The Tutor || S.M.

Chapter 22 || "You And Julia Made Out Today?"

I gulp, having dreaded this part of the conversation. I look up at Shawn and he stares right back down at me, his face completely neutral, but I suspect that he's secretly just as nervous about this conversation as I am.

"I think you already know." I know, and he nods.

"I do."

"So, what are we? I know it's awkward to talk about, but the sooner we do, the quicker we can skip the awkward phase and just get into whatever comes next." I say.

"Honestly, I don't know if we are anything at this point." Shawn says, and I feel my heart sink low in my chest

"Oh." I say, defeated.

"That being said, I think we should become something. I mean, if you do?" he adds, and just like that, my heart resurrects and jumps back up.

"Oh!" I repeat, and I can't help but smile. "Um, yeah, I do."

Shawn smiles back, a dopey grin spreading across his face. My heart swells as I look up at him and wonder how just Friday I wanted to kill him, and here I am less than a week later, already in a deeper and more meaningful relationship with him than I've ever been in before. I go up on my tip-toes and press my lips into his, and he kisses me back. We both smile into the kiss, and he wraps his arms around me. After a few seconds, Shawn releases me and we start walking down the street, hand in hand.

"Well that was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Shawn says, and I nod and laugh.

"Yeah, me too." I agree.

"So about Friday night, who's going to it? Is it your same friends as we were with at the party last weekend?" he asks, and I shake my head.

"Yes, well, kind-of. Yes it's the same group of friends, but two people aren't going. I don't know if Julia and Carson are going yet. Actually, I don't even know if they know about the party yet. Julia and I just made up today." I say.

"You and Julia made out today?" Shawn yells, and I slap him gently.

"Oh my God, no! That's not what I said!" I yell back. "I said we made up."

"Too bad, that'd be hot." he says with a wicked grin. I roll my eyes.

"Ugh, don't fetishize." I groan.

"It's not fetishizing if it's two straight girls. Wait, are you two straight?" Shawn asks.

"I mean I am, but I don't know about Julia. She has her moments." I say, and I shake my head. "Wait, how did we even end up here? We were talking about Friday night, not my best friend's unknown sexual orientation."

"Right. Who's going then?"

"Us, Evelyn, Mason, Ben, and Kennedy are the ones going so far. I have to text Julia later and tell her about it." I say, and he nods.

"Or I could text Carson, if you want."

"You're friends with Carson?" I ask.

"Yeah, we've been friends since middle school. Why else do you think I went to his party on Friday?" he asks, and I shrug.

"I don't know, a lot of random people show up to parties. It's not unusual. I've just never heard Shawn mention you is all." I say.

"Yeah, that's because I'm his friend and not his boyfriend. He's never mentioned you before either, or any of your other friends beside Julia for that matter. I've never been friends with anyone in your friend group, so why would he mention it?" Shawn points out.

"That's true." I say, and at that moment, I feel a raindrop fall on me. I look up, and another one falls on my face again. "Did you feel that?"

"The rain? Yeah." Shawn responds.

"Great, now I'm going to be drenched and freezing. That's the perfect combination to get sick." I complain.

"Oh come on, who doesn't love the rain?" Shawn asks, and the drops starts to become steady.

"Me!" I exclaim. "Can we just call it a day? I don't feel like getting sick?" I ask, trying to walk back towards my car.

"No we cannot." Shawn says, tugging me in the opposite direction. The rain is falling heavily now, reaching a downpour. I find myself frowning until I look up at Shawn, who's grinning like a kid in a candy store...

"You like the rain?" I ask, and he nods.

"Have you ever run through a rainstorm?" he asks suddenly, and I shake my head. A rumble of thunder sounds, causing me to jump. Shawn laughs.

"No, have you?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"No, but I've always wanted to." Shawn confesses. "Come on Helaina, let's live a little. There's a little park over there. Let's just run through the grass once, and then you can go back to your car if you really want to."

I look from Shawn, to the sky, to the park, and back at Shawn while debating if I want to do this. Finally, I give in.

"Whatever. Let's do it."

Shawn's face lights up and his grip on my hand tightens, giving me a quick squeeze. He counts to three and we run across the street and onto the grass, running around like children at a playground. We let go of one another's hands and run freely. As I'm running, the ground beneath me turns to mud and I go airborne for a Econ, landing on my butt a few feet away. Shawn erupts into a fit of laughter, and I do so as well. He runs over and helps me up, but makes the same mistake as I did and ends up dragging us both down this time.

I fall on top of him, and his hands rest on my hips. We look into each other's eye, and despite the rain and the cool air around us, I feel heat and electricity fill and surround the air around us. We just hold each other's gaze for a moment, before Shawn's head goes up a few inches to press his soaking wet face against mine. We kiss feverishly, the rain around us only making the moment that much more intense and dramatic. I feel Shawn shift underneath me, his hands sliding up my body until they reach my face. His hands caress my cheeks for a minute before gently pushing my head back a few feet so that he can look at me.

"Helaina," he begins. "We can't do this here. We're going to get arrested if we finish what we started right."

"Then I guess we'll just have to go back to my car." I say, my voice low.