On my way to the parking lot, my phone vibrated. I pulled it out of my pocket and halted abruptly when I saw whom my latest text was from.
Tiger: Where are you?
Annabelle: Why do you want to know?
Tiger: Were you at the game?
Annabelle: Yes I was. I came because my friend Jenna asked me to.
Tiger: I see. So when do I get my congratulations kiss?
Annabelle: James you can’t talk like that to me anymore. We’re not together and no there will never, ever be anymore kisses from me to YOU! Besides it seems you already got your congratulations kiss from Donna. Why don’t you make things official with her, it’ll make her day.
Tiger: Donna? What are you talking about? I didn’t kiss her. Where are you now?
Annabelle: I’m somewhere you don’t need to know.
Tiger: Where are you?
Annabelle: Why do you need to know?
Tiger: Stop it. Tell me where you are.
Annabelle: James, I don’t know how many times I need to tell you this, but we are over!
Tiger: Where are you?
Annabelle: Enjoy Donna, later!
Tiger: I don’t like her. I care about you!
Annabelle: I don’t believe you. You don’t care about me.
Tiger: I care about you like crazy.
*~*~*
I knocked on his front door and he opened it right away.
He had the audacity to smile at me, like everything was okay. It wasn’t. I held a broken branch on my palm to him. “Here.”
“Here?” he repeated, staring at the stick, confused.
I handed him the stick. “Like a good puppy, right?”
“What?” He grimaced, throwing the stick into the yard. “Get inside.”
“Hey!” I turned, facing the yard. “Why’d you do that?”
“Get inside,” he hissed, pointing inside his house.
“Let me go get the stick again, like a good little doggy, right?” I took one step towards the lawn when all of a sudden James had me over his shoulder entering his house, kicking his front door closed and heading up the stairs.
“You’re crazy, you know that,” he said, panting. We entered his room and he put me down and then eyed his bed.
“I’m not lying on your bed.” I plopped down to the floor, lying down with my head resting against the side of his bed. “This is my spot.”
He crouched down, meeting me eye level. “Stop.”
“Why?” I asked. “I’m crazy, remember?”
He let out a rough breath and joined me on the floor, lying with his head resting against the side of his bed. “Is everyone at this school fucked in the head?”
“Yeah, pretty much, but I’m glad to see you’re fitting in so well.” I informed him. He slid down closer to me, trying to touch shoulders but I pulled away. He smelled like shampoo and cologne and it was…. not right for my will power.
He held the bottom of my dress up. “Nice dress.”
I swatted his hand away and glanced at his face, and along his jawline there were still a few scratches from his fight with Johnny a week ago. “Nice scratch.”
“It still hurts.” he informed.
“Okay,” I said, shrugging.
“Well, make me feel better.” He smirked. “Give my scratches the kisses it needs to heal.”
“Nope.” I clipped, shaking my head. “Not happening.”
“You’re mean, you know that.” he accused, shaking his head. “Here I am, in pain, and you won’t even give me a kiss. If that isn’t the definition of cruel, then I don’t know what is.”
I snorted, feeling extremely bitter. “Yeah, well you’re the definition of bullshit!”
“Bullshit?” he screeched, incredulous. “Bullshit?”
I leaned into him, balancing myself with my left hand and stopping an inch from his amused face. “Yeah, that’s right. Bullshit!”
All of a sudden, using his strength, he wrapped his muscled arm around my waist, pulling me into his embrace.
“Let me go.” I hissed, my palms pushing at his thin white shirt, covering his firm chest. “I’ll rip your shirt and gag you with it if you don’t let me go.”
Using his strength again, and not that I was really trying that hard to pull away, he rose with his arms wrapped around me and placed me down on my back. He let go and propped himself over me using his elbows. He lowered, stopping an inch from my mouth. “Do it. Rip my shirt off. I’ll rip your pretty dress off.”
“You like doing this, don’t you?” I said, seething. “You’re so good at playing with my feelings. I swear to God, if it was a sport you’d get gold.”
“That’s a lie, I just want to be with you,” he murmured, his warm breath draping my lips, sending a shiver down my spine. My back curved upwards and my front pressed against his.
“Baby, this school is fucked up. How many times do I have to tell you this?” James exclaimed, caressing the side of my face with his fingertips.
“When you care to elaborate a little more on the subject. I need more than, this school is fucked up.” I uncurled my back, leaving his chest. I exhaled a rough breath and brought my forearm behind my head, feeling that bitter bug consume again, stopping ‘this’ from potentially happening again. The fact that it might happen again was worrying enough. I had some serious issues. I was letting him do it again… pulling me in.
“I can make you feel.” he assured, grinding his body against mine. My eyelids closed as the first wave of pleasure shot through me.
“I wish… I could just let go.” I whispered as he planted his face into my neck, kissing the skin underneath my jawline. “But you make it so hard.”
His face left my neck, rising a few inches above my mouth. “That day should have never happened. I’ve been dreaming about touching you since that fucked up day.”
“I don’t get you.” I sighed, exhausted. “You act like you don’t even know me at school, yet you told all your friends about me.”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I. You’re my girl.” he stated, making my skin tingle.
“You’re driving me crazy.” I moaned, feeling every depressing emotion from the last month come back to me at full force.
“Do you see those girls that hang around us, they’re freaking piranhas. If they saw me with another girl besides one of them, they’d be on you like fresh meat. They think they’re invincible. Got some of the faculty to back them up too when they get into fights with other girls.” he explained, wide eyed. “Nobody’s going to touch my girl. Tomorrow, things will be different.”
I sighed and caressed the tip of his lip. “I hope so. Because tomorrow is it for me, for real.”
*~*~*
I wiped steam off the bathroom mirror back at my house a few hours later. My reflection was a blur of condensation and as I waited for our fan to clear the humidity away I thought about what I had done earlier. We’d been legit alone at his house. His brother and sister had no school tomorrow so his dad took the whole brigade to their cottage a day early.
“Being here, with you, like this. It’s everything. I want to make love to you, baby. Do you want to?” he asked, grinding his thigh where I was most….
I gave him a timid nod. “Yeah, I want to.”
Completely naked, our bodies pressed against one another. Any wave of doubt I had about my body not being potentially ‘sex’ ready was quickly forgotten. I didn’t care.
“You’re amazing.” he hummed, eyes transfixed.
“Do you have a condom?” I asked, grabbing his shoulders, stopping him from moving.
“Yeah.” he answered.
“Have you ever had sex before?” I asked, letting go of his arms.
He nodded, pressing his chest into mine. “Yeah, but not since meeting you.”
He reached over to his nightstand and pulled out a square foil packet from inside the drawer. He took the latex out and slid it over his man part, which had grown even larger. I stared at it fascinated.
“You like what you see, Fireball?” James smirked as he nestled against me again, all wrapped up.
“Shut up.” I whispered, slightly embarrassed.
He positioned himself down there. “This might hurt a little, Fireball.”
“Don’t fuck me up, Tiger.” I whispered, my heart pounding faster. Now, this was really it. It was going to happen.
He pressed the tip of his man over my edge and entered one slow inch at a time. Breathing harshly, I felt myself expanding, the pressure intensifying the more he pushed through. He stopped and looked at me. “You okay?”
“Go slow,” I ordered, clenching my jaw from the intense discomfort.
A loud knock brought me back. The mirror was clear, I viewed my flushed reflection as the locked bathroom door rattled, someone trying to open it from the hallway.
“What are you doing in there, Annabelle? You’ve been in there forever!” Katherine screeched. “I need to use the bathroom too. It’s not only yours!”