Nueve
The week flew by with nothing too unusual. Olivia gave me looks here and there but I managed to ignore them, at least most of them. I did feel slightly guilty though; even though there wasn't anything remotely close to romance going between Lawrence and I. Saturday was the day that I was supposed to go to his house. But really, I was just meeting his younger siblings.
When Saturday came, I almost forgot. But a reminder I had set on my phone reminded me. Which makes sense since it was called a "reminder".
My mom was home today, which was absolutely surprising, especially since it was a Saturday and I expected her to be away visiting her friend. Speaking of her "friend", I really needed to find a good time to talk to her about this. But today just wasn't that time.
She knocked on my door around one in the afternoon.
"Come in," I said without looking up from my pile of clothes I had on my bed. There was a limited amount of outfits I could choose from since I was no fashionista.
"You going on a date?" My mom asked without a doubt. How did she know?
"Uh..."
"C'mon, it's pretty obvious. I've never seen you actually care about what you were wearing; at least not until recently..." she scratched the back of her head a little, almost embarrassed.
"Mom, what are you talking about?" I gasped at her. Since when did she start noticing what I wear?
"Don't play dumb Alice," she wiggled her eyebrows, "I've seen boy you've been acting all googly-eyes over. Lawrence, right?"
Ugh, my mother, thinks she knows all about feelings and relationships. But she doesn't, and she's most definitely wrong this time.
"Well, yes, I am hanging out with Lawrence but no, don't even go there," I shook my head distastefully. I did get why she would think that though, I've never actually hung out with a guy here in Florida, when I come over in the summer time, I mostly sulk at her house and count down the days until I'm back home. I don't actually socialize. "I'm going on a date with someone else,"
She didn't even respond to that statement but just chuckled to herself. "Alright, whatever you say," Seriously? It was just Tami who thought about this but now my mom joined her side? Wow. Plus, I WAS going on a date with Hunter, not Lawrence, did she seriously not believe me?
My mom walked over to the bed I was sitting on and looked at the pile of clothes. After a few seconds she pulled a baby blue dress out from beneath the pile and a denim-studded vest.
She didn't say anything but only placed those pieces of clothing on my lap and gave me a thumbs up and a wink. Then she left the room.
I gaped after her, she just chose an outfit for me to wear and I had no idea if I should wear it, I guess my mom did have a better fashion sense than I did. Plus, the dress was foreign to me; I had never worn in before in my life.
To be very honest, I didn't know whom I was even dressing up for. I mean, sure, Hunter was the guy I was going on a date with, but I was also going to see Lawrence after. I liked Hunter, but the way I liked him, confused me a lot.
After awhile of throwing different shirts, skirts, and leggings on the ground, I eventually came to a conclusion. I sucked at picking date outfits. So I threw on the dress and the vest my mom had picked out for me earlier. It wasn't too bad.
Then I went to the bathroom and applied a little make-up, I know, shocking.
By that time, it was almost two and knowing Hunter, he wouldn't be late. So I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs. When I got to the foot of it, Olivia stared at me.
"Why are you here?" I asked, a little nervous to see her. Why was she here on a Saturday? All the workers who worked on the weekdays were off on weekends and Olivia was one of them.
"Just getting my paycheck," she smirked at me for no reason.
"Cool," I gave her a quick smile and hoped I could be on my way, but she blocked my path with her arm and I knew she didn't want me to leave, not yet.
"I see you're going somewhere," I frowned; it was none of her business.
"Yes, and I would like it if you would move," by that point I was a little agitated and just wanted to go to the movies with Hunter.
"Aw, don't be like that," her icy eyes pierced into mine like sharpened knives. I wanted to look away but she kept my eyes locked to hers. "Tell me the truth, are you going to see Lawrence?"
"No, she's going to see me," a strong arm wrapped around shoulders and I jumped a little out of pure surprise. I looked up and saw Hunter's glistening eyes giving Olivia a very angry look.
"Oh, in that case then," Olivia's face lit up, and I knew why. Hunter wasn't Lawrence and that was all she really cared about, "you guys have fun," she gave us a smile that looked genuine, probably the smile she gave to my mom.
After she left Hunter kept his arm around me and we walked out of the diner through all the people who sat at the tables. His arm was strong, maybe a little bit too strong, I wanted to shrug out of it but I didn't want to make him feel bad and make me seem rude so I didn't.
"You look great today," Hunter smiled at me warmly and I blushed a little. He had on a plaid shirt with some dark jeans and his dirt coloured hair was gelled to the side perfectly. He looked preppy, and I didn't know if I liked his style of not.
"So what was Olivia talking about?" Hunter asked once we were in his car and on the way to the theatre.
"Huh?"
"About you to see Lawrence, why would she ask that?" he kept his eyes on the road but I sensed him tensing up, just a tad bit.
"Oh I dunno..." I said innocently without elaborating. I didn't want him to know I've been hanging out with Lawrence.
"Lawrence has his issues you know, we used to be good friends but after that family incident...we drifted apart, he's been pretty bitter ever since," Hunter shook his head, as if he felt bad for Lawrence and I would've too if I knew he had to go through a horrible family incident. "He's also the owner of that house the party was at a few weeks ago,"
"Oh wow, really?" I pretended to be surprised and Hunter believed me.
"Mhm,"
We made very little talk the whole way to the theatre, to be honest, it was awkward. Like extremely awkward, he was pretty tense most of the time as if he was afraid to say the wrong thing, and because of tension between us, I didn't want to say much either. With Lawrence it was different. We could make fun of each other as much as we'd liked and it was barely ever awkward.
"I'll pay for your ticket," Hunter grabbed his wallet and pulled out some bills. I tried to stop him with my arms but obviously it was pointless.
"It's okay, I got this," I tried to pass the cashier my own bills. But Hunter stopped my and almost forced his money into the cashier's hands. Her eyes were wide and she was staring at us like we were aliens. "You really didn't need to do that, I could've paid for myself,"
"Alice, it's a date," he shook his head at me and went ahead to the concession stand. "I'm paying for the popcorn and drinks too. Don't even try,"
I didn't try because I knew it would be pointless.
The movie was about to start when we arrived at our seats and the only sound that was audible were the hushed whispers of the couples around us and the narrator on the screen. There were barely any people here, only a few couples.
It felt weird to sit with Hunter in a theatre full of lovers because I clearly wasn't like them and I didn't love the guy who was sitting beside me. Maybe I liked him, I don't even know now.
Sometime during the middle of the movie, I felt something inching towards my hand, it was a shadow and at first I thought it was a centipede, but then I realized it was actually Hunter's hand and you would think that after knowing the thing moving towards my hand was not a multi-legged insect, I should loosen up, because after all, it was his hand. But nope, I tensed up even more. I've never been a situation like this one before, what was I supposed to do? Wait until he grabs my hand? Go grab his hand? Or just place my hand back on my lap?
He didn't stall anymore and just placed a hand on mine, they weren't sweaty but mine were, and I'm glad it was the back of my hand that came in contact with his.
I looked at him and he was staring back at me with something in his eyes I couldn't really decipher. I gave a little shaky that I wasn't sure if he saw because the screen went dark at that moment and I leaned against the back of my seat.
We stayed like that for the rest of the movie and all I could think about was that I didn't want this, it felt wrong.
"That was...a very interesting movie," Hunter concluded once we were out of the theatre. He had kept his fingers entwined in mine even after the movie ended, and I really didn't want to seem rude.
"Yeah," I agreed even though I had no idea what the movie was really about, and I don't think he did either; we were both too busy thinking about what to do next in that couple-filled theatre. Breathe? Or hold our breath?
I grabbed my phone from my pocket with my free hand and checked the time. It was already 4 and we haven't even left the theatre yet. Lawrence was going to kill me, I might as well just do it myself so I wouldn't have to face him.
"We should go," I ushered us both out of the theatre and the heat from outside collided with our cold bodies. Why were movie theatres always overly air-conditioned?
Hunter didn't really say anything and basically smiled at me the whole time.
The entire ride was absolutely agitating, the time went by way to slow for my liking and the traffic lights seemed to have stayed red for a whole three minutes one time. It was like nothing was in my favour.
"I had a lot of fun today," said Hunter after we had parked in front of the diner. "We should do it again soon you know,"
"Me too! And Yes, of course!" sure, this date didn't go as smoothly as I'd like it to have been but there's always next time and perhaps a theatre just didn't create any sparks between us.
He beamed and placed a stand of my hair that was falling behind my ear. Perhaps I will end up falling for him, I mean, you can always start liking him. He was so caring, thoughtful, always jaunty and not to mention his appearance...
"Here, let me take you inside," he offered and got out of the car with me.
"Oh it's fine, really," I quickly put up a hand to stop him, for some reason I didn't want Lawrence to meet Hunter and vice versa. I know Lawrence wouldn't mind because there's no reason for him to, but I don't know about Hunter, I never told him about Lawrence meeting me here and we were on a date...
"No, I'm going in," he laughed to loosen the mood.
I sighed and my eyes wandered to a certain car that was parked a few spots ahead of us. It was a bright orange Camaro. A neon orange Camaro. It would belong to none other than Mr. Lawrence himself. That's when it dawned on me; I didn't even know his last name. I made a mental note to ask him later on if he hadn't already killed me with his gaze.
"You okay?" Hunter grabbed my hand and I was a little started but didn't do anything.
"Huh why?"
"You were smiling at something," he chuckled to himself and I blushed. Was I smiling? Oh man.
"Oh,"
I braced myself for a full on curse word party from Lawrence once we stepped inside the diner but to my surprise, he was just sitting at the table calmly with his hands on the table.
"Lawrence is here," Hunter stated and looked at him oddly.
"Um yeah about that, you see, I'm -"
"You're late," Lawrence cut in and gave me a cold glare, and then his eyes trailed then to our hands. I looked down and I pulled my hand away quickly. Okay, this was worse than that curse word party I had prepared myself for.
I ignored Lawrence and continued to explain to Hunter about the situation, who looked pained.
"I'm sort of going with him right now. I owe him something," I cringed and just wanted to follow on the ground out of pure embarrassment. Tami was right. I was a horrible person for doing this to Hunter.
My date didn't say anything. I looked at him for some kind of a reaction but nothing. He didn't even seem angry which scared me the most.
"I'll see you on Monday at work?" Hunter smiled, I grinned back, I guess he wasn't pissed after all. He pulled me into a tight embrace and then he pecked me on the cheek. The place his lips came in contact with my skin burned like a flare. I touched it with my palm.
"You done fantasizing?" Lawrence stood up from his seat and gave me a tepid look.
"Oh shut up," I caught up to him.
"Were you on a date?" talk about being straightforward.
"It's really none of your business," I shrugged and held my head high. Who did he think he was? Asking me about my love life.
Lawrence snorted once we were outside and stopped to face me.
"W-what?" I stuttered. He was unbearable close to me and I crossed my arms so he couldn't come any closer. But even with my arms crossed, I could still smell the aroma that was rolling off of him. It was insane how great he smelled. Hunter smelled of cologne while Lawrence smelled like mint leaves and bits of shampoo and even a little smoky tint to everything.
"What do you mean what?" he glared. What the hell was wrong with him? I snapped out of my little trance.
"Why are you so choleric?" I gave him my most horrifying look. Seriously. It was almost like he was angry because I came in with Hunter? What a brat. Hunter should be the one who was angry because this was totally unfair to him, yet he wasn't angry, so why should Lawrence be? He shouldn't be and since he was, I wanted to hit him.
He gave a dry laugh, "you're the one who was late a half hour and I ended up having to wait for you here. Is it in your blood to owe things to me or something? Plus, you could've told me you had to go somewhere, now I know why were asked such an out of place question that night on the phone," he huffed and climbed into the bright orange Camaro which I nicknamed the Sheep. I don't know why, it just seemed right.
I didn't really know what to say. He was right and I hated it.
He drove like Miami weather. One second he was plowing through the streets like some thunderstorm and the next he was driving normally like a sunny day. Was he PMSing?
I giggled to myself at the thought of it.
He turned his head to look at me for a second; by second I mean a lot longer than a second because even after I had stopped giggling, I could still feel his gaze.
"We're here," I looked up and saw the mansion I was in a few weeks ago.
"I would drive you home but I've already promised my mom she could use the car today so we're going to take public transit back to the diner," he hopped out of the car and I followed him out.
"We?"
"Yes, I'm not going to let you go alone,"
I groaned. I would totally be fine going home alone; I just needed some help with directions.
"Lawlie!" a high-pitched voice sounded from below and I looked down to see a little girl with curly bronze coloured hair just like Lawrence's and bright green eyes tugging at his t shirt.
Lawrence's face morphed into a sunshine like smile, completely different from the expression that he had reserved for me just a few seconds ago. He was good with putting on masks.
"Rosie, meet Alice," his smile was so real it almost looked fake, but Rosie couldn't tell, "she's going to be helping me today,"
"Oh, so your Alice," Rosie crossed her arms and gave me a look when she said my name, almost as if she knows something.
I bent down so I was eye level with her, "you know who I am?"
"Of course," she rolled her eyes, "I know ev-"
At this time, Lawrence cut her sentence off rolled up his white shirtsleeves and I couldn't help but notice them flex as he hoisted Rosie up onto his shoulders. He beckoned for me to follow him; I smiled and caught up with him.
We entered through the big doors right in front of the house, at the party we went in through the side door so it took me a few seconds in order to be able to take in the marvelous view of the inside of the entrance hall of their house is.
"Stop gaping," Lawrence snapped his fingers in front of my eyes and then walked off with Rosie in his hand. I was standing on shiny granite that was spotless enough for me to see my own reflection in. Everything was a on the darker side of the colour scales. With dark grey couches and black glassed dinner tables. The chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling created crystal shaped shadows on the floor beneath my feet.
I stuck out my tongue behind his back and followed him and Rosie into the kitchen. I could hear voices, voices of a younger boy and an older boy, plus another lady.
"Oh hi dear," a middle aged woman flashed a bright white smile at me after I entered the kitchen. Her outfit was impeccable, without a single wrinkle in sight. Her auburn coloured hair was pulled back into a tight bun and it looked like she was going on a date, which is what I would assume she is going to now. "I'm Lauren,"
She held out a firm manicured hand. I shook it, not quite accustomed to such formal salutations.
"I'm Alice," I introduced myself. She was holding her purse and had a cup of coffee in her hand.
"It's great to meet you, I've heard quite a bit about you," she made stilted conversation with me. "Lawrence, pass me the car keys,"
He gave her the keys and then looked at the two kids whom were both seated at opposite sides of the table, each with a popsicle in their hands.
"You kids have fun! And Dean, don't tease Sam too much," she frowned at him.
"C'mon, he's my younger brother, you can't expect me to be nice to him," The boy who was seating on the side of the table facing me said. Lawrence gave me a look as if to say told you. I remembered what he had told me that day, something about Dean being the typical teenager but still having a soft side for Sam. Dean looked identical to Lawrence in many ways, same coloured hair and eyes.
Lauren didn't seem to happy to hear him say that but didn't say anything back to him. She walked out the door and I could hear the sound that her high heels were making when coming in contact with the granite floor.
After the door slammed shut and the whirring of the engine of the Sheep had shimmered down, Dean spoke.
"You guys need a room?" He smirked and then winked at Lawrence. Then he gave Lawrence a thumbs up. My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Is this what thirteen year olds think about all day long nowadays?
"Yeah, are you guys going to kiss?" asked Rosie innocently. Lawrence didn't seem embarrassed at all, he laughed.
I threw my hands up to my face and covered it.
Oh. God.
Hopefully this extra long chapter will make up for the two "no-chapter" days.
I was pretty busy :)
don't forget to vote and comment!
-summer
p.s. you guys are going to enjoy the next chapter!