Lingering Touch - A Story of Young Love (2 page)

I dropped Alyssa and Amber off at their houses so they could get ready, and an hour later, I picked Collin up because my car is so much cooler than his. We can't all be millionaires, right?

Amber and Drew were already there, standing in a corner, whispering to each other. We joined them and talked for a while, and Drew asked Collin about college sports and they get into a heated debate about if basketball or football was cooler. Yeah,
boring
.

"Obviously, volleyball is the best." I said nonchalantly, interrupting Drew.

"Only if girls are playing," Collin winked at me and pulled me closer to him, up against his chest. He kissed my lips hungrily. I pulled away slightly and kissed his nose, implying that we could play later.

He feigned hurt then smiled as he put his arm around me. Collin was cute, I guess. His eyes were brown (obviously, I rarely even considered dating people if their eyes aren't brown) and his hair is sandy blonde, almost brown. It's curly and longish, long enough to cover eyes when he's trying to be sexy, which always works. He had massive muscles, which I also love. It makes me feel petite, which I think is adorable.

Finally Alyssa and Whats-His-Name show up, somehow managing to make out
while
walking in the doors. The counter person shoots them a dirty look but doesn't say anything.

"Ahem." Amber said pointedly and they pulled apart, red faced and looking only slightly embarrassed. "We have a movie we're about to miss, if you don't mind." She said in her curt voice and pulled Drew to the counter for popcorn. We ended up getting three small popcorns to share and cokes. We're watching The Amazing Spiderman. I'd heard the actor is hot. Let's hope that's true if I'm going to have to listen to Lyssa and What's-His-Name sucking face the whole time.

The movie ended up being pretty good, and the actor
was
hot. He had brown eyes, so obviously I thought so! And as I predicted, the lovebirds barely come up for air during the whole show. I'd be surprised if she remembered what movie we saw at all. Between that and Collin trying to seduce me every few minutes, I was glad to leave. No, not glad, ecstatic.

After the movie, the sun was setting and I drove Collin (yes, I drove because I'm very protective of my baby. My baby being the car) up to kissing rock to watch the gorgeous purple clouds set over the horizon. I'd rather watch it, but Collin thinks just because we're at the kissing rock means we have to make out every second. During the moments he wasn't ravaging me, I found my mind wandering to that boy in my math class. What was his name again? Every time I got close to figuring it out, Collin was there, making out with my hand or something. Freaking hormonal guys.

Finally, I just got irritated and we left. I tried to ignore him while he trailed kisses on my palm and up my arm to my neck. While I was
driving
. Ugh, can you
be
more stupid? We got to my house and he lifted me up out of the car and into the house, carrying me the whole way. He was kissing me the whole time and forcing my legs tighter around his waist, if that's even possible. We made our way to the couch and he pulled me on top of him. It was terribly redundant, we did this way too often. And he wasn't even that good of a kisser. He pretty much drooled all over me the whole time and tried to take my shirt off. Yeah, right.

"Tonight?" He asked hopefully, slipping his hands underneath my shirt.

"No." I said firmly and pulled away, looking into his chocolate eyes. I think that might've been the only reason I even started dating him. His eyes. And his body is pretty decent, I guess.

"But babe, you said—"

"No." There was a note of finality in my voice even he didn't question me further. Not long after, he left and I fixed myself a frozen pizza in the microwave. Dad was filthy rich, but apparently not rich enough to get an actual cook, though we do have a maid that comes in twice a week to clean the house. Not that I minded much about not having a cook, I like frozen pizza just as much as any fancy aristocratic meal. Or whatever you call it.

I went in my room and settled on my massive bed with my pizza, pulling out my math textbook. I didn't pay as much attention as I should have, but after I read the book's instructions I'll know it just as much as anyone who had paid attention in that class. Miss Carmandy isn't that great of a teacher, anyway.

I was finished with my homework by midnight, and I went through my nightly routine to get ready for bed. Clean face, brushed teeth; the works. Just as I'm finishing I hear the front door open and slam shut, and then something crashed downstairs.

Great. Dad was home.

This was a little early for him, usually he came home around 2 or 3, but from the sounds of all the smashing going on downstairs, he must've be pretty drunk. I got off my bed quietly and turned off the light, so he'd think I was already asleep. Whatever. As if he cares. Eventually I heard him stagger past my door into his room down the hall. The house was eerily quiet after his rabid destruction, and I could finally drift off to sleep.

Chapter 2 - The New Kid

I woke up before the sun, and checked my dad's room to make sure he was gone. His room was empty. It was time to assess the damage downstairs. I winced as I sidestepped a broken beer bottle on the stairs. My dad had so much money you think he'd be able to afford the good stuff, but then again, I wouldn't know anything about drinking.

The damage to the living room was minimal, only the coffee table was broken. The kitchen was a lot worse, and I felt bad for whoever would have to clean it up while I was at school. Broken plates and china were scattered across the floor, the drywall on one of the walls was dented in, and little paint chips were peeling off. One of the dining room chairs was flipped over and looked like it'd been thrown across the room, but it seemed to be okay. A sticky mess of what I presume was beer covered the counter's surface, and more shattered glass beside it. I swear all the man does is drink and throw things around.

I grabbed my iPod and slipped out of the house, turning up the volume so all I could hear was the pounding of my feet and beating of my heart. I ran out in the crisp morning air and up the road I knew lead to my favorite trail. Once my legs were pumping, I let them lead me through the misty trees as I tried to clear my mind. All thoughts of my dad and his beer fled my mind as I focused on breathing in clean air and weaving between clusters of aspens.

After about 20 minutes I got to my favorite part of the trail; a tiny spring of clean bubbling water. I don't even bother bringing a water bottle anymore because the cool water is fresher than any bottled water I've ever tasted, and I've tasted a few. I wiped my forehead on my arm and took a deep drink from my cupped hands, reveling in the earthy taste.

I couldn't stay long though, and soon I was jogging at an easy pace back home, trying not to think of what awaited me there.

But when I got there I didn't find what I was expecting—broken glass was still everywhere and smelling like alcohol, just like I left it, of course—Collin was waiting for me on the porch. I sped up my run and he met me halfway across the lawn. Even though I was all sweaty and stinky and I knew it, Collin hugged me and lifted me off the ground easily, spinning me in a circle.

"Have I ever told you how hot you are when you're all sweaty?" He grinned at me and checked me out, completely unashamed.

"I think you might have mentioned it," I winked and ordered him to turn around so I could get the spare key from under a flowering pot of lilies on the porch. Just because he was my boyfriend didn't mean I wanted him to be able to get in my house anytime he pleased.

As we were walking in I suddenly remembered the mess inside and stopped him in the front hall, where—thankfully—you couldn't see any of the mess waiting further inside.

"What—" I cut him off with a kiss, the only effective way to shut him up. He pushed me on the wall and crushed me against it with his body. I was
so
not in the mood for this, and I was all gross and sweaty, which I was sure couldn't be in any way attractive. So I pulled my head back to tried and breathe, but he wouldn't take the hint and just moved his kisses down to my jaw. Ugh, did he even know
how
to stop? When his hand touched my butt I pushed him away forcefully, but I was probably only able to because he hadn't been expecting it.

His face was incredulous.

"What'd you do that for, babe?" He started coming closer again but I held my hand up.

"This is great and all, but I really need to shower and get to school." I backed away to the stairs, praying he wouldn't follow.

"Would you like me to join you?" He tried to look seductive and sexy, but like I've said before, he isn't that fantastic looking.

"No, you idiot!" For a second he actually looked hurt, but then his face relaxed.

"Suit yourself, but one day, you'll want to, I promise." He winked and left, slamming the door like always.

Finally!

I trudged up the stairs, again avoiding the broken bottle. In the shower I scrubbed myself more than usual, feeling dirty more from Collin than the run.

As I was walking down the hall to my locker, I saw a head of jet black hair bobbing down the hallway. He was tall, but I couldn't make out an actual face. The only person I'd ever seen with hair so dark was Amber, and she was barely five feet tall, so I knew it wasn't her. The black haired boy was walking in the same direction as I was, only he was a while ahead of me. I completely forgot about my locker and followed, wondering who it might be. This
had
be the kid in my math class.

Alyssa skipped up to me, all happy and excited.

"Hey have you heard about the new kid?" Leave it to Lyssa to already have all the gossip.

"Lemme guess," I said. "Tall, super dark hair, and really attractive?" I hoped he was attractive, at least.

"Close! Well actually the first two were totally right but he's not really that attractive. I heard he moved here from New York! Isn't that exciting?" She kept talking but I stop listening to her after she'd said he wasn't attractive. But I wanted to see for myself, so I searched the hall for the tall black head bobbing, but I couldn't find it. Dang it, Alyssa.

"Aren't you?" She asks me suddenly. I hadn't been paying attention at all.

"Uh, what?" I asked, still searching.

"The geometry test! Aren't you
so
worried about it? I'm like, totally freaking out! But I mean, of course you aren't, because you're a freaking genius, but the rest of us mortals are like, totally stupid! Oh wait, you don't even have geometry! Why are you so smart? I'm going to fail it!" She wailed.

"No you're not. 'Sides, I'll just let you copy off me, babe." Her flavor of the week showed up just in time, pulling her into an embrace so tight, that it should've been illegal in public.

"You two are awful. Later." I give Alyssa a one armed hug when the kid released her and took off down the hall. I can't stand being around them. The day passed fairly quickly until lunch, and I remembered that I wanted to see the new kid. I looked around for him but he was nowhere to be seen, so I closed my eyes and relaxed on my table, basking in the sun.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up when I heard a polite voice ask from a few tables away, "Excuse me, is this seat taken?" in what I was pretty sure was a New York accent.

"No, but you're not going to sit there, anyway." A snobby sounding voice replied. "New kids sit alone, or with other loser kids, so get lost!" The girl sneered at him and pointed to the dumpsters, where some of the reject kids sit alone every day.

He was tall as I expected, probably around 6'4. He wasn't huge and muscular like Collin, but he definitely wasn't gangly or awkwardly skinny like Lyssa's new boy toy. And she was wrong, this kid was
hot.
His hair was just as dark as I remembered, and almost seemed to have a purple glow in the sunlight, it was so dark. It fell over his eyes and he flicked his head to make it swish to the side, even though it hung straight and fell back almost immediately. He turned around and made brief eye contact with me, because I was kinda staring at him like a creepy stalker. I looked away and lay back down on the table, closing my eyes. But behind my lids all I saw were his bright, pretty, piercing blue eyes staring back at me.

As I expected, he was in my calculus class when I walked in and he was seated right in front of my chair in the empty desk I still kinda hated him for taking. He didn't pay any attention at all during class, so when Miss Carmandy asked him a question and had to repeat it three times, he flushed down to his toes—or I assume he did because I saw the back of his neck grow pink—and stuttered out that he didn't know the answer. His accent was really adorable, so when he stopped talking I leaned forward and subtly whispered the correct answer it to him, and he repeated what I said without hesitating. Miss Carmandy looked impressed but gave me the evil eye for smirking at him afterward.

After class I planned on talking to the new kid, I didn't catch his name. But he was gone before I could even get out of my seat. Weird.

The next few days I felt like I saw the new kid everywhere, but he was never close enough to actually talk to him. He kept to himself, never talking to anyone, never making eye contact with anyone, and never speaking out in class.

"Ok, spill about the new kid." I finally ask Alyssa.

"OMG, I knew it! You totally weren't paying attention when I told you the first day!" She pouted, crossing her arms. But one look from me and an eager smile split across her face. "Ok fine, but you have to promise you'll listen next time." She didn't wait for an answer. "So. He's from New York, and
ohmy
have you heard that accent of his? It almost makes up for his face! Anyway, he's like, totally an outcast, and doesn't ever talk to anyone! Weird, right? He like, totally just keeps to himself and writes in that stupid notebook every day. Whatever. Anyway, some of the girls in my P.E. class think he's way cute, but I just think he looks like some weird emo kid. Whatever. Emo kids are so
not
attractive. I'm surprised he doesn't wear eyeliner! Ha, ha! But really, why are you so interested in him?" She asked as if she'd been waiting to ask that for ages.