"I know he's a nice guy, and I hope you two will hook-up soon," he said, and I knew right then and there that he was grinning even though we were just talking through our mobile devices.
I laughed at him, and wanted to slap his shoulders when he said 'hook-up' since it was so not him, or in this case, it wasn't usually a father's language. But of course, that would only happen when the crow turns white, or in layman's terms, it would never happen in a million years. Need I broaden my explanation? Hope not.
"Dad, shut up!" I said, laughing cheerily, as I clutched my stomach lightly with one of my hands.
"What did I say?"
"Never say 'hook-up'," I said, "That's so not you…"
I heard him laugh on the other line, before he told me not to worry about my mother. But of course I had to worry. Aside from being influential, my mother was still mother, and I needed to respect her for that simple reason.
"Just pull up your grades, and she'll be praising you in no time. Trust me,"
"But that's the problem, dad," I said to him, "I suck at school."
He laughed for which was probably his millionth time since we had talked.
"Just ask someone…or Nathan to tutor you," he said, with a mischievous tone of voice that made me love him so much more.
I knew my father was funny, even though he was this business tycoon, whose days were mostly made up of work, work, and work, but talking with him today made me see him as someone I could…become closer with. I just really wished my mother could be like him too. Even though I hated her guts, I still wanted to get along with her.
"I'll talk to you later, dad," I said about to say goodbye. "Bye and luv ya!"
"Love you too, dear," he said, "study hard, alright?"
* * *
Chapter 16: Scoring Goals Winning Kisses
* * *
The moment the bell rang, everyone left his or her classroom in order to get ready for tonight, since later this evening, Ridgeway's soccer team was going to go against Brookfield's, their archrival as I have learned from Riley. The whispers, the bets, and the excitement started building up even a few days before, with the school's players as their main topic, especially Nathan. Everyone was talking about how he'd lead the school to the State Championships, how he was going to be the MVP again this year, and about how no team could beat them with Nathan playing. It was all Nathan 'this,' and Nathan 'that,' and with all this talk about him, I was missing him.
Before I could daydream any longer, Riley snapped her fingers at me, making me blink rapidly until I was able to hold a steady gaze. We started to make our way to our lockers, and when we got there, we saw Cindy and Kendra waiting for us. Riley and I saw the two of them before they were able to spot us, so we were the first ones to wave 'hello.' They greeted us back before they started talking about the supposedly 'huge' game tonight.
"Do you think we'll win?" Kendra asked, starting to become the soccer fanatic that she was.
Riley and I dumped our books inside our lockers, before we, Kendra and Cindy included, headed back to our dorms to get ready. We talked as we walked, and being new, in a way, I wasn't able to get what they were saying. Apparently they were comparing and contrasting tonight's match with the previous ones from last year. They were saying a lot of names I'd never heard of before, which I soon figured out were the names of whom Nathan and co. we’re going against.
"The score's going to be pretty close, but we'll take tonight," Riley said, as she gave us all thumbs up.
In response, we smiled back at her, before our topic of our conversation drifted off to something else. After the game, there was going to be a party at this nearby hotel. Unlike the usual house parties, one of the guys on the team reserved a Presidential Suite especially for tonight. I, myself, wouldn't spend so much just to host something that was probably going to last for a good six hours, but I had heard from Blake earlier this morning that the guy's parents owned the hotel, so I guessed he wouldn't be spending anything really. Lucky him.
"I think we should get a room, since you know, I wouldn't want to drive back here when I'm wasted," I said to the three of them, and in agreement, they nodded.
"Definitely," Cindy answered. "I think we should get like two suites for the whole lot of us. I guess that's enough."
Before Riley could say something, arms found their way around her waist and soon after, a kiss was planted on her lips. She smiled at her boyfriend who had the same love struck expression she wore, and even before the public display of affection could go any further, Nathan let out a fake cough, which they took as their cue to stop with the mushiness.
"You guys should get a room," I said, faking a look of disgust. "I have nothing against love, and the physicality that goes with it, but please…"
"Speaking of rooms, are we still on for tonight?" Cindy asked, as she looked at her newly painted nails.
"What's with tonight?" Nathan asked, turning to me.
With that, I suddenly felt my pulse go faster, and a sudden rush wash over me. I didn't know what he just did that made my body act all funny, but I wasn't going to object. I liked it. It had that tingling feeling.
Unable to help myself, I turned to Nathan, and laughed at him.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Apparently, Riley, Anthony, Kendra, and even Cindy misinterpreted what I just said since the cooing and the teasing started. I tried to ignore them, but it was hard, real hard. And to make matters worse, both Nathan and I blushed crimson red, allowing the whole world to see our obvious feelings for each other. I wasn't going to lie now, I knew he liked me, and vice versa. The feelings were mutual.
"Why can't you guys just hook up already?" A voice coming from a few feet away called out to us.
Blake made his way to us, before he asked if everyone was watching. We nodded, and gave him an "of course," before the whole group headed over to the soccer field. We sat on the grass, and since the game wasn't going to start anytime soon we decided to hang out, and just talk.
"Guys, I'm going to reserve two suites for later, ok?" Cindy said, getting everyone's attention. "I'm sure no one would want to drive back, and not drink."
"Two suites?" Blake asked. "I think that's going to be a little bit crowded, don't you think?"
I heard Cindy let out an 'hmph,' before she spoke up.
"What do you want to happen? Two people per room?"
Blake's lips curved up into a mischievous smirk. "Why not?"
I was expecting Cindy to start ranting about how wrong Blake was, but instead she agreed. She told us she could get each couple a room, and here was the part where I decided to speak up.
"What about me?" I asked.
"What about you?"
"Uh," I said in a matter-of-factly tone. "I don't have a boyfriend."
"Uh, duh," Kendra answered, mimicking my tone of voice. "Pair up with someone who has no girlfriend."
Instinctively I turned to Nathan who unsurprisingly was looking back at me. He gave me a small smile which I returned, and with that, silence fell upon me. I didn't know how long I stayed quiet, but it was only when Riley clapped her hands in front of my face repeatedly that I came back to reality.
"You won't mind, won't you?" I said as my question was directed to no one other than Nathan.
In response, he nodded, and grinned, and before I could thank him, and cheers erupted from the others. The tease-fest started once again, with Nathan and me as the center of their jokes.
"What time are you guys supposed to get ready?"
Blake looked at his Rolex, before he spread his legs out and leaned back with the palms of his hands on the ground for support.
"In an hour or so," was his answer, and in return I just nodded.
After a good thirty-minutes of exchanging stories and jokes, and making each other laugh, each of us started walking, heading in opposite directions. Blake, Anthony, and Nathan decided to already go to the locker rooms to dress and warm up, and Riley being the good girlfriend who tagged
along at times, decided to 'drop' off her boyfriend. Cindy on the other hand was going to call the hotel to book our rooms, while Kendra tried to find Jackson to tell him about the plans for tonight.
I was literally alone, and unsure of what to do, so I decided to go to my room to take a short nap. I woke up by the sound of my bedroom door opening, and thus, I tried to blink my eyes awake. When I noticed that it wasn't Riley who had entered, a small shriek escaped my lips. It was Dylan.
"Did I wake you up?" he asked.
I coked an eyebrow up at him, and asked him if I really needed to answer the question.
"It felt like a good conversation starter," he said, laughing a bit.
I let out a hearty chuckle, before I motioned for him to come and sit beside me.
"You did, so why did you break my peaceful slumber?" I asked, as I sat up, and leaned my body on the headboard of the bed.
Dylan made his way to the empty side of the bed, before he removed his shoes, and sat on the empty space beside me. He told me that Riley and the others invited him to watch the game, and when I asked him how come I wasn't aware of it, he gave me a reply that made me want to hide in a corner until he left.
"You had a date," he answered, giving me that movie-star smile of his that was just full of sex appeal.
"I had a date recently?" I asked, not thinking at the moment.
He raised an eyebrow up at me, gave me a 'duh,' and only when he gave me a face that made me feel like he thought of me as a dumb blonde did I realize what he meant. I slapped his shoulder when I finally got it, and told him to stop.
"What did I do?" he asked, raising his arms up for exaggeration.
"That wasn't funny," I answered, resisting the urge to break out into a smile.
"Uh, yes it was," he said. "You're acting all innocent…which I am not used to."
That made me quiet, and when I didn't speak, he turned serious. I felt my surroundings become silent, with my breathing and Dylan's as the only thing I could hear. I didn't know why, but I didn't like what I was feeling. For the past few weeks, I became shyer, and reserved. I knew it was something I should be happy about, but I just couldn't feel that. I didn't want to change, and I definitely didn't want to believe that one guy could make me feel like this. It hurt my ego, for some crazy stupid reason.
"You like him that much, huh?" he said.
It wasn't a question, the way he said it. He was pointing the obvious out to me.
"But I don't want to like someone that much," I answered, probably sounding like a self-centered bitch at the moment.
I just couldn't accept the fact that a guy was able to make me change…for the better, and without realizing that he was doing that exactly. I knew I shouldn't stop my feelings, and instead just let them flow, and let everything fall into place, but no…it…this made me feel inferior.
"You're just scared because you're entering uncharted territory. You shouldn't be," he said. "This is all for the best."
I turned to my side, so now I was facing him. I leaned in closer, asking for a hug, and he gave it to me willingly. He wrapped me with his strong arms, as I let my head fall onto his chest. He soothed me by rubbing my back up-and-down with his hand, as I let go of all my thoughts. After a few minutes, we pulled away from each other, and he told me to get ready since the game was going to start soon.
I got out of my bed and headed over to the bathroom to take a quick shower. After doing just that I went over to my closet to pick out a comfy, but at the same time stylish outfit. I ended up wearing my skinny jeans, a yellow baby doll sleeveless top, and a pair of ballet flats, and after surveying the way I looked via a mirror, I left my bedroom, went over to Dylan, and told him that we should leave now. He followed suit, as we exited the building and made our way to the main field of Ridgeway.
* * *
I didn't know what kind of drug I had sniffed a while ago, but I felt myself get all hyped up so that I was actually cheering and shouting even though I was still totally clueless of the rules and plays of the game. The match was tied, two all, and Nathan being the power forward, and star player of the team, he had scored both goals. He was that good.
The game was going to end in a few minutes time, and with Brookfield in possession of the ball, I was starting to worry. It was hard for the team to steal since the ball was getting passed from one player to another at such a fast pace. Nathan, who played the whole time, I could see, was already getting tired, but I knew he wasn't going to give up and neither were the others.
A Brookfield player was running hastily, and when he was only a few feet away from the net, he kicked the ball, and in that second, I heard nothing but its swishing sound. Our goalie ended up catching it, before he threw it to Anthony who I knew was going to kick the ball to Nath. Every player started running in the opposite direction, with Anthony having the ball. The time seemed to go by fast because now, there were only a few seconds left on the clock. Looking back at the field, I saw that Anthony had passed the ball to Nathan, who kicked it to Blake. With the time trimming down much faster, and the crowd becoming wilder, Blake had no choice, but to take the risk. Call it luck or not, but we won, and the moment Blake scored the winning goal, every person who watched the game and studied in Ridgeway erupted into extremely loud cheers. Riley, who was standing beside me, was all smiles, and she told me she couldn't wait to congratulate the guys.
"They'll be so, so happy!" Kendra said in a loud voice, trying to beat the noise in the background.
"I know," Cindy answered. "You know how much soccer means to them."
"Everything," Riley said, as she motioned for all of us to leave the bleachers, so that we could be the first ones to congratulate the team.
We made our way to the field, which was already getting crowded because of all the people who wanted to meet and greet the players. I had no idea why, but Riley thought it best for all of us to separate. She ended up heading north, Kendra west, and Cindy south, making me go east. I wanted to just sit down for a few minutes, because my legs were starting to ache already, and more annoyingly, I was just bumping into random people. I didn't eat prior to the game so I felt weak and scrawnier whenever someone would just hit me even if they didn't intend to. I was about to give up, and make my way back to my dorm, when someone called out my name. I turned around, and realized Nathan had found me, making me breathe a sigh of relief.
"Thank God," I said, making my way to him. "This is just chaotic."
When I got to him, he rested his arm on my shoulders, just to make sure that he wouldn't lose me in case someone knocked me in another direction. With that 'insult, I slapped his shoulder, which made him hold me tighter. People started heading over to where we were just to praise the person beside me, and when they left, I couldn't help but laugh.
"You didn't even make the winning goal," I teased. "And everyone seems to enjoy worshipping you."
I looked up to find him staring at my eyes, at me, and that was when I felt tongue-tied. I couldn't say anything because at that moment, I knew he wanted to tell me something. I left him with questions unanswered because of one stupid incident. If the paparazzi hadn't come to us, I could've been his girlfriend by now.
"I scored two which is something big also," he answered, giving me a small awkward laugh.
Before I could say anything more, he let go of me so that now our whole bodies were facing each other. I felt the tension between us with every step he took which was starting to slowly close the already small space between us. He leaned down, his lips coming closer to my own, but I never felt them make contact, because I heard Riley calling our names.
"Hey guys!" she shouted out to us. "We better get ready!"
"Okay!"
I was about to make my way to her, when Nathan got a hold of my hand, and pulled me closer to him once again. Without any kind of hesitation whatsoever, he leaned down, and kissed me fully on the lips. I responded back, and at the same time, I circled his neck with my arms, before I cupped his cheeks with my
hands. The kiss lasted for like ten seconds only, but that was enough for the both of us to know what each of us wanted.
"Finally," he said, a small grin forming on his face.
"So," I said, matching the smirk on his face with my own. "Can I call you my boyfriend now?"
He looked hesitant, and before he answered me, he scratched the back of his head. When he didn't answer, I slapped his chest, and told him that the suspense wasn't funny.
The Heaven I Found In Hell Page 21