《SimpleMinded》The Best Birthday Present.
Advertisement
"Haven!! Haven!! Stop!! What happened?!" Jay stops running and I look up at him. "Kiss." We sit down at a picnic table, "Kiss? What about kissing?"
I look at my hands, "I kissed Niall on the lips." His eyes widen and I look at him, "You did what?! When?! Just then?!" I nod my head slowly, "I-I didn't mean to."
My tears start falling and Jay wraps his arms around me. "He's mad at me, I don't want to go back."
I rub her back as she cries on my chest, "Calm down, it's okay." I doubt Niall was upset, he was probably just shocked and didn't know how to react.
"How about we get us some ice cream? We can stay out for a little bit." She wipes her tears and slowly nods her head. We walk to an ice cream truck and order ice cream. "Now, why was such a young, beautiful lady crying?" The old Asian man asks us in a strong accent, "Having some problems. Ice cream can cheer us up a little bit." I tell him with a smile.
I hand him some money and he waves his hand, "On the house. I can't a charge a woman who's upset." I hand Haven her ice cream and give the man a ten dollar tip. We walk to a nearby park and sit on the ground under a tree.
I lean against the tree and she sits in front of me. "I saw people kiss like that on tv." Haven sniffles and take a bite of her ice cream, "What was his reaction? How did he look?" She looks down and I notice her eyes filling up with tears, "He just stared at me with wide eyes. What happens if he sends me away?"
I shake my head, "He's not going to do that, so stop saying that. Niall would never do that." She wipes her face and looks at me, "Sorry for pulling you with me." I let out a soft laugh, "It's okay, rather you do that than run out by yourself." We eat our ice cream in silence.
I pull my phone out and secretly text Niall our location. "What do you want to do?" She shrugs her shoulders, "I want to go walking." She stands up and I stand up after her, "Let's walk."
She smiles up at me as we walk to the sidewalk. "Why are you smiling?" She shrugs her shoulders, "Thank you." I look ahead and laugh, "Why are you thanking me? I didn't do anything."
Advertisement
"You and everyone else don't look at me weirdly when they're around me." A few ducks come up to her and she bends down to pet them. I watch as she pets the ducks, "If we were to look at you weirdly, Niall would beat all us guys up to a pulp and he would have the women work in the mailroom."
I try to pet the ducks, but they quack angrily at me. "Ah!! What the hell?!" Haven lets out a soft laugh and I roll my eyes, "Come on, I don't like the ducks."
"I ruined Niall's birthday." I quickly shake my head, "No, you didn't. Everything will be alright as soon as you and Niall talk it out." She looks at me and then straight ahead, "I don't want to talk. I want to stay out here until night." My eyes widen, "Until night?! Haven, we have to cook for Niall. You can't avoid him forever."
She grabs my arm, "There's a festival, let's go." She drags me to the festival and I text Niall our new location. She goes over to the cotton candy stand, "I want one, I'll give you some money when we get back home." I hand the man some money and laugh, "You do not have to pay me back. What else do you want to do?" She looks around as she eats her cotton candy, "Haunted house."
I shake my head, "No, Niall will kill me if I take you in there." She pouts and looks around again, "Shooting game." We walk over to the stand and she picks up a gun. I pay the man and Haven starts shooting. I watch her with wide eyes as she hits every target. "How did you learn how to shoot?"
She claps her hands and laughs, "I watched Niall last time we came here." She learned from that one time? How is that even possible? "Jay!" I look at Haven, "Are you okay? I called you three times."
I shake my head and smile, "Nothing, I was just thinking. Pick out what you want." She looks at the prizes and points at a chain. "A chain? You know you could get any necklace you want if you just ask Niall, right?" The man hands her the chain with a smile, "Niall needs a chain for his ring. I can make up with him with this, right?" I let out a long sigh, "How many times do I have to say this? I doubt Niall is upset with you or anything. He was probably just shocked."
Advertisement
Niall should be showing up any time now. I look at Haven and see her looking at her feet, "You're tired of me, aren't you?" My mouth drop and I quickly shake my head, "No, not at all! Where did you get that from?!" She points at my watch, "You keep looking at your watch and keep looking around. Just a little bit longer and then can we go home?" I rub my face and peek from my fingers.
"Do you not want to see Niall?" She quickly shakes her head, "I'm scared." From the corner of my eye, I see Niall running towards us. I scratch the back of my head, "Hopefully you'll forgive me for giving you away." She looks at me with confusion all over her face.
Niall grabs her arm, "Haven." Haven eyes widen and she tries to pull out of Niall grasp, "J-Jay, please. I-I'm scared." I feel my heart being squeezed as I watch her tears fall. Is she that scared? Niall would never send her away. He cares too deeply for her.
"Haven, stop struggling and let's just talk."
Jay walks away and Haven falls to the ground. I pick her up not caring about the people staring at us. I go to the closest hotel, which is only a three-minute walk. I get a room and ten minutes later we're in the room with Haven sitting on the bed.
"I-I'm sorry." Haven breaks our six minutes of silence with an apology. "Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong." She keeps her head down, "Nothing happened."
I look at her with an arch eyebrow, "What did you say?" She fiddles with her fingers, "Nothing happened, let's pretend nothing happened." I lean against the wall and cross my arms, "You really want to do that? You want to pretend nothing happened. Why did you kiss me, Haven?" Her tears start to fall and she quickly tries to wipe them away, "B-Because."
I run my fingers through my hair, "Haven, kissing is for someone you like or love. The like you have for me is a friendly like." She shakes her head, "No, it's not. I-I like you more than a friend." Now it's my turn to shake my head, "Yes, it is. You've never been with anybody but me. Once you get out in the world you will find someone yourself."
She stands up and clenches her fists, "No!! Only you!! I only want you!!" I push myself off the wall, "Didn't you say you wanted to pretend this didn't happen?! I'm telling you this so we don't have to pretend again in the future! It can save us a lot of time!" She covers her ears and I walk up to her, "Listen to me, Haven! I'm pretending! Isn't this what you wanted?!"
SLAP!
I touch the place where it burns at on my face and I glare at her. "I'm doing what you asked me to do! Pretend! Pretend! Pretend!" She pushes me away and starts hitting me on my chest, "I don't want to pretend! But I don't want you to get rid of me." She whispers out the last part and fall to the floor while holding on to my pants legs, "I'm scared."
I bend down in front of her and grab her hands, "I'm sorry, I wanted you to express your real feelings." I put my hand on the back of her head and force her head on my chest. She continues to cry, "I'm not mad about the kiss, I'm just shocked." She looks up at me and I kiss her forehead, her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, and her ears.
"Just once. Just once on the lips." I cup her face with both of my hands and wipe her tears away. "Anything for you." I say as lean down and slowly kiss her on the lips. Other than the saltiness, her lips are soft and they fit so well with my own lips. She opens her mouth without me even asking and I push my tongue in her mouth. I explore her mouth and taste the sweetness from the cotton candy she had earlier. Seconds later I pull away and show her a small smile.
She looks up at me with a dazed look. I give her a lingering kiss on her forehead, "This was the best birthday present you ever gave me."
Advertisement
- In Serial419 Chapters
The Last Science [SE]
[SE has the same content as the original story, split into smaller chunks for easier reading. This story is on a temporary hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. I work in healthcare and unfortunately no longer have the freetime to continue posting on a regular basis. As soon as our workload decreases, I will return. Thanks for reading! 💙] No one ever knows the whole story. Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, the fading town of Rallsburg stumbles upon an amazing discovery—magic itself. Faced with potentially world-shattering power, the people of Rallsburg keep the secret for themselves. Led by Rachel DuValle, a perpetually underestimated college student with grand ambitions, they seek to found a new society. The world beyond suspects nothing, but magic cannot stay hidden forever. A train arrives in Rallsburg carrying Alden Bensen, a directionless high school graduate. To him, magic could represent meaning for his life, an explanation for his empty existence. This potent force offers anyone the power to change humanity forever—or send it cascading into swift and total annihilation. The Last Science is an ongoing science-fiction / low-fantasy web novel series, focused on the modern world with a twist. New societies bud and grow, but the people who make them up are imperfect and flawed. The story includes elements of mystery, action, crime, interpersonal drama, relationships, philosophy, sociology, politics, and much more, all centered on the perspective characters driving the tale. This is the "Scraps Edition" of the story, where the chapters have been split up into bite-size chunks (roughly 1500-3000 words), for your convenience. The prose has been edited from its original form, with some improvements, but there are no content differences from the original. New chapters will be posted throughout each week starting on Friday and appearing on multiple days thereafter, depending on the length of the chapter. Content Warning (by request): This series delves into some topics and situations which may be upsetting for some readers. In American rating parlance, the narrative would be rated PG-13 (except for language), but some have noted the story can get pretty dark on occasion. Please use your best judgment, and don't be afraid to take breaks and come back later. I'll still be here! [Discord] - come hang out and chat! [Patreon] - writing blog, epub copies, advance chapters and other goodies Need more to read? Check out my finished novel, Epilogue — a post-fantasy psychodrama.
8 122 - In Serial45 Chapters
Emperor NPC
The Demon Emperor had taken one billion lives and conquered the realms of elves, dwarfs, and giants. When the final realm of man fell to his armies, the stage was set for their world’s finale. A spire of brilliant light pierced the sky, and as the land was torn asunder, the demon emperor met his death. It was not by the hands of a hero, or goddess’ champion, but by a system developer—a creator of the VRMMO Ark World—masquerading as a god! “It’s ironic that it would be you,” said a voice in the black void of the quantum system. “Strange, that you’ve given me this quest, and stranger that I can’t do it without you.” By the power of the thirteenth system developer, the “goddess” Amarytha, the demon emperor was reborn in a new video game where his character never came to be. In the Ark World Sandbox, humans rule as gods over nations of NPCs. Through mastery of their administration commands, they hold absolute control. Only the demon emperor, liberated by the Player System, can challenge them. A crusade begins with one step. Freedom from humanity begins here! ---------------- I'm going to be upfront here. This is not an anti-hero story. So, if you've come for anti-hero you might not enjoy it. The cover art I commissioned from my friend @cyborgraptor. You can find her on twitter, or tumblr. Absolutely awesome person, and way too humble. She's also a great dps on WoW, and her and I always fought for top of the meters. I update every day, or nearly every day. I'll be updating this quickly as I bring it to parity with my other sites. Afterwards, expect 6 or 7 chapters a week. This is my only job and I approach it professionally.
8 376 - In Serial22 Chapters
Contact Through Voided Lenses
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] Edit: Fixed some inaccuracies in the synopsis. The void is a vast unexplored ocean filled with various wonders and dangers all waiting to be explored by those brave enough to travel and record. Many souls do find themselves brave enough to face the vast distances, the various risks to personal safety and do the hundreds of task required on a craft. However, at times the void itself can be boring with absolutely nothing to do but as time pass and more and better technology is reached, things got better. The various trips got faster, communications became faster than light and you can be home to see your loved ones after only months now. Through the various planets whether rocky or gaseous, the various stars whether small or giant, the various systems both eerily similar or completely alien. As part of an expeditionary scientific exploratory survey craft, one could see that the void offers no reprieve from all the discoveries and wonders. At times, it can feel empty and silent where no soul can hear you scream and at others it can be overwhelming with sudden phenomenon that can overwhelm the brightest of minds. The void itself is a truly fascinating ocean where one must chart the various islands or drown in its deadly tidal waves. But the question still remained no matter how you try to hide it in of itself… is there truly other intelligent life out there? Are we alone in this ocean? Those very questions still haunt the minds of those on the crafts themselves as they brace for every jump ready for the unknown and the known. Many would try to explain that yes there is other intelligent life out there whilst other still say no after 2 centuries of continuous flight out of the home system. Still, those are questions that bury deep in the minds of the crew and those at home as the voidcraft jumps to a system with a single yellow star orbited by 8 other planets with one crowning blue jewel being the 3rd closest with its 5 oceans and 7 continents, a planet called Dirt which is inhabited by a primitive species called Humanity. Hello, author here and this is my newest dive into writing particularly for the Writathon currently in progress being my first one. I hope you give me story a try but in case you still want more information on what you’re getting into, below are some pointers about the story itself. First Contact: CTVL is a story about a first contact scenario between an advanced alien civilization and a slightly more advanced modern day humanity on their planet called Dirt. Characters: The story will take place mainly on the perspective of the alien visitors themselves though there will be human POV characters who will show how the rest of humanity react through media and forums. Action: It won’t be an actual alien invasion but you have to see for yourself how well first contact went. Sci-Fi: I will be very forward here, I WILL bend the rules of physics in order to add in parts of the plot and there WILL be parts that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Theme: It will be a brooding story talking about the futility of pe… Just kidding, it’s mostly wholesome stuff to be honest here. Alien: The aliens themselves will… actually why should I tell you, you have to go and read it to find out what the aliens are though I will draw a few things here and there to aid in the process. Extra tidbit: If you are a grammar nazi or someone who really wants a realistic scifi story... this story is probably not for you at all. Anyways, that’s pretty much all I can say before I spoil something major of the plot itself, the story is slice of life so make sure that type of story is what you like because I am terrible with anything else as I found out, anyways, have a good time everyone and good luck to the other Writathon participants.
8 158 - In Serial8 Chapters
My Book of scribbles
Its a random book of thoughts and stuff, random things and just general weirdness. I might do 1 chapter or 100 just don't expect to much. I will update the tags as i go. No chapter is related to another unless said so and the quality varies wildly At less one is quite dark in tone... so yeah You have been told
8 160 - In Serial22 Chapters
Illya: The Ruthlessly Violent and Slightly Sadistic Celestial Known as Illya.
What does an attractive reincarnated person do after they regain only a portion of their memories? Kill and have a little too much fun leveling various skills. Save beautiful women and maybe make a harem? Good? Evil? "Who cares! It doesn't matter as long as it is fun!" Join Illya on her "fun" slaughter-filled adventure!
8 132 - In Serial17 Chapters
Eddie Kaspbrak - Don't let go (sequel to YSM)
sequel to You saved me, which just finished. this is the sequel based on IT chapter 2! tried doing it as accurate as possible but ive only seen the movie once... so I tried! hope you enjoy :)
8 129

