She thought he could flirt
Chapter three:
Elizabeth was sleeping on Bobby’s couch when suddenly a consistent knocking on the front door made her wake up with a start.
She jumped off the couch and watched as Bobby lit the room and wiped his sleepy eyes before peering through the door.
He opened the door exposing Uncle Gerard (I once mentioned him as Gary it was a mistake and I edited it), Zachariah’s best friend since college. Elizabeth grinned from ear to ear before running to him and embracing him in a hug.
“Hey there kiddo” he said softly rubbing her back, she smiled against his shirt’s fabric. Gerard lifted his head and looked at Bobby
“Ella called me, she’s running late with a client and Zachariah had to go somewhere to fix some problems in his company, I’ll take the kids and they’ll stay over at our place.”
Bobby nodded and yawned before entering a room and walking out with Ian curled in his arms.
“She told me to thank you too” Bobby smiled and nodded.
“Take good care, they’re still kind of my responsibility” Bobby said in a deep voice which showed how a minute ago he was fast asleep.
Gerard chuckled,” you’re one fine man, I’ll see you later” he said.
Elizabeth followed Gerard till she stepped inside the car, her heart was pounding strongly and fast, she felt like her breath was too little and her lips were a little dry. She didn’t like the way she nibbled on her nails since she wants them to grow longer and she hated how her hands got all sweaty around the books she held.
At least she did the homework she was supposed to do.
Every now and then, Elizabeth and her brother would sleep at Gerard’s place. They would be the best days, with Ian busy playing with Tim and her busy talking to Sam, everything was always fun.
The ride was silent except for when Uncle Gerard offered her ice-cream and she didn’t refuse, they stopped at a shop and woke Ian up who kept groaning and whining which made them regret ever touching him and after this detour was finished, they reached Sam’s house.
The lights were out, the house was dark and Elizabeth ignored that disappointment that attacked her with the idea that she won’t see Sam and they won’t hang out together.
They walked inside the house that was considerately hers as well and she tiptoed up the stairs behind Gerard who was carrying Ian –who slept again after the ice-cream- to Tim’s room.
“if Tim was awake, this house would have turned into a circus with those two here” he said and chuckled softly, Elizabeth smiled politely, he pointed at the guest room she sleeps in when she stays over and he muttered over his shoulder,” you know that this is your home, Beth. Do whatever you want and I’m going to hit the sack”
Elizabeth nodded and stepped inside the room, looked around even though she knew every corner of this room and then she plopped her body on the mattress.
A silent while passed by, she wasn’t sure whether it was fast or slow but they did pass and she couldn’t control the urge anymore. She stood up, changed her clothes using the clothes she left at their place in case of sudden sleep-overs like this one and then she got out of the room and tiptoed as slowly and silently as possible to the direction of Sam’s room.
When she did reach it, she turned the knob and winced when it made a slight noise and yet she tried convincing herself that it’s so loud because she knows she’s doing something a little weird and that’s why every single noise will appear like it’s an announcement to what she’s doing.
When the door opened though, the site that met her surprised her.
“Beth!” Sam exclaimed happily as he jumped off the ground and ran towards her embracing her, she stood still for a second before hugging him back, when he let her go, he spoke pointing at the turned on television in the middle of the dark room
“I was playing on my X-Box, couldn’t sleep.” He said and then frowned,” I didn’t know you’d be coming here tonight”
She smiled,” yeah, it was a sudden plan sort of thing” he nodded and closed the door softly behind her before walking back to the spot he was sitting on and he grabbed his console before groaning,” I lost because I dropped the console to hug you”
Elizabeth smiled inside and even let her heart flutter a bit, then she walked and sat on his bed,” you did your homework?” he asked biting his lips as he pressed on the console with a passion trying to kill the soldiers running down the hill.
“I thought you had your eyes on me” she muttered and yawned, he yawned as well and said,” yeah I do, but I am no god”
She chuckled,” yeah I did my homework”
He paused the game and turned around to look at her, his dark –slightly curly- hair shook with the movement and she liked the feel of it. A silent moment passed before he smiled and said,” Good girl”
those two words completely revived her and she felt she was holding a source of energy that would enable her to build a new dam. On her own!
“You want to play?” he offered the other console, she nodded happily and took the console and sat on the ground before scooting closer and closer to Sam’s body till their folded legs were stuck to each other.
“You ready to go down?” she said teasingly, he laughed and said,” In your dreams, Beth”
~
Jasmine watched as Martin rubbed the seat of his motorcycle dramatically.
“I love you baby, I truly do. I know she’s a mean girl, I know that, just please don’t leave me—“
Needless to say, Martin was talking to his motorcycle. A man came out of a garage and talked to Martin for a while before taking the motorcycle inside the garage leaving Martin and Jasmine in a horrible silence.
“I knew I’d regret this” he muttered obviously trying to hold back his feelings. Jasmine flinched feeling completely vulnerable.
It was all an accident! She swears it was!
He was finally showing her how to start the thing and how to increase speed, she kind of pressed too hard and well… she kind of… jumped off the motorcycle when she felt it was too scary which ended up with the motorcycle crashing against a parked car and Jasmine living as healthy as a horse.
“It was an accident” she said softly and closed her eyes with his intake of breath
“This was no accident, you killed my baby”
Jasmine opened her eyes and looked at him bewildered,” um, okay, I know you’re mad, but this is getting a little awkward”
Martin had started walking away from her and so she spoke as she followed him; it reminded her of the first day they saw each other but the other way around. He was following her while listening to music, now she’s following him while spilling her guts.
“Live with my weirdness because you’d be lucky if I ever make you touch anything of mine again.”
“You call it weirdness?” Jasmine stated before voicing a sarcastic laugh.” You don’t even flirt with humans but you flirt with your motorcycle!”
He stopped abruptly and turned to look at her, his face was too calm which freaked her out a bit,” you have to pay me back. I won’t just let this go! I’m losing all my monthly pay for this motorcycle to be fixed. So figure something out” he said folding his arms and chewing on his lips in this angry slash manly way which attracted her eye vision to his lips and her brains to thoughts revolving around kissing and such.
She sighed and scratched her head before closing her eyes thoughtfully thinking of a way to pay him back
“Okay fine” she muttered loudly as she opened her eyes and realized he started walking again and was now a couple of feet away from her.
“Next week it’s thanksgiving! I’m inviting you to grab a bite to eat with my family”
Martin stopped and his feet were stomping on the ground softly indicating he was considering it.
He turned around,” but what does it mean, me meeting your family?”
Jasmine clicked her tongue,” I don’t know, I’m just paying you back”
His shoulders dropped slightly before his eyebrows rose,” well then, I accept your invitation but there’s a condition”
Jasmine scowled at him before taking a breath to cool down and she nodded letting him speak,” I’ll take you out on a date after Thanksgiving”
Jasmine was taken by surprise, he was upfront and she didn’t think nor imagine –in a million years- that he would ask her out.
“but you don’t even flirt” she whined, he raised the edge of his lip,” I can learn how if you desire this trait in me so much”
Jasmine’s frown turned into a grin and she pretended to be thinking,” okay, I’ll go on a date with you, but you have to prove to me on our third date, if we’re going to reach that far, that you can actually flirt”
Martin took a step forward and commented,” you seriously want to marry someone who can flirt? Screw his personality? Screw his looks?” Jasmine laughed, “Who said anything about marriage? I just like my man to be a little playful every now and then”
Martin chuckled,” I could be that, I could totally be that”
Jasmine was now standing by his side; she lifted her lips and said seductively,” be what?”
He grabbed her wrist and said,” Your man”
Jasmine rolled her eyes groaning,” Oh god, I feel I’m dy-ying from cheesiness”
Martin looked offended as she slowly dropped to the ground,” what? I wasn’t that bad”
“You are horrible, painful, murderous!”
“Fine stop being a drama queen! I’ll prove to you that I can be a better flirt than any guy you’ll ever meet”
“If you become like Zachariah, I’ll consider marrying you. And you can count on that” she said half honestly half teasingly
“Who the hell is Zachariah?!” he exclaimed angrily
“Someone who could flirt, that’s for sure”
Martin scowled even more before his face dropped into a sudden blank expression
“Flirting is ea-easy.”
Jasmine took a piece of gum from her pocket and she threw it in her mouth before speaking nonchalantly,” yeah sure, it’s easy”