Skipper's Heartbeat (PRN)

fourteen

"How do I look?"

Prince's head tilts. He examines me carefully before uttering, "They look the same."

I sigh placing all ten of my fingers on my face. I shake my head and prepare to explain myself in the simplest way possible. "This is pink and the last one was fuchsia. Believe it or not there is a very big difference!"

"I'd say you look good in anything."

Cheekily approaching my boyfriend as he sits on a stool near the clothing rack outside of the dressing room, I hold my giggles in. His face rests in his palms, all of his support is gathered from his knees. The closer I get to him, the bigger the grin on his face grew. "So even in a cow suit I'd look nice?"

"I said anything, didn't I?" My eyes roll at his sass. "But check this out." Prince sits up and wraps his arms around my thighs. "I bet you look your best in nothing at all. I call it natural beauty."

"I call it pornographic fantasies."

He chuckles and puckers his lips while the both of my hands hold the sides of his face. A quick peck turns on a ten second long make out session that is luckily interrupted by a cashier who can see us from the register she stands behind. The cashier calls out, "Excuse me!"

Prince sheepishly pulls away with a red tint to his face. It is fascinating seeing him interact with strangers because he can seem quite shy, surprisingly. My history and circumstances with him creates a unique situation for who I initially met but I do often wish we met on a completely clean skate. I wonder how he'd react to me.

After trying on clothes for two hours in five different stores, Prince and I find ourselves looking for a meal. We laugh and play all the way to the food court with the full intent of pigging out between our shopping adventures.

"When will you tell Brenda what's going down? You know, all of this between us?"

Walking hand in hand, he slightly swings our connected hands in sync with our foot steps. I don't know I plan on telling my mother or even if I'm comfortable enough to do it. Her hiding the fact that I already knew Prince is alarming enough.

We approach the food court. "Yeah I'll go up to her and say, 'Mother, Skipper and I are going together. I like him a lot. We even made out in a Tunnel of Love on our first date! He's a really neat guy!' Then she is gonna' turn around and go, 'I'm so proud of you, Mo!' Right, because that makes sense."

"You sound like Lindsey," says Prince, with the shaking of his head. "I don't want to be creeping through windows and hiding in closets. If I want to see my girlfriend I need to be able to come to your door and get you."

"You do come to the door and get me!"

His head teeters as we reach Wong's Garden in the food court. They have the shortest line of all options. "You know what I mean, Monica." I sigh as he pulls his wallet out of the inside pocket of his denim jacket. He orders our food, leaving me to think about everything he's said. "Let me get.. Uh... Two dragon bowl specials. One large Coke and one medium Coke."

Prince grabs our food from the counter and we find a table to sit at. There are a couple of things on my mind that I want him to know. "I'm sorry I yelled at you yesterday. I might have kind of over reacted just a little bit."

"You think?" He laughs as he opens his steam filled container. "I told you I was sorry... But don't beat yourself up. Sass is a good look on you."A blush flushes my expression, causing me to look away at an inanimate object within area surrounding us. "I gotta' tell you though it did leave my ears ringing for pretty long."