She turned at her waist and smiled. “No attitude here. I just don’t want to see a fellow sister get hurt.”
Mitch
I had sex with Aurora.
I had sex with Aurora and I didn’t regret it.
I had sex with Aurora and I didn’t regret itandI wanted to see her again.
What the fuck is happening to me?
After we parted ways—no walk of shame there, mind you—I went to my classes as usual and then straight to work. Well, mybodydid all those things. My mind was left in Aurora’s room and my heart with her. Hell, I even burned my hand washing dishes at Sam’s Diner. How the heck do you even do that? By the time I went to Annihilation practice later that evening, my head felt like a balloon ready to be popped.
“Dude, what is up with you?” Craig smacked his mouth in distaste and walked up to me, eyeing me up and down. “You’re off. It’s causing all of us to suffer right now.”
“The only one suffering is me,Cruel. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m just tired.” I flicked at my nose and sniffed.
“Yeah, you’re the only one suffering until we get to the Battle of the Crews.” Craig narrowed his eyes and made a duck lip motion with his mouth. “Get your head straight. You don’t want to cause a big L for us, do you?”
To my relief, he walked away without mentioning Aurora. After the day I’d had, there was no way to predict how I’d react. From the beginning I felt oddly protective of her and now…well, let’s just say I wouldn’t hesitate to put somebody in their place.
When it was time to finally meet with her that night, I was exhausted butexcited as hell. It was as if I wereaddictedto seeing Aurora. It was definitely a new feeling, but not abad one.
The rapping at the front door caused my heart to leap, along with my dick. It was ridiculous how quickly I reverted back to that high school kid I thought I’d grown out of.
Heart beating wildly, I opened the door only to find Aurora biting her lip nervously. She was freshly showered and her long hair hung in soft waves to her waist.
“Hi.” Her voice sounded different than usual. It was a higher pitch, almost squeaky, and definitely more hesitant for sure.
“Hey,” I replied in an equally awkward tone.
She looked past me and smirked. “Can I come in?”
“Oh, yeah.” I immediately stepped out of the way, stumbling over my own feet. The scent of her lavender shampoo hit my nostrils as she strode by, instantly relaxing me.
“Soo…” She looked around and placed her hands on her thighs, rocking back and forth.
She was acting like she’d never been here despite having basically bombarded me a few days after we met.
I gazed at her curiously and couldn’t help but linger at the way her nose curved up toward the tip and the way the overhead lights caused her eyes to twinkle. God, was she gorgeous.
“Come with me.” My voice cracked again. Shit, why did I always turn into a little boy around her?
She didn’t say a word and followed behind me, breathing quite loudly. She must have thought we were going to hook up again. Not that I wasn’t opposed to that, but I invited her over for a different reason.
Once we entered my room, I turned on the lights and closed the door gently behind her. We stood on opposite ends of the room, each waiting for the other to speak first.
“Um, why did you invite me here?” she finally asked. She peered up at me curiously, glancing from one side of my room to the other.
“I wanted to show you my room,” I answered.
She looked at me as if I had grown two heads. “Excuse me?” She looked around in bewilderment. “Funny, I didn’t know we were in sixth grade again.’
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I never, ever let any girls in here. I thought it was fitting to make you the first.”
Now that caught her attention. She looked up at me in surprise. “Really? You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie about that?” I shook my head. ‘No, I’m being serious. This place is my sanctuary. I’ve never brought anybody of the opposite sex in here before.”
“So what you’re saying is that this place is a man cave?”
I shook my head. “It’s more than that. It’s a place I can go and just think. Out there I have to always be on my game—I have to be Kickwit. I have to be mindful of my energy, my time, and other people. In here, I can just relax and be Mitch. It’s not much, but it’s my time away from everyone else, because time—”
“Is important,” she finished for me.
I nodded. “I didn’t want to bring a girl in here and ruin what this room is for me. I didn’t want to taint it or—”
“Fill it with bad energy?”
I shot her a weird look.
She shrugged. “I room with Clemence,” she replied, as if it answered all the cryptic questions of the world.
I chuckled. “Okay. Anyway, I wanted to invite you in here as a way to show you that you really aren’t one of those other girls your friends warned you about. You’re someone special. You’re different.”
A smile tickled her lips. “Different? Like weird?”
I scratched the back of my head. “You’re making this difficult on purpose, aren’t you?”
She shrugged her shoulders and giggled.
My mouth twitched as I tried to hide my amusement. “I wanted to share something with you that I’d never shared with anybody. This,” I lifted my eyes and motioned around. “Is my way of showing you that what you heard about me won’t happen with you. You’re more special to me than that.”
She shut her eyes and gulped. “But why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’?” I repeated in surprise. I don’t know how I expected her to react, but that definitely was not it.
“Why am I special to you? Because I can break? Because I’m new? Because—”
“Because you understand me,” I interjected. “Because, and I know this sounds weird, but youare me.”
“Okay, yeah, that is definitely weird,” she mumbled.
“You have the same work ethic as me,” I clarified. “Same respect and same interests. With you I don’t have to explain why I devote a lot of time to my passion.” I paused and looked down at my feet. “You are someone I can actually share it with.”
I expected her to say something—anything. When I was met by nothing more than utter silence, I felt my heart wilt just a bit. I was scared shitless. It was definitely an emotion I was not used to.
Finally, Aurora took a deep breath and spun around, walking to my bed. I stared after her in shock and watched as she climbed in, fully clothed, and settled underneath my blankets.
“What are you doing?” I choked out.
“Thank you for sharing this with me. I know it must have been hard for you. That’s why I think we should do something that I’ve never done before.”
“And what’s that?” My heart was pounding so loudly I was wondering if she could hear it.
“I never had time to do this,and when I did, I was too angry at the world to allow me this simplepleasure.”
Did she really have to use that word?
She grinned and patted the space beside her. “Let’s spend the night together. No sex, no kissing. Let’s just share this space.”
Though my dick twitched at seeing her lying on my mattress, I quieted it down and smiled. “I’d like that.”
***
I woke up the next morning wondering if it were all just a dream. Was I really falling this deeply for Aurora and was she falling for me too? I blinked slowly, washing away the last remnants of sleep. Once my eyes adjusted, my heart swelled at the sight of messy hair wrapped around my arm. Aurora looked so peaceful, and in that moment I knew we were both exactly where we needed to be.
She squirmed beside me and opened her eyes with a start. She propped her head up and gazed around, looking momentarily confused.
“Good morning,” I whispered, kissing the top of her head.
“Oh! Good
morning!” Recognition flashed across her face as she sat up, curling those luscious lips into a soft smile. “What time is it?”
I grabbed my phone off the table by my bed and glanced at the screen. “Nine o’clock.”
“Good thing it’s a Saturday or we’d be playing hooky again.”
I grinned and hopped off my bed, feeling more rejuvenated than I had in a long time. “Do you want some breakfast? Anthony usually sleeps in so we’ll have the whole kitchen to ourselves for a while.”
She nodded. “I’d like that, but can I go the bathroom to freshen up first?”
Freshen up? She already looked so beautiful.
Regardless, I nodded. “Yeah, of course.”
I opened the door only to find Craig standing by the bathroom. He spun around quickly and looked at us in shock. “Whoa.”
I braced myself, waiting for a smart ass comment to come tumbling out of his mouth. I was not disappointed. “Guess your ‘training’ session landed right where your others usually do—the bedroom.”
‘Don’t listen to him,” I hissed, never taking my eyes of Craig.
From my periphery I could make out Aurora lifting her tiny chin into the air. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not.”
She walked right past him and headed toward the front door.
“Wait, where you going?” I ran after her, fighting the impulse to kick the shit out of Craig. What was he doing there, anyway?
She opened the door and paused for a brief second. Turning at her waist, she shot me an apologetic smile. “I suddenly lost my appetite. I hope you understand.”
Oh, that I did.
“Aurora—”
“I’ll see you later.” She smiled sincerely. “I promise.”
As soon as she left, I took a step toward Craig, clenching my fists. It was itching, ready to land on that sweet spot underneath his eye. “What the fuck was that for?”
Craig shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” I gaped, feeling my eye twitch. “What are you even doing here?”
“I fell asleep on the couch.” He shrugged again.
It was a plausible excuse and it wasn’t as if he’d never done it before. This time, for some reason, I couldn’t believe him.
“So is she ready?” His glare stabbed me like a hundred knives.
I pushed out my jaw and gritted my teeth. “More than ready.”
Aurora
What Craig had said to me should have really bothered me.
Mitch was lying.
Sanctuary, my ass.
I wasn’t the first girl he brought to his room, but so what? It wasn’t as if we were twelve or anything. Still, what he told me was definitely not true so why did he act as if it were something truly special?
“Ugh, this is exactly what Craig wanted me to do. Question everything!” I berated myself for even succumbing to his games. Craig was just an asshole who wanted to ruin everything.
Then again, what Clemence said should have bothered me as well.
It didn’t.
Now the real question here was why.
Despite my initial reservations about Mitch, I quickly realized why couldn’t I have my cake and eat it too? That was the purpose of this transformation of mine, right? To find out what made me happy. If it was Mitch, so be it.
The moment I parked my car inside the dormitory lot, my phone began to buzz. Figuring it was my mom or something, I almost ignored it, totally not in the mindset to answer all her pestering questions. Luckily, I changed my mind, swiping my phone to find a text from Mitch.
Kickwit: If you’re practicing today make sure to work on your flow. Your power moves are tight, but you got to focus on transitions better.
I leaned back in my seat and frowned. Okay fine, we never really agreed to practice any time that day, but it was still a bit odd to get this message, especially after what happened in the morning.
Me: I can do floor work in my sleep. Don’t worry about me.
After a few seconds, another push notification appeared on my screen.
Kickwit: Just remember to differentiate the footwork from gymnastics.
I stared at my screen, dumbfounded. I had no idea how to reply to his message so I decided not to.
***
The cafeteria was pretty empty that day. Given that it was a Saturday, I guessed most of the students opted to leave campus for a change. I, on the other hand, decided to stay put. Besides having to watch my budget, I loved the whole routine thing. After a year of change it was comfortable. I needed comfortable. So, I headed toward the little popup restaurants along the east wing of the Commons and grabbed my same piece of pepperoni pizza and walked over to my same table toward the back of the expansive room. It’d be quiet, giving me more time to study.
I don’t know how much time passed before I heard someone walk up to my table and pull a chair out. “Hey.”
I bit back a groan and looked up, forcing a smile. “Hey, Clemence. What are you doing here? Thought you were against school food or something.”
“What made you think that?” Girlfriend had the audacity to actually sit down! Grabbing the seat across from mine, she plopped down and began unpacking different plastic tubs full of what looked to be bird food.
I pointed my pencil toward her seeds. “Because of that.”
She shrugged. “I usually chill outside, but it’s starting to rain.”
“It rains in California?” I was only half-kidding. I honestly didn’t realize it did. I shifted uneasily, expecting an influx of students at any moment.
Clemence busied herself, popping off the lids. “It’s more of a minor sprinkle, really.”
I scrunched up my face and watched as she bit into something that looked like fresh grass. Fighting back a dry heave, I closed my eyes and shook my head, intent on ignoring her. Given that she chewed rather quietly, which was amazing considering the size of her nut things, it was quite easy to concentrate on my work.
At first.
“Oh, come on. You know you want to have fun. Remember what we did last time you were ‘tired’?” The most annoying voice in the world echoed through the empty room.
“C’mon, Geri. I’m not in the mood,” a deep voice grumbled back.
I froze.
I knew that voice.
Gulping, I lifted my gigantic Statistics book from the table, holding it up so that it blocked my face enough for me to peek over undetected.
Clemence looked at me in bewilderment. “What are you doing?”
I shook my head, narrowing my eyes at her. “Shh.”
She frowned a bit, but shrugged her shoulders and continued munching on her, uh, well, mulch.
“Mitchie!” The girl was statuesque, blonde, and the complete opposite of me. She leaned onto Mitch’s arm while he was busying himself at the food counter. As he grabbed an apple off the counter, the girl pushed onto him a bit more, lifting the heel of one foot and winding her ankle around.
I watched the scene play out, holding my breath until I was sure I’d turn blue. To my relief, Mitch didn’t say anything back to her. In fact, he acted as if she weren’t even there…though she was still practically hanging onto him. After he paid for his food, he walked directly toward a far table and sat down. He still hadn’t noticed I was in my usual spot, which was a bit weird, if you ask me…then again Clemence’s wild hairwas blocking me.
To my frustration, home girl would not leave him alone. My heart was pounding against my ribcage in anger and felt as if it were going to spring out of my chest the moment that bitch sat right on his lap! The act alone wouldn’t have been too bad, since it was obvious she was a hoe and all, but what I couldn’t get over was the fact that Mitch didn’t bother to push her off of him.
“You really should breathe,” Clemence commented, smacking her mouth a bit. “All that tension is getting blocked up in your—”
“Chakras, yeah, yeah. Shhh! Be quiet!” I hissed, never taking my eyes off the pair.
Mitch lifted his chin
and whispered something in her ear. What I wouldn’t have given to know exactly what was said. It must have been something funny though because the blonde devil threw her head back and cackled like the witch she was. Pausing for a moment, she then turned her head slightly, pointing it toward my direction. I know it sounds weird, but I could have sworn she was eyeing me.
“Is she looking at me?” I muttered.
“Who?” Clemence mumbled, keeping her gaze pinned on her seeds.
In that split second, the girl leaned forward and pressed her ugly lipstick colored mouth onto Mitch!
“What the fuck!” I gasped, standing up quickly.
Clemence looked visibly startled and knocked over a tub of brown pellets. “What? What happened?”
“That happened,” I growled and jumped to my feet, stomping my way over to the duo. Sure, I knew Mitch and I weren’t a couple, but after everything…I mean, can’t a girl get some respect?
“Mitch!” I screeched, scaring him. Interestingly, the girl did not seem the least bit surprised at my appearance. In fact, she looked a bit bored. But I couldn’t focus on that. What I did focus on was Mitch’s raised eyebrows, lipstick smeared lips, and the fact that Slutzilla was still sitting on his lap.
As if reading my mind, he pushed the girl off of him and immediately stood up, taking a step toward me. I immediately took a step back. A hurt expression washed over his face. “Aurora. Please. This is not what it looks like.”
“Oh, yeah? Because it looks like you were just making out with her.” To prove my point, I reached out and wiped the excess hot pink gunk off his lips and held my fingertip to his face. “Is it safe to assume that Toxic Chic is not your usual color?”
“Hey!” the girl snapped.
She may have been almost a foot taller than I was, but hell if I cared. I tilted my head to the side and glared up at her. “You better think twice if you want to step up to me because I will beat your little twig ass.”
Her nostrils flared angrily, but after considering me for a moment, she quickly calmed down. Guess she knew I meant business.
Breaking Promises (B-Boy #1) Page 13