She's A King

12.

Taron Mills
I had two chances last night to kiss Maggie and I didn't take advantage of either of them.
I thought back over how I had panicked in her room two nights ago and said I wanted it to be more special.
I could see it on her face she was disappointed, and I hadn't spoken to her since.
My only glimmer of hope was that she'd agreed to meet me at the courtyard for more training at seven.

"Taron are you listening to me?" Emily asked as we sat at a table having breakfast together.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about the essay" I lied.
"I asked you if you wanted to go to the law meet with me?" She asked.
"What meet?"
"You know the drinks this weekend for all the law students? It's all fancy?" She asked and I nodded.
"Oh yes I remember"
"So do you want to go together?" She asked again.
"We're not dating Emily" I sighed.
"Yet" she giggled and I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on Taron. Why wouldn't we? It just makes sense" she said and an all black outfit caught my eye.
"We can go together if you want. But I have to go" I said and jumped up quickly from my chair, despite Emily calling my name.

"Maggie!" I yelled and caught up to her.
"Yep" She said and I realised that her coldness had returned.
"Are we still on for this evening?" I asked and she nodded.
"Ok. I'll see you in the courtyard at seven. And no fancy things this time" she sighed and I nodded.
"I'll see you at seven" I smiled and she nodded. "Oh hey wait." I said as she started to walk away from me. "Did you want to study with each other today?" I asked hoping that she'd give me a chance.
"I like to study on my own. It's what I did at home and it's what I'll do here. I'm sorry Taron" she sighed.
"That's ok. Whatever works for you. I'll just see you this evening"
"I'll be there" she sighed again, turning her eyes to the floor.

As seven o'clock came around I felt prepared.
I had come up with a game plan.
It had one step.
Kiss Maggie.
That's all I wanted to gain from the evening.
There was so much tension between us because of this kiss.
I wanted it. I needed it.
She was so beautiful and intelligent and I knew she was the girl for me.
It was unexpected. Especially after always hearing about her as a criminal.
She was a notorious bad girl.
And I loved that about her.
I loved the fact that we were polar opposites.
It made things more interesting between us.

"You're late" I heard her say as I pushed away the branches to get to our little secluded section.
She was leaning against a tree trunk fiddling with a knife.
She was dressed in her usual black trousers, but she had on a red T-shirt. It was the first but of colour I had seen her wear.
"Am I?" I asked.
I glanced down at my watch to see it was three minutes past seven.
I looked back up at her to see her now twirling the knife between her fingers.
"Please don't throw that at me"
"How are you going to handle a weapon, and use it properly if you're scared of them?" She grinned.
"I'm not scared" I said, trying to convince both of us.
"Yes you are. I can see it I'm not stupid" she said and handed me the knife.
I slowly took it from her.
The plastic handle felt strange in my hand. I turned it round and felt the cold blade. I wondered if this knife had been used to hurt anyone.

"Throw it" She said standing next to me.
"Now? Aren't you going to show me how to throw it first?" I asked but she just shrugged and rolled her eyes.
"Just throw it"
I took a deep breath in and attempted to throw the knife at the tree.
It landed a metre away from the tree in the grass.
"You don't throw it like a ball" she laughed.
She went to retrieve the knife and came back to my side.
"Watch"
She quickly threw the knife and it span through the air before confidently coming to land in the tree.
"Woah" I said and admired how the full blade had disappeared into the trunk.
"Yeah" She said and yanked the blade from its resting place.
"How did you learn all this?"
"My parents. Mostly my father." She shrugged and I nodded.
"My parents never taught me anything cool" I told her.
"That's because your parents are lawyers" she smirked.

"Are you coming to this law meet this weekend?" I asked her as I attempted to throw the knife again.
"No" she said quickly.
"Why not?" I asked as she collected the knife.
"I won't fit in"
"That's never bothered you before" I said and she shoved the knife into her boot.
"It's fancy. I don't do fancy" she smiled.
"Please come"
"Why do you care?"
"Because you're not boring. I need someone to actually make it fun" I told her shoving my hands in my pockets.
"Emily can do that for you" she grinned.
"You know she can't" I sighed.
"Why do you play her along? She's obviously into you so why don't you just say, fuck off I'm not interested" Maggie smiled and I shook my head.
"Because then she'd want to know why"
"Then tell her why"
"I can't"
"Why?"
"Because she'd go and tell her parents and they'd tell my parents" I sighed.
"Oh so there's a proper deep reason" Maggie asked and I nodded. "Can you tell me?"
"No"
"Oh come on. I wouldn't tell anyone. Blabbing gets you killed. I've learned that" she shrugged.
"It's complicated."

"I was taught, that if you want something, fucking go and get it" she grinned and I nodded. "You need to follow that as well"

"What if what I wanted was, well, you?" I said in the most awkward way possible.
"Well, then, you'd have to get me" She laughed.
"And how would I go about doing that?" I said and her eyes snapped up to meet mine.
"Stop"
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just telling the truth. I like you Maggie. There's no beating round the bush on that. I do like you and I think you like me as well" I shrugged.
"No I don't" she said tearing her eyes away from mine.
"I think you do. Why would you save me in the alleyway if you didn't?"
"Because its a nice thing to do. I wouldn't want to see anyone I know get hurt. It would play on my conscience too much" she sighed.
"So you don't like me?"

She backed away from me and shrugged her jacket off.
"Let's practice what you learned the other night" she sighed.
"You didn't answer"
"I don't have to answer. I'm not obliged to answer" she grinned.
"Practice" She said
I nodded and grabbed her hands quickly pinning her to the tree. I shoved her hands above her head but she quickly kicked me away, giving her the opportunity to pin me against the tree.
My breathing got heavier.
If I did this right then I would get the opportunity to kiss her.
If I didn't then I'd have to wait.
And I didn't want to do anymore waiting.

I kicked my foot into her stomach and as she was falling she grabbed my shirt and pulled me down with her.
She rolled over me quickly and straddled my waist, pinning my arms and legs down.
"Almost" she grinned, letting go of my arms.
I sat up quickly and she slid down so she was straddling my legs.
I held onto her waist with one arm and propped myself up with the other.
I searched her eyes before slowly inching my face towards hers.
When she didn't move her head away, I moved my hand from her waist to cup her face.
"Can I kiss you?" I whispered and he slowly nodded.
We met our lips in the middle.
I felt her start to move her lips against mine as she put her hands in my hair.
For someone who had never kissed anyone, she was amazing.
By far the best kiss I'd had.
The way she ran her nails down the back of my neck slightly.
The way I could feel her smile as we kissed.
The way our lips moved together.
It sent shivers down my spine.

"Are you cold?" She asked pulling her lips away from mine.
"Not at all" I smiled before rejoining our lips together.
"Are you sure about this?" She whispered.
"One hundred percent"