Gravity (Free Falling) (19 page)

             
“This time,” he hissed.  “Samantha, young men’s egos are a fragile thing.  It only takes one careless girl to set them off!” He shouted

             
“So, now I’m just some careless girl? “

             
“Yes, Samantha.  You
were
careless.  You created a mess!  Jumping from boy to boy doesn’t look good.  It’s my fault for letting you run around here with that boy in the first place.  You’re done with this AJ boy too. Tell him that you changed your mind again or something.  It’s not like that’s not what’s gonna happen in a week or two anyway.  Just do whatever you have to do to get rid of him before I get rid of him for you.” 

             
“Now wait a minute, James,” Mom stepped in.  “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?  The girl just fell in love.  That’s hardly worthy of a prison sentence.”

             
“She’s too young to be getting this involved with these boys.  Next thing you know, she’ll be coming in here with a baby.  Maybe two!”  Daddy shouted.  I rolled my eyes.

             
“Now you know Samantha isn’t out there messing around.  She’s young and she’s in love and nothing you say is going to stop that.  So, you can either accept that and give her a little freedom, or you can accept that she’s just going to do it anyway behind your back,” she said sternly.  My father was silent.  He couldn’t argue with her logic, so he stormed off to their room in a huff and slammed the door.

             
“Thanks mom,” I whispered.

             
“I’d had about all I could take.”

My head was pounding.  All I wanted was to lie down.  Mom kissed my forehead and left to grab me a couple Aspirin out of the medicine cabinet.  She returned with two pills and a glass of water.  It wasn’t too much longer and I began to drift off. 

I was awakened by my phone ringing.  I couldn’t focus clearly on the caller ID, so I just answered.

             
“Hello?”  I asked sleepily.

             
“Are you feeling ok?” AJ asked.

             
“Yeah.  My dad said it looks like it’s only a surface injury. “

             
AJ sighed angrily.  “I can’t believe I let this happen.  I wanted to
kill
that guy!”

             
“I’ll be fine, really.  He wasn’t trying to hurt me and it wasn’t your fault anyway.”

He sighed again.
  “Let’s just stop talking about him.  What’d your parents say?”

             
“A whole lot.  My mom was really understanding.  But my dad?  That’s another story.  I hadn’t told him about you yet because I didn’t feel like dealing with all the questions he’d have, so I was planning to wait until things died down.  Anyway, he knows now and he demanded that I tell you that I can’t see you anymore, but my mom spoke up for me and he gave up.  So, that’s that I guess.”

             
“Hmm.  Well, I guess it could’ve been worse.  Right?”

             
“If you say so,” I replied.

AJ
laughed a little.  “I miss you already.”

             
“Me too.”  Feeling another bout of boldness coming on I made a suggestion.  “Why don’t you come by tomorrow and keep me company while my parents are at work?  I’m sure I can convince them that I’m not feeling well enough to go back to school yet.” 

             
Despite the trouble we’d already had today, he asked, “What time should I be there?” without even a hint of hesitation.

             
“They both leave around 7:00?”

             
“So what, at like ten or something?”  He asked.

             
“No, I was thinking more like 7:30.”

He laughed
.  “Whatever makes you happy.”

             
“Well, I think I’m about to fall back asleep, so I’ll see you in the morning.”

             
“7:30?”  He asked.

             
“7:30.”

Chapter Eight

My alarm sounded at 5:30am as usual.  I didn’t mind much because I’d slept most of the afternoon and evening the day before.  The pain from the fall had dulled slightly, so I got a pretty decent night’s sleep. Knowing that it wouldn’t be long before AJ arrived, I decided to get my shower out of the way.  My parents would be up within the next 10 minutes or so, which meant that I had to make it a quick one.  I climbed out and found a pair of pajama pants and a tank top to throw on and then ripped the ponytail holder from my hair and decided to leave it down today.  I heard my mom heading downstairs for her morning coffee so I rushed to my door and called out to her.  “Mom?”

             
“Yes?”  She answered.

             
It would have to be convincing for her to agree to this, so I put on my best
‘I don’t feel good’
voice and started again.  “Can I just stay home today?  My head still hurts pretty bad.”

             
“I guess if you aren’t feeling up to it, there’s no point in pushing yourself.”

‘
Yesssssss!’
I screamed in my head……but then she continued.

             
“
But your father will probably want to come home and check on you while he’s on his lunch break.

‘
Nooooo!’
I protested silently.
 
“Ok, at what, like twelve?”  I asked innocently.

             
“Probably more like one.”  This presented a bit of a problem, but I’d just have to make sure that AJ was gone before Daddy got home.  “K.  Going back to bed,”  I replied.

             
“Ok sweetie.  Feel better.”  

I
lay back down on my bed and waited to hear both of my parents leaving for work. The argument that I’d had with my father the night before was still fresh in my mind.  He’d referred to me as ‘some careless girl’ and to me that seemed like an unfair assessment.   On the other hand, maybe it
was
fair and it just hurt to hear the truth.  I was indeed careless yesterday morning when AJ and I walked right into Antonio.  My plan was to be mindful of how I’d hurt him and to make certain that I never hurt him in that way again.  I suppose that I
was
being careless and reckless these days.  My only solace came from my belief that it was all inevitable.  AJ was meant to be in my life and I was meant to be in his.

At 7:10 I heard my dad leave and
my mom was out the door by 7:16.  I got up from my bed and went downstairs to sit on the couch to wait for AJ. 

7:35
……My phone rang.  “Hello?”

             
“They gone yet?” He asked.

             
“Yeah, for almost 20 minutes now.  You can come on.”

             
“I’m around the corner.”  I felt a familiar feeling creep up on me as soon as I hung up the phone.  The butterflies were back.   

A minute later he w
as at my door.  I flung it open and threw my arms around his neck.  Surprised, he smiled and leaned down to kiss my forehead. 

“What do you
wanna do?”  I inquired.  “We have all day.  Well…..actually we have until noon.  My dad may be coming to check on me at like 12:30 or so.” 

             
“Doesn’t matter to me.  I’m just glad I’m here with you,” AJ replied, making me blush already only seconds after his arrival.

             
“Well…..we can go up to my room and talk or watch a movie or something,” I suggested nervously.  With the slightest hesitation, I grabbed his hand and led the way.  He walked into my room without any reserve and sat down on my bed.  Just as I had last time, I stood there in the doorway and stared for a moment.  There was no question today whether I’d join him or not.  We were already well past the stage where I was afraid to touch him.  Actually, the only thing keeping me at a distance now was the fact that I wasn’t sure I could deny myself that luxury anymore.  Cautiously, I went to him.  He lay there on his back, hands folded behind his head, and he only moved slightly when I eased up beside him.

             
“So, your dad doesn’t want us together,” AJ stated in a straightforward tone.  I immediately regretted telling him that detail of the conversation last night, but the damage was already done.  All I could do now was try to smooth things over.

             
“No, it’s not you,” I blurted out.  “He doesn’t want me with
anybody
.  He doesn’t think I’m ready for a relationship.”

There was an awkward silence that I was desperate to break, but I didn’t know what to say.  Finally he spoke.
  “Would you ever consider not being with me because of what other people might say?”  He paused and took a deep breath.  “Because there’s a very real possibility that others won’t be as excited about us as we are.”

             
“I know.  I thought about that.”  When I felt him staring intently, I turned his way.  “But I don’t care.”

             
“How do you think your dad is going to react when he meets me?”

             
“I don’t really know, but my mom knows and she doesn’t have a problem with it.  Why?  How do you think your family will respond to
me
?”  I was admittedly nervous about his answer to this question.

             
AJ shrugged.  “Not sure.  I’ve never really talked to my parents about stuff like that.  But I’m not dwelling on it because regardless of what they feel about it I’m going to do what I want anyway.”

Good answer.

              “But don’t you want them to be happy for you?”  I asked.

             
AJ stared at the ceiling thoughtfully.  “I guess to some extent, but if they can’t accept you, then I don’t really care if they’re happy or not.” 

This conversation brought up thoughts that I’d had privately and didn’t th
ink I was ready to discuss with AJ just yet, but here we were.  “Do you think that maybe this is gonna be too hard?  I mean….what if all the drama gets in the way and messes everything up?”  I asked.

             
“Not gonna happen,” he retorted confidently.  “Walking away from this because it got too hard would be like admitting to everyone that they were right to think that us loving each other was a mistake.”  There was enough raw tension in the air that it was harder to fight than usual, which seemed impossible.  Without a second thought, I moved closer to him and rested my head on his chest.  As he trailed up and down my arm with the side of this thumb, a chill raced through my body like a bolt of electricity. 

             
“You smell
so
good,” he said as he moved his hand up and ran his fingers through my hair. 

             
“Thanks,” I said smiling.  “You
always
smell good.  That’s one of the first things I noticed about you that day.  I thought I was gonna pass out.”

He laughed.  “
I’m glad you bought that up.  What
happened
that day?  It was like a light came on in my head and I could finally see you.  I mean……you’re beautiful, so why hadn’t I noticed you before then?  When we were sitting in Ms. Jamison’s class, it was so bad that I could hardly concentrate because I kept staring at you.”

             
“I know.  It was like we just kept running into each other.  Literally,” I added, smiling as I remembered something.  “You know, I started to hook you up with my friend Megan, but I couldn’t even bring myself to tell her about you.  I went up to her in the hall and said something random and stupid because I didn’t want to give you up.  I didn’t realize it then…..but I guess I was saving you for myself.”

             
“Good thing you didn’t waste your time.  I probably wouldn’t have liked her anyway,” he replied.

             
“Don’t be so sure.  She’s really pretty, she’s got a nice figure, and…..she’s kind of
out there
.  Most of the guys at school are all into her.”

             
“If you say so,” he laughed

             
“Well what about that nasty girl you were dancing with at Homecoming?  The red-head.  They’re not so different and you seemed to be pretty into
her
.”  I remembered her grinding on him and admittedly felt jealous.  But I’d been waiting for the opportunity to bring her up and this seemed to be the perfect time.

             
“Her name’s Leila, and I’m not into her.  Trust me,” he added.

             
“Did you two use to date or something?  It didn’t look like you were strangers.  She wasn’t the one you……”  I rattled off a string of questions not giving him a chance to answer the first one.

             
“Yes, we tried the dating thing a while back, but it didn’t work out.  Now she’s kind of with my friend Trevor.  And yes…..it
was
her.” 

I knew it.
My mouth wouldn’t move to speak.  I was now seeing her little private dance in a whole new light.  This chick wasn’t just some random slut; she was a
familiar
one – the worse kind.  From a woman’s perspective, I could tell that she wanted him back and was probably willing to do
anything
to get him.  If she
didn’t
want him, she wouldn’t have been all up on him like that.  The uncomfortable thought of them still spending time together – due to the fact that she’s now dating one of his close friends – was the next thing that came to mind. 

“But like I said, that was a couple years ago an
d it was over before it started,” he said, interrupting my thoughts.

Completely i
gnoring his last statement, I asked another question.  “What do you mean she’s
with
your friend Trevor?”

He laughed a little.  “Well, he’s with
her
and worships the ground she walks on, but she kind of does her own thing.  We tried to tell him, but he’s too wrapped up in her to see the things that we see.”

             
“She’s not over you, is she?” I asked bluntly.

             
“She doesn’t really have a choice.  I’m over
her
.  That kind of throws a wrench in any plans she might have, don’t you think?”  I found it strangely easy to trust AJ, so I immediately let go of the anxiety I was beginning to feel. 

             
“Why didn’t it work out with you two?”

             
“She just wanted something different than I did.  For her, it was all about a physical connection and she didn’t have much to offer other than that.  I eventually lost interest and let her go.”

I felt a little ill at the thought of what he was implying when he said
,
‘physical connection’
.  This made me wonder if it was a solitary incident or more of a regular occurrence throughout their relationship.  I wanted to let the thought go, but it was impossible.  “Let’s change the subject.  I don’t want to spend our time together talking about her.  We have better things to talk about.” I insisted.

          “
Definitely,” he agreed. A.J was thoughtful for a moment.  “Why don’t you show me some of your artwork?”  I didn’t speak right away.  The thought of letting him up in my studio was unnerving.  I didn’t care much for criticism, especially when it came to my paintings.  Antonio had never even seen anything that I’d done.  I fought against my nerves and slowly rose up from my bed.  AJ followed me as I paced up the stairs slowly to buy myself time.  I flicked the light switch and rounded the corner.  Revealing my work was about the equivalent to me standing in front of him naked.  My innermost thoughts and ideas were out in front of him for him to judge me and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t extremely uncomfortable.  As I watched him walk around the perimeter of the room evaluating, I held my breath and stared at the floor.  It was almost more than I could stand.

          “You’re really talented.  I didn’
t expect for you to be
this
good.”  He laughed a little to himself.  His eyes were still on one of the pictures as he spoke.

          “Thanks.”  I was still uneasy despite his compliment. 

He continued to walk slowly around the room.  “So, who’s your favorite artist?  Who inspires you?”  I’m sure that he meant for this to be a simple question, but there were so many that I admired that naming one was next to impossible.

             
“Well…...I pretty much like
all
art from the Italian Renaissance.  I’m a fan of both Piero della Francesca and Jan Van Eyck, but if I had to pick a favorite it would definitely be Botticelli.
Birth of Venus
has always stood out from the rest.”

AJ
turned to look at me momentarily before returning his gaze to the art work on the wall.  His expression was curious.  “What is it that draws you in?”  He asked.