Nothing Happened

The front door starts to open. Before you can even turn toward it, Kelly grabs the front of your shirt and quickly pulls you toward her.

She kisses you. It lasts barely a second, just a quick press of her lips against yours before she lets go and immediately turns back toward the TV.

You stare at her while she keeps her eyes on the screen, but you can see the smile she’s trying to hide.

“Seriously?” you whisper.

“Shh,” Kelly whispers back.

The front door opens the rest of the way, and your dad walks inside carrying a couple bags, completely unaware that his girlfriend kissed you about two seconds before he entered the room.

“Hey,” your dad says as he closes the door behind him.

“Hey,” you reply, trying to sound normal.

“Hey, babe,” Kelly says casually.

She sounds completely normal, which only makes you look over at her in disbelief. She keeps her attention on the TV like nothing happened while your dad sets the bags down near the door.

“What are you two doing?” your dad asks.

“Watching TV,” Kelly replies.

“Anything good?” your dad asks.

“Not really,” Kelly says.

“Then why are you watching it?” your dad asks.

“Because I was too lazy to find something else,” Kelly replies.

Your dad laughs and starts sorting through the bags while you’re still trying to process the fact that she actually did that. You glance toward her, and this time she looks back. Her eyes meet yours for only a second before the corner of her mouth lifts. You shake your head slightly, and she looks back at the television before your dad notices.

“How’d everything go?” Kelly asks.

“Fine,” your dad replies. “Took longer than I thought it would.”

“Yeah, you were gone for a while,” Kelly says.

Your eyes immediately move toward her, but she doesn’t react.

Your dad shrugs.

“Had a couple extra stops,” your dad explains.

“Productive day,” Kelly says.

“I guess,” your dad replies.

He picks up the bags and carries them farther into the house. The second his back is turned, Kelly looks at you again and smiles. You silently mouth, “What the fuck?” and her smile gets bigger. The moment your dad turns around, both of you immediately look toward the television, and you have to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing.

Your dad pauses.

“What?” your dad asks.

“Nothing,” you reply.

He looks between you and Kelly.

“What are you laughing at?” your dad asks.

“I wasn’t laughing,” you say.

“You were about to,” your dad replies.

“He was,” Kelly says.

You look at her.

“Thanks,” you say.

“You’re welcome,” Kelly replies.

Your dad shakes his head.

“You two are weird,” your dad says.

“You’re the one interrogating us over nothing,” Kelly replies.

“I asked one question,” your dad says.

“And now you’re still talking about it,” Kelly replies.

Your dad looks at you.

“See what I deal with?” your dad asks.

“I’ve been dealing with her all day,” you reply.

Kelly slowly turns toward you.

“Excuse me?” Kelly asks.

You immediately realize how that sounded to you and her. Your dad doesn’t.

“You heard me,” you say, trying not to smile.

“Careful, Sweetie,” Kelly says.

The nickname sounds completely normal coming from her because she’s called you that plenty of times before. It doesn’t feel normal anymore, especially after hearing her say it upstairs.

Your dad starts walking toward the kitchen.

“You want anything?” your dad asks.

“I’m good,” you reply.

“Can you grab me a water?” Kelly asks.

“Yeah,” your dad replies.

He disappears into the kitchen, and the instant he’s gone, you turn toward her.

“What the fuck was that?” you whisper.

“What?” Kelly asks innocently.

“You know exactly what,” you whisper.

She starts laughing, keeping it quiet.

“He was literally opening the door,” you say.

“I know,” Kelly replies.

“That was the entire point, wasn’t it?” you ask.

“Maybe,” Kelly says.

“You’re insane,” you whisper.

“Oh, relax,” Kelly says. “It was one little kiss.”

“Two seconds before he walked in,” you say.

“And did he see?” Kelly asks.

“No,” you admit.

“Then we’re fine,” Kelly replies.

“You just got done telling me we need rules,” you say.

“I said nothing obvious when he’s around,” Kelly replies. “Technically, he wasn’t around yet.”

You stare at her while she grins.

“That is absolutely not how that rule works,” you say.

“It is now,” Kelly replies.

“You’re going to be the reason we get caught,” you say.

“No,” Kelly replies. “Your face is going to be the reason we get caught.”

“My face?” you ask.

“You look guilty as fuck,” Kelly whispers.

“Because you kissed me while he was walking through the door,” you reply.

“I know,” Kelly says, clearly amused. “It was cute.”

You hear movement from the kitchen, and Kelly immediately glances toward the doorway.

“Act normal,” Kelly whispers.

“You’re the worst,” you whisper.

“I know,” Kelly replies.

Your dad comes back into the living room carrying two bottles of water. You turn back toward the TV as he tosses one toward Kelly, and she catches it.

“Thank you,” Kelly says.

Your dad sits down nearby and opens his own water. For the next few minutes, everything is surprisingly normal. He starts talking about one of the places he stopped while he was out, Kelly listens and asks questions, and you occasionally add something to the conversation. Nobody acts strange, at least not outwardly.

The problem is that every normal thing Kelly does now feels different to you. When she laughs, you remember hearing that same laugh upstairs. When she shifts on the couch, your eyes instinctively follow her legs. When she adjusts the neckline of her tank, you remember exactly what’s underneath it. You catch yourself looking and immediately return your attention to the television.

Kelly notices. Of course she does. She doesn’t say anything this time, though. She just smiles while your dad keeps talking, and you try to focus on him.

It works for about thirty seconds before Kelly gets up.

“I’m gonna put this in the recycling,” Kelly says, holding up her empty bottle.

She walks in front of you toward the kitchen, and your eyes immediately drop to her shorts. You know you shouldn’t, especially now, but knowing she caught you doing this before and actually liked it somehow makes it harder not to. Her shorts stretch tightly across her ass as she walks away. Right before she reaches the kitchen, she glances back over her shoulder and catches you again. Her smile appears immediately, and you quickly look away. Your dad is still talking and thankfully hasn’t noticed.

A moment later, Kelly comes back. Instead of walking around the coffee table, she passes directly between you and it. Her thigh brushes your knee as she goes by. It could easily have been accidental, but you know it wasn’t. She sits back down and looks at the television while you stare at her. You wait until your dad glances down at his phone before leaning slightly toward her.

“You’re terrible,” you whisper.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kelly whispers back.

You recognize that answer from earlier, and she knows you do too. Your dad looks up from his phone.

“What?” your dad asks.

“Nothing,” Kelly replies.

“What did he say?” your dad asks.

“He said I’m terrible,” Kelly replies.

You look at her in disbelief.

Your dad laughs.

“Well, he’s not wrong,” your dad says.

“Wow,” Kelly says. “Both of you can fuck off.”

Your dad laughs again, and you join him while Kelly looks between the two of you and shakes her head. For a moment, everything really does feel normal. That’s almost the weirdest part.

Your dad has absolutely no idea. He has no idea that a few hours ago you and Kelly were upstairs together. He has no idea that she kissed you seconds before he walked through the door. He has no idea that the little looks passing between you mean anything different than they did yesterday. Apparently, the two of you are better at hiding it than you expected.

Your dad’s phone rings.

“Hold on,” your dad says as he stands. “I gotta take this.”

He answers the call and walks toward the other side of the house. You and Kelly wait until he’s out of sight before looking at each other. For about two seconds, neither of you says anything, and then you both start laughing.

“Stop,” Kelly whispers through her laugh.

“I’m not doing anything,” you whisper back.

“You’re making me laugh,” Kelly says.

“You kissed me when he was opening the fucking door,” you whisper. “This is your fault.”

“I know,” Kelly replies, still laughing.

“You have problems,” you say.

“You liked it,” Kelly replies.

You pause.

“Yeah,” you admit.

“I know,” Kelly says.

You look toward where your dad disappeared before turning back to her.

“He seriously has no idea,” you whisper.

“Nope,” Kelly replies.

“That’s kind of crazy,” you say.

“A little,” Kelly agrees.

“So we’re actually pulling this off,” you say.

“Don’t get cocky,” Kelly replies. “It’s been like ten minutes.”

“Still counts,” you say.

“Barely,” Kelly replies.

You hear your dad’s voice getting closer, and both of you immediately turn back toward the TV. He walks back into the room and sits down.

“What’d I miss?” your dad asks.

“Nothing,” you reply.

“Literally nothing,” Kelly adds.

Your dad looks at the television.

“Looks exciting,” your dad says.

“Very,” Kelly replies.

He settles back into his seat, and the three of you watch TV for a while, occasionally talking about whatever is happening on the screen. The longer it goes on, the easier it gets. You stop expecting your dad to somehow look at you and immediately know, and Kelly stops looking like she’s trying not to laugh every time your eyes meet. Eventually, it really does start to feel almost normal. Almost.

After a while, your dad checks the time.

“What’s for dinner?” your dad asks.

Kelly looks over at him.

“I don’t know,” Kelly replies. “I didn’t plan anything.”

Your dad thinks for a second.

“What about pizza?” your dad asks.

“Pizza sounds good,” Kelly replies.

Your dad looks at you.

“You good with pizza?” your dad asks.

“Yeah,” you reply.

“Alright,” your dad says as he stands. “Can you drive me to go pick it up?”

“Yeah, sure,” you reply.

You glance at Kelly, and she’s already looking at you. For just a second, that same little smile appears on her face before she turns back toward the television like nothing happened.