A Timeless Place

Chapter 31

"Oh you are so cleaning that up," Eli told us off, balancing a tray with a lemon tart for a customer seated at a desk who furiously sifting through a load of paperwork.

Wes grinned mischievously at me as I quickly sprinkled salt on his hair behind Eli's back.

"Kitty's turning into a bad kitty," he winked at me, ruffling his hair to remove the salt particles.

"Alright love birds, school time," Jordan rolled his eyes at us, removing his apron as the two people taking the next shift took over; Marie and Tom. Wes grabbed my hands, pulling me along as we quickly slipped outside before the two newly arrived employees could discover the mess we made.

When Eli and Jordan joined us we made our usual way to school. Wes reached for my hand, enclosing his large warm hand around mine assuredly. He only let go once we had reached our lockers where an excited Kevin came up behind us.

"Hey, guys, there's a party at Julian's this Friday night," he was literally bouncing from excitement. "And I heard it's going to be as epic as his last one."

Julian was another jock in our year level, known for throwing not only extravagant, but wild and crazy parties. 

"Awesome!," Jordan clapped Kevin on the back.

"Never known you two to turn down a party offer, so I know I'll see you there," he then turned towards Eli and I. "And what about you fine ladies? Up for a memorable night."

"You mean it's more like a night you'll most likely forget due to the excessive alcohol consumption that'll leave you unconscious for a few days," I commented.

"Exactly!" Kevin seemed excited at the prospect.

I looked at Eli uncertainly, wanting to turn down the offer. I was definitely not used to those sort of parties and I did not plan to.

"We'll see you there," Eli smirked at me excitedly.

Kevin's lips twitched into a full blown smile, grinning from ear to ear.

"You are way too excited," I commented as he nudged me, with a mad smile that had me skeptical at his intentions.

"It'll be another typical high school experience you didn't think you'd ever find yourself in!" he gushed much too excitedly.

Wes cleared his throat, "To which I'll be escorting you to and hopefully, back." Wes winked at me. I rolled my eyes but I couldn't help the stupid smile plastered to my face.

Kevin's eyes shifted between Wes and I.

"Are you two-?" he asked. "Finally?"

I nodded once at him and he jumped in joy, hugging us both. "You took your time!"

Wes raised an eyebrow at me and I shook my head at him. Kevin placed a hand on Wes' shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes.

"If you ever hurt Kitty or take her for granted, I'll be just around the corner to steal her. Got it?" Kevin told Wes in a serious manner. But before Wes could reply, Kevin laughed at Wes. "I'm joking. I know you'll treat her right."

Wes raised an eyebrow again and I giggled at his reaction. Just then the bell rang, saving us all.

"Oh my god!" Eli squealed. "We haven't been to a party in forever!"

I sighed, losing count of the number of starchy corn kernels on the piece of corn we were investigating. We were still on the topic of genetics in Biology. The last practical was a long experiment of seeing how the onion cells looked differently depending on which stage of the cell cycle they were in. Today it was investigating genetic variation in kernels.

"I have a feeling where this conversation is heading towards," I put down the corn, looking at Eli amusedly.

"Duh! Shopping!" she screamed a little too loudly. Mrs. Dawn looked over at us over her paper workload she was doing while we were all counting and recounting the damn corn kernels. I bet this was her excuse to make extra time for marking essays. But she had that judgemental look that made us all too scared to cross her.

"Of course," I laughed.

"Besides, we need some girl time," she said seriously, pointing a corn stalk at me. It was slightly bendy and deformed. "We haven't had any in forever so let's do a mega shopping spree."

"Okay," I grabbed the stalk off her and resumed counting the starchy corn seeds. "How's tomorrow since you finish work a little earlier?

"Yay!" she jumped in excitement just as the bell rang. Thankfully, it was only one period of this torturous counting.

"I should run then, cya!" she grabbed her books and left for her next class, Algebra, which was on the complete other side of campus.

Walking to Trigonometry, I noticed that I received a few looks here and there. That was odd. I was pretty much the girl who blended in with the lockers- a wallflower. Was there something in my hair? I'm pretty sure I got rid of most of the sugar Wes had thrown on me...

"What is she wearing? She's not even pretty," I heard someone whisper. "He really chose her?!"

Snapping my eyes towards the voice, I saw a red head sophomore with freckles lining her whole nose. She didn't even look away when I looked back at her whereas her friend looked away uncomfortably. Her face was set in a grimace, glaring at me. I raised my eyebrows at her. I should have known. Of course news would have spread fast. Wesley Bane is, after all, the name every single person knew. Son of the head master, brother of the famous quarterback and well, he is Wes.

"Woah, missed me that much already?" said the devil himself as I accidently walked right into him.

"It's hasn't even been an hour," I muttered, rubbing my arm where it hit his elbow.

"You look distracted," he commented, ducking his head to kiss my arm where I ran into him. "What's up?"

I looked up at him and that loose and easy smile that touched his eyes easily. They were much different to those smirks that always seem disconnected to his eyes and his soul. But these simple smiles touched those grey eyes of his- softening them and making them somehow brighter than before every time he looked at me.

"Nothing," I smiled at him, joining his side as we walked through the hallway.

"Good," he nodded. "Because you're coming over for dinner tonight."

"And if I said no?" I joked.

"You'd break my mom's heart," he put a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "And crush my soul."

"I'll come for the former. Not sure about the latter though," I laughed, linking an arm through his as we made our way to Trig class.

"I'm sure you'll come," Wes smirked at me, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "If you know what I mean."

"I was naïve to think there wouldn't be any sexual innuendos for more than five minutes," I shoved him playfully.

Looking back, I could barely see the sophomore. But I could somewhat make her out vaguely. Turning my head back towards Wes I realised I didn't care.

Should I do something with my hair? Should I put on more make up? Oh god, is this dress decent? I pulled at the hems of my teal cashmere dress over my stockings. I nervously played with the stone encrusted heart necklace around my neck as I looked back at my reflection through the mirror. My already pale skin looked odd. Or maybe it was just the nerves of this evening coming into play. I had been over to Wes' house before, but never by myself. I couldn't rely on Eli or Jordan for filling in some of the gaps of the evening. What if there were awkward silences?

I glanced at my wrist watch; 5.50 pm. I'd better go now, or I'd be late. Slipping on black high heeled boots, I took a deep breath and locked the front door before driving to Wes' house.

I've dedicated this chapter to the wonderful @olivesky who has stuck by this story. I hope you enjoyed the little part about the manic pixie boy with a little bit of magic pixie dust.

~ TheNightMarauder