"Now," Kyle drawled, "two scoops of ice cream and some sangria," he paused dramatically as he poured the two together, "Voila! The world's best float!" He handed the sloshing cup to Emily who clumsily reached for it.
She clapped enthusiastically before breaking out into a giggle, "You're magical!" Oh Lord. What am I saying? She wasn't usually such a lightweight nor did she usually behave so ridiculously. But today, she decided, she'll slip up a little. After all she deserves a break from the dreariness of reality. Just a little. She slurped the foam, before breaking out into a smile.
They were sitting on top of a hill in Central Park and Emily could see a large chunk of the Manhattan sky line which the sunset was casting an orangey glow to. The sun seemed so large and Emily attempted to hold the light and watched as the sunlight seeped through her fingers. If there was a heaven, it would be like this.
"You like the view?"
She nodded as she turned to Kyle who was watching the sunset as well. His red hair looked ablaze in the light and she reached over to touch it.
"Your hair's like sunlight," she murmured.
"What?" He raised a brow skeptically.
"You needa dye your hair back to natural color," she said loudly. She buried her face in her knees in embarrassment.
"Whatever. Man, you just killed this moment," he complained jokingly.
She stuck her tongue out before slowly sipping the drink again.
Kyle leaned back and placed his head on her shoulder. Emily poked his side so that he scooted away.
"No PDA," she said somberly.
"We're not at school," scoffed Kyle.
"Still," she said as she scooted away from him. Half her butt was sitting on the grass while the other half was on the blanket. Kyle chuckled to himself. It's cute how stubborn she is, he thought.
"Fine fine, come back here. I won't publicly display any signs of affection." Emily warily glared at him before scooting back onto the blanket. She stared at him. His silver hoop earrings. His bright red hair. His dark blue eyes. The freckles on his face. His dimple. His hands. His Adam's apple. His fingers. She gulped her drink and scooted back to the grass. She was too aware of him.
"Fine, don't trust me then," said Kyle. "Here, I'll get on the grass. You get on the blanket."
"Stop being so nice to me," said Emily petulantly as she sipped more on her drink.
Kyle laughed. "Ok. I'll continue being a dick for you."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Kyle. I felt like you were on the right track for a bit. Why'd you have to revert back to your dick ways?"
Kyle scratched his head sheepishly. She would call him out like that.
"I don't know," he mumbled. What triggered him? He knew exactly what did. All those guys. Emily looking beautiful. He blushed at that thought. All those guys flocking to Emily. All those comments he heard in the line about her body, her face, what they'd like to do to her. Emily's complete lack of interest in him and focus on those skeevy guys. He had felt so much frustration with himself about why the hell he cared so much when she was just doing her job. He felt frustrated at her for not realizing their intentions. He felt frustrated that she didn't notice him in the crowd. He glanced at her. Did she have any idea of how aware he was of her? How so much of what he thinks or does is influenced by her?
"I guess," he mused, "I just want your undivided attention."
Emily smirked. What you don't realize is that you always had it. You're always occupying my mind. But she wasn't going to tell him that. Instead, she said, "you certainly got it." She sipped her drink.
He sighed. "Yeah, I am sorry about that."
"It's okay," she said. "Next time you want my attention. Just call me up like today." She smiled at him. His heart skipped a beat. He quickly looked away.
"How is it?" He asked, changing the subject.
"It's so yummy," she said. She tipped the mug more and poured the bittersweet drink into her mouth, downing it in a few gulps.
"Slow down" laughed Kyle. "There's more to come."
Whoa. All of a sudden, the drinks she had been downing hit her. She smiled as she felt her vision swirl. "Kyle, there's two of you!" Reaching out her hand, she attempted to touch him only to have her arm flail around in the air.
Kyle laughed harder. "I was wondering how you were holding your alcohol that well."
After last night's drinking binge, he had stuck with drinking just a glass but Emily was finishing the bottle. "Actually, I change my mind. There's no more to come," said Kyle.
"What!" Emily frowned and her green eyes narrowed. "No! I want more."
"Too bad, here, have the ice cream instead."
"No! I want the magical float!" She whined. He chuckled slightly.
"You're like a little kid."
Emily glared, "Shaddup! You don't have the right to say that."
He laughed, "No seriously. Look at you," he pointed at the area around his lips, "There's foam all over your lips."
"What?" She rubbed her hand over her lips but ended up smearing it all over her face.
He shook his head, "I'm never taking you drinking again." He leaned in and brushed his fingers over her cheeks and then wiped the foam off her lips. He realized the proximity and quickly attempted to move his hand when she grabbed his fingers. Her dark green eyes were slightly muddled and her cheeks red. He felt himself flush at the proximity, but felt himself draw nearer and nearer to her when she muttered, "you kissing monster."
He drew back hastily. "What?"
She screeched loudly, "You kissing monster!" Several people turned to look at them and he quickly covered her mouth which she bit promptly.
"You were trying to kiss me again, weren't you?" She scowled as she pointed an accusing finger against his chest.
"When did I kiss you?"
She gasped. "Of course-of course you wouldn't remember kissing me 4 frigging times in a day!"
"What, when did I?"
She glared at him ruefully, "Mr. Spider Man. Spinning me in your icky web, catching me off guard. You SPIDER."
"What in the world are you talking about?" He asked in distress. What exactly did he do? And why was he even distressed?
"Don't play dumb with me!" She yelled disorderedly. "Here, you want to kiss me that much? Go on kiss me!" She pushed herself at him and as he frantically tried to crawl away from her, they ended up rolling down the hill. It might've been cute if she landed on top of him, but instead she was twitching awkwardly below him when he suddenly flashbacked to last night.
"Holy shit."
"No profanity!" He heard from under him when he rolled over, he suddenly relapsed to all that happened starting from the anger he felt to Brent and Emmett and all those other pricks, to nearly having sex in public, and finally the spider man moment. What the hell was wrong with me? Don't tell me I've fallen for her. She's not even my type! But the nagging feeling hit him again and he jolted up at the memory. I confessed to you.
"To me?" spouted Emily.
Did I say that out loud?
"Oh," she said, "that."
"That?"
"You're talking about last night, right? When you were acting like a big baby and out of the blue said 'I like you and mumbled other gibberish!"
She mumbled 'I like you' but it still caused him to flush. The last time he actually confessed to someone was in third grade-for a school play. Fuck. I can't believe I did that. He didn't respond. His heart started pumping hard and his stomach fluttered in what he recognized as nervousness. Was he seriously nervous about whether she'd accept or not?
"Kyle Duncan."
"Yeah," he replied tentatively.
"You suck."
"Sorry." Honestly, he felt like shit. How'd he forget something like that? He imagined kissing her again and he felt his heart beat rapidly. No. This was never part of my game plan. My heart shouldn't be racing because of some girl. This was a first. A really, really big first. But Emily wasn't some girl. She had went from being a stranger, to a nuisance, to a friend, and now to his crush. He couldn't even tell her-well he did but she didn't take him seriously.
"Hey, a butterfly." Emily distracted him from his musings. A large orange butterfly was hovering over them and Emily was watching it fascinatedly. She slowly stood up and reached out for it, only for it to fly away. Her eyebrows knit in concentration she reached out again and stumbled forward. The butterfly kept flitting away and Emily was running all over the hill. Kyle sighed. There he was worrying about her response and all she cared about was a butterfly. Oh well. That's Emily for you. She was absolutely clueless when it came to anything outside of rules. He smirked slightly before brushing the grass off his pants and standing up.
"Emily!" He called out. "Be careful, the hill could be pretty steep in some areas."
Sure enough a squeal and a thud were heard.
"Emily?" He ran towards the sound worriedly.
"Kyleeee," Emily shouted. "Look what I found!"
He looked down to see her unharmed pointing at the Bethesda Fountain and let out a sigh of relief. "That's cool."
"I want to swim in it," she exclaimed.
"What?" He wondered if he heard correctly.
"Come on!" She shrieked excitedly.
"It's getting dark," he protested, "And I don't have my swim trunks. Plus, is that even allowed?"
Emily smirked challengingly. "And when did rules ever stop you?"
He raised an eyebrow in bemusement but grinned as well. "Challenge accepted. Lets do this."
He laughed as he chased after her. She was behaving completely different from usual. Heck, he couldn't believe she actually took the drink.
"Aw, yeah!" She crowed as she raced to the fountain to the stares of others.
Emily's mind screamed no but for once she's going to follow her heart, and her heart said screw rules. She climbed over the fountain walls and carelessly dipped her feet into the water.
"It's frigging cold," she shrieked as she laughed. But instead of going back out, she slowly lowered more of herself into the water till half her body was submerged.
"Damn, it's freezing!" Kyle yelped.
"No profanity!" She yelled, splashing water onto him and he gaped as the water dripped down his face. He narrowed his eyes and shock was replaced with mischievousness and he reached down to splash her. Laughing, Emily floundered away but failed to get very far. He retaliated and she did as well, a round of mega water splashing began and soon enough they were soaked head to toe.
Kyle's stomach hurt from laughing so hard and his heart and the coldness of the water no longer fazed him. In fact, he felt incredibly warm even though it was nearly nine pm. As they sat on the edge of the fountain, he couldn't help but wish this could last forever. He watched her splash with her feet languidly and she didn't pay him any attention. Emily's dark hair was dripping wet and her entire blouse-was well, soaked. Her dark blue bra was clearly noticeable even in the dim lighting and he picked up the jacket he discarded and wrapped it around her.
"I'm not cold," she complained.
"Just put it on," he muttered. He didn't know what he might do if she kept behaving so innocuously.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever broken a promise?"
He paused. A promise? He was never one to actually make one. Everything he did was half ass so what's the point of promising?
"No."
"Have you ever lied?"
"Sure." He sighed wondering where this was going.
"What would you do if someone lied to you?"
He thought carefully again. No one was stupid enough to lie to him in the face-if they were caught, they'd be dead. But then again, they probably lied to him all the time-to the point that whatever they said becomes the truth. Then he thought about his mom, and felt his grip tighten, then his father. Shit.
"I'd hate them."
She laughed softly. "Right? Probably-no I really would."
She let out a small sigh.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just cause."
Emily kicked the water a bit more. She was finally sobering up and she realized the harshness of her situation. She was a liar. Not to just her mother but Kyle, no, the entire school. Her entire life was shadowed from before, and there was nothing she could do but cover it up as much as possible. But even that was slowly coming apart. If Brent could track me down, slowly but surely, David will find out soon. Her gaze flickered to Kyle who was innocently playing with the button on the jacket. A small smile grew on her lips but her heart felt heavy. He thinks he's so tough, but he's so... innocent. Real. He'd hate me. He'd hate me for sure if I told him who I am. God, I'm such a liar.
"Emily," he began.
"Yeah?" She said as brightly as possible.
"What I did last night, I'm sorry."
Her heart hammered but she put a silly smile on her face. "It's okay but don't joke around about that again!"
"What!" He protested but she turned her back away from him. This wasn't right. He shouldn't. He couldn't. They were so different, but he couldn't stop himself.
"Ems, last night, I might've been drunk-but I'm serious. I think-I think I've fallen for you."
She didn't respond but her chest tightened.
Kyle fiddled more with the button and bit his lips uncertainly. "Ems?"
He looked over to her other side and saw that she had fallen asleep.
"Just great," he muttered sarcastically. His first serious confession and she's fallen asleep. He gently picked her up and pushed her over his back, wrapping her arms around him so he can piggy back her up to the hill.
After cleaning up, he drove Emily back home and placed her back in the bed. He stretched his back before helping himself to a cup of water. Who knew such a tiny girl could weigh so much? He walked out of her room only to run into Vice Principal Henderson, a face he hadn't seen in a while.
"Mr. Duncan," asked Henderson in a shocked tone of voice. "What are you doing here? And were you just in Emily's bed room?"
Kyle gave him a breezy smile, "Yes sir. I just dropped her off after uh-some exercise at Central Park."
"Really?"
"What kind of exercise?"
"Just a light swim."
Mr. Henderson eyed him suspiciously before looking at the door.
"Is Miss. Schuster asleep?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then, off you go. You need your sleep if you want to be alert tomorrow!"
Kyle gave a little nod and sauntered off.
xx
Emily looked out the window and watched as he entered the car. Pressing her fingers to the cold glass window, she murmured, "Sorry Kyle." When he looked up out of the window, she quickly hid herself behind the curtains and watched him drive away. I will make sure that everything will go back to the way it was before.
Kyle checked the gas level and let out a sigh. He'll need to get some gas before heading home. He quickly changed lanes and made a U turn to the nearby gas station. He inserted the credit card and pushed the nozzle into the car. He pulled out a cigarette when Emily's face popped into his head.
"Damn it." He tossed the box into the nearby trashcan when he heard a shriek from the corner of the station.
He pouted slightly in curiosity and slowly walked over. There, he saw a tall, blonde girl getting hassled by a group of thugs. They were crowding around her and leering dangerously.
"Come on gorgeous, lets go," one sleazily whispered into her ear.
Running his hand over his hair in irritation Kyle jumped into the scene, "What the hell do you guys think you are doing?"
They jolted in surprise before sneering.
"Fuck off pretty boy," one snarled at him.
"What did you just call me?" He said ominously.
"I said pretty-his fist flew into face causing him to choke in his words.
"You're dead, boy!" One bellowed rushing to him which Kyle easily avoided. He kicked the fallen guy's stomach sharply and then spun to punch the next goon. In a matter of minutes, the guys were helplessly rolling around on the floor and the girl was squatting near the wall in shock.
"You bastards better run off now," Kyle threatened menacingly and they quickly complied. Once gone, Kyle slowly walked over to the girl.
"You really shouldn't walk around alone at night. It's dangerous," he said as he offered his hand to her.
She took it and gave him a tense smile, "Thanks."
He gave a nod and walked back to his car.
"For nothing," she muttered darkly. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out crossly.
"How'd it go?"
"Fine, till this guy jumped in out of nowhere." She muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"They were about to take me to the turf but this random ass guy came out of nowhere."
There was a pause in the line. "Look, I'm sorry. I'll fix it." She begged.
"Whatever," he whispered darkly. "I was a fool for entrusting you with something like this."
"No-"Don't say anything. Just get your ass back home and you've just made my decision even firmer. You're marrying Kyle Duncan no matter what."
"No David! Don't-I can't," but the dial died and she was left alone on the street curb. "But I love you," she whispered softly.
To all you readers, I apologize profusely. I'm so so so so sorry for lagging for so frigging long! I hope you enjoyed the chapter which was a lot mellower compared to the previous chapters-well if you don't count the last bit! xP Oh and even with the mellowness, there's a lot going inside the characters dontcha think? Thank you for being so patient with me and all reviews are greatly appreciated! xx