When I'm In His Arms

Chapter 28 :)

"Goodbye, ladies," Yives said with a sarcastic tone in his voice. He kissed Melissa on the cheek and closed the car door behind her. The night was cold and when Marcus opened the door for me he opened his arms for a hug.

Now, even if you aren't fully over your last boyfriend, when are you ever going to deny a hug from a guy who is hotter than the sun with muscles lining his arms from playing basketball? I'm thinking never...

I smiled and accepted his embrace (I would be crazy if I didn't). "I had a really nice time," I said.

He grinned. "I'm glad." As I pulled away, he too gave me a kiss goodbye and Melissa and I went our way as the two boys climbed into the front seats of the car.

Both of waited until we were inside the house to start freaking out. The conversation went something like this:

Melissa: "THE WAY YIVES DRINKS HIS SODA AND MAKES THAT CUTE FACE AFTER TASTING THE BUBBLES! I CAN'T EVEN!"

Me: "HAVE YOU SEEN THE MUSCLES ON THAT MAN MARCUS?!"

Melissa: "I KNOW RIGHT?"

Me: "That was just... I can't..."

Melissa: "I can't either! WHEN HE WAS TELLING JOKES ON THE WAY BACK HERE!"

Me: "I KNOW!!!"

After Melissa's mom came downstairs and scolded us to be quiet because she was working, we ran downstairs to the basement which is where we had been crashing for the last couple weeks. Melissa had actually offered for me to stay the rest of the year and longer if I wanted to, but I knew that after the party I would have to thank her for everything and find somewhere else to stay.

We settled down a little and I began thinking about what I saw on Tv, that had completely changed the mood of the night. It was cute and romantic at first, and then suddenly I have to hear about my ex coming back and my current date calling him gay? No. It just wasn't fair. Because as hard as I tried to forget about it I couldn't. I could feel Louis' touch when I closed my eyes, feel his body rub up against mine. His embrace would be nice on such a cold night as then. I could still smell the roses from his shampoo and I could taste his lips from hundreds of miles away.

Now that, is love.

But as sad as it seems, not all love is meant to be.

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Soon enough, it was six days until my party and we ordered a cake from a pastry shop down Vile ave. Then it was five, and we started figuring out how the decorations would go. I ended up going to see a movie with Marcus one day, and then four days after having dinner, we went skating. Then it became four days until the party, three days, and on the second day, we had bought everything we needed. But something wasn't quite right...

It wasn't the food that we bought, that seemed all normal. It wasn't the decorations either, which were all purple and yellow and blue. No. It was the way Melissa was acting. She seemed sort of... nervous and less talkative than usual, but then I steal a glance at her and she'd be grinning from ear yo ear. I'd ask her what was wrong, but then she just shrugged and said nothing was up.

Then it was the day of the party. I admit, I was somehwat nervous too. Yives and Marcus were coming, which was bad enough. But I'd also invited Cassi DeAngelo, Stacey, Melissa's other friends, and many other boys, some who had been kind of nice to me the past ten years of my life, and others who now felt sorry for me and wouldn't exactly be AWFUL to me.

Who knew?

I had talked to Marcus a couple times since, using Melissa's cell phone and on various dates and it was actually really nice, so I knew I could talk to him if things became awkward. But part of me didn't want to talk to him. You all, of course, know why.

Melissa and I were hanging up streamers across the kitchen and as I started a conversation with her she seemed to just nod, acknowledging that I had spoken but not supplying anything to what I was saying.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her through squinted eyes. Finally, when she noticed she looked down at me from the top of the ladder she was on and said, "what?"

"What's up? And don't say there's nothing going on because I know there is. Ever since we went on that double date, you've been all... weird."

She sighed and pursed her lips. "I'm just a little jealous of you right now."

It came to me as a huge surprise. I knit my eyebrows and let my mouth hang down a little. "Why?" I demanded.

And suddenly she was smiling so largely I couldn't help but slam my palm into my forehead. "You're killing me," I said. "Is there something I'm missing?" I gasped sarcastically and covered my mouth with my hand. "Oh, is Marcus going to propose?" I put two hands over my heart and said dreamily, "Oh, wouldn't that just be perfect!"

When she just went back to decorating with a poker face, I threw the roll of streamers like a ten year old and went to get some makeup on before the party.

"You'll know soon enough!" She yelled after me. I turned around to see her with a raised eyebrow and a sly grin. What on earth could she be scheming up this time?

"I'm not talking to you until you tell me!" I angrily threw some powder on my face and rubbed it in. Melissa came to stand by the doorway of the bathroom and I glared at her smug expression. She thought this was funny!

I turned away from her and started focusing on my eye liner. I applied it evenly on each eye, adding little wings at the corners. I looked back again to see that she was still standing there, holding more decorations.

I dropped the pencil in the sink and rolled my eyes. "Mel, I'm not helping you until you tell me."

She shook her head. "If you really want to know the truth, it's a 'surprise' that you'll have to wait to hear until the party. Alright? Just three more hours, Saby. Three. Now will you come out of there and help me?"

I hated giving in after making a huge statement, like I just had as of five minutes ago.

I stared her down for another twenty seconds and gave in. "FINE!"

We put up the rest of the streamers and then put out some rood along a long table. We made 'DO NOT ENTER' signs for her mom's art room and for all of the bedrooms, which left the kitchen, a guest room, a Tv room, the basement, the living room, and another room that was just kind of there, for everyone attending the party.

When we were done, with ten minutes prior to the start of the party, we stepped back to admire our handy work. It looked good, with table confetti among the chips and snacks and drinks, and streamers that went from the wall to the middle of the ceiling. The cake was set out, unopened, on the counter and speakers were set up lining the wall.

"We did good," I said, but Melissa just grinned that suspicious grin and it sent me running back to the bathroom to finish my makeup. Just as I applied the last of my lipgloss, the doorbell rang.

I sighed and went with Melissa to start the music and answer the door...