Chapter 23

Kiana waited another week for Jacen to finally ask her out but unfortunately it never happened. As such, she decided it just wasn’t meant to be so she decided she better move on and try her luck with another boy (she didn’t really want to, but that’s how life went sometimes). Three different boys asked her out that week and she decided to go out with one named Tyler Davidson. Tyler was a tall, thin boy on the school’s track team and he was really good looking, with short, blond hair and blue eyes. He picked her up at her house, around 8:00 pm, and they went to a nearby Red Robin for dinner. Like most first dates, they spent most of their time with small talk, and she learned he was originally from Chicago but had moved to Mill Creek a few years back when his dad, who was an executive at an accounting firm, was transferred to the company’s Seattle office. Overall, it was an okay time, but to be perfectly honest, Kiana quickly began to realize accepting Tyler’s invitation had been a mistake. She really wanted to be with Jacen, and as such, she just couldn’t get into the date with Tyler at all.

Regardless, she didn’t want to be rude or hurt Tyler’s feelings, since he seemed nice enough, so she decided she would play along and complete the date. Unfortunately, however, things soured as soon as they finished dinner and went to a local theater to catch a movie. As soon as they took their seats, Tyler placed his hand on her knee.

She smiled briefly, and as politely as possible, removed it.

Tyler seemed a little disappointed but he didn’t say anything, so Kiana assumed he had gotten the message and there would be no additional issues. Unfortunately, however, less than ten minutes later, and just after the movie had begun, he did it again. He moved his hand onto her leg, but this time a little higher up, closer to her thigh. Once again, as politely as she could, she removed it.

Kiana wasn’t overly alarmed, since she had had similar experiences with boys in the past and she knew some of them were more persistent than others, and with them it took a little longer before they figured out exactly where the line was drawn.

But then it happened again. So finally she had no choice but to say something. “Look. I’m really not into touching, so it would be better if you kept your hands to yourself.”

“It’s no big deal. It won’t hurt you.”

“I know. But even so, please don’t do it again.”

“Whatever.”

Things were fine for a few minutes and Kiana actually started to have a little fun (the movie was a horror/action adventure with an explosion in every scene), but everything came to a crashing halt about twenty minutes later when Tyler slipped his arm around her, just behind her neck.

That really irritated her. She had given him three warnings and as far as she was concerned three was more than enough.

Ever so carefully, she pulled her phone from her purse, touched it gently to his side, and pressed the icon that was shaped like a lightning bolt. Doing so activated the phone’s stun gun feature, and it shocked him so badly it made him pee his pants. It was all Kiana could do to keep from laughing out loud, right there in the middle of the theater, as she looked down and saw the urine stain spreading quickly down the front of his jeans.

It took him a minute to recover from the shock, and when he finally did he was so upset and so embarrassed he jumped up and stormed out of the room. Kiana thought about going after him, just to make certain he was okay and to try to smooth things out a little, but the movie had gotten to a really intense part where zombies had started to take over the world, so she wanted to see what happened. Unfortunately, however, she didn’t get to see much, since Tyler returned a few minutes later and he had a police officer with him. The officer, who was a heavy, burly man with a bald head, waived at her, and he clearly wanted her to step out into the lobby where they could talk and not disturb the theater’s other patrons.

Wonderful, she thought. If this doesn’t go well, I’m going to have a tough time explaining it to my dad. And then he’ll probably ban me from going on any more dates until I’m thirty.

“Thanks for stepping outside, young lady. This young man claims you attacked him with some type of stun gun.”

Kiana nodded. “I told him not to touch me. But he kept doing it. Four times.”

The officer raised an eyebrow, then turned back to Tyler. “Is that true?”

“I wasn’t going to hurt her or nothin’.”

“Did you touch her after she told you not to?”

“A little.”

“Son, in Washington, touching someone without her consent is considered assault.”

“It’s no big deal. I bought her movie ticket. She should be grateful.”

The officer clearly did not like that response, not at all. “So let me see if I get this right. What you’re saying is, if you buy her ticket then you get to do whatever you want to her?”

“Not whatever. But a little touchin’ wouldn’t hurt. She might even like it if she gave it a try.”

The officer shook his head. “I don’t like that attitude at all. Especially since I have a teenage daughter of my own. Let’s head downtown. I think it’s time for you to spend a little time in the juvenile detention center.”

He grabbed Tyler by one arm and started to haul him away. But then he stopped and turned back to Kiana.

“Sorry about the interruption, miss. Feel free to return to your movie.”

He turned and headed for the theater’s exit with Tyler in tow. The last thing Kiana heard as they exited the theater was the sound of the officer’s voice as he said, “Jesus, boy. You stink. You smell like you pissed yourself.”