~Alyssa~
Grabbing my sling bag, I headed for the door. Cole told me to pack light, and to dress casually for today’s “date”, so I threw on a light yellow Hollister hoodie and a pair of sandy-brown shorts, along with a pair of Nike sport shoes. I think I pulled this off pretty well.
“You might want to tie up your hair; it might get hot in there.” Cole advised me with a smirk.
I frowned at him. “Where is there?” I did imaginary hooks above my head.
“Oh, you’ll see.” He winked at me, sending shivers down my spine. I narrowed my eyes but bit my lip to prevent any retort from escaping my lips.
I skillfully twirled up my hair into a bun, securing it with a pretty pin that Matt had bought me in the zoo. It was shaped as a bamboo tree, with a panda clinging onto it, how cute.
“Come on Jayden you ready?” Cole called out, jogging towards Jayden’s room where there seemed to be a lot of noise going on in there.
I grabbed Cole’s hand, tugging him close to me and he paused in his tracks. “Wait a second, you mean…Jayden’s going too?” I inquired, putting my free hand on my hip.
Cole bent down to my level with a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. “Aww is that jealously I smell around Alyssa? Are you sad that we’re not going… alone?” He sniffed the air playfully.
I felt a blush rising to my cheeks as I flicked my hair in defense. “If you count my new strawberry shampoo as ‘the smell of jealousy’ then yes, I do smell it.” I snapped back.
Cole patted my head, sighing and shaking his head at the same time and I opened my mouth to protest that I really wasn’t jealous! But just then, Jayden staggered out of his room with a spring in his steps. And with a lot of toys.
“Whoa Whoa Whoa where do you think you’re going with all those toys, Jay?” I threatened, folding my hands in front of my chest to make myself look fierce.
Jayden pouted, putting down his giant teddy bear sadly. “Cole told me I could bring them to the—“
“Ah—Remember, shhh Jayden.” Cole cut him off, putting a finger on his lips impishly. Jayden snickered and mimicked Cole. Oh great, so now they two were plotting something against me.
I waved a hand at them, annoyance flickering across my eyes. “Fine, you can bring your dolls whatever, but Mr. Snuggles stays here.” I ordered, picking up the giant teddy bear that was twice the size of Jayden and placing it back in his room.
“They’re action figures.” Cole commented in a low voice and I shot him a flat stare.
“Okay Asher.” Jayden dipped his head down gloomily and headed to hug Cole’s leg.
Oh no. Alyssa-Bot Malfunction...too cute...cuteness overload...
“Look, you broke the little kid’s heart. Nice going, Alyssa.” Cole scowled at me, lifting a disappointed Jayden off the ground. I bit my tongue, grimacing when Cole wasn’t looking. I guess I went a little overboard because I was a little peeved that Cole was keeping a secret from me.
“I’m sorry Jayden; you can take Mr. Snuggles if you like.” I apologized meekly and Jayden’s face lit up immediately, jumping off Cole’s arms and dashing into his room.
“I’m ready!” Jayden came out of his room, his face glowing with excitement even though he struggled under the giant teddy’s weight. Cole and I laughed and Cole took the teddy off Jayden’s body and threw it over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing.
I marveled silently, impressed.
“Let’s go!” Jayden and Cole chorused in unison, punching their fists in the air simultaneously. I chuckled softly and shook my head at their childishness.
~*~*~
When Cole swerved his car into an empty parking lot right in front of a costume shop, I knew that something terribly wrong was going to happen.
“No no no no noooooo way I’m wearing that.” I objected strongly, swatting Cole away from me like he was a pesky fly. Now I thought he was.
And yes, something terribly terribly wrong happened.
“But you’ll look cute in it!” Cole nodded his head vigorously, pushing the clown costume towards me.
“There’s no way I’m wearing that!” I shrieked, stomping off.
“But—“
I clasped my hands over my ears. “Lalalalala I don’t wanna hear it! I can’t hear you Lalalalala!”
Cole grabbed me by the hand and gave me a hard tug, causing me to stumble to his side.
I frowned and turned my head the other way so I wouldn’t face Cole. What kind of a “date” was this? More like a chance to make fun of me!
His hands trailed up to my face where he cupped my cheeks with his soft warm hands. A blush blossomed on my cheeks and I hoped he didn’t notice it.
“Alyssa look at me.” He ordered gently, his eyes fixed on my face.
“Mm-mm!” I pursed my lips and shook my head, snorting.
“Look at me.” He repeated, this time a little more harshly and cold. I winced and slowly spun my head to face him.
His eyes locked into mine, and I got lost in that sea of blue.
“Will you do this for me?” He pleaded, the corner of his lips tugged into a smile.
I cleared my throat, snapping out of my daze and lowering my gaze shyly. “And why should I do that?” I persisted on with my tantrum, even though my heart had already accepted his request.
“Because.” He lifted my chin lightly, his eyes smoldering into mine. “You’re doing this for the kids.”
I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion. “Kids? What kids?”
“I wanted to give you a surprise, but who knew you would be so adamant. “ He sighed before continuing. “We’re going to the orphanage.”
“Whenever there was a clown performance at the orphanage, I would be happy for the entire day. It was the only thing I was looking forward to.” He looked dreamily behind me at nothing in particular. “The children in the orphanage are very pitiful, don’t you think Alyssa? I know, because I’ve been one of them. I really want to help them, you know? Make them happy for at least once.”
I blinked my eyes at him, my lips forming a small ‘o’. My mind went blank and I couldn’t think of a retort at the moment. His reason was perfectly satisfactory and I had no reason to snap back at him. “Oh.” That was all I managed to squeeze out.
He softly patted my cheeks, before turning around to pick up the clown costume. “So,” He grinned. “Are you with me, or not?”
I sulked, crossing my arms indignantly. He raised an eyebrow at me, and I let out a defeated sigh, giving in.
“Fine.” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “Hand over the clown costume.”
Cole smiled triumphantly and threw the costume over into my hands, ruffling my hair at the same time. “That’s my girl.”
I groaned internally, smacking his hand away. “Shut up.”
Next thing I knew, I was being shooed off by Cole into the changing room. “Chop chop, Alyssa! We haven’t got all day!”
I shuffled unwillingly towards the corner of the room, where a flimsy curtain was draped over a small angle of the shop. Suddenly, something clicked in my mind. “Wait a second!” I twisted my body hastily to glare at Cole. “Why should I wear the costume and not you?”
An evil smirk appeared on his face as he shrugged his shoulders at me. “I wouldn’t want to ruin my pretty boy image would I?”
~*~*~
“Which idiotic clown wears a dinosaur head?” I argued, glowering at Cole. He was making use of me!
Cole shook my question off nonchalantly. “A dinosaur clown. Two of my favorite things, dinosaurs and clowns. Combine them together, bam! You get a dinosaur clown.”
Jayden butt in, raising his cute little thumb up at me. “Asher looks good!” He complimented, shooting me a toothy grin. A smile unconsciously slipped onto my face.
I quickly rubbed the smile off my face. “That makes no freaking sense! Give me the proper reason Mr. Cole Evans or this date is officially off!” I taunted, my words charged with a good dose of exasperation.
“Fine!” Cole threw his hands in the air in defeat. “They ran out of wigs and make-up. It was either this, or the chicken head, that reeks of sweat.”
I grimaced, gagging at the thought. Okay, maybe this dino head was probably better…
“So, shall we go?” Cole flashed me one of his feigned-angelic smile, gesturing me towards the door.
My stomach suddenly tied itself in knots and cold sweat threatened to escape my pores and trickle down. My mind raced with wild thoughts. What if the kids hated me? What if I got booed? What if I scared them off? What if I couldn’t juggle well?
“Cole, wait!” I stopped him before his hands could reach for the handle. I panicked. “What am I supposed to do?”
He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, but that didn’t do much to calm my frantic heart. “Relax Alyssa. They’re just kids, you’ll be able to handle them right?”
I shook my head frantically. “I can’t! I can’t do this! Let’s…let’s just cancel this off shall we, please?” I did my best puppy-dog look, pushing my bottom lip out into a full pout and batting my eyelashes.
Cole didn’t even waver the single bit. “You can do this! We can do this!”
“No we can’t!”
“Yes we can!”
“You sound like Bob the builder.”
“Alyssa, don’t be such a chicken.”
“Speaking about chicken, how about some KFC?”
Cole sighed irritably, signaling that this was the last straw. I shut up and gulped down my saliva.
“Come on, Alyssa!” He chucked the dinosaur head onto my head and I shot him a pleading look before darkness engulfed me.
“I can’t see.” I muttered, trying to stall time.
“You’ll get used to it.” Cole shrugged my comment off and dragged me away by the collar—or by the frills, seeing that the clown costume only had silly oversized frills. I awkwardly groped around until I caught Jayden’s hand and we headed into the orphanage.
The orphanage wasn’t as dark and eerie as I expected it to be. On the contrary, it was really bright. The walls had different cheerful colors splashed on them, the tables and stools were donned with nice frilly laces and there were toys dotted at every corner, which totally sent Jayden into craziness.
“Wow.” I gaped, peering through the nose holes instead of the eye holes considering my height.
“I know.” Cole responded. “This place has really changed a lot. Back when I stayed here, it was all gloomy and—“
“Danny darling!” A new voice interrupted Cole and he cut himself off mid-sentence.
“Hi, Mrs. Lewis!” Cole chirped ecstatically, breaking into a wide grin that reached from ear to ear. A stout little lady came into view. She had grey hair that was neatly tied into a nice fat bun at the top of her head; she sported a floor-length pink dress that only those in medieval times wore, and that smile of hers was…wow. It could brighten even the gloomiest England weather.
“Ho ho ho, I missed you Danny.” She remarked as she crushed Cole into a hug.
Cole returned a squeeze and laughed. “It’s Cole now, Mrs. Lewis.”
“Pft.” Mrs. Lewis waved a hand casually. “Danny, Cole. Sounds the same to me.”
I roared with laughter at her comment, and that’s when she turned and noticed me.
“My my, I see you’ve brought a…er, friend.” She clapped her hands together.
I hesitantly took the dinosaur head off me, and straightened my hair hurriedly. “I’m Alyssa.” I gave her a weak smile.
Mrs. Lewis glanced at Cole with a slightly shocked face, before her eyes flickered back to me. “Cole! I don’t remember getting an invitation to your wedding!”
I choked on my saliva and Cole’s eyes widened by a fraction. We stared at each other in astonishment and immediately opened our mouths to explain. “We’re not—“
“Oh my, you’ve got a child already?” Mrs. Lewis interjected, bending down to Jayden’s level and patting his head. “How old is he?”
“Five, but we’re not—“
“Five!” Mrs. Lewis interrupted once again. Ugh, she should really stop doing that. It was getting plain annoying. “Cole! When did you get her pregnant? Was it premarital sex? How many times have I told you to use protection?” She lashed out at him before he could explain, pointing an accusing finger at both of us.
Helplessness was written all over Cole’s face. If I wasn’t dragged into this situation, I would so be taking a picture of him right now.
He raised his hands up in surrender position, groaning. "I think you've misunderstood, Mrs. Lewis! We’re not married! Jayden’s our brother!” He explained.
Enlightened, surprise crossed Mrs. Lewis’ face. She quickly changed the topic. “ The kids are really excited to see you, Cole. Let’s hurry.”
She trotted off, scratching her head sheepishly. Cole glanced at me over his shoulder, his ears all red, and he hurriedly picked Jayden up and walked off. I put the dino head back on, hoping that Cole didn’t see the blush that stained my cheeks.
That was really awkward.
~*~*~
We entered an air-conditioned room, where somehow thoughts of Ponyland from ‘My Little Pony’ flashed across my mind. This place was so…fluffy. There were cushions everywhere, and strings of heart decos stretched from one end of the room to the other. The floor was nicely carpeted and paintings of Carebears were plastered on the walls. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them suddenly popped out and attacked me.
“Cole!” I heard someone shriek, and suddenly there was an outburst of shrill yells and ear-piercing screams.
Everything was a blur for a few seconds before my mind registered what was happening. Apparently, the kids in the room went bonkers when they saw Cole and rushed over to tackle hug him. Right now, Cole was still buried somewhere underneath those children’s butts.
“Hey kids, missed me?” Cole used a hand to elevate himself up as he chuckled in delight. One of those rare genuine smiles that were not smirks flickered across his face momentarily, and I found myself gawking at him.
“Who’s that?” Someone nudged me hard on the waist and I squirmed, turning to glare at that person. He was really rude! Didn’t their parents teach them—oh yeah, they don’t have parents. I bit my bottom lip hard, feeling guilty at my previous thought.
I swallowed down fresh feelings of fear and panic and projected my voice, hoping it wasn’t too squeaky and girly. “Hi Guys! I’m Alyssa the dino-clown!”
Silence.
Caw. Caw. Caw.
Oh look, an imaginary crow just flew past our heads!
“She’s scary, Cole.” I heard a soft mutter and saw a little blonde girl nuzzle her head into Cole’s neck. Something bubbled within me as I forced it down. Wait, I couldn’t be—or could I?
Cole kissed her hair amiably. “Nah, this is Cole’s friend. Therefore, she’s everyone’s friend. Understand?”
They nodded their heads gingerly, but that look of hostility still lingered in their eyes.
That feeling returned to haunt me once more, making me have the urge to claw the girl away from Cole. Oh my god. Was I--? I couldn’t be…Wait wait wait, I couldn’t be jealous could I?
I quickly chased the thought out of my head. Pft, don’t be ridiculous Alyssa! He’s your brother! Why would you be jealous…of a little girl! Snap out of it, Alyssa.
“Heeheehee.” I laughed timidly. “Right! Who wants to see some…juggling?”
Silence once again.
Caw. Caw. C—
Oh shut up, you damn crow. Get lost! Shoo!
I uncomfortably moved to the center of the room, pulling out three balls from my bag.
Tossing them in the air, I focused my attention on the balls, making sure they didn’t hit ground. I was surprisingly talented in this! Maybe if this ended up badly, and I turned into some dino-freakshow, at least I knew where someone would at least embrace my weirdness.
“Tada!” I finished off, the last ball skillfully landing on my hand. Panting a little, I held my breath, waiting for my standing ovation.
One second past.
Any moment now…
The kids just ogled at me like I was some mutant, their lips pressed into a thin line, the word ‘bored!’ written on their foreheads. One boy boldly yawned right in my face! Then a soft lonely clapping erupted from my side, probably Cole.
I twisted my head to face him, begging him for help. He shrugged feebly, mouthing the words ‘I’m so sorry!’
I grunted, feeling frustration flare up within me. I wanted to scream back at him, “Apology not accepted!”
He was the one who dragged me into this! Now I was pleading for help and he couldn’t at least try and support me? Tears burnt at my eyes in humiliation and anger and I did the most relevant thing to do right now.
Storming away with the last dignity I had within me.
I ripped the dinosaur head off me, racing blindly to the door. The tears that threatened to spill out trickled down my face as I gruffly wiped them away with the back of my hand. I turned into a dark isolated corner and sniffed.
“Alyssa?” I heard Cole call out, as whispers and muffled accusations rang loudly in my ears.
I pressed my back onto the wall, trying to make myself less noticeable and at the same time trying to not let the whimpers give me away.
“Hey.” Cole spoke softly, his hands in his pockets as he shuffled about uneasily.
I sucked in my tears, gathering all the energy I had left to bark back at him. “Go. Away.” I said, gritting my teeth together.
He stepped a foot closer and I backed away one step. “Look, Alyssa.” He rubbed his nose awkwardly, his eyes refusing to meet mine. “I’m really sorry for what happened just now. The kids were being just plain rude. Mrs. Lewis is now lecturing them for their impoliteness.”
“I’m not going back there. I’m not coming out.” I insisted, holding a grudge.
“Alyssa.” He whispered, despair creeping into his voice.
“Cole.” I deadpanned.
He heaved a long sigh, and the awkward silence hung heavily in the air.
“Plus, I don’t see how this is a date if you were flirting with all those girls” I snorted, sticking out my tongue at him.
Cole’s shoulders stooped down in relief at my words. Then peals of laughter wrecked his body as he rocked at the balls of his feet.
“What?” I blurted out, glowering at him.
“I smell jealousy again!” Cole teased, breaking into fits of laughter once more.
“I told you! It’s my strawberry shampoo!” I knitted my eyebrows together. Wow, nice comeback Alyssa.
At that, Cole scrunched his nose up, sniffing the air. “I’m sure.” He nodded his head. ”It’s definitely jealousy. I don’t think your hair smells like your shampoo anymore anyway.”
I blinked at his words, reaching out to touch my hair. Ew. It was all wet and matted to my face, giving out a light stench. “Yuck.”
“Yeah yuck.” He snickered.
“Shut up.” I said lamely, heat creeping up my neck.
“Come here; let Cole give you a hug.” Cole finally said, opening his hands in a welcome embrace.
I’d love to. I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want it.”
He contracted his hands, feigning a hurt look. “You hurt my feelings.”
I gave him a flat look. “Fine, hug me and get sweaty!” I spoke sarcastically, suppressing the smile on my lips.
Cole grinned, revealing his white perfect teeth, and charged towards me, enveloping me into a bone-crushing hug.
I struggled to push him away, but that only caused him to grip me tighter. “Okay, you can let go now!”
“Nope.”
I groaned, trying to pry his fingers off me. “Get off of me, Cole. I’m okay now.”
“Just a while more, please?” He burrowed his head deeper into the hollow spot between my neck and my shoulder, reluctant to let go.
My hands dropped limply to my sides, as his words whirled in my head. My cheeks screamed beetroot red at his sudden gesture and attitude. I bit my lips in suspense, holding my breath. Part of me wanted to push him away, but another part of me wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let go.
I lifted his head back up, his gaze fixed on my lips. Uh oh. This can’t be happening, oh no oh no oh no oh gosh oh shit.
His face was now inches away from me, and the proximity made me blush a deeper red.
Just as he was about to press his lips against mine, I pushed him away from me just in time.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I whisper-yelled at him, exasperated. “I have a boyfriend.”
“I know.” He said simply, pulling me close once more. “But just one last time, can I pretend you were mine?”
Wow, that actually rhymed. If this was some lame cliché movie, I would have gagged at those mushy words. But this was happening to me! Ugh, and I actually liked it. What the hell is wrong with me?
Before I could react, I found his lips locked with mine. I stood rooted to the ground, wide-eyed and stunned.
Cole moaned and I closed my eyes, following my instincts to kiss him back. My conscience was gnawing at my heart, but I tried my best to ignore it. Just one last time.
Just as I was about to deepen the kiss to a whole next level, Cole broke away from it.
“So, how was it?” He smirked, smacking his lips together in satisfaction.
I tried to act nonchalant about it, even though my heart was hammering against my chest. “You’re a bad kisser, just saying.” I shrugged, smirking back.
“W-what?” Cole cried out, unable to believe his ears. “It’s not possible! I’m the best kisser this city has!”
“I’ve kissed better.” I challenged.
“Let me try one more time.”
I did a double-take at his words. “What?! No—“
His lips crashed into mine once more, and my heart skipped a beat. My hands involuntarily snaked up to his head, where I weaved my fingers into his hair, feeling the softness of it and enjoying it.
It was a gentle kiss. Without thinking, I kissed her back with a little bit of spark, so he kissed me back with a slightly higher voltage, and she returned that with enough electricity to light the biggest Christmas tree in the entire world.
“Oh my god they’re ki-i-i-ssing!” I heard someone gasp in a whisper. Then following it were plenty of “shhh”-es.
My eyes shot open as I jolted away from Cole, shutting down the electricity just before circuit breakers started popping. We both turned our bodies hastily to where the voices came from, only to find forty pairs of eyes staring intently at us in rapt attention.
My heart stopped beating momentarily as my jaw hung open. A hush fell over us as the kids, totally enthralled, stood there in awestruck silence.
“That was sooooo awesome!” A voice from amongst the kids broke the silence. The kids erupted into spontaneous uproars.
“Do it again!”
“It was so romantic!”
Then they started chanting. Oh god. “Cole and Dino-clown sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”
“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby ca—“
Cole chuckled. “Okay that’s enough kids.”
The little blonde girl from before stepped out of the crowd, her eyes brimmed with tears. “I-I thought you p-promised to m-marry me when I got older, Cole…” She muttered, her lips quavering.
I quickly explained, horrified at the thought that she believed I was marrying Cole. “I’m not marrying Cole, kids! He’s my brother!”
They all gasped in horror and hell broke loose.
“You kissed your brother?”
“Isn’t that incest?”
“Insects? Where are the insects?”
Cole glared at me. “Nice going, Alyssa.”
I opened my mouth to protest but nothing came out, only a whimper. I messed up my hair in exasperation.
“Kids.” Cole calmly said. But they still weren’t listening. “Kids!”
They all shut up, looking up at Cole who seemed weary. I kind of felt bad for him.
He forced a smile. “Look, kids. Alyssa and I aren’t marrying.” He then bent down to face the bawling-like-it’s-the-end-of-the-world kid that realized Cole wasn’t going to marry her. “And Joey, I’m sure you’ll find a better husband than me. Okay?”
She nodded her head slowly, dabbing her tears away. “Okay. But if I can’t find a better husband, then you have to marry me, all right?”
Cole smiled at her, and I found myself smiling too. “Sure.”
Jayden then popped out of nowhere, reaching out to cuddle her comfortingly. Awwww, that was so sweet of Jayden.
“I’m Cole’s brother. You can marry me if you like.”
Cole and I turned to gape at each other, laughing amusedly at Jayden’s words.
"Jayden!" I cried out in disbelief.
Joey sniffed. “Fine. Seeing that you’re quite handsome, even though not as gorgeous as Cole, you can have my hand in marriage.”
~*~*~