Orphic
(adj.) beyond ordinary understanding.
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Chapter 32
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"Really?" I shriek. Ethan nodded enthusiastically. I couldn't believe my own ears! Tyler and Ethan are going on a date! A fucking date.
"Where? When? Tell me!" I grab his hands and jump up and down. Ethan shrugged innocently. "I don't know! It's a surprise. He won't tell me anything. You think you can get him to tell you anything?"
I nodded. "I'll try my best."
Ethan and I animatedly talked about his date as I got my books from my locker. We had so many things to decide! His clothes, his hairstyle. Should he carry a condom or not. You never know...
"What is so exciting?" I hear a voice that immediately dims my mood. Shawn.
I face him with a tight lipped smile. "None of your goddamn business."
He smirked as he leaned on the locker next to mine. "Oh how much I missed the sass. Where were you yesterday?" Ignoring you, I wanted to say. Instead I shrug. "Studying."
"We need to get to homeroom. We'll see you later hotshot." Ethan grabbed my hand and dragged me away from where Shawn was still standing. A part of me wanted to turn around and wave him good bye. But I guess he prefers Isabelle.
We sat at homeroom, the class was yet to start. Ethan's happy face made me so happy. He was going on a date, with a guy who he really likes. We were arguing if wearing a shirt with the first few buttons opened meant asking for it when Justin plopped down on the seat in front of me.
"So, what's up?" He asked us. Ethan and I shared a look. I thought Justin was pissed at me. Because, Ethan picked me up this morning, not him.
When no reply came he turned in his seat to face me fully. "What's wrong Tara?"
I shake my head. "I thought you were mad at me, for not going to the party."
"But you did go. You left without saying hi, which is harsh but totally something you'd do. So yeah, I'm not mad." He finished with a million dollar smile. My own lips curved up without me knowing. There was no way we could be mad at each other.
The bell rang after that. Being on good terms with Justin lifted a weight off my chest.
After homeroom, Justin went away as Ethan and I walked to our next class. In our crowded hallway, I spotted Tyler. He was easy to spot, he easily towered over everyone. "It's Tyler! Act natural." I whisper to Ethan. He got nervous and made a squeaking sound. "Where?"
"Right in front of us, we're about to cross." I tell him.
"Holy fuck, are you kidding me???" He shrieked, making me laugh. It was all too cute. Tyler and we crossed. He gave Ethan a nod while smiling. "Hope you remember our date tonight."
Ethan smiled back. "Can't wait." We went separate ways after that. "..to marry you." Ethan finished.
"Woah what?" I raise my eyebrows at him. He let out a squeal which sounded like a pig shrieking as he jumped up and down. "I think I'm falling in love."
Well, of course.
**
When it came to Shawn and me, I didn't know what to feel, think or expect. What I felt that night when I saw him kissing Isabelle, isn't really jealousy. It's just a feeling I can't yet point out.
But did I feel sad? Hell to the fucking yes.
So I was avoiding lunch again. I didn't go the cafeteria, I wasn't in the mood to face him. So I sat under the bleachers, looking at memes in my phone and eating my fruits. Half way in lunch, boredom got the best of me as I stood up and walked into our school building. I climbed the stairs, took a lot of turns till I found myself standing in front of the abandoned classroom where I fixed Adrian's bandaid, not so long ago.
Muttering fuck it under my breath I opened the door and peeked in. No one was here but I saw a pile of clothes, a backpack, boots. They must belong to Adrian. I don't think our balding janitors really wear boots and leather jacket.
I wonder what it feels like to be with him. Hang out with him. His vibes are so different. He's mixed with danger and excitement. My complete opposite.
But my dumbass knows, it would never happen. We just can't hangout with each other and not bite each other's head off.
The sudden ringing of a phone made me jump out in fright. "Holy fuck." I mutter under my breath. The sound was coming from the backpack. Adrian's phone was ringing and I didn't have any idea what to do.
But I couldn't just open his bag and take his phone out!
The ringing ended and started again after moments. What's the worst that could happen?
I opened the zip and easily found the pocket. James was calling, I don't know who that is. Before I could do anything I heard his voice call out for me.
"What's your problem Tara?" He appeared out of nowhere and yanked the phone away.
"Geez chill, I wasn't going through you porn collection."
Adrian narrowed his eyes on me. "You think I'm that type?"
I shrugged. "I don't know you." He nodded. "Exactly, you don't know me."
I spoke up after a moment. "But I have a feeling you know about me."
"You're right, I know enough. I know that you're a teenager who studies like there's no tomorrow because her mom pressurized her, she blindly listens to her best friend who has no idea what's good for her but she still does as he tells her to because he's the only person who knows her. Not the real her. I think you can never know someone fully. There's always a part of us that we keep secret."
"Th-that's not true. My mo-mom doesn't pressurize me." I tell him.
"So I got the rest of it right?" He cocked an eyebrow.
"Shouldn't have come here." I mutter. He chuckled at my words.
"That's the part I can't figure out. Why do you keep coming back? You should stay away from me." He tells me and I nod. "I should."
"You should."
I nodded again. "Okay, I should."
Adrian let out a throaty chuckle. "You have different plans." I look up at him. "You want to stay."
"I don't want to stay." I told him confidently. He smirked. "You know where the door is." Son of a bitch.
"You're frustrating." I tell him before walking past him and towards the door.
"And you'll come back again, to get more frustrated." He said making me turn around. He was already facing me, smirking that damned smirk. "You know it, I know it."
I turn to face him. "You're delusional."
"And you're holding yourself back." He told me almost immediately.
"I'm not!" I shout. "I have nothing to hold back! Adrian don't you think your mind games are working on me. The things you say, they might confuse me but that's that. I don't find you awesome in any way!"
"I never said you find me awesome. That's not what I'm trying to do." He argued.
"Then what the fuck are you doing? Ever since you walked in to this school you're talking to me as if you know everything about me! Tell you what, you know shit! You know nothing! You can frustrate me all you want, you can't get to know anything that way."
"My goal isn't to frustrate you." He answered me. I inhaled deeply before looking at him again. "What is your goal?"
"To figure you out." He replied simply. My rapidly beating heart picked up more pace. I roll my eyes and take a step back.
"Why?"
Adrian thought about it for a while, then shrugged. "Because I want to. I'm curious. It's not everyday a high schooler snatches my cigarettes away. Not a lot of people have the balls. You sure do."
"I don't have sloppy balls. I have ovaries. So yeah, I got the ovaries to snatch your cigarettes away and I'll do it again if you disrespect someone like that." I gave him a challenging look."I'll also have you know, You gave me a pretty sloppy excuse too."
Amused, Adrian walked to me. His eyes pierced into mine as he spoke, "If only you could see the fire in your eyes like I do." Butterflies started doing Kung fu in my lower belly as soon as I heard him. For once, I wished that he kept smirking like this always. He was too hot for his own good.
"What fire?" I slowly ask.
"The fire." He replied simply. He noticed my confused face and laughed lightly.
"I don't know what you mean." I spoke dumbly. Something about him hypnotized me. The bell rang, indicating the end of lunch.
"I could show you what I mean." He said with a smirk and started folding his clothes. I watched as he put them roughly in his bag, zipped it. Then he took his leather jacket and a black scarf type thing that usually goes around the head.
I shamelessly kept staring as he put on his jacket. Then his head scarf. He was already dressed in black shirt and black skinny jeans. I never really liked skinny jeans on guys before him. He looked over his shoulder and smirked. "Don't you want to get to class?"
I licked my lips slowly and took a look of my outfit. Denim skirt with my white turtle neck and black boots. Boots that were much like his.
"Where's the fire?" I slowly ask. The sentence was loaded in cringe. He looked up at me with wide eyes before his smirk made a comeback. "You gotta be patient." Then he stretched out his hand for me to take.
Hesitantly, I slid my hand in his awaiting one. His smirk turned into a full blown grin as he tightly held my hand.
He led the way out as I kept staring at our hands. Damn it felt good to hold his hand.
"I must be really dumb to agree to this." I mutter to myself.
"You didn't agree to anything Tara. It was your wish to come with me." He corrected me. It was. We walked to his motorcycle. He took a seat then looked at me, waiting for me to hop on.
"Why are you willing to show me my so called fire?" I ask. Ew, cringe again.
"Girls ask too many question." He muttered under his breath but I heard it.
"Dick." I muttered under my breath. Adrian's motorcycle roared to life.
**
I was far from home, far from the place I was accustomed to. Adrian took me to the west side of the city where I don't come very often. Everyday on the newspaper, there was a new article about a new crime that happened here.
"Why are we here?" I ask him. He shot me a smile. "You already know why."
"Yeah, the fire. But why here?" I ask again.
"Oh, are you scared Tara?" He asked with a smirk. I roll my eyes and keep following him. We walked for ten minutes till we got to the beach. The sound of waves calmed my erratic nerves. I have been on the edge ever since I left school with him. There was no one around. Which was a relief. Also an worry.
Adrian and I walked to the lifeguard tower, which was closed, and took a seat in the stairs. I've spent more than thirty minutes with him, without arguing and discovered that he isn't much of a talker.
"It's simple really. I'll say a word, and you'll immediately tell me the word that pops up in your head. Clear?" He raised an eyebrow. With a frantic heart, I nodded my head. I wasn't much of a talker when I'm around him either.
"Cute." He said. "Puppies." I replied. Adrian broke into a grin hearing me.
"Yummy." He said again.
"Pasta." I grin.
"Money."
"Headache." I replied, shocking myself.
"Hard work."
"Mom."
"Dad."
"Don't know." I replied making him narrow his eyes at me. My answer was pretty straightforward really, I didn't know.
"Shawn."
"Fucktard." He grins at my reply.
"Ethan."
"Boo." I grin this time.
"Justin."
"Brother."
"Adrian."
"Trouble." We smirked at each other at the same time.
"Florida."
"Home."
"Dream."
"College." I say. Adrian burst out laughing. I started at him confusingly as he clutched his stomach and laughed.
"Your.. your dream... college? Who the fuck says college?" He said between his laughs.
But I don't like being laughed at.
"Yes, college." I reply firmly only for him break into another fit of laughter. Laughing at other person's dreams? Not cool.
"Tara... no one says college. That's.. oh god that's dumb." He kept laughing. I don't reply and wait for him to get done laughing.
Adrian sobered and turned to me. "Yes, college is my dream. Because college gets me what I've been looking for all my life. Freedom. I feel like people have chained me down here, I feel suffocated and I want to get out of here. College is the only way out. I'll get the fuck out of this so called home and I'll be damned if I ever turn around. So laugh all you want Adrian, but I'm getting out of here and I'm fulfilling my dream."
I stand up and climb down the stairs, leaving a stunned Adrian on the lifeguard tower. Taking off my boots I let my feet feel the sand creep up between my toes. I get closer to the water and let the air make my hair fly.
I just talked about my dreams. Not something I do really. I heard Adrian's footsteps. He came up next to me. "You should've said freedom, instead of college."
"Its the first word that came to mind, I didn't have time to think." I reply after a while.
"Okay. I shouldn't have laughed like that."
I turn to him with smirk on my face. "Are you apologizing?"
He chuckled. "As if."
Adrian took off his leather jacket. Then his shirt, then his pants. "Uhm what are you doing?" I hesitantly ask. He stretched his muscles. "Getting naked."
"I can see that too. But why?" I ask and sneak glances of his beautifully sculptured body. Adrian laughed, standing only in his boxers.
"We are going skinny dipping." He replied.
"We?" I question, keeping my composure instead of freaking out. His hands lingered over his boxers.
"What is there to be scared of?" He raised an eyebrow. My mind searched for the answer but came up with nothing. There wasn't anything to be scared off.
But there was hesitancy, shyness and lack of understanding between us. That shouldn't stop me from getting naked in front of him, specially when he's not afraid at all.
And just like that, my hand reached for my skirt. Adrian smirked when I unzipped it. I let the skirt fall and pool around my feet. Then I took off my top. His eyes raked over my body before he pulled down his boxers.
I didn't dare look down there. I wasn't ready to see Adrian junior so I kept my eyes on his. Adrian did the same. He didn't break eye contact even when I unhooked my bra or took off my panties.
Now I stood in front of him, naked, only wearing the locket Shawn had gifted me. He only had his head scarf on. Adrian's hand found mine. Sending one last grin my way he sprinted towards the shore.
"I've lost my mind." I shout before we get into water.
"And it feels good." Adrian laughed. It did.
The air must've been drugged, which got me high. Because, in my right senses I would've never agreed to this.
The feeling of water lapping against my skin gave me chills as we went deeper into the water. Adrian never let go of my hand. A strong wave was coming and I wanted to get to the shore but Adrian held me strongly.
"Let me go!" I screamed at his face.
"That's no fun!" He screamed back as the strong wave nearly drowned us. We resurfaced and I started laughing hysterically. I nearly died and I liked how it felt.
Skinny dipping is a sort of liberating magic. It's not often that I'm away from my shower and naked. So it was a total new experience for me. Another wave came. This time we ran towards the wave only to be pushed back by it. Adrian and I were a laughing mess.
Adrian held both of my hands in his and made me face him. My body was still under the water and only my shoulders were out. As liberated as I felt, I still have insecurities over my body and shyness in my system.
"The water's cold and so are you. Wanna head back?" He asked.
"Are you serious? We just got in." I break free from his hold and swim away. I had a feeling he was staring at my butt, but I didn't let it bother me. I had sneaked a glance of his butt too. Whoops!
"Hey Tara!" Adrian called for me. I turn around. "Hm?"
"What if someone sees you naked?" He asks.
"Then they see me naked." I reply.
"What if someone wants to kiss you?"
I smirk. "Then they get kicked in their balls."
Adrian and I spent hours in the water, naked. The sun was about to set anytime. The cotton candy sky above us was so captivating. Hues of orange, pink and purple.
"I think we've had enough ocean for the day. Let's head out." Adrian says after hours of trying to drown me, splashing water at me.
"You're right. You go first." I run a hand though my hair.
"Now suddenly you have a problem with me seeing you naked?" He cocked an eyebrow at me. "After I've seen almost every part of you?" My heart skipped a beat. I laugh at his words. "But I still haven't changed my mind. You go out first, get dressed and stand by the lifeguard tower. Go!"
He huffed, but did as I told him. He shouted that he was done after he put on his pants and walked away with his shirt in his hand. I walked out slowly. Looking down at my naked body, I really felt good.
I put on my underwear followed by my skirt. I didn't want to put my top on, I wanted to keep on feeling free but then decided against it.
I run my fingers through my hair. My hair's magic power is to dry out super fast, it was coming handy now. Adrian was sitting on the stairs of the tower, still shirtless, and fiddling with his scarf.
"You hungry?" He asked, once I was standing in front of him.
"I thought you'd never ask." We share a grin before I follow him to his bike.
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