I didn't pull back because I needed to know if I wanted to take this further, to take us further but I got the answer pretty soon. His kiss was perfect, like if I search on Google 'How to kiss', every technique that it could possibly suggest was there. They only and most important issue was, there were no sparks. Nothing. It just felt like a plain old kiss and I didn't feel bad because somewhere deep down, I already knew.
He pulled back and smiled at me. I guess he didn't feel the same way.
"So, see you on Saturday?" He said looking at me hopefully. I bit my lip forming words that would hurt least.
"Nathan, here is the thing!"
"Oh not the thing. I hate the thing. What's the thing?" He asked groaning. He obviously didn't expect this.
"I am sorry Nathan but I don't see this going anywhere and I really don't want to lead you on. Maybe it's not you, it's me. I just got out of a pretty serious relationship so maybe I am not ready to date yet." I said biting the inside of my cheek. He looked at me for a moment and then smiled sadly at me.
"I understand." He said and bent down to kiss my cheek.
"See you tomorrow in school." He said and went to his car. I waited by my door and waved him goodbye. Just as he left, I saw Carter standing in front of his bike facing me looking very pissed. I walked up to him and he looked at me with a very angry expression.
"What's with you?" I asked. He took a moment to register my question and his face immediately changed to expressionless.
"Nothing. You look nice!" He said giving me a fake smile. I frowned at him but decided to go along with it anyway.
"Thanks!" I said and looked down at myself. My girlfriends decided to dress me up in a classy way and that was good considering the restaurant Nathan took me to. I was wearing a plain red half sleeves one piece that came just above my knees. I have to admit, I looked pretty good. My hair was given a wavy look and they did bare minimum make up. I loved the way I looked.
"So, what are you doing here?" I asked Carter but he was staring me up and down.
"I was just in neighborhood. Thought I would stop by." He said meeting my eyes.
"Oh that's sweet. Did you think anything about our project?"
"I did but I couldn't come up with anything concrete."
"Yeah, I didn't have time to think about it." I said and his eyes hardened. He didn't say anything but then he smiled.
"How about I come to your house tomorrow? We can think about the project together." He said excitedly. I thought about this but I couldn't find a single reason against it. My mom is usually away and I do know that Carter is a nice guy. I will let my mom know, of course.
"Sounds good." I said and his eyes sparkled. Does his eyes sparkle like this around others as well? I thought. For some reason, I didn't like it. I was being way more possessive than I should have and I became uncomfortable. I shrugged that feeling and talked to Carter for a while. He seemed fine after we were done talking and I kept thinking what he might be feeling when he first saw me this evening but I couldn't think of anything. Maybe I could ask Emma what she thinks.
I went inside home and went straight to my room. I went in my bathroom took a long shower. My mind wandered about the events that happened today. Nathan was really nice all the time. When he pulled up in front of my house and saw me, he complimented me. The restaurant he chose was really nice and the food was great too. We talked about many things, I told him about my hobbies and how I love trying new things out. I told him about the bakery I own and he was very impressed. He said he heard about it but he never got around into trying something from there. He told me about his hobbies and that his mom is a painter and holds various art exhibitions around the world. The conversation was pretty good and he cared about me the whole time. he was polite not just to me but also to the waiters. He was prince charming. An image of Taylor popped in my head and how perfect he was to me all through those years. I couldn't stick with Taylor and I said no to Nathan. I felt like I might never find someone with whom I feel happy and thrilled. I sighed and dried myself. I quickly changed into shorts and comfy t-shirts and went down to cook dinner. I decided to just stick with macaroni and cheese. My mom came out of her room drying her hair.
"Hey honey! What's for dinner?"
"Mac and Cheese." I said and she squealed. I love how comfortable I am with my mom. We are like two best friends and I absolutely love that there are no secrets and so much understanding between us. I placed her part on her plate and passed it on to her. I sat opposite to her.
"Peach! This is awesome." She said moaning. I chuckled.
"Thanks mom."
"So how was the date?" She asked without missing a beat.
"How long have you been waiting to ask me that?" I asked her and chuckled.
"Since Sofia told me you have a date tonight." She said stuffing her meal in her mouth.
"Okay. It was fine. Not bad." She hummed.
"So you are gonna see him again?"
"Not really." I said looking down at my plate.
"Not fun?" She said smiling sadly.
"Yeah." We ate in silence and I remembered something I need to tell her.
"Mom, Carter is coming home tomorrow after school. Is that cool?" I asked.
"That means around 4?"
"Yeah."
"Sure Peach. I don't know anything about this guy so I am gonna take the day off tomorrow. I will make dinner." She said and I smiled happily. I like the fact that she would be here for me today. I wouldn't have liked it any other way. When I went back to my room, I texted the girls about the date and they were sympathetic. Although they knew it was going to happen and so did I.
I thought about writing something tonight. I had some doubts about me and I wanted to clear those out and writing about them helps me sort them out. I opened my laptop and my fingers just found the right words to type. It's like, when I write whatever's bothering me, I process everything and it somehow takes me to the solution. I don't know how it works. It took me an hour to complete a decent piece and saved it in my laptop. I don't like posting them online because I just feel they are way too personal. I had many many pending assignments and I went at it. By the time I was finished, it was 2 AM. I was tired but I was glad that I was done. I completed 3 days of work and I have no pending work left. I jumped in my bed and before I knew it, sleep took me in. Just before I blacked out, I saw a handsome face with hazel eyes and brown hair set back as usual with a few strands covering his eyes. I brushed those strands away and I saw him smiling.
I groaned when I heard my alarm go off for the fifth time. I opened my eyes and I was way late for school. I cursed under my breath and went straight to shower. After I came back, I wore a comfortable green trousers and black t-shirt. I put my hair in a pony tail and went out in a hurry. My mom already made scrambled eggs and I hurriedly shoved them in my mouth. My mom opened my mouth to say something but I cut her off.
"So sorry mom but I am really late and I have to go. I can't afford another punishment." I said and went out. When I reached to my lockers, the bell rang for the third time and I ran towards my mathematics class. I answered most of the questions but did silly mistakes on many of them. I was so embarrassed when Mr. Parker pointed out my fault but he just smiled and went on with the class. I am good with the work so he tends to ignore my few mistakes. Carter kept his concentration on his work and glanced at me once or twice. I smiled at him every time but he just went back to his problem. There must have been something wrong with him but I couldn't figure out what. He was like that yesterday evening as well but after we talked he seemed fine. I would pay a million dollars to understand what goes on in his head.
Other classes went pretty smoothly. I had all the work done so I didn't get any detentions or extra work. I talked with my friends during lunch and we just discussed about my date with Nathan and Ashley's date with Noah scheduled today. All through her explanation, Noah kept blushing and I chuckled at him. He looked cute when he was shy and I bet they are gonna be an amazing couple. He is really into her and after a long time, I saw how happy Ashley was. She wanted things to work, I could see. Mark kept flirting with Emma and she just ignored all his efforts. Although one time, she did smile and flirted back. To say was I surprised would be an understatement of the year. Emma never flirts. She very carefully talk to anyone and then decided if they are worth her time or not. I guess Mark brings out a version of Emma that she didn't even know existed. Carter stayed quite the whole time eyeing me weirdly. I didn't know what's wrong with him but he was starting to piss me off.
After school, I saw Carter sitting on his motorcycle waiting for me. When I jogged up to him, he frowned at me.
"What took you so long?" He said in frustration.
"Hey what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you talking to me like that?" I said. He just grumbled and went to put his helmet on. He didn't even wait for me and we drove side by side in silence. When we reached home, he went ahead of me. I grabbed his shirt and turned him around to face me.
"What the hell is going on Carter? Why are you giving me the cold shoulder?" I asked him in irritation. He looked at me and his eyes softened.
"I am sorry Liv. Problems at home." He said and turned around. I would have bugged him further but if it wouldn't have been his personal issues and something to do with me but I guess he made it pretty clear that he didn't want to talk about it. I shrugged it off and went behind him to my house.
"Hey you must be Carter!" My mom said shaking his hand. He smiled kindly at her.
"Hello Mrs. Claire. Nice to meet you."
"Oh please call me Marissa. Mrs. Claire makes me feel old." She said sweetly.
"Mom, we will be in my room. Let me know if you need me for something." I said and motioned Carter to follow me. He looked around in my room in adoration and I smirked.
"Like what you see?" I asked him and he looked at me.
"Actually yeah. Your room is awesome." He said and roamed around to get a better look at it. My room isn't really that's good but I do like arranging things in proper order. I have got academic books like Irodov and Erwin Kreyszig in one corner while some novels like The Kind Worth Killing and Agatha Christie's collection on the other. I love reading. It helps me escape. I had a table against my window where I keep my night stand, some books that I am currently reading, my laptop and notepads. My bed is right beside the table and I had a peach bedsheet with blue blanket neatly folded on it. I have many posters of different artists like One direction and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and different shows like Naruto, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, The Big Bang Theory, Mom and some paintings I made that my mom loved so much, she framed them for me. I waited for Carter to say something but he was too engaged in checking my room out. I cleared my throat and got his attention.
"So, shall we begin?"
.............
The last dialogue sounded dirty to me. Did you guys feel the same way?