Garden of Eden

A/N: So I started writing this a couple of years ago and then everyone was in a similar mood of a story so I gave it up, but I have been thinking of it a lot lately so I decided to put it up. In the process of writing this I listened to early Liz Phair and Martha Wainwright so I would suggest that. However I haven’t finished it yet so it won’t come out quickly, please be patient with me and my ability to update.


Garden of Eden


Chapter 1


She slipped on her silken dress, reaching behind herself and zipping up the back. Her panties had been flung across the room and kicked under the bed in their haste to get to each others bodies. She crouched down and grabbed them, putting them on as quietly as possibly.


She glanced at his sleeping face, his blond hair flopped over his closed eyes, tangling with his almost feminine lashes. A small smile curved his lips, he couldn’t have been older than twenty-five. He was on his stomach, one of his arms hung off the bed, the sheet rested low on his hips. She ran her fingers along the strong muscles of his back, tracing her own nail marks. He shivered and woke, blinking at her dressed form. Her hair hung loose to her waist and she didn’t bother to twist it back up.


“I have to go.” She said softly, he reached for her hand, “Do you have to, why don’t you stay the night?” He said almost desperately, he had been so generous through the night, maybe a little over eager but he was young. She leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips. “No. I can’t” Her tone was final, he sighed and flopped onto his back, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “It was very nice to meet you.” She said, not wanting to ruin the pleasant memory of the night by staying into the morning, he looked at her with pleading hunger in his eyes. She smiled, grabbed her shoes and her purse and left.


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The sound of the door closing startled me awake, the T.V. was rolling the credits for some late night movie that I had slept through. I glanced at the VCR’s clock ‘4:02 am’ it said in neon green, I jumped off the couch and darted into the kitchen, ready to confront the resident miscreant. “Mom!” I shouted at the sight of her auburn hair, “Where have you been all night?” She smiled that secret smile of hers as she prepared some tea, “I met this wonderful young man when we went out for drinks.” I huffed and pulled out a kitchen chair before falling into it.

“I hope he was legal.” I mumbled, she ignored me. “We got to talking, he’s an Artiste and said he wanted to paint me, I told him he was pretentious, we went back to his apartment...” I held my hands to my ears, “Stop. I don’t want to hear anymore.” She leaned back and gave a throaty chuckle. I watched her, making sure she was done with the subject. At Thirty-eight my mom was the most beautiful women I knew. With long curling auburn hair, hazel-green eyes and flawless peaches and cream skin. She was a little taller than average and slim.


And of course I looked Nothing. Like. Her.


First off, she tells me I am half Indian (As I have never met my father I only have her say-so and my looks to go off of). I have solid dark brown hair that is as thick as a horse’s tail and has a bit of a wave to it. Mom would have conniptions if I cut it so it is all the way to the curve of my butt. My eyes are more brown than green and rather almond shaped. Plus I am short, not a dwarf, but still... and as the hunky boy across the street, who also stars in my life as my best friend, Zach says: I have a curvy little figure. Which is a nice way of saying I am packing a little extra weight all over chest, hips, rear, stomach. But he likes to remind me that he isn’t complaining.


Mom took the kettle off the stove, put two packets in two coffee mugs and poured us both a mug. “So what are you doing up still?” She asked as she blew at the steam in her cup. I shrugged, took a gulp, burned my tongue. For whatever reason the elegance gene my mom possessed didn’t translate to me. “I was waiting for Zach to come over, but it got late so I started waiting to see if you’d come home.”


Stupid Zach, abandoning me for a party.


She nodded absently, still in her own afterglow. In the silence we both sipped our tea. After a while I sighed, went to the sink and dumped the rest of my tea. “I’m going to bed.” I announced, she hummed softly in acknowledgment. I glanced back at her, memorizing the small smile on her face. At least she was happy, even if I didn’t like the way she got there.


I headed back to my room and closed the door, not bothering to turn on the light. I stripped off my pants and left on my little t-shirt. I felt along the bed for my sheet and encountered what felt like a hip bone. I froze, my heart beginning to thump madly in my chest, “Zach?” I whispered, I prayed. “Rub lower.” he grunted, releasing my held breath I reached over and smacked his back. “What are you doing?” I asked, my heart returning to a more normal beat. “Planning my hostile takeover of your bedroom, so be quiet before I sic the CD’s on you.” He grumbled into the bed.

I flipped on the small lamp beside my bed, he was face down and for some reason his shirt was off. I rolled him over, his brown hair was draped over his face and he smelt like a bar. You know, before they created that no smoking inside law. “Couldn’t you have taken a shower first.” I said, brushing the earlobe length locks out of his face, he opened his brown eyes and blinked up at me. I almost sighed at the sight of them, they looked like a soft brown silk. But right now they were extremely dazed. “ Too tired, and I said I’d come over.” I settled next to him, if I got close enough I could smell him under the beer and cigarettes. I made a mental note to wash the sheets tomorrow, so they wouldn’t smell like an ashtray forever.


He flipped onto his side, tucked his hand under his ear and stared at me. I was distinctly aware that I was braless and in my panties, but he’d seen me in a bikini and that wasn’t too big of a difference. Now if only my heart would stop stuttering. “For me?” His voice rumbled out of his chest, his hand slid up and rested on my nearly naked hip, I pushed it off. He pouted at me, “You’re no fun.” I nodded and asked, “How was the party?” He rolled his eyes, “If you’d come you’d know.” I shrugged, “You know I’m not into that. A’buncha kids drinking and smoking, pretending their jaded grown-ups. No fun.” His face went from playful to pissed, “I broke it off with Christa.” He said, my eyebrows flew up, “What, why?”


Christa was (or had been) Zach’s girlfriend, they had been together for the last three months. She was okay, but when they started going out I got the feeling she resented all the time Zach spent with me. Which was only fair since I resented all the time Zach spent with her.


He snorted meanly, “She found out about Taylor.” Taylor was the girl Zach would sometimes sleep with. “And Amber.” He added, Amber was the girl he had been sleeping with two months ago. “Oh, so she found out you were a pig.” I said, it made sense to me, I would have been angry with him too, in fact I had been. “It’s total bull shit!” He burst out, “I told her when we got together it wasn’t going to be just her, and she said that was cool. But when we started have sex she got pissy that it wasn’t just her. If I said it was just going to be her than she should have been mad but...” I sighed dramatically, “She probably figured since sleeping with you meant something to her, so it should mean something to you too.” Men can be so stupid.


He huffed, “Since when are you on her side, you were bitching about her last week.” I fiddled with the edge of my sheet, “That was because she’s been acting bitchy towards me all week, for no reason.” I defended. He sat up, “What did she say to you?” He asked in his Knight-in-shining-armor voice, the same one he used to use when I got teased on the playground. I looked away, “Not to me, about me.” “Ok what did she say about you?” I stared him in the eye, “Nothing, never mind. So you guys are through?” I changed the subject, he seemed to be thinking whether he should allow me to get away with not telling him. He breathed deep, his nostrils flared. Very appealing. “Yeah, I couldn’t take her nagging.” He answered, than stretched and rolled onto his back, “So I’m foot loose and fancy free again.” I smiled, “So you gonna dance around the room in tights Kevin?” He flashed a toothy grin, “Nope, I left my dancing shoes at home.”


“So does that mean you are going to go out with Taylor? I inquired, my heart pattering like a running rabbit as I watched his tongue lick his bottom lip. He shook his head, “I think I’m gonna break it off with her too.” He watched me closely as I looked on him in silence. “Seriously?” I asked, “Yeah I guess I kinda feel bad about Christa, that was pretty screwed up of me.” I smiled, “Happy I could give you some prospective on your jerkiness.” He reached up and ran his strong blunt fingers through my hair and leaned over, kissing me on the forehead.


We had always kissed, ever since we met when I was five and we moved into this house.


Zach lives across the street with his Baptist parents and his five year old sister Emily, he has an older sister named Shane, but she’s in her last year of college right now and lives in California. The day we moved in I had been standing in the small front yard, trying to stay out of my mom and her friends way as they moved furniture in. I was watching a boy my age ride in circles on his bike, looking at us moving things.


I heard my mom drop a box and curse, I turned to look making sure it hadn’t been something of mine. When I was sure it wasn’t important I watched my feet and something wet and slushy slap me in the back and I gave a startled little scream. I reached backwards and brought my hand forward. MUD! He had thrown a mud pie at me! He was laughing hard and I turned to see him running away with his bike into a garage across the street. I screamed in my throat and ran after him, he was standing the darkness of the garage grinning. I stomped up to him and called him the worst insult I could come up with, “A stupid boy!” He stretched his neck forward and pursed his lips against mine. I pushed him down and ran, crying to my mother about cooties.


And that was how I met Zach he was six then, when school started he gave me a kindergarten sized heart attack when he swung from the monkey-bars and kissed me on my hair line. He was a flirt then too. I soon got over his strange fascination with kissing me, and even let him do it without always reacting with violence. When I hit puberty it got a little weird and he stopped for awhile. But he was convinced that kissing me on my forehead was a good luck charm for him and after bombing a couple of tests he went right back to sneaking kisses.


He let go of my hair and laid back down, “So what are you doing tomorrow?” He looked at the clock and gave a little chuckle, “I mean today?” I shrugged, “Laundry, swimming and sleeping. If you’ll let me.” I said pointedly, he didn’t get it. “I wanna go swimming too.” He said, his way of telling me he’d be over later too. I jumped at the unexpected sound of knocking on my door, “Zach, when are you going home?” My mom asked through the door. He smiled and mouthed “How does she know it’s me?” “It’s always you.” I mumbled, “Soon Ms. Goldman.” He answered back. “Alright, goodnight you two.” “Night mom.” He took a deep breath, “I guess I should go, don’t want my parents to figure out I’m gone this late.” He got off the bed and walked over to the window. “Why don’t you just tell them to be nice, since Monday is your last day of High School.” He snorted as he opened the window, “They’ll just tell me since I’ll be staying at the house rent free this summer and my first year of school, which means I’m still their bitch.”


“Wow I didn’t know it was so bad at your house should I call someone?” I laughed, imagining him mom even thinking the word ‘bitch’. “See you tomorrow, ‘k?” I nodded out him, he waved and hopped out the window. I walked over to close it, and through the glass watched him dart across the dark street. He pushed open his window and heaved himself in, when he was in he waved to me his window almost directly across from mine.


I closed the blinds and snuggled into my bed, pressing myself into the spot he had lain in. I shut my eyes and tried to sleep. But, as usual after he had been here late, I couldn’t because his presence and laugh filled the room to the point were all I felt was Zach.

A/N: So this is my new story, I just wanted to post it and see if you all liked or whether I should give it up and finish my other stories which are frozen in time. In this chap I just wanted to introduce a bit about the main characters. So tell me what you think, while I get on to writing the next chapter.