Tongue Tied *UNDERGOING EDITING*

14. Under My Skin

He takes my hands in his and pushes me back against the front door gently, making me blush. Finally, a good part to the night. He leans in, slowly at first, and I close my eyes. But his lips never meet mine. His lips find my ear and kiss directly below it before whispering "Goodnight Ariel." and walking back to his car, leaving me frozen and covered in goosebumps.

What?

I wait till he's gone to turn around, roll my eyes, and walk inside. First, he doesn't let me talk, second, he makes me miss half the movie going to get him snacks and drinks, and third, he doesn't leave me with a goodnight kiss. Well, not a real kiss. I stomp up the carpeted stairs, quietly so I don't wake my parents and brother up, and lock my bedroom door behind me.

Hopefully Zoey will be feeling better so I can tell her how much this date sucked. How does Dylan get so many girls? He's almost as arrogant as Luke is.

Luke.

Why is it my stomach twists into a knot whenever I hear his name?

I lay back on my bed and close my eyes. Why do I keep thinking about Luke? I need to get him out of my head, because it will never work. He doesn't like me or care about me or anything like that. Even if he did maybe a little bit, although that's not likely to happen in a billion years, I've most likely ruined it now what with all the arguments we've been in.

I backwards roll off my bed and go to the bathroom and wash off my makeup. I come back to my room, change into an over sized t-shirt and shorts, and climb into bed. But the one things that is still on my mind even as I lay in bed, wide awake at 11:30 at night, is Luke.

And I'm worried that this...thing, if there even is a thing, is turning into something more than just mutual project partners for me.

~~~~~~

"Hey Zoey. Are you feeling any better?" I ask Zoey the next morning over the phone. "No. My headache is back, and I've been feeling nauseas all morning." she states. I can hear the frown in her voice. My poor best friend. What is going on with her? She's never been this sick before.

"Do you want me to stop over?" I ask. "No, I don't want to get you sick." she says. "I have to go. I feel like I'm gonna throw up. I'll talk to you later, OK? When I'm feeling better?" she says. "Alright. I hope you feel better, Zoey." I say. I didn't want to keep her any longer, even though I didn't get to tell her about the date.

Which now that I thought about it, wasn't all that bad. It just had some flaws to it. Maybe he was just nervous? I sit back on my bed and play on my phone for a while before I get an unexpected call from an unknown number.

I press 'answer' and put the phone up to my ear cautiously.

"Hello?" I ask. "Oh, uh, hi Ariel."

"Luke? Is this you?" I ask, sitting up. "Uh, yeah." he says.

Silence.

"Aren't you gonna say something? You called me." I say after a minute. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I was wondering if you wanted to come over today and work on the finishing touches for our project." he asks. Does he sound nervous? Why in God's name would he be nervous asking me to help finish the project?

"Sure. Sounds good. Just give me the address and I'll be over in an hour?" I say, grabbing a pen and paper off my desk. "Yeah. 87 Oceane Drive. See you in an hour." he says, and the line goes dead, like he couldn't get off the phone fast enough.

I change out of my pajamas and into shorts and a black tank top. I brush my hair and teeth and then tell my parents and brother where I'm going. "Do you need a ride?" Cam asks me. "Oh, yeah, a ride would be good. Just let me get the stuff for our project." I say. I run upstairs, grab the poster and other stuff, and then meet Cam downstairs.