Waiting for Us

by Stanton, Dawn

  "Woah, spinning and heels, not a good combination," I say with a giggle. "Not to mention my natural clumsiness."

  "I got you, Hails," he says as he pulls me in for another hug. I wrap my arms around his waist and we stay there until Marcus' mom interrupts us.

  "I need to hug the birthday girl. Get over here and let me look at you. You get more beautiful every time I see you."

  She pulls me in tight, practically squeezing the life out of me. I hug her back and Marcus steps in to save me.

  "Mom, geez, let the girl breathe."

  We all laugh and my parents come over to see Marcus. My mom gives him a hug and says how handsome he looks in his suit. My dad and he shake hands and pull each other in for the back slap.

  Shelby arrives a few minutes later with Dani and Tina, two of my other close, school friends. They engulf me with hugs and clouds of fruity body spray and also, lots of squealing over our dresses. We are a noisy bunch when we get together. I look over at Marcus and crook my finger. He walks over and takes my hand.

  "Guys this is Marcus."

  They all stand there staring at him, jaws gaping, before getting it together and saying hi.

  "Marcus this is Shelby, Dani, and Tina. I know you've heard plenty about them over the years, but I'm so glad you're all finally meeting. They like to tease me that I made you up and you don't actually exist." I say looking up at him. He winks at me before replying.

  "Hi, girls. As you can see, I'm here in the flesh. I couldn't miss my Hails sweet sixteen."

  A chorus of "awws" ensues. I knew they'd love him.

  The room fills up with more and more people and I begin to wonder if my parents invited more guests than they realize. Some more kids from my school are here. One of the guys, Erik Smith, comes up behind me, unexpectedly hugging me.

  "Hey you. Happy Birthday." He whispers in my ear.

  I turn in his arms with a smile and give him a quick hug. I gesture to Marcus as I introduce the two of them. Marcus has a guarded expression on his face as the two of them shake hands.

  "Erik is the quarterback for our football team," I explain.

  "Marcus is a running back for Newbury. Do we ever play his school?" I ask looking up at Erik.

  "No, we don't. They're in a different division than we are." He says with a sweet smile directed at me.

  "Why am I not surprised you don't already know this Hails?" Marcus asks, pulling my attention back to him. "You still have no idea about anything football related." He shakes his head and pokes me in the side.

  "Eek!" I squeak out. "Don't do that Marcus. You know how ticklish I am."

  "Actually," Erik interrupts, putting his arm around my waist, before continuing. "Hailey came to all our home games to cheer us on. I think she's got a pretty good grasp of football and she was my good luck charm. We didn't lose a single home game this season." He looks down at me and winks.

  "I think that had more to do with your throwing arm E than my watching," I say giggling.

  "Maybe I was showing off for you." He whispers flirtatiously in my ear and it causes me to shiver. He smiles at me knowingly. Before I can reply, Marcus takes hold of my hand.

  "I need to steal Hailey away for a bit," He says tugging me along as he agilely weaves in and out of party guests. He is a first-string running back on his football team...of course he's light on his feet. I feel a little like Bambi sliding on the frozen pond, as I’m being awkwardly dragged behind him in my high heels.

  "Marcus, slow down. I can't run in these things." He slows to a more sedate pace as he pulls me into the main hallway.

  "Where are we going?" I ask, but he gives no evidence that he heard my question. He just keeps walking and pulling me along until we come to a series of three doors. He opens the first one and immediately closes it. He opens the next one and pulls me inside, closing and locking the door behind us. We are in a small powder room. I think it must be for the restaurant's employees. I don't really get a chance to take it all in before Marcus suddenly pushes my back against the door. He's holding both of my upper arms and leaning towards me. I open my mouth to ask what's going on, but his lips are on mine before I get the chance to speak. As he's pressing hard biting kisses on my lips, he's molding his whole body to mine. He feels like a solid wall of muscle. My hands are tightly clenching and tugging on his soft hair. It's longer than it was in the summer and I love the way it feels sliding through my fingers. He slips his tongue into my mouth and groans as I meet it with mine.

  "I've been dying to kiss you all night Hails." His lips are on mine again, our tongues rubbing and our bodies wrapped around each other. I moan out loud when he gently bites on my bottom lip. He pulls away, cupping my face in his palms.

  "Are you dating Erik?" He asks, staring into my eyes.

  "No," I shake my head.

  "Good, because God knows I can't stand the thought of you kissing anyone else besides me."

  "Marcus, what's going on? I thought we agreed on just being friends?"

  "I know we did, but I got so jealous when Erik was acting as though you guys were involved. You're mine Hails, not his."

  "But Marcus, I'm not, though. I'm not yours or anyone else's. Don't get me wrong, I love kissing you, but I still think we should try to remain friends only; at least until the summer. We won't see each other again till June and what if you want to date someone between now and then? What if I do?" I rub his arm soothingly, hoping he's not going to be mad at me.

  "I know you're right but damned if I don't want to just say fuck it and be in a long distance relationship with you. I miss you all the time and I've really missed these lips," he says brushing his mouth gently against mine.

  I look up at him and get lost in the depths of his blue eyes. He is so beautiful, both, inside and out.

  "I miss you too. Believe me, I have moments where I think about how great it would be to be your girlfriend, but I still think we should wait and see what next summer brings. Okay?"

  "Yeah, but how about one more kiss to tide us over?" He says with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

  We return to the party with the guests none the wiser about where we had disappeared to. I notice my brother and Cory are here now, so I make my way over to them and collect my birthday hugs. Cory gives me a little squeeze at the end of his hug. It makes our stomachs press together and, as a result, my knees go weak. It's the same feeling Marcus' kisses give me. I wonder if every guy will make me feel this way? Hmm, I may need to check into that.

  I'm having a blast dancing with my friends. I even danced to a slow song with Erik or E, as I like to call him, without Marcus kicking his ass. It was nice being held by him but I think more investigation may be necessary to see if he can make me feel like Marcus and Cory do. I know he likes me and from what I’ve heard, he wants to ask me out. He's a nice guy and I like him a lot, but I'm not sure if I want to open that can of worms since I will be spending my summer with Marcus. It's something I'll have to think good and hard on. No pun intended! Haha, I crack myself up.

  My party is winding down as I run to the ladies room with Shelby. We both pause in front of the mirror to put on more lip gloss and fix our hair.

  "So what do you think of Marcus?"

  "He is H.O.T. - HOT." I giggle at her answer. "He seems really nice too. I can tell he's got a thing for you."

  "What are you talking about Shelb?"

  "I was watching him when you were dancing with Erik and smoke was practically coming out his ears. He looked sooo pissed."

  "Funny you should say that because he yanked me into some bathroom and laid an epic kiss on me because he was jealous."

  "What?"

  "Yep. Nothing will change, though. We are going to wait till the summer and see how we feel then. I don't want to lose his friendship, though, so I really need to give this some serious thought." I can’t ever lose him as a friend. He means way too much to me.

  "So what's going on with you and Erik? You guys looked pretty cozy when you were dancing." She
nudges my arm with her elbow.

  "Yeah, I'm not sure what's up with him. He has been paying a lot of attention to me at school lately and he texts me every night. He seems like a good guy. I haven't heard any crazy stories about him anyway, so that's a plus. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens. Come on, let's get back out there."

  I open the bathroom door and hold it for Shelby. We are walking past the men's room at the same time Cory is exiting it. We barely miss bumping into each other and share a laugh over our close call.

  "Hey, can I grab you for a sec?" He asks me.

  "Sure, Shelby I'll meet you on the dance floor in a few." Shelby nods and smirks as she walks away. She knows about my "Cory crush" and how hot I think he is.

  "So what's up Cory?" I ask, wondering what he could want to talk to me about.

  "Come here," he says wrapping his warm hand around mine. He walks us back toward where we just came from, before continuing down the hall and around a sharp corner. He fluidly turns me to face him and tucks me back into the alcove on the right side of the hallway. The small space is deep enough to offer some privacy as he maneuvers his body close to my mine. My breath stutters from the contact and I suddenly feel nervous. I'm not sure what to do with my hands so I place my palms on the cool wall behind me, bracing myself against it. He runs the top of his index finger slowly down my cheek and back up again.

  "It seems like such a cliché for you to be turning sweet sixteen and you’ve never been kissed. I thought I could help you out with that." He says with a sly smile on his handsome face. Before I can reply that I have already been kissed, he is softly pressing his mouth to mine. His lips are warm and sure. It feels different than kissing Marcus. Maybe it's the fact that he's eight years older than me and he has a lot of experience, whatever the reason, I feel as though I'm kissing a man. The kiss is over almost before it's begun, yet I can't help but feel as though my destiny has been irrevocably changed as a result. One small kiss from Cory Marshall and my life would never be the same.

  If only I knew how prophetic those thoughts would be....

  Chapter Five

  July 2008

  We've been at our beach house for a few weeks now and Marcus and I have been spending a lot of time together like we always do. There is a bit of a strain on our relationship because Erik is now my boyfriend and Marcus isn't happy about it. He's actually been kind of a jerk with the whole situation. Erik is coming to stay with my family for a week and I'm praying Marcus will behave himself.

  We're sitting on a blanket at the beach, eating our lunch and waiting for the tide to go out so we can surf. Yes, I still surf. The first few waves were scary but Marcus coached me through my fears and now it's like my accident never happened. I have been avoiding any really big waves, though. I prefer to sit those out and watch Marcus do his thing. He looks really hot when he surfs. Let's be honest, he looks really hot all the time.

  The attraction is still there between us, alive and pulsing at all times. I've been trying so hard to avoid putting myself in situations that could compromise my relationship with Erik. Marcus has cornered me a couple of times and tried to kiss me. I told him to knock it off and he was understandably upset. He seemed really hurt by the fact that I'm dating Erik. I tried to explain that when he asked me out after my birthday party I assumed we would go on a few dates and that would be the end of it. However, he made our time together so much fun I kept looking forward to the next date. After four weeks of seeing each other, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I haven't regretted it yet. He is so sweet to me and he likes to be silly which is good for me. Sometimes I forget how important having fun is.

  "So," Marcus says swiping one of my potato chips, "Erik is coming tomorrow?"

  "Yep, he is. Are you going to play nice or are you going to be a jerk?" I ask, taking a bite of my ham and cheese sandwich.

  "I'm not sure Hails. I'll try to be nice, but this whole situation rubs me the wrong way."

  "Marcus, I have a boyfriend, not a terminal illness. Why do you have to turn it into a negative thing? You and I are best friends and always will be. You know more about me than anyone else in this whole wide world does. Why isn't that enough for you? I do have feelings for you that go deeper than friendship so I'm not saying no forever, just no for right now."

  "I know you're right Hails but I was really hoping to see your boobs this summer and now I won't be able to. Speaking of your boobs, has Erik seen them yet?"

  "Oh my God, I'm not talking about this with you." I playfully smack him on his arm.

  "Seriously, though, how far have you guys gone? I'll tell you what I've done if it makes you feel better. I'll even go first. So I was at a party and I fooled around with this girl Alice, she's a cheerleader. We made out and she took her shirt and bra off. She had a nice rack, I'm not gonna lie, but I'd rather see yours any day." He says with a wink and gestures as if he's squeezing a pair of boobs before leaning over and stealing a bite of the sandwich I'm holding. I shove the remainder of it in my mouth and hold up my index finger because it's going to be a minute till I'm done chewing. I grab my can of Pepsi and wash it all down before continuing on with this extremely awkward conversation.

  "Okay, I can't believe I'm talking about this with you." I cover my eyes for a second due to being horribly embarrassed. "Before I give you details, let me preface our conversation by saying you cannot throw what I tell you in Erik's face. I know you're going to be annoyed he's here and want to piss him off, but you have to promise me this stays strictly between us." I look at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for confirmation from him.

  "Okay, I promise not to throw it in his face but I won't promise not to punch his face." He laughs as if he's told the best joke.

  "Ha-ha, aren't you funny? Don't be a dickhead, Marcus." I jab his arm with the point of my elbow before leaning back on both of my hands. I look out at the seemingly endless ocean in front of us and gather my thoughts. I can do this if I don't look at him.

  "Erik and I have been dating for a few months now so obviously we've done tons of making out. He has "over the shirt" felt me up on numerous occasions and also "under the shirt." I have not taken my top and bra off yet, although I'm planning on trying that soon. We have also done a little dry humping, which I highly recommend." I can barely keep a straight face after I said the last part and I can only imagine how red my face must be at this moment.

  "Well aren't you a little slut." Marcus jokingly sings out and my mouth drops open in shock and outrage. Before I can reply, he starts tickling my sides with a vengeance. I fall over on my back and land on the soft blanket we spread out earlier. Marcus lays over me as he continues to torture me with his fingers.

  "Stop Marcus." I giggle out.

  "Stop, I have to pee. Please?"

  He stops his fingers from tickling me, but he leaves them resting on either side of my waist. He is staring deeply into my eyes and I get lost in his dark blue gaze. I swear he could hypnotize me with his eyes alone. He leans down and brushes my lips with his. I immediately push him away.

  "Marcus, what the hell are you doing?"

  "I was trying to kiss you Hails and you don't need to waste your breath telling me it's wrong or that deep down you don't want me to. It didn't feel wrong to me. Kissing you will never feel anything but right and I'm not going to let you make me feel ashamed for it."

  "You are forgetting that I have a boyfriend. You're my best friend and you shouldn't be trying to kiss me when I'm in a relationship with someone else. I care about Erik and if we break up over something you do, it will ruin our friendship. You need to think about that Marcus because right now you’re being selfish and only thinking of yourself. “I get to my feet and brush the sand off my legs. "I'm going for a swim, when I come back can you please just be Marcus, my bestie and nothing else?"

  "Yeah, I can do that Hails." He nods his head before reclining back on the blanket, looking lost in thought.

  I'm sitting on the stone steps at the front of my cott
age waiting for Erik to arrive. He just called me on my cellphone to tell me he will be here any minute. I'm so freaking excited to see him. We haven't seen each other since the school year ended a few weeks ago. We’ve both been texting throughout each day and we talk on the phone or skype every night.

  Today is the third of July and it is a big day here in our little beach community. Each year on this date, resident’s light firework off all the way down the beach as far as your eyes can see. Some of them are professional caliber and some residents pay thousands of dollars to purchase them for this occasion. I think it's so amazing to watch them burst in the clear sky and to also see them colorfully reflected in the sea below. The fireworks usually last for about an hour and then Marcus and I usually wander down the beach to where the bonfires are lit. This spot ends up being a gathering point for all the teens in the neighborhood. Even though he and I tend to spend most of our time alone, without other kids around, we both look forward to this night, each summer. I can't wait to share it with Erik. I just hope Marcus will behave himself and not mess with him. If he'd give him a chance, he would realize how much fun E is.

  Before long a gray extended cab pickup truck pulls into our driveway. I'm at Erik's side the moment he's out of his truck and in his arms a moment later. I find myself getting a bit choked up because I've missed him so much and I force myself to fight back the tears. It feels amazing to be together once more and back in his embrace.

  "Pretty Girl, I missed you so much." He cups my face in his hands and kisses me tenderly.

  "I missed you more." I tease as I squeeze my arms around him as tightly as I can. I rest my cheek on his chest and inhale the delicious scent of his cologne. He smells woodsy and fresh. I sprayed his cologne on one of his football hoodies he had given me before I left Lexham. I wore it so much I finally had to wash it, but then it didn't smell like Erik anymore.