The Girl With the Rainbow Hair

Chapter 7

"Two adult tickets, please," I tell the boy at the register of of the movie theater.

We find a seat in the back of the room. There's hardly anyone here, but it is kind of late so it makes sense. We chat through the previews and then the movie starts. I can't focus on it. All I can think about is the beautiful girl sitting to the right of me. She shifts in her seat. I don't think anything of it. But then she does it again. Then she scoots over some more.

"Everything okay?" I whisper to her.

"I just... I can't get very comfortable," she whispers back. "I know what will help."

She lifts the armrest between us and snuggles up next to me. I put my arm around her and and whisper back, "feel better?"

"Loads," she says, smiling up at me. If I couldn't focus before, I certainly couldn't focus then. I idly run my fingers through her rainbow-streaked blonde hair. Before I know it, the lights turn on and she stands up.

"Movie over already?" I ask, half asleep.

"Did you even watch it?! It was a great movie!" She says while stretching.

"I couldn't really pay attention," I tell her, my eyes straying to the little bit of skin exposed from her stretches.

"Well let's go silly! I'm hungry," she takes my hands and pulls me to my feet.

We get in the car and I drive her to the Mexican restaurant, which is my favorite. We walk inside and get a booth by the window. I order a sweet tea and she gets some water. We sit for a while just chatting when a tall boy walks over to me.

"Sam! What's up?" he says with a big grin on his face.

"Michael! How's it going dude?" I give him a fist bump. We talk for a while and catch up. He left our school in the 8th grade. We had been best friends.

"Oh! This is my... Friend, Julie Grace," I gesture to her. "Julie, this is Michael, the best soccer player around."

"I haven't played since I moved into the city. But thanks. Nice to meet you Julie," he says.

"You too," she nods. She seems a bit off.

A girl in a skimpy dress walks over to Michael. "Ready to go?" asks.

"Sure thing. Girls, this is my girlfriend Megan. Megan, this is Julie and Sam."

We all say hello, then they leave. "What was that about?" I ask Julie.

"Whatdya mean?" She says in a cut, short manner.

"You didn't seem to like Michael that much," I state.

"Well, you seemed to like him. A lot." She's pissed.

"Yeah, I do like Michael," I reply. "He's like my brother. I grew up with him. But you, I really like. I'm totally falling for you, Julie Grace. I would never do anything to mess that up."

"Aww babe. I'm sorry I jump to conclusions so much. I really like you too."

We finished our dinner and I drive home, us laughing and chatting like nothing ever happened. I realize in this moment just how much I've fallen in love with her. I've know her for about 2 months now and it feels like I've known her all my life.

I pull up at my one-step-from-being-away-from-home apartment and open the door for her. She slings her backpack on and starts to walk up the driveway. Her Converse sneaker catches a crack and she falls to the ground. Hearing her yelp in pain, I run over to her.

"Julie! Are you okay love?" I ask, checking for cuts and bruises.

"I think so. My knee hurts," she frowns. I look and yep, she's scraped it all up.

"Oh no! You can't walk on that!" I say.

"Sure I ca- Samantha Lane! Put me down the instant!" She yells as I lift her bridal style in my arms, being careful with her knees.

"I shall not! I've gotcha princess, don't worry," I wink at her. She's a light 100 pounds. She's at least 5'5" and that worries me. First things first, let's fix her knee up.

"Hey can you get the key? It's in my right pocket," I say, my hands obviously full.

"Umm I guess," she replies, finding my keys quickly and putting them in the lock. I carry her to my bathroom and set her on the edge of the tub.

"Okay, this is not going to feel good," I say, lowering the bottle of peroxide towards her left knee. "I'll do a count down. One-"

"OUCH! What happened to the countdown?!"

"Sorry, it's better if I surprise you," I say.

"You're pretty good at this kind of stuff," she looks down at me bandaging her leg.

"I've got a little brother. I get a lot of practice," I smile.

"I didn't know that. How old is he?"

"Seven. Do you have any siblings?" I ask, putting the finishing touches on her bandage.

"Yeah, but let's not talk about that right now ," she says. Just as I'm about to ask if everything's okay, she leans forward and places a soft kiss on my lips. Soon we both get lost in it and are fully making out. I stop her to catch my breath and say "as much fun as making out in my bathroom is, how about we move to my room?"

She grins, her perfect white teeth shining. "Sounds like a plan."

We walk into my room hand in hand and I lay on my bed. "Hey love, I don't want to like rush this if you don't want to."

"We aren't rushing," she says, her voice sounding remarkably deeper. God, that's so sexy. "But if you don't want to..." She turns away, but I catch her arm and pull her back to me. She falls on top of me and we quickly return to where we were. My fingers travel under the hem of her shirt and touch her stomach.

Should I do it? I don't want to mess this up. Will she get mad?

I start to pull her shirt off slowly, giving her time to say no. I really want this moment to be right. She allows me to take it off and her breathing quickens. Maybe I actually did something right. My eyes travel down her torso, now only covered in a bra. She's so beautiful. Then I look down at her thighs. Her shorts had slid up her legs, leaving them quite bare. But,

"Julie? What are those?" I ask. She had vertical cuts going across both thighs, where clothes could easily cover them. Well, except for situations like these.

The look of love and lust was gone from her eyes, replaced with fear. "It's just... It's so hard sometimes. To pretend to be happy. To just keep on living. Everyday is a struggle. Most days I just hate myself," her voice catches.

"You did this yourself?" I ask, my voice almost a whisper.

She nods, then her body trembles with sobs. I drag her down on top of me and hold her close. We lay like that for an hour, her crying and me just holding her tightly around her middle. Eventually she stops and I can hear her faint snores. I drift off too, knowing tomorrow we're going to have to have a talk.