Point of Retreat

?”
     
    I don’t like her demeanor. “Her name is Layken. I call her Lake.”
     
    She turns toward me in her seat and puts her hand on my arm. “Will, I’m not trying to cause trouble. If Layken is the jealous type, just say so. It’s not a big deal.”
     
    She grazes her thumb across my arm and I look down at her hand. I hate how she’s trying to undermine my relationship with her snide comment. She always used to do this. She hasn’t changed at all. I pull my arm away from her and face the front of the room. “Vaughn, stop. I know what you’re doing and it’s not gonna happen.”
     
    She huffs and focuses her attention back to the front of the room. She’s pissed. Good, maybe she got the not so subtle hint.
     
    I really don't understand where she's coming from. I never imagined I would see her again, much less have to practically fight her off. It's strange how I had so much love for her then, but feel nothing for her now. I don't regret what I went through with her, though. We really did have a pretty good relationship, and I honestly think I would have married her had my parents not passed away. But only because I was naïve as to what a relationship should be. What love should be.
     
    We met when we were freshmen, but didn't start dating until our junior year. We started hanging out at a party I went to with my best friend, Reece. We went out a few times, then agreed to make the relationship exclusive. We dated for about six months before we had sex for the first time. We both still lived at home with our parents, so it ended up being in the backseat of her car. It was awkward, to say the least. We were cramped, it was cold, and was probably the most unromantic atmosphere a girl could want in that moment. Of course, it got much better over the next year and a half, but I'll always regret that being her first time. Maybe that's why I want Lake's first time to be perfect. Not just another spur of the moment kind of thing like Vaughn and I had.
     
    I was still grieving and going through a lot of emotional issues after mine and Vaughn's relationship ended. Raising Caulder and doubling up on classes didn't leave me any time to date after that. Vaughn was the last relationship I had up until the moment I met Lake. And after only one date with Lake, I knew the connection between us was something more. It was more than I'd ever had with Vaughn, and more than I ever thought I could have with anyone. For that, I'll be forever grateful to Vaughn for calling off our relationship when she did.
     
     
     
     
     
    ***
     
    Friday is much better. Vaughn doesn’t show up to class, so it makes the rest of the day a lot easier. I stop by the store after my last class and grab Kel’s birthday present, then head home to get ready for his party.
     
    The only two people Kel and Caulder invited to the party tonight were Kiersten and Abby. Sherry and Kiersten went to pick Abby up while Lake and Eddie left to go get the cake. Gavin showed up with the pizza at the same time I pulled into the driveway. It’s his night off but I had him go pick it up since he gets a discount now.
     
    “You nervous?” I ask Caulder as I unstack the pizzas on the counter. I know he’s barely just about to turn eleven, but I remember having my first crush.
     
    “Stop it, Will. You’re gonna make tonight my suck if you keep it up,” he says.
     
    “Fair enough, I’ll drop it. But first, I need to lay down some rules. No holding hands until you’re at least eleven and a half. No kissing until you’re thirteen. And no tongue until you’re fourteen. I mean fifteen. Once you get to that point, we’ll revisit the rules. Until then, you stick to those.”
     
    Caulder rolls his eyes and walks away.
     
    That went well, I guess. Our first official ‘sex’ talk. I think the one I really need to be having the talk with is Kel, though. He seems a little bit more girl crazy than Caulder does.
     
    “Who placed the order for this cake?” Lake asks as she walks through the front door carrying it in her arms. She doesn’t look pleased.
     
    “I let Kel and Caulder order it when we were grocery shopping the other day. Why? What’s wrong with it?”
     
    She walks over to the bar and sets the cake down. She opens the lid and stands back so I can see it.
     
    “Oh,” I say.
     
    The cake is covered in white buttercream frosting. The writing across the top is done in blue.
     
    Happy ‘Butterflying’ Birthday, Kel
     
    “Well,