I was utterly shocked when we won. I had no idea Connor was so good at bowling, nor did I know Lennox was so competitive.
"What the fuck !" Lennox would rage in frustration when her or Kenneth didn't get a strike, or got a split. Multiple times the employees came over and asked her to be quiet. It was hilarious, especially when moms would walk by and give Lennox death glares.
Me being me, kind of sucked in the beginning. "Do you even know how to bowl?" Connor comes up and questions after I knock down two pins...in all.
"I mean yeah," I stuttered. "I just haven't been bowling in a couple of years." Ever since I had started dating Marcus, he hated the concept of bowling. So i was never allowed to go. When my turn had came again, Connor guided me through the whole thing. He showed me how to move my legs, and how the curve in my hand and arm effected everything.
I looked to my left and Lennox was sitting there with goggly eyes. If only, I had thought.
After Connor showed me the basics I had gotten into my grove. From that point on, me and him were kind of unstoppable. Until Lennox's cursing got out of hand and we got kicked out. Then we had to stop. Although we got kicked out, we ended with the scores 103 and 98.
Walking out of the bowling alley with the manager behind us, Connor suggest that loser pays for ice cream.
"Who gets ice cream in November?" I ask a smile displaying on my lips. I hear Lennox groan as she gets into Kenneth's car.
"Obviously Con Dah Bomb." He answers condescendingly closing the passenger door. I start the car the roll my eyes. "Your showing a lot of signs of bitchiness, Miss. Adams."
"Oh really, Mr. Goldman?" He nods his head with a smirk plastered on his face. "Well I own my bitchiness and I here by pledge to be a bitch with pride." I joke.
"Turn here." He directs me in a fit of laughter. His laugh is undeniably contagious. I shake my head at him and smile.
"What? Is it a bad pledge?"
"No, it's perfect just like you." I blush and try to hide my smile. I roll my eyes at his cheesiness. "Your such a bitch." I eye him giving him the death glare. He puts his hands up in surrender, "But you rock it like a pro." He adds and I nod in approval.
***
I get a simple chocolate mint ice cream and Connor gets Vanilla. I hadn't seen what Kenneth and Lennox got because right when we got ours, Connor escorted me to a two seated table. It was off on the other side of the parlor where people weren't.
Then again who comes to get ice cream in the middle of November. I was surprised it was even open.
He pulls out the chair for me and I give him a smile while licking my ice cream. He sits and begins to stare at me.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful your eyes are?" He questions and i begin to laugh almost falling out of my chair. "It was really cheesy wasn't it?" He asks a bit worried.
"No, no no." I object trying to calm my laughter so I can speak properly. i take in a breathe and begin to speak. "No you have, remember? When we first met."
I feel as if I triggered his memory because his eyes light up and he smile. "Yeah it was something like, 'Your eyes are nice but can you stop staring at me'." He begins to join my in laughter.
I shake my hand now remembering my first day of school like it was yesterday. I had met Lexi and Christina. And I had seen Lennox and Kenneth, not really talking to them. But Kenneth was looking at me in a way where I'm not surprised two months later he admitted his love for me.
"It was more of, 'I love your brown eyes staring at me, but it's freaking me out'. "I correct him and his shake his head, covering his face as he laughs.
"I'm cringing right now it was that stupid." He says when he gets a breath. "Oh yeah," he says as if he's had an epiphany, "and with your bitchiness in full effect, you say 'Green. They're mistaken for brown but they're not'."
I shake my head at myself and laughing from the memory. "Ah, I really hated you."
"Really?" He questions
"Don't asked surprised, you used two of the cheesiest lines I have ever heard and my nickname was born that day."
"What was the second, I don't remember a second." He cuts in a bit surprised.
"Seriously!" My eyes wide now as I begin to laugh even more.
"You don't even know me!"
"Yeah but I would like to."
As soon as I got done breaking down that part of the conversation he laughs super hard.
"I'm a laughing stock." He says picking up his ice cream again. We had been laughing for almost 10 minutes and our ice cream was almost liquid. I do the same enjoying the last bit of it. "At least they worked, right?" He questions genuinely smiling gazing into my eyes. I look back into his a smile creeping on my lips.
"Barely."
Lennox and Kenneth were eyeing us, I could feel it. But I didn't care. It felt like it was only me and Connor and I liked that. Besides the fact that he wanted everything back to normal, and he was flirting with me was confusing me, I was really having a good time. I decided to ignore the confusion, maybe this was the normal. And I was honestly -hopefully- fine with that.
***
Kenneth and Lennox part from us after we leave the ice cream parlor. While at a stop light, Gavin texts me and reminds me to get the paint for my room.
I begin to change route and Connor looks confused. "Did you forget where we live?" He asks looking at me. I tell him I'm painting my room and I need to get the materials. "You should let me help."
I look at him surprised and he nods letting me know that he is serious. I couldn't help but think, where would this go? Not even romantically, but in general. Only having two seconds to think about it because his glare was making me uncomfortable, I say, "Sure, but promise you won't act crazy and mess everything up?"
He smirks, "No promises but I'll try."
We arrive at my house and Connor insists on taking in the turquoise paint cans since they "may have been too heavy for me." I was left with the flimsy painting supplies, but at least he's not that sexist where he wouldn't have let me carry that.
I have to knock on the door since both our hands are full. Gavin opens the door and his eyes widen with surprise. They go back to normal after a second. He steps aside to let us in, he nods his head at Connor, "Connor."
"Sir."
I gawk as I walk up the stairs. Never have I ever seen Connor be so respectful. Halfway up the stairs I hear someone clear their throat. I turn around to see Connor with one foot one the first stair and Gavin hand on his shoulder. Mom was next to Gavin doing what she does best, appearing out of no where. She has one of those 'mother' looks on her face that says, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Did you forget your a girl and Connors a guy and those types of humans aren't allowed in your room without permission or supervision?" Mom questions with a hint of sarcasm behind her voice. Gaining a held back chuckle from Gavin and Connor, she gives them a look and they instantly stop.
I then remembered she thought we were dating, and as if in cue Gavin's agrees, "Yeah, what your mom said." Turning towards her he asks, "Didn't you say these two were dating?" Mom nods knowingly. Connor faces twists up in confusion for a quick second until he looks at me with a questioning look and I nod.
I then remembered something else. "Mom, earlier today I told we broke up." I inform and Connors eyes widen. Gavin looks at mom for confirmation and mom just looks at me trying to remember.
"Oh, yeah that's right." Mom laughs it off. "But still," her motherly face is back, "rules are rules and the rule is no boys in your room without permission."
All eyes are on me at this point and I'm only left with one option. "Mom, Gavin, I come at this time to ask your permission for Connor to come up to my open-doored room to help me paint for the rest of the day."
All eyes go to mom. Gavin looks at mom for her approval and she rolls her eyes. I could tell both Connor and I were holding back from our little inside joke. "Sure, whatever. Door open and if I stop hearing footsteps from up there, your up for a treat." She threatens, but I know it's all out of love.
I nod my head and i motion for Connor to follow me upstairs. He doesn't move; Gavin has a tight grip on his shoulders. Connor turns to look at Gavin and Gavin whispers something in his ear. Seconds later, Gavin lets go and we continue on our journey to my room.
Once up there, he helps me move most of the furniture in my room over to the small empty room across from mine. Gavin said he was going to turn it into a computer room and the only thing in there was a desk. We kept my bed in my room and agreed to move it around to adjust.
"Why turquoise?" Connor questions as he begins laying down old bed sheets on the floor. I was putting tape on the wall to border parts I didn't want paint on.
"Because I wanted something new. A purple room for all my life kind of got old." I answered. Even is Traverse City as a little girl, my room remained purple since mom influenced me to be a girly girl.
"I always thought you were the pink type." He observes. I look at him with full amazement.
"Really? Ew." I dismiss returning to bordering my closet. I wanted my closet door, the bedroom and balcony door and window seals to remain white. Everything thing else - the walls - would be turquoise. I had bought a new bed set and curtains to match already. The theme of my room would be turquoise and black.
Connor runs to his house really quick to change in paint clothes and I do the same while he's gone. He came back with a wife beater shirt and basketball shorts with his muscles completely open for eyes to see.
Connor opens a paint pint and puts into the paint roller thing. When I called it that, Connor laughed and told me I didn't know the name of anything. When I asked him, he looked at me clueless and we started laughing. We both grabbed a paint roller and began on the same wall.
I end up having to show him how the strokes were suppose to be and after while he gets into it. With Sleeping With Sirens, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco playing in the background, it only takes an half a hour to finish the one wall.
As we move the bed sheets to the other side of the room and move the bed, found myself getting a bit ambitious. I stick my finger in the paint and slide it down Connors face while he layes the last bed sheet down.
His eyes go wide and he gawks at me. "Miss. Adams! That was so uncalled for!" He exclaims.
"Was it cold?" I mock him with a proud smirk on my face.
"Find out for yourself." He swiftly dips three fingers in the paint and smears it on my face while I wouldn't oblige.
I get away from his grasp and grab the paint roller and roll it in his shirt as if he is a wall.
He looks down at his shirt. "Danielle Marie Adams!" He exclaims.
"Yes, Connor Elijah Goldman?"
"My shirt!"
I dismiss him by shaking my hand at him. "It'll come out...hopefully."
"Hopefully?" I nod.
He lays his hand in the paint and comes towards me. "Yeah, well hopefully this will too." I think he's going to rub it on my clothes and I turn around to protect the front part of my clothes. He surprises me by taking the ends of my hair and rubbing the paint in it.
I feel a tug on my head and flash back comes into my mind of Marcus. I turn around and push Connor away from me. He stumbles a bit and hits the floor. His paint covered hands touch the floor without any sheets covering it.
I take a few steps towards him realizing what I just did. I lend him my hand to help him get up. "What the fuck was that for!"
"I'm sorry Connor, I - I don't know what came over me." My voice cracks and my eyes fill with tears the memories still fresh in my mind. He notices the tears in my eyes and his soften. He steps closer and puts his arms around me. I try my hardest to not let the tears fall and this time I succeed.
I feel his head turn to where he fell. "Fuck." He mutters.
"What?" I question, my voice sounding the same now.
"Gavin is going to kill me."
"What did he whisper to you when we were downstairs?" I ask. I was going to ask him earlier but totally forgot when we had got into a paint war. Every time I breathe in, intoxicating paint fill my lungs- I don't think that's healthy.
"He said he would kill me if I got paint on the floor." He answers with his arms still around me. I start laughing and Connor asks what I'm laughing about.
"He was messing with your head, Con. You do know paint comes off the floor right?" I question barely getting the words out since I was still laughing.
He starts smiling. "That bastard."