Along Came Ari (boyxboy; Open Novella Contest 2019)(Complete)✅

Chapter 8

Lost in my own thoughts, mostly thinking about my boyfriend, I took a longer than usual shower. So long, my dad pounded on the door, forcing me to come back to earth.

"Did you fall asleep in there?" he bellowed behind the bathroom door. Instantly I turned off the shower. Through the steam, I got a glimpse of my naked body and noticed a couple of bruises along my collar bone. Dripping wet, I stood in front of the mirror and wiped the steam off with my fist. Laughing to myself, I traced areas on my collar bone and shoulder where Danny got me. Imagining him in my room, his lips and tongue down there, I found myself at attention.

Hurrying as quickly as I could, I pumped faster and faster, biting my bottom lip so hard I nearly bit through it.

"Hurry up, Ari," my mother shouted from downstairs as I rinsed my hand in the sink. "You're gonna be late!"

"I'm coming!" I called down to her, running my fingers through my damp curls in an attempt to tame them. It was no use.

Another day without psycho Caitlyn was fine by me. She chose to take the bus again so John and I had a quiet and peaceful ride to school.

Danny consumed my thoughts. I wondered if he felt the same about me. Even at lunch time as I sat at the table with my friends, my eyes went directly to Danny who sped out of the cafeteria, holding a carton of milk, leaving as quickly as he came.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" John asked as I got up, ready to go after him.

"I...uh...I have to go to the bathroom," I said.

I ran out of the cafeteria, following Danny down the hall and into the art room. He seemed oblivious, unaware that I was following him. From the doorway, I watched him take out a sketchbook from his bag and sit down on one of the back tables, the only student in the classroom.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, not looking up from his sketchbook. So he wasn't completely oblivious.

"I was wondering the same about you," I replied, entering the room, closing the door behind me. "I saw you in the cafeteria and I guess I just wanted to talk to you. You know, I think about you all the time. I think I've gone super crazy."

"You haven't gone crazy," he said, quickly glancing up at me, then back down at his sketchbook. "I think about you, too."

"Don't you eat lunch?" I asked, approaching him at the table.

"No," he replied. "I usually come here. Mrs. Becker lets me come here."

A flower child of the sixties, Mrs. Becker was now in her late sixties and still dressed like it was 1969.

Danny resumed drawing, even as I sat down on the stool beside him.

"Wanna see what you did to me?" I said.

Not waiting for a response, I pushed down my t-shirt just enough to expose my collar bone. Danny's eyes quickly shifted in my direction. Blushing, he returned to his sketchbook, his fingers shaking as he held his pencil. He seemed so shy and innocent right now as he sat there blushing, but he wasn't so shy in the bedroom. He shifted in his seat as I lightly caressed his cheek with my fingertips.

"Someone might see us," he said, but didn't tell me to stop.

"No one's around," I said, proceeding to kiss his cheek. As he leaned into me, I kissed the corner of his mouth. "Wanna come over tonight?"