I sat in my dad’s easy chair with my feet curled up under me while I waited for Taylor to come over. I was insanely nervous. He was due any minute, and my mind was still going back and forth over whether I should be doing this or not. I was the nice girl…the one who always did the right thing, who never got in trouble, who always had her head on straight. And I was doing this. Was I going mad?
“What’s wrong?”
I looked up at my baby brother who was standing in front of my chair, looking at me expectantly. I smiled as I saw the chocolate smeared all across his face from probably a pudding cup.
“Nothing’s wrong, come here,” I said, motioning for him to come over. With a Kleenex from the coffee table, I began to wipe his face.
“You look like something’s wrong. Did dad yell at you?” he asked me, wrinkling up his face as I finished.
“Not lately, no. I guess I’m just a little nervous…someone’s coming over in a little bit.”
“Who?”
“A guy…his name is Taylor.”
Brian looked at me blankly.
“A boy is coming over? For you?”
I quelled my urge to glare at him. He was only seven.
“Yes, for me. It was bound to happen you know…”
Brian shrugged. “Okay, can I meet him?”
“Um…sure, yeah, I don’t know why you would want to though,” I told him, putting on my most honest face.
And then the doorbell rang. And I was screwed.
I watched as my brother ran for the door and followed slowly behind him. I didn’t know why I didn’t want Brian to meet Taylor, but I just didn’t. Maybe because I didn’t quite know about Taylor yet…if I was going to be okay with dating him, and completely forgive him for the bet. All I knew for sure was that I was going to do it…just go ahead with every one of my plans. Ryan was going down.
Brian opened the front door, and stood looking at Taylor, his head cocked to the side.
“Hi!” he exclaimed.
“Hey…who are you?” Taylor asked him, smiling.
“Brian. Alex calls me Bri sometimes, but you can call me Brian…”
“Okay…Brian it is,” he said, coming through the entryway when my brother motioned with his hand.
“Hi Taylor…” I said, standing a few feet away, my hands in my back pockets.
“Hey you.”
Why does that phrase turn girls into complete mush? It’s just two simple words…hey, and you. What’s the big deal?
I noticed Brian looking at the two of us expectantly, as I tried to banish the red from my face, but I knew it was just going to get worse if he stood there staring as if he was expecting us to make-out in front of him or something.
“Hey, Brian, why don’t you go play Sega?” I asked him, pointing towards the cream-colored stairs.
“What are you guys going to do?”
Taylor looked over at me questionably. I raised my eyebrows.
“Dunno yet, but you love Sega…go ask Shawn if he wants to play too,” I told him, my voice becoming a little harsh. Brian was usually so easy to get along with…he never asked questions. But I guess this was a new thing…me and a guy that is.
Brian actually shrugged, much to my enjoyment, and headed on up the stairs. As I heard his bedroom door click, I turned back to Taylor.
“My brother’s had a teachers planning thing at their school today,” I told him, “that’s why they’re home.”
Taylor nodded, biting his lower lip and looking around my house.
I watched him as he did this, and an ache in my stomach grew until I knew it was time to stop. I began to talk.
“So you can say that I forgot that they were going to be home today, or else I would have probably met you somewhere, you know? I mean, that’s why David was so weird right now, guys never come over you see, and what, what is so funny?” I asked him, my brows furrowing, as I watched a brief smile cloud his features.
He shrugged, and took a step closer to me.
“Nothing, really…it’s just that you have no idea how much I want to grab you and shut you up right now.”
“Really?” I asked him softly.
“Really. But I can’t.”
“Why not?” I asked, disappointed, and possibly looking like an idiot.
“Because your brothers are upstairs, and having brothers myself, they’re probably listening through the walls and/or from around the corner…and not to rush you or anything, because I really like listening to your cute little rambling, but I don’t think kissing you senseless is what you had in mind when you told me, yes told me, to come over today.”
“Wow. You’re really good at that whole talking and making sense at the same time thing.”
“Thank you.”
“So what did you think I had in mind?”
“Beating me up? Letting your dad beat me up…you know, anything that inflicted pain on yours truly,” he said, sticking his hands in his pant pockets, something that he did so often, you would think it was implanted in his genes.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Good to know.”
“I asked you to come over because you have to prove that…you know…that you like…well you know what I mean. And that the bet is officially over,” I said, heading towards the kitchen, and knowing he would follow. I stopped at the bar counter, and leaned against it, while Taylor sat in one of the kitchen table chairs.
“Okay, so that whole ‘prove it’ cute thing you did on the phone yesterday was for real, and you don’t want to hurt me,” Taylor said, a wry grin on his face.
“Right.”
My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. Here we were again…in my kitchen…this time, not exactly eating cake and acting cheerful. What had happened was hanging over us like a cloud. I was uncomfortable, and all I wanted to do was forget about everything, and pretend he that he was just a boy. Who really liked me. But I couldn’t. I had learned my lesson this time.
“Alex, ok, here I am…you tell me what to do, I’ll do it. Seriously, just say it. I just want this to end, I hate acting this way around you. I wish this never happened,” he said, standing up to lean across the counter from me. He looked into my eyes, and it was weird how we both felt the same way…but what we were thinking couldn’t be. We couldn’t just be together in a finger snap.
He had to do something major.
“Okay,” I began, taking a deep breath, “I don’t want Ryan to win the bet. He’s scum.”
I noticed Taylor’s face turn…well…it was a different face for Taylor, maybe shock or something, I wasn’t sure…
“Uh…Taylor? You okay?”
He nodded.
I eyed him warily, but went on while he was silent, and I had the chance.
“Alright. Um, well, Ryan came up to me yesterday, after school, and just about told me to my face that he was the one who painted the gym. It was terrible, he actually hit on me, and told me to stay away from you because he didn’t like vandalism…
“Which is bull.”
“Exactly, so…you’re going to help me. We can’t let him win the bet.”
I waited for his answer, but there wasn’t one. He just continued to stare at me, while his eyes grew wider and wider.
“An answer or some kind of exclamation coming from your lips, would be lovely.”
“I can’t believe you’re telling me this.”
“Why not? You expect me to just sit around and take this? I don’t deserve it…and he definitely doesn’t need to be paid for coming up with something that has hurt me this badly.”
“Alex…I agreed with the bet. Actually, it all started with me…”
“But he came up with it.”
“Right...”
“And he’s the one who is still going along with it, and hitting on me in hallways, correct?” I said, giving him a look.
“Absolutely,” he said, nodding.
“Apologies actually mean something to me, Taylor, that’s why I’m giving you a chance. And I’m believing that what you are telling me is the truth. But when I see you having lunch with Ryan, right before my eyes, I start to wonder. This is just about me not being hurt again. It sucks. So that’s why you’re here. You do this with me, and it will prove that the bet is over.”
The weird look on his face still stuck.
“How is sleeping with you going to prove that, Alex?”
I felt my mouth drop open.
“What?”
“What do you mean what…isn’t that why I’m over here?”
“No!!”
What the freaking heck?!
“You said you couldn’t let Ryan win the bet…” he told me, backing away from the counter, his hands out in front of him.
“So?!”
“So! I thought that’s what you meant!”
“Why do you think that?!”
“The bet is a sleeping bet…the only way for him NOT to win, is for me to actually sleep with you…”
I stopped screaming at Taylor, and closed my mouth, thinking about the occurrences over the past few minutes.
He was right. It did seem like I asked him over to seduce him. I couldn’t believe it…I felt like a dork. But I still had to bite my lip to keep from bursting out laughing.
“Okay…well, Taylor, you’re right, that’s very true,” I told him, honestly, keeping my head down.
“You’re laughing.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“Yes, you are, your shoulders are moving.”
“Okay, I’m laughing, but not at you…”
“Really? Cause I feel really stupid now…”
Taylor sat down in his chair again, and placed his head in his hands. I stopped laughing immediately.
“Taylor, I, I’m sorry…laughing isn’t good, you’re right. I’m sorry, you shouldn’t feel stupid,” I said, coming to stand in front of him.
He looked up suddenly.
“Okay, if I didn’t come over to here to sleep with you, then why am I here again?”
I bit my lip, and held out my hand. Taylor looked at it for a minute, and gradually took it.
I pulled him out of his seat, my hand tingling, and dragged him up the stairs to my room. I shut the door behind us, and went to my closet to shift through the mess for a minute. Finally, I pulled out the something I was looking for.
I looked back at Taylor, and he was staring at the mural of Italy on my wall, yet again. Déjà vu overwhelmed me, and I stood still for a minute before he looked back at me.
“I still can’t believe you did that,” he said, laughing slightly and pushing the hair back from his eyes.
“Yeah…I still can’t either, but it’s there.”
“So! What’s that?” he asked, referring to what I was holding.
“I’ll tell you when we get there,” I said, heading for the door, “you’re driving by the way.
