Being The Player's Neighbour

Chapter 14 - You Had Me At The Punch

"I like you too."

And just like that, I was jarred back into my senses.
"Aaron....I should go."

His face clouded over at my abrupt change of mood.
"What I just did was one of the toughest and scariest things I have ever done. And this is your reply?"

"I'm so sorry! I feel bad, but we both know that this 'liking' of ours is going to go nowhere. Sooner or later you're bound to get bored and then I'll be the next one on your 'date n' dump' list, just another random target. After that you'll move on without a care but what will happen to me, Aaron? I'll be left behind crushed and broken."

He looked at me earnestly and spoke with an honesty I hadn't heard before.
"I swear I'm going to try my best not to hurt you, Avery. I really do like you."

Cue the flash of confusion that has become so well known to me.

But this time, something changed.
What had changed was, I now knew exactly what that confusion meant.

I spoke with a mixture of anger and sadness in my voice.
"Oh really? Then what the hell is that confusion that I keep seeing in your eyes over and over again?" I answered my own rhetorical question and continued, "I'll tell you what it is...You're still not sure if you like me enough to let go of your "player ways". That's what it means, doesn't it?"

After a few minutes of silence he finally raised his eyes to meet mine and their intensity was like a physical blow to my heart.
"You're right. I am unsure about you and I need to figure all this out so can you please give me another shot at our date? That way, I think I'll be able to decide if what I'm feeling for you is real."

And I was torn again.
I wanted to give him another chance, hoping that this time I wouldn't end up hurt, unlike the last time. But on the other hand, I just couldn't take that big a risk again.
"Hurt me once, shame on you. Hurt me twice, shame on me. I'm not going to let my stupid self make the same mistake twice, Aaron. I think it's best for both of us if we forget this ever happened. Goodnight."

~*~

I had my first kiss!
Aaron Miller kissed me!
He said he likes me too!

I was feeling like I'd just gulped down ten cans of Red Bull and eaten a dozen chocolates, all at once. That was how hyper I was feeling.
Even though I was cold and dripping wet, instead of taking a nice hot shower, I was leaning against my bedroom door, frozen in place.
I ran my fingers over my lips just to remind myself that this wasn't all a dream.

I knew deep down in my heart, that this probably meant nothing to Aaron. He had every other girl fawning over him, so why would kissing another insignificant girl like me make any difference to him?

He'd done that only 'cause he wanted to have his way and prove that no one could resist him.
Not even me, the boring, over careful "good girl".

But somehow, all this failed to register in my mind, as I thought back to the crazy fireworks that I'd felt before.
They must mean something, right?

"Hello-o? Earth to Ms. Paralysed Avery, who is soon going to become a pneumonia patient."

Fingers with perfectly manicured nails snapped in front of my face, startling me into the present.

I blinked a few times to try and regain my sensible thinking abilities and wipe the silly smile off my face.
That's when I realised I couldn't make my facial muscles move!
The idiotic, lovesick grin was out of my control and no matter how much I commanded my muscles, they wouldn't freaking listen to me.