The next morning when I descended the stairs, both Kim and James were present, Kim feeding Trey while he sat on the baby chair with a bib covering his chest and James flipping through the news.
Apparently, they took the day off so that they could spend more time with me, claiming that they missed me and wanted to stay here and not in a class filled with hungry piranhas, headed by a good-for-nothing professor. James' words, not mine.
To say I got a confidence booster was the understatement of the year. I mean, we all know I am handsome and what not, but bunking classes for me? Well, it might also be because they were being lazy butts and didn't want to attend college and were simply using me as an excuse, but honestly, I didn't care.
A chocolate bar in my mouth and in my sweatpants and a T-shirt, I walked out of the kitchen only to see Kim and Eva bent down, patting the floor frantically. My eyebrows furrowed with concern.
"What are you doing?" My voice rang out clearly in the silent room. Where were the others?
Both the girls suddenly froze, their hands pausing on the floor. Kim's face paled considerably, eyes widening to the size of saucers.
"Kim lost her-" Eva turned to me only to be cut off by Kim.
"My ant." Looking at my questioning look, she continued. "My pet ant. I err... lost it," she muttered nervously, averting her gaze. Eva's eyes narrowed, but as if understanding, she slowly nodded her head, giving Kim a weird look.
An amused smile lifted up the corners of my lips. "Alright. And what is its name, may I know?"
"Um, I... we haven't named it yet."
"We?"
Yeah, Eva, James and me. We adopted it." Suddenly, her whole composure changed. She stood more straight, her chin up, more confident. She nodded her head firmly, an easy smile on her lips like everything in the world was just darn fine and dandy and fixed me with a look that nearly made me believe her ludicrous lie. Nearly.
"Let me get this straight. You, James and Eva adopted an ant. You haven't named it yet and are now searching for the lost ant."
She bobbed her head up and down like that made all the sense in the world.
Deciding to leave it at that, I went along with it.
I was staring blankly at the wall when Callie snapped her pale fingers in front of my face.
"What are you thinking?"
"Nothing," I answered, truthfully.
She squinted her eyes at me, "Don't lie, Max. What is wrong?"
What the- I just told her that I was thinking about nothing and she is asking me what was wrong.
"Nothing!" I exclaimed. "Are you nuts?"
She rolled her eyes,"You can tell me. I won't tell a soul. Are you alright? What were you thinking?"
Had she finally gone mad? "I wasn't thinking anything."
"Bull. No one can think about nothing. What is the matter?" she pressed.
"You know what, I am getting myself a drink," I announced, getting up from the couch and moving away from her. I practically ran into the kitchen. Surely, I didn't have such a troubled face, did I? Did I seriously look like I was worrying over something, when in reality I was actually not? What if I was getting wrinkles? I can't let my sexy face go to waste. I simply can't. What would this world do without me?
Scared that I was going to die without getting any action, I walked like a zombie into the kitchen. Kim was stood near the fridge, looking into it. Immediately, my mood brightened.
"Hello, Kim."
She jumped, looking startled. When she saw that it was just me, she smiled, going back to what she was doing before. Since, my orange juice was inside the fridge, I walked over until I was directly behind her. Looking over her shoulder, I spotted the bottle near the ketchup.
I stood there for a few seconds, waiting for Kim to move so that I could grab it. When she didn't look like she was going to find whatever she was searching for anytime soon and seemed unaware that I was waiting quite impatiently, I casually bent over her to reach for my juice, mindful of the fact that almost all of my body parts were pressed against her back.
Her movements stilled as my right arm hovered over hers. Instead of taking the bottle of juice and hightailing it out of the door, I stupidly stayed like that with our bodies close and my head near the crook of her neck. Almost by instinct, I buried my head in the gap between her neck and shoulder.
I knew I had to move. This wasn't right, but I couldn't see Kim protesting either. My lips brushed over the soft skin on her collar bone, so light that I wondered if it really happend or if I had imagined it. By the way Kim shivered slightly, I assumed it did happen.
My hands, defying the orders of my brain, crept up her slim frame, stopping at her hips and gripping tightly. I ground my teeth together. What the heck was I doing?
The way my traitorous body responded was different, though. My lips, not in my control, trailed along her throat and her jaw. My eyes were closed the whole time, my breathing turning harsher as every minute passed by. Heat spread through my whole body, taking control of my actions.
Soon, I wasn't even thinking, letting my hands and lips do all the work. I was expecting Kim to turn around, slap me and then kick me in the place where it hurt the most, but, she just stood there, her hands over mine and head tilted back, giving me more access to her slender neck.
I nipped and pulled at the skin, barely aware of the fact that it was going to leave a mark. My thoughts were drifting apart, everything just a jumbled mess except the beautiful girl in my arms. Something stirred deep within me. The familiar feeling tugged at me.
Like my brain didn't find a better time, small puffs of grey appeared at the corner of my closed eyes, blurring and a vision coming forth....
"Whoa... man, I sure as hell wasn't expecting this," Ash's voice sounded, breaking my memory before it even appeared. I quickly moved away from Kim, my hands springing back to my sides like they were on fire. Kim jumped lightly, blinking her eys like coming out of a trance. Her blue eyes were hazy and her cheeks were flushed. I smiled to myself. Something akin to satisfaction and happiness ran through my nerves.
An awkward silence came on to us as we stood there like a bunch of idiots.
"I will just get going," Kim muttered, moving past me and sprinting out, her face and neck red.
Ash looked t me with a smirk on his face,"Smooth, man. Real smooth. Scoring a girl while staying at her place? Wow. How long had this been going on?" I didn't know if I wanted to kill him or thank him, so I decided to let this go.
I scratched my head, "Just this once."
"I must say, I didn't even think you of all people would do this," he shook his head, a sly smile on his face, making a 'tsk tsk' sound.
Might as well walk the Hall of Shame now. "Look here, Ash. This was the first time it happend. I-I don't even know what came over me, alright? I just-" I stopped, running a hand down my face. Why did I even do that?
"Max." Ash's voice was soft and when I looked up at him, he had an intent look on his face. His eyes had a look to it. I couldn't decipher what it exactly was, but it looked like he was hiding something. Surprisingly, unlike his usual cunning smile, his expression was somber. "We are here so that you can gain your memory. Not to develop feelings. We are 'Protectors' man. Feelings and us? We don't mix. We do not get attached with anyone. Feelings bring us down, and with us, we drag down the people we love. We are better off without love, or any other feelings for that matter. Feelings are for normal people. As much as we would love to pretend that we are normal, normalcy cannot be faked, it comes from within, Max. Sometimes, being normal really is a gift. I just wish I realized it when I was normal." He looked down for a moment, frowning down hard at the floor. All the while I gaped at him, my mouth hanging open.
He gulped, a slash of hurt passing by in his black eyes. And at that minute, he had never looked so vulnerable. So dejected and so... lost. My eyes snapped to his hand when I sensed movement there.
His hands were trembling lightly. He balled them up in a fist, and stayed still for a moment. I looked at his face with concern. He smiled sadly.
"You never know how good things are until they start to fall apart, Max. And when it does? It hurts. So, it is better if you don't feel anything at all. Be careful. You usually don't know what you are getting yourself into until you too deep in it to get up," he warned and continued, "Other than that, good luck, man."
Did he just give me a serious speech? I think it will be a good time for the hell to freeze over.
"You know what? Just follow my rule," his eyes twinkled, his trademark smirk on his face, "Ham, bam. Thankyou, mam."
I shook my head. And he was back, people.