"Call me when you girls are ready to be picked up." My mom smiled, dropping Barbie and I off at the mall.
"I will, Mom. We're just getting manicures and pedicures and we'll be done."
"That's usually an hour and half. I'll be waiting for that call." She blows a kiss before driving away.
"Oh my God, what happened last night?"
"Honestly, I don't really know." I reply, entering the mall. Barbie's face lights up as she follows.
"Oh my God, he kissed you." She guesses.
"Nope." Although it felt like he was going to.
"Then what?"
"Let's just say that my choices were very effective." I enter the salon, going to the receptionist. Barbie squeals and swats at my arm. I ask about our appointments and we're whisked away to nail tables.
"Explain." Barbie grins.
"Well he couldn't take his eyes off me. And I proposed a truce between us. And he agreed. We're officially friends."
"Probably closer to more than that." Barbie winks.
"Well I learned more about him and he learned more about me and we just sort of had fun. And then his mother left and my parents went inside."
"Go on."
"And we started talking about obligation." I sigh dreamily.
"Obligation?"
His obligation. He asked me what Brandon would think of last night. And I told him it was his obligation to come over for dinner. My parents demanded it. And he started going on about warming my hands, and sharing a blanket, and forming a truce, all his obligation. I told him we were instructed to make peace and play nice. And that's when-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Barbie cuts me off. "Go back to his obligations."
"Well he offered to warm my hands and blew on them. And then my mom only brought out three blankets so we had to share."
"Were you two close?" Barbie asks as the manicurist moves to my nail beds.
"Very. And then he said it's his obligation to not let go of my hand. I said, "It doesn't have to be." "Wouldn't you like that?" he said. And I admitted that I would." I wince.
"Oh my God. You were so smooth." Barbie compliments.
"Not as smooth as him. I pulled away because we were so close to..."
"To?"
"Kissing." I reveal. Barbie gasps and I momentarily look away, deciding what color for my nails. I pick out a perky pink, contrasted with gold chevron.
"No way! You were going to kiss Brendon Stone!" I can barely formulate a thought. His eyes flash into my mind and I shiver.
"I didn't."
"But you wanted to."
"I never said I wanted to!" I snap.
"That answer just told me you wanted to." She deciphers as I blush furiously. I hear her pick out a black sparkle for her nails before addressing me.
"Is there anymore?" She bites her lip.
"Once I looked away, we both stared into the fire. And...he..."
"HE!?!??!"
"He called me beautiful." I whisper.
"SHUT UP!" Barbie nearly screams.
"Shhh!" I hush her.
"Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, OKAY!" Barbie tries to calm herself. "What exactly did he say?"
"He said and I quote, "You look beautiful, Amber. I don't think your boyfriend tells you that enough." End quote." I recite, his words cemented in my mind.
"It sounds like it may be time to ditch that boyfriend." My manicurist intervenes. Barbie bites her lip and nods her head ecstatically. Her name tag reads Jenny and I turn to her.
"But I have a dire secret that ruin me if he knew." I tell her.
"Sometimes you need to risk that. Trust that he'll trust you."
"But he doesn't. We just started trusting each other last night. I don't want to reverse it all."
"But if you do it later, it'll hurt more if he betrays you." Jenny points out. "This Brendon boy sounds like a dream."
"But I have a boyfriend. A loving boyfriend who takes care of me no matter what and would never hurt me."
"Honey, that sounds like the most boring relationship ever. Who would want someone so safe? Risk it all for a dream? The worst that can happen is you actually falling for this Brendon guy."
"She already has." Barbie alerts her.
"No! I haven't! Brendon and I are nothing. I hate him. He will destroy me." My walls go up in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, I block out last night in my mind.
"Geez, okay!" Jenny backs off. Barbie raises a concerned eyebrow and I shake my head.
*************************
"So what am I to this truce?" Barbie asked once we moved on to our pedicures.
"The moderator. You decide who's in the wrong and who needs to apologize to who and make peace and stuff like that."
"Okay, then I say you should text Brendon and see what he's doing today." Barbie commands.
"Forget it." I command, hypnotizing her. She blinks a few times before coming to. "We should do something fun."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. What about ice skating?"
"Ice skating?"
"Brandon texted me late last night asking if we wanted to go."
"I don't want to third wheel." She refuses.
"Bring Kevin. The boy is practically yours." I tell her. "And I could make it solid."
"I don't want us to fall in love by your powers. I want it to be real."
I don't have the heart to tell her it's too late.
"Fine, but you should bring him." I lie.
"Okay, let's do it!" Barbie cheers, whipping out her phone to text Kevin. I call my mom to tell her we're going ice skating. She mentions that Brendon stopped by and I should invite him.
No way in hell. I hang up and wait for Jenny to finish. We pay and head to the ice rink, a few blocks away from the mall. Barbie arrange Kevin to come with Brandon and we wait.
"So my mother said to invite Brendon." I mention.
"You should! I'm sure he knows how to skate!" Barbie urges.
"Not when my boyfriend hates him." I grumble, leading her to the skate rental. We pick out skates and waddle down to the rink.
"I've never skated before." Barbie confesses.
"Me neither. I guess we'll have to wing it." I grab her hand and we ease onto the ice. The chill automatically flies up my spine.
"Cold already?" Brandon skates up next to me.
"I'm always cold." I tell him. Sandwiching my hands, he blows warm air on them. Brendon flashes in my head and I carefully remove my hands.
"I was warming y-" I cut him off by attacking his lips. I put my frustration into it, making myself get lost in the kiss. We stop skating and Brandon stabilizes me, deepening the kiss. I start to lose my stance and he lifts me up.
"Whoa." He mutters, not moving an inch. He returns to me, kissing me almost as passionately as I kissed him. My body feels the same as before I kissed him. Just being around Brendon made me warmer.
"People are staring." Barbie whisper yells, skating by. Reluctantly, Brandon is the first to back away.
"They are." He takes in the scene. I remain locked on his eyes.
"So what?" I go to kiss him again.
"No, let's just skate." He starts to pull me along and I numbly skate.
That didn't go well. Is he embarrassed to kiss me? Are we suddenly awkward? The rush of embarrassment is freeing, not scary!
"I don't want you falling for Tara." I spit out bitterly.
"I would never, Amber."
"I'm not taking any chances. The last thing I need is you leaving me."
"Amber, I'm not that-"
"You will NOT be attracted to Tara, ever." I hypnotize him. He obeys before anyone sees. Once he's out of my power, I decide to persuade him.
"So you and Tara are close?" I ask him.
"Just friends and not really that close. I mean, we're English partners but nothing more."
"I don't have to worry about her stealing you away from me?" I smile innocently.
"Amber, no. No one could ever steal me away from you." He replies sweetly. I blush and take his hand, proceeding to skate around the rink.
**************************
"My God, you take forever." Brendon yelled from his window when I got back.
"What?" I smiled, leaning on the windowsill. He's donned an old baseball shirt and some faded jeans. Leaning out the window, I see that his stitches have left a scar over his eye.
"Your mom said you were at the mall with Barbie."
"I was."
"What the hell took you so long?!?" He sighs.
"First of all, Mani-Pedis take time and then I went Ice Skating."
"Ice Skating? After a "Mani-Pedi"?" He asks.
"I let my nails dry first." I reply in a duh voice.
"I'm sure. You took forever."
"Are you trying to say you missed me?" I ask.
"Yeah, right. I was just wondering." He moves to close his blinds and I stick my tongue out.
Me: Any chance you'd want to come to dinner tonight?
Any chance of getting out of meeting your parents?
Not a chance. Come on, it won't be that bad.
It's a school night, Amber. Friday, I promise.
I put the phone down, starting to hate promises. Brendon's curtains sway in the freezing wind.
Maybe I should try to get closer to Brendon.
"Hey! Dork?" I call out my window. He swats the curtains away, a pissed look on his face.
"Did you just call me "Dork", Crazy? I know you didn't call me."
"Well you answered, didn't you?" I can hear him cursing under his breath.
"What do you want, Crazy?"
"Meet me outside in 5 minutes."
"Why?"
"We're going on an adventure."
"Why?"
"You ask too many questions."
"For all I know, you could be leading me to my death." Brendon pauses.
"It's possible." I beam, shutting my window and closing the blinds. I paw through my closet for a coat, something warm. An old bomber jacket falls to the floor. I pick it up, running my hands over my dad's old patches.
A few have fallen off and faded but some stick out, appearing brand new. Thank God Dad got me one with fleece on the inside. Slipping my arm in gingerly, I leave my room for the great outdoors.
"Mom, I'm heading outside."
"Are you sure? It's kinda cold out."
"I'll be fine."
"You always say that. I don't want you sick."
"And you always that. Trust me, if I get too cold, I'm come in."
"Don't get lost." She instructs, checking me for exposed skin.
"I'm taking Brendon and my phone with me."
"Brendon? I thought you didn't like him."
"Well we're somewhat of friends now. I mean, I kinda hate the guy but oh well."
"Oh well? If you don't like him, why would you be his friend? Don't lead him on, Amber."
"I'm not. He's not that bad." I backtrack.
"Am-"
"Bye, Mom!" I cut her off, forcing my way outside. The brisk air hits me like a ton of bricks.
"Damn it." She was right. I hear Brendon's voice yelling.
"I gotta go!" He yells, busting out of his back door.
"Brendon!" Ms. Stone yells after him.
"Want to explain?" I call to him, walking to his yard.
"Not even a little. This better be good, Crazy. I'm too cold for your shit." Brendon mumbles.
"Okay, let's go." I walk away, leading the way into the wood. I'll admit I'm a little pissed that he won't lighten up but what can I do?
Plunging into the thick darkness, I lead Brendon away.