I was sitting on one of the bar stools beside Maze pilling pepperonis, mushrooms, black olives, and everything we could find in the fridge.
“You two actually went to the grocery store? Together?”
“Yes, Maze. We cave men can hunt,” Calum retorted. “Lee and I do know how to follow a list.”
I chuckled. Have I just stepped into the devil’s lair? The oven of death!
“What is that, Miss Giggles? No belief in me?”
I swung off the stool, walked around the bar to the stove Calum now stood in front of with him watching me intently. Every step. I raised my hands in the air just enough for him to assume I was about to wrap them around him, but reached for the jar of sauce instead, turned around, and leaned on the bar beside him. Only I could hear the sigh he released. He stepped up behind me and whispered, “I can play dirty too, Miss Giggles. Don’t play with a fire you can’t put out.”
I’d never been allowed plain fun like this without chaperones. I’d always had a bodyguard sorely missing out on everything all these years.
His hands wrapped around my waist and he began to tickle everything on me he could reach standing in front of two other people. Before it could get too out of hand Lee shouted across the bar, “Okay, you two.” Calum didn’t stop.
“OKAY!” Lee screamed.
Calum stopped, backed up and we both stood watching Lee and Maze watching us. I didn’t know why I should be embarrassed. I shouldn’t be. We finished building our homemade pizzas and all four of us sat around the bar chatting about nothing at all. I briefly thought about the fact that I was playing a very dangerous flirting game with said Hunter boy, but I’d never been allowed to do this and it was...fun. It’s not like I’m going to marry him or something. And he was flirting too.
At one point the conversation lulled. Maze “ummed” me a few times and finally whispered, “Do we want to go with the sneak out tomorrow night? We can hang out. We will probably have pizza leftover.” Saying it was useless since we would all have gone anyway, but we needed the conversation.
“Sounds great.” I peeked behind me and saw the sofa in the corner of the room. The TV was on playing a movie I recognized. “That’s one of my favorites. I want to fly one of those so bad. ‘Tower, this is Ghost Rider, requesting a flyby.’”
“That is not a chic flick! No dice.” Calum made his voice sound like a girl, but he wasn’t very effective at it.
“Yes Calum, it is. And I’d be a better pilot than you.” He was a little miffed, I could tell. “But then again, you can be my Goose.” He was confused. Ha! So much for the “chic flick” talk. “Co-pilot!” I helped him thinking this would give him the hint he needed.
Lee was laughing enjoying Calum’s confusion.
Calum glared at him.
“She used to watch it all the time. She has every line memorized. As well as about ten other movies the last I knew. I was never allowed to watch what I wanted. She’d say she needed her ammo to keep my trivia on the bottom end.”
Calum looked back and forth from Lee to me. He didn’t like it when Lee shared exclusive information about me much less the fact that he now, was no doubt, picturing us watching movies together.
Calum’s smile softened a little and asked, “What other movie quotes?” The vein in his forehead smoothed out. He’d changed his course for some reason.
I stood and walked to the sofa, patting the seat beside me. “I feel the need…” I pointed at Calum.
“The need…for speed.” He squished up his face knowing this one. “This is really odd behavior. I don’t know this girl.”
“Well, get to know her. She’s right here.” He sat down next to me.
“So, what other movies are included in your list?”
“Where is your collection? Let me see yours and I’ll show you mine.”
Calum’s eyes went to the audience still at the table, leaned in front of me blocking my view of Maze and Lee, and reached for his belt buckle.
My hands flew to my face covering my eyes and mouth in total embarrassment.
He chuckled, beseechingly. “Told ya not to play with fire!”
I stood and hit him over and over across the chest. He just laughed. I wanted to use the force I knew I had, but he needed to feel important right now, not defeated.
Lee and Maze came over to sit on the love seat after she checked the minutes left on the oven. I resumed my seat beside Calum in battle mode not caring how close or far he was from me. I wanted to win. Never had I had this much fun.
“Robin Hood!”
“Okay. Any last words before I have you run through?” Calum shot out.
My eyes bugged. “Well, well. Who surprises who?” I countered, “Um! Follow the white rabbit!”
“Well, well Neo!” Calum responded.
“Impressive!” I threw him.
Lee and Maze just listened. I risked a look over at them. They were whispering to each other.
“Care to share?” I asked them both.
“Just guessing your list before you reveal. Up to three now! Seven to go!” Lee smirked and Maze rolled her eyes.
“Oh, really!” I threw a little maroon pillow at Lee. It matched the sofa and walls. He caught it and hit Maze instead seeing little bits of maroon fluff from the velvet corners on her face. She had one in my face before I could react. We soon had blurred maroonish bullets flying every direction. I held my hand in front of my face to block and felt my feet sweep from under me. In any other situation my reaction would have been to fold and attack, but my attacker was a 5’11’’ gorgeous Hunter boy whom I truly felt I could not go on without in this world of pending doom, so I laid there like a scared kitten and let him curl around me, caging me in on the sofa.
“Pinned ya!”
“Pinned!” I purred with my tongue fluttering aloud, maroon fluff still stuck in my teeth.
He smiled and pecked a kiss on my forehead, jumped back pulling his hands through his hair.
“You okay?” I asked a little worried at his fast retreat picking at my face for fluff while he helped me.
“You have no idea,” he leaned into my ear as I jumped up beside him, “Not one idea what affect you have on people.”
I smiled, but it scared me a little. This was way new territory for me. I didn’t mean to affect people. We joked some more then Lee broke the odd tension in the air.
“Now you name the movie, genius,” Lee challenged me.
“Hit me with your best shot,” I batted my eyes. Calum and I sat on the front edge of the sofa. He rubbed his hands together accepting the challenge.
Lee shouted with a finger pointed at me, “YOU can’t handle the truth.”
“A FEW GOOD MEN!” We both shouted. Calum high-fived me. I was loving this.
Lee shouted, “Pop quiz. Airport, gunman with one hostage. He’s using—
“Shoot the hostage!” I screamed bumping Calum’s shoulder.
“No, no, no! Doesn’t count! Speed! You just answered with another line, not the title,” Calum raised his hands in the air.
“Poor loser!” I pouted.
“Those eyes won’t work when I’ve been challenged to beat you at a game I know I can win.” Calum was smiling even with his eyes.
“OH, okay then. I will win then.” I rubbed my hands together.
“Wanna bet?” Calum rubbed his own and sat even closer to the edge of the sofa.
“Yeah, I do!”
He laughed the amazing devil laugh that boiled me over. I swallowed now scared of what he might say next.
“I win, you carry my books around tomorrow everywhere for all to see. You win…” Calum paused thinking with his hand to his cheek. He flicked his finger out. “I let you give me another bow and arrow lesson.”
“No! I win, I get to fight you in a four walled fight with everything I have. Everything. I’ve been itching to unleash. You win, you can carry my books and…and make me a picnic under the stars tomorrow night and I’ll still make good on the bow and a
rrow lesson.” I recanted the original idea.
“Deal!” he smiled.
This.will.be.interesting. I turned to Lee, “Fire away!”
Maze was wide-eyed and laughing at all of us. “You all have lost your freaking minds. I’m checking the pizza.”
“Hakuna matata!” Lee said fast getting into the movie part of it.
“LION KING!” we both shouted together. Calum leaned fast and justified his answer louder than I hoped he meant to, “Pinned ya and I’ll do it again!” I blushed. These were my favorites, right?
Lee didn’t miss a beat. “God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs...” Lee made his best girl voice now, “Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth—
“Jurassic Park,” we both chorused together. Another high-five. Calum and I were rocking.
“An Anastacia favorite. Saw it over fifty times in one week.”
Calum bugged his eyes at me. “You memorize them or something?”
“Something like that. I have my favorite parts.”
“And since all of us seem to give her exactly what she wants...she gets,” Lee felt compelled to add. I gave Lee a shut the crap up face.
“Someone’s gotta lose!” Calum said to my cheek ignoring Lee.
“Yeah, you do!” I said facing Lee to have him get started again. “Go on, Dy…Lee.” Oops! Hearing old movies put me in the past a little. We used to stay up hidden in Szar's TV room watching movies and eating popcorn till one of us woke up and made ourselves go to our own rooms. Calum caught the blunder, but didn’t say anything.
Lee continued. In an attempt at a scary accented line he held his neck back and in his best Russian-like bass toned voice, “Hey, Ryan, be careful what you shoot at. Most things in here don’t react to well to bullets.”
“Red October!” Calum bellowed.
“Hunt for Red October!” I corrected. “Doesn’t count. He didn’t say the whole title.”
Lee cocked his head to the side. I harrumphed just as his face gave off an devilish glow. I knew that look meant something was in store. “You had me at hello!”
Maze shouted with me, “Jerry Maguire!”
“Uh! No! Man, you called a chic flick,” Calum waved his head and hands back in forth in protest.
“Baseball movie. And one of her favorites,” he was giving Calum his full disclosure of just how much he knew me that I myself didn’t realize Lee knew that much about me.
“Alright. But doesn’t count. We are not competing with one timer movies,” Calum rubbed his chin again.
“One-timer?” I asked.
“Not watch again movie,” he clarified.
“Fine. This time,” Lee scowled and I watched him dare me to speak.
“Are we going all night?” I asked.
“Planning on it!” Calum jumped up at the sound of the oven beeping.
“Some of us have school tomorrow. Oh, wait. That’s you too,” Lee complained keening his voice.
I shrugged caring little about classes I’d conquered years ago. They knew who I was now. “I WILL WIN!” I yanked out a chair and swiveled around to help him if he needed it.
Calum’s eyes went a shade darker. He pulled the pizza from the oven and sat it out on the trivets, looked up at me, and walked around the bar to my stool where I now sat watching him.
His mouth nipped my ear. “Secret bets are on. I get five minutes alone with you in the ring if I win, you get five minutes alone in the ring with me if you win. We both win.”
“But I—
Lee cleared his throat behind us. Maze waited till both boys had their backs turned and motioned a person fishing and reeling in. I didn’t know what that meant.
“Let’s eat!” Lee called from the table. It was already set. When did they do that?
We all had at least a slice down when Lee called, “Bueller?...Bueller?...Bueller?”
“Doesn’t count. You said the name,” I bit into my second piece.
“Okay,” he consented, “Roads! Where were going we don’t need roads!”
“BACK TO THE FUTURE!” My mouth was full, but I nailed it with Calum at the same time.
“Time to pull out the big guns. You guys are good!” Lee thumped the table.
Calum grinned, “I am to please.”
Maze kicked me under the table. “Ow!” I glared at her smirking face.
“I see dead peo—
“Sixth Sense!” Even Maze answered that one.
“Over it. Beyond it. We’re ‘them’. We’re ‘they’. We are the—
“Men in Black!” Maze and I said in unison.
Maze and I stood at the same time saying it with our hands to our invisible collars on our necks. We struck a pose and folded our arms like the movie case showed so well. I giggled and high-fived her. I didn’t realize yet why Lee was dropping his mouth and hoped like anything Maze wasn’t doing anything I knew I shouldn’t see. I looked at Calum, his face in some form of shock and awe and doubt all at the same time. Oh! “You missed it! I win.” We’d been in sync all night so this was no different.
“I know that movie forward and backward. I just…” he shook his head back and forth.
“What? LOST! That’s what!” I jumped in my chair as I sat back down. I thought he said it too. “I win! I win! I win!”
“You two, wow!” Calum seemed almost speechless. “Did you do some kind of flashy-thing on me?” He turned to me laughing, but really seemed like he thought I might.
“No! I don’t have any power like that,” I snorted my nose up in the air. I wish! “Calum! I won! Stop! You lost fair and square. Own up!”
His eyes lit up. He stood. “Right now! Let’s go!”
“No! Too late. Tomorrow, after classes when the gym is empty.”
“Fine!” he stood, sulking and started cleaning up the kitchen. I cleaned the table. Maze and Lee washed the dishes.
“Tonight was one of the best nights of my life,” I flexed my hands back and forth ready to sleep. I found the night great but exhausting.
“Why?” Calum stood outside the dorm house doors.
“I’ve never had friends to just hang out with. I really had a great time. Thank you!”
He leaned into me forcing me against the side of the building. He had one hand above my head and was leaning in fast.
“I’m want more than just your friendship, Miss Anat.” He used my middle name. I swallowed when his eyes weren’t leaving mine. I waited, knowing he was going to kiss me. I closed my eyes. Nothing. I felt his breath move away, but not far.
I opened my eyes to his voice, “Don’t look away from me when I say this. Keep looking in my eyes.” I didn’t speak.
“Dr. Quinn is on the corner of the room monitor building watching us. When I kiss you, I will back up, wave at you, and walk towards my dorm. You step inside your dorm before I’m there and watch carefully out the window at where he goes. If he goes towards my dorm, I will have Lee out one end and me the other. If it looks like danger, call Maze, load up, and head out.”
I nodded and risked a response, “It’s not Saturday. What if he wants to warn us or something?”
“Then he better let me know before I knock him into the goal zone!” He kissed me quick.
Inside, I watched.
He hesitated at the door as if it was stuck. Quinn walked out of the darkness and I saw his hand move to his mouth like a whistle. Calum turned to him.
Shoot. I need Maze. And Lee. Calum walked back over to the darkness where Dr. Quinn stood. Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!
Chapter Thirty Four …who don’t mind looking like cowards.
I watched. They talked. I watched. They talked some more. Calum didn’t change his stance, turn his head, or move his hands to the inside of his pockets. Neither did Quinn.
He talked maybe five minutes. A really long five minutes. Then Calum turned and walked back to his dorm and went inside without looking my way.
We decided phones were n
ot trustworthy so I would have to wait till after curfew and sneak over. He’d expect me either way. And I considered myself most stealthy at sneaking in the shadows due to my smaller structure and years of practice now.
Maze found me in the shadows and I filled her in. She took it upon herself to give me other advice in the middle of spy mode.
“You know, I can tell you like Calum.”
“So. And?” I was concentrating on the darkness and what all was not moving outside.
“He likes you more. He told Lee and me that he loves you.”
I darted around to face her and hissed, “He did not!”
“He did,” she got in my face, “and you better not string him along if it’s not reciprocated. You didn’t see him before you came. You are his world now. All of us can see the way he is centered on you. You just fail to see it because you have always been the center of attention.”
Says what she knows. I have always been hidden. I decided to ignore it for now. Deal with it later.
It didn’t take much to convince her to sneak into the boy’s dorm, but her reasons were most likely unlike mine. Nevertheless, she was on board with trying to save my life and Calum’s, so she was my very favorite person.
We knocked on their window and a wide-eyed Lee greeted us with a huge smile and a huge bag of potato chips! I’d spent the last few minutes listening to how Lee held the door for her, and Lee carried her books today, and Lee helped her with her slingshot. It’s not that I wasn’t happy for them, but enough.
I felt his eyes on me as my legs made the last foothold. Calum didn’t seem to be in the room. I adjusted my shirt back down and noticed Lee zoned out with an almost pale sickly color like I scared him. I quickly waved my hand in front of his face, “You should help Maze in NOW!”
He shook his head and helped her climb in the window as I sat on Calum’s bed.
Lee walked and sat by me instead of Maze and tried to make extremely uncomfortable small talk, “I knew Calum always waited till everyone had showered first, but I never really questioned it. You really were born with it?” His eyes looked down again making me wonder if it was really sensual. He bore fear, not the dark eyed look of want. Some divine principle, prophecy, or whatever was stirring up the brew pot in my life and spitting hot bits all over me every time Lee gives me these “longing for you” looks of his. I just couldn’t be sure.
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