Deon

"Presley and Deon, congrats on winning second place at the Winter Musical. If not for y'all, our school would not have won at the Winter Musical for the tenth year in a row. Winning the people's choice award is not an easy thing to do either, and no student from Westbeach High has ever won it before, but you did it. Well done, kids!" Mrs. Davis announces proudly at the end of our final band practice before the term ends for Christmas.

Today's the last day of school before we are let off on our Christmas break. Everyone's giddy and impatient until school finishes today. Or maybe it's just my girlfriend and her best friend.

Pres, who's grinning at Maddy from the saxophone section, catches me staring at her and her grin widens. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she tries a few times to copy my eyebrow-raising skill, but fails. I let out a low chuckle, gaining some unnecessary attention.

"What's up with you two today?" Tyler quips, standing onto my right. "Are you guys planning on fucking each other after school or anything?"

"What? No. I'm not having sex with Pres until she's ready for it," I say truthfully.

"And then the pussy-whipped, love struck, foolish frog turns into a simp..." Tyler weeps dramatically.

I roll my eyes. "That's not how the story goes, Ty—"

"Whatever." He shrugs, then snickers. "Has anyone told you that you've been pussy-whipped since you met Elvie, Dee?"

"Yeah," I sigh. "You did. Dan too. But I'm not, so shut up."

Mrs. Davis continues, "I won't be meeting y'all next year since y'all will be doing your final exams in May. So good luck with that and your future endeavors. Please feel free to contact me if there's anything you need, and I will help you any way I can—" The sound of the school bell interrupts whatever Mrs. Davis was going to say next. We all wish her a merry Christmas and happy holidays before heading to the cafeteria for lunch break.

Maddy starts talking as soon as we take our seats at our usual table in the corner. "Um...Elle? Ty and I won't be able to come to your house for Christmas. We will be spending two weeks in Paris."

"No," Pres whines, taking a bite of her chicken sandwich. "But, Mads, you can't miss it."

"I know, Elle. I'm so sorry. We were able to book two seats on a plane at the last moment, so we did. Plus, we always spend Christmas together, so missing one year's not a big deal, right?"

"I guess," Pres sighs, narrowing her eyes at Maddy.

"You'll be having a full house this year anyway with Deon's family, and Luke's," Maddy says, trying to lighten Pres's mood.

"Yeah, she's right," I add, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Okay, fine." She considers something for a moment before saying, "But you need to get me a tiny snow globe from Paris...and lots of chocolates."

"Deal." Maddy grins.

* * *

"Hey, Maddy. Where's Pres?" I ask as Maddy walks over towards me and my car after school with Tyler's arm slung over her shoulders.

"Why'd you ask? Are you that impatient to have sex with her once you guys go home?" Maddy smirks, winking. What the fuck?!

"What's with you two and sex? You guys do know that it's not just about the sex when it comes to relationships, right?" I ask, looking from Maddy to Tyler.

"Of course. Anyway, that's not what I meant," Maddy says at the same time Tyler says, "Hell no. It's always about the great sex." My eyes widen at the same time Maddy's narrow into slits. She gives Tyler a death glare.

"So, are you in it with me just because I'm good in bed?" She says through gritted teeth.

"Babe, that's not what I meant—"

"That's exactly what you meant," she bites out.

Ty sneaks a glance at me for help and I shake my head and shrug, giving him a look that says, 'I can't save you. You brought it upon yourself.'

I leave the two of them to solve their own problems and turn to go look for Presley when a female voice calls out, "Hey, Deon."

I turn back to see Jessica Wilson, one of the girls who bullied Pres a while ago. Pres made me promise her I wouldn't do anything about the fact that Jessica and two other girls bullied her. If it wasn't for her sake, I would have gotten all three of them expelled. After the incident, I warned fucking Ryan Gibbons to keep his bitchy girlfriend on a tighter leash and not let her walk around school bullying other girls.

"Jessica," I barely acknowledge her. "What do you want?"

"What are your plans for Christmas?" She purrs at me.

Jesus christ!

Is she psycho?

"I have amazing plans with Presley and it's none of your business," I say a little harsher than I intend to.

"Sheesh! What's with the tone? I was just asking." She shrugs nonchalantly.

I roll my eyes at her, annoyed. "Go annoy your boyfriend, Jessica." I turn around to leave, but I'm suddenly pulled back by my shirt and before I know what's happening, Jessica smashes her lips against mine. I don't kiss her back, however, I push her away from me a little too callously. "What the fuck?!"

By now a small crowd has formed around us. This isn't gonna end well. Rumors will spread around school like wildfire and Pres— dammit! What if she thinks I'm the one who kissed Jessica? Luckily Maddy and Tyler walk towards me, throwing daggers with their eyes at Jessica. The fact that they had witnessed what had happened makes me physically sigh in relief.

The sound of a slap makes my head spin around to see my girlfriend standing in front of the mean girl who had tormented her, with her hand raised and the other girl's reddening cheek turned sideways. "You bitch!" I start towards Pres, but Tyler pulls me back and whispers, "Let's just stay back and watch. Elvie seems very much capable of fighting her battles."

"Don't you dare lay a finger on my boyfriend again," Pres seethes, her face flushed. "Do you understand?" She then turns to Ryan Gibbons who's been watching the whole thing as it went down and says, "Ryan, you really need to keep your slutty girlfriend away from Deon. This is my first and only warning."

Turned on and amused, I just gaze at my girl who's going all cave-woman on me and marking her territory in front of half the school.

"Jess..." Ryan shakes his head, hurt and disappointment etched on his face, before turning around and leaving as his girlfriend chases after him, saying how sorry she is for kissing me. I honestly feel sorry for the guy. As far as I know the only good decision he has made is dating Pres, however, he left her for some worthless girl. Although, I'm very much grateful to him for leaving Pres, because if he hadn't left her, I wouldn't be dating her.

Pres ambles over to me and wraps her arms tightly around my waist, smirking up at me. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to your rescue fast enough."

"That." I point my thumb behind us, smirking back at her. "...was badass. And hot as hell. I'm so fucking turned on right now, baby."

A slow smirk appears on her face. "Really?"

"Fuck, yes."

She giggles at my response before tugging me by my shirt sleeve towards my car. "Come on. Let's go home." She pivots around and says, "Tyler, Mads, we'll see you guys later," before opening the passenger door and getting in.

"For that hot little stunt you played out there I'm getting you your favorite drink before I drop you home."

Pres beams at me before noticing something I said. Her eyebrows scrunch up adorably. "Wait. Aren't you coming inside with me?"

"I will come inside, but not anytime soon." I wink, and she swats me with her hand for my dirty joke.

Presley

'Fireflies' by Owl City starts playing on the radio as Deon climbs into the driver's seat holding a cardboard box with two huge plastic cups with straws. He takes the cups out of the cardboard holder and places one in my hand and the other in the cup holder between his seat and mine.

"I brought you a cookie and cream milkshake, just the way you like it," He smiles before taking a sip out of his milkshake and putting it in the car's cup holder between our seats.

"Thank you." I kiss him on the cheek before sipping my drink. A moan escapes me when the sweetness of Oreo, milk and ice cream hits my tongue.

"So...what do you plan on doing with all the money we got from the Winter Musical?" Deon starts up the car and puts the gear in drive.

"I don't know...maybe I'll open up a savings account and put the money in it. I want to keep it for later in case Gramma and Grandpa need it. Anyway, for college I have enough money from what Mom and Dad left for me."

"Pres...if you ever need—"

"Deon, no," I say, already knowing that he's trying to offer me money. "Just because you're super rich and don't mind throwing money around doesn't mean I'll take it from you."

"At least take my winnings from the musical..." He tries and I glare at him, shutting him up.

"Okay, fine. But, it's there if you ever need it, because I really don't. Just saying." Deon shrugs.

"I won't ever be needing it, Deon." I sigh before Deon touches on a subject we haven't really talked about before.

"Where are you thinking of going to college?" Deon asks.

"I'm not really sure. I haven't thought about which uni I wanna go to yet. It's definitely gonna be here in Ontario so that I can be close to Gramma and Grandpa. Anyway, what are you planning on doing after finals?"

"I want to get into a decent university here or maybe even the States," he says, sounding a little distant. After a moment of silence, he sighs. "Dad's thinking of passing his business down to me once I'm done with college."

"Isn't that a good thing?" I quip as he turns onto our street.

"Not really. It's a ton of responsibility. I have no idea how Dad handles it," he states.

"Don't stress too much about it. You'll get through it...I know you will." I beam at him.

Deon parks his car right outside my house, behind the rusty pale blue pickup truck and kisses me, cupping my cheek. "I love you so fucking much, Pres."

"I love you too." I grin against his lips, kissing him back.

As we both step out of the car, I see a brunet haired girl who's not very tall standing at the front door, ringing the doorbell. Next to her is a well-built tall man who looks like a wrestler. The truck must belong to them. I wonder what they're doing here. We rarely get visitors.

"Hello. How can I help you?" I ask, walking towards them. The girl's raised hand stops mid knock and she and the man turn towards me at the same time the front door flies open.

That's when all hell breaks loose.

Gramma shrieks before collapsing backwards against the door, but thankfully Grandpa's right behind her. I barely hear his shocked gasp. My eyes are wholly focused on the brunette with wide dark brown eyes. I would notice those caramel brown doe eyes and pale, fair skin anywhere.

The huge man wraps an arm around the girl's waist, covering the obvious baby bump. "Is that her?" I hear his deep raspy voice whisper, all my senses heightened.

The almost empty cup of milkshake in my hand drops and splashes at my feet. I barely hear Deon's concerned voice next to me. "Pres, what's wrong?" His eyes land on the ghost of a girl standing in front of us, and he blinks in confusion at first, then his expression turns to one of shock. "Is that..." Instead of replying I gawk, shell shocked, whispering the words, "It can't be" over and over.

At a snail's pace my feet carry me forward and my hands slowly reach up to examine her face and arms, trying to make sure she's real. When they're done, my whole body breaks into a sob and I throw my arms around the figure in front of me who's almost the same height as me, maybe a couple inches shorter. I feel her tense up against me as my brain attempts to combust with the endless amount of questions.

The brick wall of a guy behind her tries to pry my arms away from her but her sweet melodic voice whispers, "It's okay, babe." Once my voice finds me again, I voice out the name that's been repeating inside my head which I didn't dare acknowledge.

"Kiki?"