Learning to Live-Chapter 11
By: Stephanie
"Hey," Stephanie said as she stepped off the bus.
"Hey. Have you reassured your parents of your safety?" Brian teased her.
"Sure have. You said you wanted to talk?"
"Yeah, I did. You have a problem with going back inside to do this?"
"Nope," Stephanie said with a nonchalance she didn't really feel. She turned around and walked back up the stairs.
Brian called out to the others, "We're going back on the bus." He gave everyone a pointed look that told them to stay away. Then he followed Stephanie back onto the bus, closing the door behind him.
Stephanie had sat back down on the couch. "You realize you only have one shoe on?" Brian teasingly asked her.
"What?" she asked, then looked down at her feet. "Oh, yeah," she said sheepishly as she bent down to take the remaining shoe off. Then she brought her legs up and tucked them to one side.
Brian sat down next to her, on the side that didn't have the feet. He briefly wondered if Stephanie's feet were ticklish. On a whim, he asked.
"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. She held out her hand to Brian.
Brian took it. He raised her hand up and kissed it, bringing a radiant smile to Stephanie's face. "You have the prettiest smile I've ever seen,"
he complimented her.
"Thanks to 3 and a half years in braces! Yours isn't half bad either," Stephanie repaid the compliment.
Brian continued to hold her hand as he leaned over to kiss Stephanie. "Steph?" he asked when they were done.
She looked into his eyes. She smiled at the serious look on his face.
"What?" he asked self-consciously under her scrutiny.
"You look so cute when you're serious," she told him, brushing a stray curl off his forehead.
"Is that the only time I look cute?" he asked, fishing for another compliment.
"That's for me to know and you to find out!" she teased. Brian shot her a sorrowful puppy dog look before getting serious again.
"Serious time," he called.
"Okeydoke" Stephanie said, trying not to think about anything.
"Steph," Brian said as he put a finger under her chin to turn her head his direction. "I like you a lot. I just wanted you to know that ahead of time."
"Oh, Brian! I like you, too! But what can we do about it?" she asked sorrowfully. She felt like crying.
"You could say you'll be my girlfriend," he whispered into her ear.
"What........" she trailed off as she turned to look in his eyes. "What did you say?" she asked in a soft whisper.
"You know, pretty lady, you have a bad habit of askin' me to repeat myself," Brian teased her.
"Then stop askin' me astonishing questions!" Stephanie sighed.
"Did you really not expect me to ask you that?" Brian had a hurt look on his face.
"I'm sorry, sweetie," she apologized and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Really, though, I just didn't think about it. I learned a long time ago not to hope or expect much, because it never happens then."
Brian looked at her oddly. "Do I get an answer to my question?" he finally asked.
Stephanie sat thinking for a minute. God, she thought to herself. You always wanted to date a Backstreet Boy, and now that he's asking, you're not sure if it would work because he's a Backstreet Boy! She smiled at the irony of it all. "Bri?" she finally asked.
"Yeah?" he responded hopefully.
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