Don't Think Twice

Ch 33: Jewelry and Jealousies

                “Splendid. And you?”

                “You know the usual. F*cking girls high and low. Catching footballs for the team. Doing shit.” Thanks bro for giving me your life to-do list.

                “That’s wonderful. Now, mind me. I better get back to my date.”

                “Hold-up man. I just got here. So, who’s the new chick with the f*ckable body.” He pointed at her. The bastard pointed to my girl. That f*cking asshole.

                My fists balled up with instinct, ready to erase that sick smirk on his hideous face when Airi came up all of a sudden wrapping her arm around my waist. Ah…my girl. I calmed just a bit, but tensed when I heard the next few lines.

                “Arhysis, is that you?” Wait. What?

                “Ariel?”  What a dipshit.

                “No, hehe. Airi, but you were close. How do you know Liam?” His eyes that were once surprised, went back to being man-whore sick.

                “We’re cousins. How do you know Liam?”

                “She’s my girlfriend.” I said, not allowing her to answer. I then kissed her with tongue and all the other good stuff. That would tell him to lie off. When I pulled away, I was redder than Airi herself, though completely ready to defend us from whatever Rhys threw at me.

                “Jeeze, I get it.” I gave him a look that said, “That’s what I thought.” Becoming disturbingly cheerful again, I asked the major question.

                “How do you two know each other?”

                “Well, I used to volunteer at the Juvie boot camp in Pennsylvania. That’s where I met Arhysis.”

                “Juvie, wow cuz. I knew you were good at being a rebel but I didn’t know you were good at getting caught.”

                “I was in for the dumbest thing.”

                “That makes the situation worse.” He rolled his eyes when I let out a little chuckle.

                “Anyways, Airi, would you like to get a drink?” Before I could stiffen my girlfriend gave me the biggest confidence boost.

                “No thank you. Talk to you soon though.”  She then pulled me away from there. When we approached an area that had a less amount of people, Airi stood with her hands folded, an eyebrow arched to emphasize the demand for answers.

                “First of all, why the kiss?” I wasn’t going to lie this time.

                “To show possession.”

                “And the harsh back answering?”

                “To show possession.” She gave me a light sigh, her hand holding her head.

                “Damn you’re so sexy when you’re jealous.” I gave a smirk but then realized what she said.

                “Hey, I am not jeal—” I was cut off by her lips. “Yeah, I was pretty f*cking jealous,” I admitted.

                “No need to worry Kiko. I’m all yours.” The tug on her lips forming a smiling made me realize that Kiko from Airi wasn’t such a bad thing.

*****

                Eventually we had spoken to everyone, scattering through the insufficient sized gaps between the guests. The real party was set in motion when music began to play. Songs that I had heard from Airi’s phone suffocated my ears and by the time I was able to get a grip on my surroundings, Airi had me on the dance floor. We kept it clean this time, making sure there was at least a centimeter of distance from her hips to my… well you know what I mean.  Songs like ‘Moves Like Jagger,’ ‘Dynamite,’ and ‘Champagne Showers’ made it all the more enjoyable. From the corner of my eye, I proctored Merelise and Ashton who were doing the unthinkable; getting down and dirty.

“Oh stop it. We’re ten times worse than that. Shouldn’t my brother do the same thing as you?” Airi asked. I chuckled in her ear, agreeing with every word she had said. Being requested to dance with younger cousins and other female family members on the love songs, I saved the last for Airi.  

At about eleven or so, everyone had placed themselves at the patio where a plethora of tables had been set up. Airi and I had taken seats with Ashton and Merelise. Merelise looked weird.  Don’t get me wrong, she looked great but her actions were slightly off. The air around her felt timid and hesitant. Maybe she was PMSing. I couldn’t tell what it was exactly since she was sort of cuddled in Ashton’s arm, as if he were trying to comfort her. I let it go, being aware of Merelise’s drama queen attitude when she didn’t get her way.

The dinner progressed into a speech mom made to thank guests and toasts made by Merelise and me for her incredible personality that shaped ours. Speeches went on and on, from my mom’s siblings to our neighbors of five to ten years. The slideshow was last of the technical entertainment, revealing snapshots of our family of four aging over the years.  As we consumed our dinner, Christmas songs played in the background.

“Airi, mind if I sit next to you?” Rhys was back.

“Um, no. Go ahead.” He pulled a chair between her and Merelise.

“Mery! I haven’t spoken to you all night. How’s life in California?” He attempted to cover up the asshole persona by averting his attention from Airi to Merelise for only a few seconds.

“College is good.” Her monotone voice shouldn’t have taken me off guard. She really was in a bad mood.  Rhys left after a while; partially because he knew he wasn’t wanted but also because he eyed another chick at the opposing table.                

I turned back to Airi who was whispering something in Merelise’s ear. Merelise’s response was a brief moment of shock, her fingers fidgeting with themselves. That wasn’t a good sign. She never fidgeted unless she was either absolutely enraged or down in the dumps. Suddenly, she got up and walked out, tears staining her cheeks. When I was about to run after her, Airi stopped me saying,

“I’ll go.”