I smiled at him, “Ok, you are forgiven then.”
He leaned down and lightly kissed my lips as another slow song started. I looked up into his eyes as the night started to improve. He never let his eyes leave mine. I was trying to absorb this moment, not wanting any distractions, but of course, that wasn’t going to happen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Janice standing with her friends, watching us dance.
I smirked as I looked back to Eric, “Honey, would you do me a huge favor?”
“Anything.”
“I feel like I need to prove a point, feel like copying Mike for me and make this dance a little more intimate?”
His lips turned into a sexy grin as he leaned down to my ear as his lips touched it gently, his hands moving right below my waist line. I moved to crush my body tightly against his, my eyes moved across the room, watching Janice’s face change. It looked like she was about to cry and I could only smile.
“Are you satisfied?” He whispered into my ear.
“Not quite yet,” As I moved my hands up into his hair, moving my lips to his neck and kissing softly.
“You are evil, you know that? Who are you trying to torture, me or her?”
I smirked as the song ended and we walked off the dance floor.
“You two need to get a room,” Sam said laughing at us.
The dance ended a lot better than it started. Eric never left my side again. The principal walked up on stage and started talking about the exciting year of football ahead of them. He talked about the team and of course, talked about Eric.
He was starting to get ready to announce the Homecoming King & Queen when Eric leaned down to me, “I know you are going to hate it if Janice is named Queen. What do you want me to do?”
I looked at him, “Don’t worry about it. I think I made a statement earlier during our slow dance,” I smiled at him as he leaned over and lightly kissed me.
The envelopes were out and the principal was handed the crown for the King. Everyone already knew it was Eric. How could it not be?
He opened the envelope and read off Eric’s name. I smiled and clapped for him as he walked up on stage and put his crown on. The entire football team went crazy, cheering for him. He made a small speech and fed into the crowd frenzy. He was such a natural at it. How did I get so lucky?
The principal was then handed the tiara for the Queen and opened the envelope. I turned to Sam, “God help me if she touches him.”
“Emily Stone!”
I just stood there; I didn’t have any feeling in my legs. I felt Sam pushing me towards the stage, but I didn’t hear anything. I was in total shock. I saw Janice quickly leave the front of the gym and exit. Everyone was clapping and cheering as I moved next to Eric on the stage. He grabbed the tiara and slipped it on top of my head. I just stared at him as he got a huge smile on his face.
“I guess it pays off to date the quarterback.”
I didn’t say anything, I was still shocked. He led me off the stage and down onto the dance floor, as a slow song started.
“I can’t believe it,” I muttered out.
“I can. Who wouldn’t vote for you? You are an incredible person, Emily.”
I smiled at him, looking around the room as everyone was watching us dance. I could see Sam and Angie clapping and cheering for me. For the first time, I felt like part of the school and accepted for just being me. This night definitely ended up being the perfect night.
He left me standing outside of the high school with Sam as the guys went to get the cars.
“Congratulations again, you deserve it. I’m so happy for you.”
I hugged her again, “Hey, I’m giving you some credit in this, you stood by my side since day one and helped me through everything, so I will share the tiara with you.”
She laughed, “Ok!”
I smiled at her as Eric pulled up. He got out of the car and walked over to me, “Ready to go?”
“Yep, I will talk to you tomorrow, Sam,” I said as I hugged her again, “And thank you!”
She smiled at me and disappeared with Todd.
Eric opened the passenger door for me and leaned over, “You are so beautiful right now.”
I blushed slightly, “You are just saying that, hoping I kiss you good night when I get home,” I said winking at him.
He chuckled, “Are you telling me if that I wanted to kiss right now, you wouldn’t let me?” He said as his body moved against mine, slightly pushing me against his car.
I lost my train of thought, “I don’t know.”
He smirked again, “No,” He whispered as he moved his face to mine, he wasn’t close enough to kiss me, but close enough to feel his breath on my lips.
I was about to give in, when I heard Janice in the background, “Congrats, Eric Honey. You deserve it.”
He didn’t even turn to acknowledge her I smiled at him, as he never moved away from me.
She walked by us, whispering to her stupid friends, “The bitch didn’t though.”
Eric quickly backed away from me and turned to her, “Excuse me, Janice?”
“What? What did I say?” She said looking so shocked.
He walked up to her and just looked at her, “Janice, I have been very patient with you, but as of this moment, if you ever talk to her like that again, or even breathe anywhere near her again, it will be your last, do you understand me?”
She just stood there, I quickly went over to him and grabbed his arm, “Come on, Eric, don’t even waste your time on her, she isn’t worth it.”
He turned to me and nodded, as he went back to holding open the door for me and I slipped inside. He moved around the front of the car, I couldn’t hear what he said to her, but her face looked miserable.
He took off towards my house, “Thank you for standing up for me back there.”
He moved his hand onto my bare knee, I sighed softly, “You don’t deserved to be talked to like that. I messed up earlier this evening,” he paused, “I told you that wouldn’t happen again.”
I smiled at him, who wouldn’t love to have their boyfriend stand up for them like that. It made me feel wonderful. Maybe it was a little too much, but I didn’t care anymore, he stood up for me.
His fingers traced over my knee lightly, I watched them move in the darkness of the car, his radio was softly playing but I couldn’t make out what song was on because I was too distracted. It was the first time he really touched my bare skin, I thought I was going to burst into flames.
He slowly pulled into my driveway and turned the car off. I looked at the house and all the lights were off.
“She didn’t wait up for me tonight,” I laughed.
He didn’t say anything, “You ok?” I asked him.
“Yeah, that just really pissed me off.”
“It’s over, ok? I’ve been called worse,” I laughed hoping he would smile for me.
He looked at me but there wasn’t smile on his face he didn’t say anything to me, just stared into my eyes.
“Eric, say something.”
“Sorry, just realizing how lucky I am. You look so amazing tonight and when I heard your name called, I was so happy for you. The look on your face was priceless.”
I smiled at him, “Yeah, it was definitely a surreal moment for me.”
“So, I was wondering something,” He softly said to me, “Umm, I’m not sure how to phrase this.”
“You can ask me anything, I’m not going to have secrets from you.”
He smiled, as his hand moved back to my knee and brushed his fingertips lightly across my thigh. My heart started to race.
“I know you told me that you didn’t have a boyfriend in Houston and I was just wondering how far you have gone before.”
I blushed, oh no, anything but this conversation. He smiled at me, moving me closer to him.
“I definitely have kissed a guy,” I chuckled.
“Is that it?”
I blushed again and turned away from him.
; “How is that even possible? Emily, don’t be shy around me, I want to know what you thinking right now.”
“Feeling a little embarrassed.”
“Don’t be, I think this makes you so much sexier, you have no idea.”
I just sat there feeling his hand move slightly higher up my thigh. The fire just got worse.
He leaned over and kissed my neck softly, “Baby, I’m never going to rush you, we move at your speed, ok?”
I moaned softly feeling his lips on my skin and his hand moving up and down my thigh, “Um, what about you?”
He pulled back leaving his hand on my leg, “Well, I’m a little more experienced. It’s pretty easy when every girl in high school wants to be near you and willing to do whatever you want.”
I sighed, I was afraid of that answer, “Have you had sex before?”
He stared at me for a minute but didn’t respond right away. He grabbed my hand and said, “Yes.”
“With Janice?” I asked, so nervous of the answer.
Again, he didn’t respond quickly. He just sat there, “No and Emily,” He said moving my face to look into his eyes, “It has never been like this with any of them. They were all one time things, nothing special, nothing lasting.”
I smiled at him, which made me feel a little bit better.
He leaned over to me again and kissed me harder this time. My hands went up into his hair as I felt him pull me over to sit on his lap. Never breaking the kiss, I felt the steering wheel behind me. I groaned feeling for the first time what I’ve read about and dreamt about.
He slowly broke the kiss and looked at me, “Are you ok?”
“Yes,” I whispered to him. I felt his hands slide up my legs that were on either side of him and underneath my silk dress.
I blushed again and quickly moved back to my seat, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
He looked concerned, “I’m sorry, Emily, I wasn’t rushing you, I swear.”
“I know, I think I better get inside.”
“Ok.”
He walked me to the door and kissed me good night.
“It was a wonderful evening, Homecoming Queen. Thank you.”
SEASONS CHANGE
Homecoming changed my status level at school. Everyone wanted to hang out with me and I was invited to every party under the sun. None of it interested me. I just wanted to draw, hang out with Sam, Angie and mostly, Eric.
That night after Homecoming opened my eyes that I wasn’t ready for anything serious yet. In one moment I panicked and ran away with my tail between my legs. I was lucky though, Eric was sticking by my side.
The weeks flew by, between studying and seeing Eric, my days and nights were full. The weather changed fast, the snow was flying and I realized quickly I didn’t like it. We were on Christmas break and I was enjoying the time off. I sat in my room drawing, knowing that I should be filling out more college applications. My mom has been on my case trying to lock down my future. I knew I wanted to go to Syracuse so I could be close to Eric but I didn’t know if I could afford that. Apparently my father was planning on paying for my education but with the baby due now, I didn’t know if that still applied.
I put my drawing pad on the bed and leaned back against the pillows. I thought about Eric. Our relationship had gotten more serious. We talked all the time about our future, we talked about our families, we discussed our dreams and hopes, but I couldn’t get past the physical side. I was so scared after Homecoming that I would feel like an idiot with him.
I noticed that I was nervous whenever he kissed me now, I didn’t have a reason to be, I knew he was waiting for me to be ready for everything, he wasn’t pressuring me but I felt bad. My insecurities were getting the best of me. Maybe I needed a plan to move to the next step. I just didn’t know what I should do. I grabbed my laptop and went searching for ideas. I felt like such a nerd, I knew the basics about everything but I needed some reassurance.
As I surfed the web, looking at articles, looking at clothes. I found a lingerie website and was amazed at what was out there. I giggled at myself trying to picture me wearing stuff like that. I definitely don’t think I’m ready for that. I laughed again as I heard my door open, I quickly shut my laptop and looked up.
“Hey Gorgeous, your mom said you were up here, so figured I would surprise you.” Eric said walking into my room.
Mom never had a problem with him in my room as long as I left the door open, which made me laugh every time. She had nothing to worry about.
“Hey you, I’m trying to keep warm I figured staying in my bed would help with that.”
He laughed, “You will get used to it, you haven’t seen the worst of it yet, Babe.”
I sighed, “Lucky me.”
“So, what are you looking at on your computer?”
I blushed quickly, trying to grab my laptop before he could but he was too fast, he grabbed it as he sat next to me on my bed, opening it up.
I wanted to hide underneath my bed and never come out as the website popped up and displayed the sexiest lingerie that I ever seen.
“Wow, Em, anything you want to discuss with me?”
“No, please no.”
He laughed and scrolled through the pictures, “Well, if I get a say, I like the black one, but you look hot in red also, but I will leave the choice to you.”
“Please God, stop, I’m so embarrassed right now.”
“Why, this is hot!”
I threw a pillow over my face and wanted to die.
“Ok, I closed it, it’s all over,” Eric said moving the pillow off my face, “I’m sorry, but really, what’s this all about?”
“Ever since Homecoming, I feel bad. I always stop us when we start getting serious because I know I have no experience and you do. I don’t want to disappoint you.”
He moved his hand to my face, “Come on, Emily. Are you serious? We have been over this time and time again, I can wait until you are ready. Believe me, when you are ready, you just have to let me know,” He laughed, “Wait, were you doing online research?”
I hid under another pillow. I heard him laughing again, “Emily, if you want to know something just ask me, I can always guide you in the right direction. It’s not like I have tons of experience but we can figure it out together.”
I blushed again as he moved me so I was laying on his chest, “Though I am mad at you now.”
I moved to look at him, “What? Why?”
“Now I’m picturing you in one of those outfits!”
This time I laughed, “Good, serves you right for looking at my computer.”
He kissed the top of my head, his arms tensed a little bit around me. I felt like he wanted to say something more to me but he didn’t.
********************************************
Christmas morning was here before we knew it. I woke up and celebrated with my mom and grandparents. Wrapping paper was scattered all over the floor as things wound down and the clean up process began.
My father called to wish me a Merry Christmas. Beth was doing well dealing with the pregnancy.
“Dad, I miss the warmth, you should see it up here, snow and cold, that’s all there is.”
He laughed, “Yeah, I remember a few of my visits up there, just have to get used to it.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for the gifts I can’t wait to use the art supplies.”
“You are welcome. How is the college hunting going? Your mom says you still haven’t decided, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I’m waiting for a reply from Syracuse, but I don’t think I can get in. My test scores were kind of low and the tuition is high.”
“Emily, don’t worry about the money, we will handle it. Why Syracuse though?”
“Well, I guess I have to tell you now, don’t be mad. But, I have a boyfriend now, Dad.”
“A boyfriend? Emily, you are too young,” He said yelling in the phone.
“Dad, I’m eighteen. Stop it. Mom loves him, he’s a wonderful guy. He
’s the quarterback of the football team and has a full scholarship to Syracuse, so I was hoping to go to the same school.”
“I still don’t approve, I will have to talk to your mother about this. Please just be safe.”
“Oh my God, Dad! Please don’t start that.”
“I’m serious, Emily, I don’t want to be a grandfather yet!”
“Jesus Dad, you are about to be a sixty year old father, what’s the difference?!” I yelled in the phone, I didn’t mean to lose my temper but he was really upsetting me. My mom ran into the kitchen and grabbed the phone from me.
Listening to my parents have a screaming match wasn’t a first in my life but it’s been awhile. Thinking back to the loud arguments back in Houston, that’s when the tears started, great way to spend Christmas morning. I knew that my Grandparents were listening in the other room as my mom slammed the phone down.
“Mom, you ok?” I said I moved to the kitchen table and sat down, hearing the loud noise from the television as my grandparents watched some Christmas special.
“Yeah, he is still as stubborn as he always was. He is threatening to bring you back to Texas if I don’t keep my eyes on you. You are a growing woman, Emily, I understand that. I know you and Eric are getting serious, things happen, just promise me before you do anything big, you talk to me.”
“Mom, stop it, you know me, I’m the responsible one, so don’t worry about me. Dad is being a total jerk. He’s on edge and taking it out on us.”
“I know. He just brings out the worse in me, I will be ok.”
“Sure you will, Mom. You are a very strong person.”
She smiled at me, “You think so?”
“Of course, who do you think I’m modeling my life after, huh?”
She looked sad, tears formed in her eyes.
“Mom, what’s wrong? That’s a good thing!” I said putting my arms around her waist.
“I know, Emily. That means a lot to me.”
I smiled at her and kissed her cheek, “Merry Christmas, Mom.”
“Merry Christmas, Emily.”
Christmas day flew by, dinner with the family, enjoying all my new winter clothes and laughing at the fact that my mom bought me ice skates. It was a broken ankle waiting to happen.
First Love Page 6