These past five months - It's late February now - I've grown really attached to Robert; not clingy, but we've gotten really close. Not to mention, Logan has gotten more overprotective whenever I was around, but he'd also have this really guilty look smeared across his face.
Evan seemed satisfied that Logan didn't seem to be affiliated with me so much, and he seemed to put that day behind us. Emmaly was cool with Robert and I hanging around each other a lot and would sometimes make jokes about us, being together. Sometimes, we three would have a sleepover at my house but my Dad would complain since there'd been too many feathers leaking out of the pillows from our intense pillow fights. But Robert and I alone, we'd have slumber parties at his house once a week. Or sometimes we'd just hang out, 'cause his house was across the street, so it didn't really matter.
Angela had also seemed distant and barely came to school now and then. She'd accidentally expose bruises every now and then and whenever people asked, she'd just call them battle scars and say that she won a street fight, but Emmaly and I could see through her lies. If she ever was at school, instead of anticipating the dismissal at the end of the day, she'd hate it and try to sneak into afterschool as if she was scared of going home. Her car was taken away from her too apparently.
Stuffed in my bag, was Logan's gift for our one year anniversary. It was a football autographed by John Elway. I know that it's his favorite quarterback player in the world and since he has a history of letting footballs go wild in the neighbor's backyards, his mom recently put a ban on buying anymore of them because it's a waste of money to get a new football every month. He's been football ridden for three months and still without any news from his neighbors about accepting his apology and giving back his collection of footballs, so I might as well make life easier for him and give him this.
After passing by my locker during dismissal, I darted to Logan's car in the school parking lot. A smile befalled on my lips as I approached him confidently with the football in my backpack. He smirked, extending his arms towards me for a hug. I leapt into his arms and dug my face into his chest, smelling an unfamiliar cologne; I was so use to Robert's smell, that I've forgotten how Logan has smelled like.
"Hey babe," I pecked Logan on the lips.
"Hey," He responded. "What's up?"
I frowned, but it quickly faded away, realizing the dumb game he must have been playing. "I got you something."
"You did?" He smirked.
"Yeah," I nodded and released my arms from his chest, and pulled out the football from my bag. Logan's blue eyes widened and he choked on his own breath. I guess he wasn't expecting this as his aniversary present.
"What's the occasion?" He asked, shocked and really happy.
The happy aura that surrounded me immediately fell. "Are you kidding me?"
Logan became puzzled,"What?"
"It's our one year anniversary, you jerk!" I stormed off and threw the football at the rim of his car, setting off the alarm.
Logan chased after me, but I got inside of Emmaly's car and locked him out. Thankfully, she let me borrow it while being on a one-week cruise with her family. He kept pounding on the windows apologetically, but I twisted my car keys in the ignition and drove off, barely giving a damn about running over his feet and crossing the speed limit. My car surpassed a random direction that definitely wasn't home's way, but I sped off anyway. Tears were welling up in the cliffs of my eyes and I stopped in the middle of a vacant road, sobbing loudly at the convenience of Logan forgetting our one year anniversary which was supposed to be jolly and important. After I was certain that I've exceeded my limit of tears, I took in my reflection with the car mirrors. Mascara and eyeliner were stained on my face, strands of my hair were bouncing out of the ponytail that I put it in, my lips were quavering because of my chattering teeth, and my face was powdered with pink signaling that I've been crying.
I lamented and shifted my car back into its driving course and took note of where I was, and started to drive back to my house. But of course, halfway there, the car died on the lack of gasoline in its fuel tank. I groaned and retreated from the vehicle and scartched my head, looking around. Surprisingly, I ended up stuck in the place where Logan had forgotten our anniversary. The school parking lot was vacant except for one boy tap dancing his way out of school. I narrowed my eyes and locked the car, walking towards him. As I got closer, more of his facial features became more familiar and I grinned.
"Robert?" My shout startled him, but he smiled and ran over to me.
"What're you doing here?" He asked, continuing to tap dance and not look up at me.
"Shouldn't I be asking that question?"
"Yeah, I was trying out for the school musical and one of the teachers betted on me that I'd win. Isn't that great?"
"Wish I'd been there, but I've been wasting gas from driving around town. So, I got stuck here with Emmaly's car and that's why I'm here." I said glumly.
Robert stopped dancing and looked at me, gasping. He thumbed my cheeks that had faded make-up and pulled me in for a hug. I enveloped Robert in my arms, burying my head in his shoulders, silently whimpering.
"What happened?" He asked, still in this position.
"Logan forgot our anniversary," I said. "Geez, now that I'm saying it out loud, it sounds stupid."
"No, no," Robert calmed. "I'd be mad too. Especialy if it were my first anniversary."
"It was our first.." I quavered in his arms, losing track of my words and hugging him tighter.
But Robert pulled away and licked his thumb, wiping away the make up that were dried up on my cheeks. I smiled and he showed off his perfect new teeth that suited his face magnificently. He grabbed my hand and filled in the spaces between my fingers with his, clasping his hand around mine and walking us in the direction of home. I left Emmaly's car parked beside the school lot. I'll come back for it tomorrow. Realizing that the car keys were still in my hands, I shoved them it my pockets and swayed Robert and I's linked hands back and forth.
"Let's ditch tomorrow."
I looked at Robert like he was crazy, "Uh.. I don't think that's a good idea."
"You don't wanna go to school, I don't really care about school. C'mon, just for a day."
"But we have nowhere to go," I countered. "And definitely not home."
"Definitely not. You have Emmaly's car, right?"
"It's out of gas though."
"I could bring a gallon of gas from my garage and just fill the tank." Robert said. "You still got those ice skates I got you?"
I nodded. "Then I know just where to go," Robert grinned. "Ever been ice skating?" He twirled me around like a ballerina, making me laugh and feel like a princess. Why doesn't Logan do this?
Robert and I went seperate ways after saying good bye. I strutted inside my house, hanging my head, trying to hide evidence that I had been crying. But as soon as the door closed, I could feel the stomps of my father thundering through the halls as he stormed in front of me and pulled me into a big hug.
"Where were you, young lady?" He boomed.
"Sad." I admitted.
"Why?" The concern in his voice was so sudden, it almost knocked me off my feet.
"Logan," I uttered and before I could say anything else, Dad paced around the house, muttering things to himself and cracking his knuckles.
"Dad," I interrupted. "It's alright. We didn't break up, he just forgot our anniversary and I might've overreacted."
"Was that autographed football for him? You know how hard it was to get an autograph from Elway and he just disrespects you like that and .. Was it for him?"
I nodded slightly.
He paced even faster and I heard him mumble words like, "That boy is gonna pay. I'm going to break into his house, wreck his room, and get that football back, while messing up his pretty little face because he doesn't deserve it."
He stopped pacing and looked at me, "On a totally unrelated note, have you seen my shotgun anywhere?"
"Dad!" I shouted, but eased at him joking.
"I lost my shotgun years ago, don't worry."
"Can I ditch school tomorrow?" I asked. "Robert wants to cheer me up and bring me ice skating tomorrow."
"Robert, Robert, Robert. He sounds like a nice guy. You talk about him all the time. Why don't you date him instead? And yes sweetie you can."
I beamed and kissed my Dad on the cheek, prancing up the stairs to my room. I looked at all of the photos pinned up to the bullentin board of Robert and I together, my family, or just Emmaly. I grinned to myself and grabbed a photo album from one of my shelves that Robert always said would come in handy. I unpinned the photos of only Robert and I and slid them into each slot on a page in a photo album.
-
"I still think I should be driving," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Uh huh," Robert said, letting his arm hang out the window and the breezes nip at his hair. "Tell me, who knows where the ice skating rink is, again?" He cupped his hand over one ear and leaned in towards me.
I rolled my eyes and he clicked his tongue. I heaved a sigh and sat in the chair, looking at Robert. He had his normal cheeky smile on that he always had whenever he was around me. When we stopped at a red light, he looked at me and I tried to see those beautiful brown eyes behind his shades, but he just looked back at the road and continued driving when the street light turned green. Finally, he pulled into a parking lot.
He stepped out of the car and dashed to the other side just to open my door and grab my hand to help me out. We grabbed our ice skates from the trunk of Emmaly's car and walked hand in hand to the booth.
"That'll be a five dollar fee to skate in this rink and seven dollars to rent ice skates." The woman said without looking at us, just pushing buttons on the cash register.
"I'm paying for both." Robert said, handing her a ten dollar bill. "We brought our own skates."
The woman finally looked up at us. Or should I say, looked up at Robert without even paying me a glimpse. She started twirling her blonde hair and batting her eyelashes at Robert. When she noticed that Robert's arm was now wrapped around my waist, a scowl came onto her face.
"Shouldn't you be in school?" She snapped at me.
"She's with me." Robert said calmly.
She furrowed her eyebrows at me, glaring at me with her olive green eyes. I smirked when I noticed that one of her fake eyelashes were coming loose from all the daggers she was shooting at me with her eyes.
"Sorry, but you got something in your eye, over here." I said blandly, pointing at my own eyelashes.
She took out a pocket mirror and looked at her reflection, fixing on her fake eyelash back onto her left eye. She literally let a growl erupt in the back of her throat. I shrugged and narrowed my eyes at the name tag pinned on her shirt.
"Heather," I said. "May I call you that?
"No."
"Well, thanks for everything, Heather." I grabbed the ten dollar bill that was still resting in Robert's palm and slammed it in front of Heather. "But me and my boyfriend are going to go ice skating now. Bye."
We walked past the booth and into the rink and I felt Robert's eyes staring at me with his dopey smile. I sat on a bench and Robert bent down on one knee to start untying my shoes.
"So, I'm your boyfriend now, huh?" Robert couldn't help but smile.
"For the day," I admitted. "Not letting that fake barbie doll take you away."
"You're my girlfriend!" He sang. My cheeks burned with pink and I hung my head, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing. I was also trying to hide the fact that I wanted to be his girlfriend. My Dad was right; I did talk about him all the time, and he was sweet, charming, nice, and cute. I mean, just look at him lacing on the ice skates on my right foot now.
After he was done helping me put on the ice skates, he put his own skates on his feet. He stood up, trying to balance on the thin steel of the skates, and held out his hand for me to hold while we walked to the ice.
"Alright, girlfriend," He emphasized my temporary label and chuckled. "You've never been ice skating, have you?"
"Nope. I didn't even know that there were ice skating rinks in California."
"During this time, they do, babe." He seemed shocked when he let that word slip out of his mouth but covered it up quickly, seeing that I didn't question anything about it.
He intertwined his fingers with mine and instructed me how to ice skate. It was honestly just roller skating on ice. I just had to make sure the ice skates were tied tightly and we had to run in a balanced speed that was controllable.
Robert twirled me around like a ballerina on ice and he enjoyed seeing me laugh and spin off on my own when he let go. They started to play music and it was a slow song now. Robert put his hands on my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck. The song was announced as "Driven qto Tears" by The Police.
Robert sang along with it and he was amazing at singing. In fact, he harmonized perfectly with Sting in the group. I smiled and buried my head in the crook of his neck and a smile crept onto my face when I felt him kiss my forehead.
"I love you," He whispered, but hesistated. "Uh, girlfriend."
"I love you too, Robert." I replied. I really did.
We danced on ice and sang along to the rest of the song. Robert and I left the ice rink and walked hand-in-hand around the block. Just for fun. We swayed our arms back and forth and just talked. It was almost five o' clock and I really didn't want this day to end.
"It was fun being your boyfriend for a day."
"Yeah. It seemed so real," I muttered mostly to myself.
"But you know what?"
"What?" I asked, confused as to where this was going.
"Real couples kiss and we didn't at all today."
"But, um, we're not really a real couple." I stuttered and blushed. I did want to kiss him but I was still afraid.
What if I kissed bad? Logan never really told me that I was a good kisser. And what would Logan think? This doesn't count as cheating, right? We're just taking a break from each other. Well, I am.
"For the day we are a real couple." Robert said, stopping in his tracks and backing me up against the brick wall of a building.
"What is your point?" I asked,
He laid his palms on the wall and hung his head over mine, his breath ticking my upper lips. His breath also smelled minty which was intoxicating my senses. I stared at his pink, plush lips and then at his eyes that were full of black lust and dragging me to the end of this.
"I want a kiss." He huskily whispered.
"Just one?" I said in a low voice that I didn't know I could use.
"Deal."
I was about to lean in the rest of the way and close in the space between us but, then a drop of water fell on my face. I let my palms rise and felt more water dropping from the sky. When I looked at Robert, that lust in his eyes were gone and he seemed disappointed that it had to rain now. It dawned on me that there may be a slight chance he may like me too.
Robert was about to turn around, but I grabbed the collar of his shirt and smashed my lips onto his. He caressed my cheeks while I grasped onto handfuls of his hair, just something to hold on to while Robert and I started tangling tongues. He removed his lips from mine and started kissing my jaw and traced it onto my collarbone. I let out a moan and breathed heavily when Robert stopped kissing me. He pecked me one more time and I could see the redness in his face even in the dark. We walked away back into the parking lot and we both had smiles on our faces that wouldn't go away. The butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps in my arms were some of the symptoms of the disease I had that just wouldn't go away.
When we got in the car, we started to drive home in literal, utter less silence. While Robert was drving, I continued grazing my red lips with my index finger.
"Thanks." I said.
"For what?"
"For today and making one of my wishes come true."
"What's the wish? To kiss the amazing Robert Downey Jr?" He chuckled and I did too, but I wasn't going to satisfy him that and tell him it was true.
"No, you conceited jerk," I joked. "To be kissed in the rain. Logan kept complaining about how he didn't want to get his sneakers wet in the rain when I asked him about it."
Robert's knuckles seemed to get white as his grip on the steering wheel became harder at the mention of Logan. His jaw clenched and he sighed loudly.
"Are you breaking up with him?" He asked.
"I don't know." I shrugged.
"You don't know? You guys barely talk and you cried because he forgot your first anniversary and he wouldn't get wet in the rain for you but you'd still be with him? Had he ever came up with the idea and taken you ice skating? Had he ever taken you anywhere, for instance?"
I paused and let silence fill the car. After a while, I said, "No."
"You're not breaking up with him." Robert confirmed.
"Well that and he never had taken me anywhere."
"Seriously? And you still wanna be with him?" He snickered and shook his head to himself.
"Yeah." I mumbled.
"Why?" He said angrily. I don't know if he's angry at me or at himself.
"Because he's the only guy that had ever asked me out!" I admitted, shouting a bit. "Okay?"
Robert seemed to calm down and sigh, muttering words to himself that I didn't care about. He pulled over into the driveway of my house and tossed me the keys. He didn't even help me out of the car like he usually did. He just said a quick good bye and walked to his house.