IN THE BEGINING

30 YEARS AGO 

"Hey Shakyra where are you off to this early in the morning?"

called the curious tones of my best friend.

As I hustled out the back door and across the yard,

Xander D'Angelos eighteen-year-old boy that lived next door,

I peeked over the wall that separated our homes,

and spotted him going through his usual morning Taiichi exercise routine with his dad.

He was shirtless, and I felt heat flush my cheeks at the sight of all his exposed muscles,

something that had been occurring more often lately.

In recent months, I had grown very attracted to my best friend of the past seventeen years of my life,

and it was getting ever harder to ignore, It didn't help that between his Japanese dad and American mother,

he ended up with the very best of both worlds.

He had his mothers straight silky hair the locks were snow white thick, wavy and lustrous,

and fell in waves to his shoulders, hanging into his mysterious silver eyes

Xander had been born with a genetic birth defect that caused him to be born an Albino.

But lack of colour pigmentation in his hair and eyes, made him unusually beautiful never the less.

The rest of his features he got from his dad, the high cheekbones and sculpted square jaw,

the way his eyes slanted and seemed almost cat-like,

and the sharp distinctive arch of his brows all ending in a pointed chin

I remember teasing him as a kid calling him elf boy because of his white hair and small face,

but now he had grown, those features had caused him to become very good looking,

the kind of guy that was adorably cute but impossibly sexy at the same time

that he even attracted attention from older women.

Xander tended to look more mature than his age,

and his training in martial arts with his dad had honed his body into lithe, graceful muscles.

I was practically drooling by now, tearing my gaze away I replied,

" I'm off to work I got a summer job at the mall as a sales assistant"

"What? seriously! what about us spending the summer together like always?"

he protested, "this is my last summer before I have to leave for college, I thought you'd want to spend some time hanging out with your best friend before he leaves"

"And we will" I replied,

"but I'm sorry Xander, I will miss you when you're gone,

but not everyone can afford to go to college all expenses paid if I want to go next fall, I need money, I need to save every penny",

That's another thing about my best friend,

Xander's family was also wealthy, and generous

and they would have paid for me to go to college if I had asked,

in a heartbeat,

they were good, kind people, but they were somethings that a girl wanted to accomplish on her own.

His family had already done more than enough for mine as it was already,

Case in point, my best friend suddenly hauled himself up over the wall and dropped into my yard,

a fine sheen of sweat covered his creamy white skin his bangs hung into his eyes that were dark with worry for me,

"Why didn't you say anything shakyra?" he asked "you're my best friend I would have helped,

You don't need to be struggling this hard to go to college"

he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

With a fond smile I reached up and cupped his jaw

not surprised to feel warm tingles spread through my body, which I studiously ignored,

I tried to remember that this was my best friend we were as close as siblings,

he didn't think of me that way and never would, this was the same boy I ran around in diapers with,

The same boy Who I once got into trouble with,

for granting him his birthday wish, and throwing him a secret mud party for his seventh birthday, in the kiddie pool in my back yard.

We had a blast but our parents had been furious with us,

we had literally filled the pool with mud, jumped in, and bathed in it

"Xander you're really sweet to offer to help, but you know why I can't let you; I want to do this for me,

I want to be able to say that I did something on my own for once,

I don't want to spend the rest of my life having others take care of me,

you're not always going to be here to act as my safety net

You're leaving for college when the summer is over,

and after that, you'll start a career, meet some really great woman and get married,

your life is changing you are moving into your future,

I need to start preparing for mine, I need to go or I'll be late for work it's my first day"

I let my hand fall to my side, he caught it holding on to my wrist,

I looked up into his eyes which had suddenly become very intense,

he pulled me to him stunned I fell into him his other arm wrapped tight around my waist

"Xander?" I gasped confused

"there's something you don't understand shakyra" he said

in a low growl, my heart kicked into a third gear

"you've always been my best friend but if I am moving into my future you're coming with me I will not leave you behind me"

And then he lowered his head and kissed me.

my heart soared, Xander was kissing me! he had wrapped me in his arms,

the way I've been dreaming about for months and was kissing me

I sighed and parted my lips for his entry, and his tongue tangled with mine

he tasted like my favorite flavor of chocolate mint,

my breast was pressed flat to his hard chest as he held me tighter,

but the warm tingles I felt had become a molten heat,

I felt my body come alive in response to his,

My skin growing hot, my nipples hardening my panties became damp beneath my jeans.

he released my wrist and my hand immediately found itself around his neck,

sinking into his hair while his free hand cupped my jaw.

The kiss became more intense, more passionate, and demanding

I had never seen this side of him, this strong dominant side, he broke it off,

his silver eyes blazing into my own

"do you understand now Shakyra"

he said raggedly.

I nodded shaken to my core,

" I care for you more than you realize," he said

"and when I leave for college in the fall I'm going to California state university"

"What about yale?" I cried in protest,

he had always talked about going to yale it was his dream.

he smiled " next year, you are going to yale"

"you're an honors student, just like me you can do it, and there's no question about money,

I won't let you use that as an excuse, whatever you can't earn on your own ill cover it

And I'll get a transfer from California state to yale we'll be going together Kyra I will not have it otherwise"

"You decided all this on your own?" I asked in shock

" I intend for you to be a part of my future" he replied resolutely

"you've always been there my whole life, I'm not a fool, I know that you are the most precious thing I have in my life,

I'm not letting you get away on the basis of us being best friends

, I know what I want, And what I want is you shakyra"

He gently brushed his lips over mine again

And I sighed softly and pressed my lips more firmly to his,

I felt him smile and he gave in and kissed me properly for the second time

"Go on get to work we will talk about this when you come home this evening"

he gently nuzzling my cheek one last time before he released me,

he walked back to the wall and climbed over,

Casting me a smoldering look over his shoulder,

before dropping over the other side, I ran down the street to the bus stop,

I was no longer best friends with my best friend.