tried to joke.

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