Glimmer (5 page)

I also hadn’t taken into account until this very second that I had a body that did things independent of my brain. One moment Avery could be kissing me and the next my deep down inner animal could be trying to hump his leg. Oh my God, that made me pre-mortified.

Holy Christ on a cracker, I was not ready to do this.  I needed to go home, get in my Minnie Mouse nightshirt and take a nap alone. I needed to wait until I could actually call a penis a penis.

Still, if I could get my glimpsing to work, maybe see how things were going to go? I stared at the tennis ball and focused on conjuring up Avery and our making out greatest hits.

My eyes snapped shut.  I’d finally done it! Go me and my super awesome glimpsability...crap, what was my mom doing here?

Mom sat at the desk, slumped over, her head in her left hand, holding the phone to her ear with her right. “You’re sure that’s what was--”

“
Yes,” said a woman with a voice I thought I recognized, but couldn’t place.

“
Okay, no I believe you.”  Mom paused and turned to look at Mr. Adams who was pacing back and forth behind her.  She sighed heavily. “It’s not what I saw when I glimpsed it, that’s all I’m saying.  They were old-”

“
You owe me.”

“
Yes, I understand that I owe you.  I said I would go along with your plan and I will. Just be careful, this could backfire on us majorly and we could lose them.”

My eyes popped open.

Avery knocked on my forehead. Wha? I turned to look at him.

“Oh, good, you’re not frozen solid.” He smiled a crinkly-eyed smile at me. “I was beginning to wonder.”

“I...” I said brilliantly.

“Do you want to go home Zellie?  I can take you home.” He waited. I stared at him, probably with my mouth open, probably drooling.  My brain was trying to reconcile the glimpse world with my current world and doing a craptastic job at it.

He raised his eyebrows. “Home it is then.” He grinned, closing my door and going around to the driver’s side. He hopped back into the truck and put the key in the ignition.

I reached over and put my hand on his as he was about to turn the key. It was a familiar sensation.  The last time I’d stopped him turning a key was the day I saved his life. His eyes met mine, acknowledging that the feeling was familiar to him too. Finally, my brain clicked over to reality.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about having sex with you and I kinda thought that today was the day,” I blurted and then rambled on, “but then I started freaking out and acting like a weirdo and my eyes are gross and I’ve never even touched your...see, I can’t even say it! Penis. Jesus! What the hell is my problem?”

Avery shook his head, his eyes wide. “Crap, I thought you were freaking about the nap because you snore or something.”

“I don’t snore.” I gave him a weak smile. “Well, maybe when I’m sick.”

He cleared his throat. “So, you want to...do it?”

“Yeah, do you?” I squeaked out.

“Um, yes,” he nodded his head swiftly, “definitely.”

“Okay.” I took my hand off of his. We both sat back, letting my outburst sink in.

“I probably should uh, talk to Claire first, so maybe not today like I thought.”

Avery reached across me and popped open the glove compartment.  It was overflowing with about ten different kinds of condoms.  “Looks like Claire might be a little bit psychic too.”

My face turned seven shades of flame.  “How long have those been in there?”

He banged the glove compartment shut. “She gave me a huge brown paper bag of them after church yesterday.” He shrugged. “I suppose I do have a place to store them, y’know, in case we want to do it in the truck five hundred and forty-six times.”

That gave me the giggles.

“Come here,” Avery said, taking my hand and pulling me to him. I lay my head on his shoulder. “I’m freaking out too, Zel, but it’s us.  We’ve been through a lot scarier things.” He squeezed my hand. “Let’s freak-out together.”

Well, that was that.

I raised my mouth to his neck, kissing him just below his jaw line, all it ever took to get the electricity between us to kick on.

Up on my knees, I leaned into him, moving my lips from his neck to his mouth. A chill ran through me. If kissing Avery was this wonderful, whatever else happened between us physically was going to be exhilarating. I broke from the kiss and sat back on my heels.

Slipping out of my jacket, I positioned myself in between him and the steering wheel, straddling him. My fingers twisted into his soft silvery-brown hair, pulling his head back and lifting his mouth to mine again.

We stayed like that, kissing deeply, for a while; Avery’s hands becoming more fervent as they searched my body.

He pushed my sweater off over my head and flung it onto the seat. I yanked his shirt up and off. Each time our mouths parted, we hungrily came back together. In one nimble motion he unhooked my bra and slid it down my shoulders. We’d been here before, but not much further.

Grasping my hips, he eased me down onto his lap. I braced myself with my hands on the seat behind him, spreading my legs as he rubbed the bulge in his jeans up against me. I was all at once shocked and incredibly into it. I had never felt better in my entire life.  My body was warm and humming and eager.

Hugging me to him, Avery turned and lay me down on my back.  I opened my mouth to protest, but, when I saw how flushed his cheeks were, I decided to shut the hell up.

Propping himself up on one elbow, he wedged between me and the seat back. “I, uh, had to stop that particular action for a little bit.”

He swept the hair out of my eyes, which I promptly closed. “Aw, Zel, it’s okay, they’re hardly red at all anymore.”  I kept them closed.

He kissed my eyelids and then moved his lips down my body, lingering on my breasts, flicking his tongue over my nipples.

I let out a low moan.  We had officially entered new and very, very good territory.

I could feel him smiling as he kissed my stomach. Pausing there, he unbuttoned my jeans and tugged them down.  I complied, kicking off my shoes, lifting my hips up, helping him. Then I froze.

This was the other thing that freaked me out besides me touching him. Him touching me.  I mean, I wanted him to, my body was screaming for it, prepared, but there was no going back from here.  One pair of pink cotton bikini underwear was all that stood between me and his hands, his mouth, him.

Avery rested back on his elbow, kissing my stomach again, the fingers of his other hand following the line of my inner thigh.

“Everything okay? You were tensing up a little.” He lay his head down on my chest.

I pushed him off me gently and rolled onto my side, facing him.  We intertwined our legs; there wasn’t enough room for us to stretch out all the way.

I looked into his eyes. “We’re freaking out together, right?” I whispered.

He nodded his head and smiled, brushing my hair back. “Your eyes are back to normal, like nothing ever happened.”

Avery lied, but I loved him for it.  “Maybe I would freak out less if I went first?”

He grinned. “It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. I want both.”

Keeping my eyes locked on his, I reached down, tentative, and undid his belt, then the button on his jeans, then the zipper.  I slid my hand down inside his boxers. He closed his eyes and inhaled sharply.

“Am I doing it right?” I asked after a few moments.

He opened his eyes, unable to focus. “Right...you are...its good.”

I guess if you make a guy talk like Yoda, you’re not completely messing up.  Empowered, I hitched my knee up onto his hip, opening my legs. “Now you.”

Not nearly as unsure as I was, Avery deftly pushed the crotch of my underwear aside.

 “Okay?”  He asked, his mouth close to mine.

I kissed him in response, trying to keep my overwhelming need to bite his lip in check.  Uh oh, here came the instincts.

He pulled from my grasp and rolled on top of me, supporting his weight on his hands to keep from smooshing me.  He dipped low and kissed me again.  I pawed at the latch on the glove box.

“Are you ready?” Avery smiled.

“Yes,” I answered, surprised to hear my voice sound so sure.

He lowered himself down and rested on top of me. “Here, let me open that, it sticks.” He banged on the glove box door with his fist.  It sprang open, condoms spilling onto the truck floor.

The garage door whined as it rose up, the light from outside brightening the neon yellow tennis ball.

We froze, looking at each other in shock.

Snapping out of it, I pushed him back and sat up. “I thought your mom was in Bend all day?”

“That’s what she told me!” His eyes darted over the cab of the truck. “You don’t have any clothes on!”

“I thought that was the point!” I pulled my sweater out from underneath my butt and hastily put it on.  He reached past me grabbing his shirt and my bra, which he tried unsuccessfully to cram into his jeans pocket, his fly still undone.

“Rewind the door, Zel.  Quick!”

I shot my hand out awkwardly towards the door, elbowing Avery in the chin in the process.

“Shit! That hurt.”

“Sorry! I’m under duress here!”

I pushed the garage door back down and held it there while he finished getting dressed and situated himself behind the steering wheel.  Great for him, but I was still totally pants-less. I maintained my rewind on the door as I crawled up onto my knees.

“Ah, man” Avery laughed, “do you know how many times I have thought of you in that exact position?”

“Not funny.” I glared at him.  “Okay.  You’re going to have to put my jeans on and fast, your mom’s gonna give up in a second and just go through the front door.”

Apparently, I looked super scary and authoritative because he immediately scrunched up my jeans and put them on over my feet. Then as I lifted each knee off the seat, he awkwardly tugged them up to my waist and buttoned them. Not as hot as the taking off, that’s for sure.

“Now, on the count of three, I’m going to let go of my hold on the door. Are you ready to start the truck?”

He pushed the key in the ignition.  “1,2,3...”

I whirled around, and sat down, tucking my bare feet up under me.  The door rose and Avery began to back the truck up.  Hopefully his mom wouldn’t have too many questions.

In the rearview mirror I saw two figures duck under the garage door, dark against the light from outside.

“Zellie?”  My dad knocked on the passenger side window, disappointment coloring his face. “You better have a good reason for not being in school young lady.”

On the driver’s side, Avery’s mom was laying into him. “A million things were going through my head!  I thought you were trying to kill yourself!  You never park in the garage.  What are you two up to?”

“Uh,” we both said. Avery turned the truck off.  We weren’t going anywhere.

I watched as Dad’s gaze went from my face to Avery’s hip.  Crap!  My bra was hanging out of his pocket.  Dad’s eyes grew wide, briefly flashing to my chest, and then all around the cab of the truck, not knowing where to look.  He finally decided the floor was a good place, until he saw the condoms. 

He jerked the door open with one hand and me out of the truck with the other.  Reflexively, Avery grabbed at me, but by that time his mom had caught on to what my dad had seen. Mrs. Adams opened Avery’s door, reached past him, and took the keys out of the ignition.

“Hazel Grace Wells, inside now,” Dad bellowed, pushing me towards the door.

We were marched into the house, through the kitchen and into the family room.

“Sit.”  Dad pointed to the couch.  Avery and I sat down next to each other, clasping hands.  FYI, my feet were fricking freezing.  Probably better to get caught losing your virginity in the summertime.

“Anyway you can rewind this?” Avery whispered.

I shook my head.  I could rewind, but on the off chance that our parents remembered what was happening beforehand, we would just be in more trouble.  If it was even possible to be in more trouble than we already were.

Let’s see, skipping school, braless shoeless daughter, condoms in the truck, said braless shoeless daughter keeping the parents at bay while God knows what was going on...wait, parents?  What the hell was my dad doing here?

“What the hel...heck are you doing here Dad?”

He paced back and forth in front of us, raking his hands through his thinning blonde hair.  “What am I doing here?” He glared at me, “It would seem I’m saving you from making a big mistake.”  He stopped in front of us. “We did stop you right?  It’s not...after is it?”

“No, Dad, no mistakes were made.”

“Oh thank God.” He cupped my face in his hands and kissed my forehead. “You two don’t know what you’re doing.  Sixteen is too young and Zellie, with your...whatever it is, your power...”

Mrs. Adams, who had been hanging back staring blankly at us came forward and put a hand on her son’s shoulder.  “Avery, honey, I know you love her, but you can’t...” her eyes searched his face, “she’s going to end up killing you.”

“Mom,” Avery groaned.

“Mrs. Adams-”

“Don’t Zellie, she’s right.” Dad pulled me up from the couch. Avery and I didn’t let go of each other’s hands. “I should have put my foot down.  My mind’s been preoccupied with the mess with your mother, but this has clearly gone on long enough and gotten more out of hand than I had imagined it would.”

He tightened his hold on my arm, growing angry, like he understood the depth of what had happened to me over the past year for the very first time. “This is not who I raised you to be. Damn your mother and her stupid secrets!”

I yanked my arm away from him. “My powers are hereditary, but it looks like I take after you in the sneaking around department.  Why is it you’re here again?”  I turned to Mrs. Adams. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Bend?”

Avery stood, gripping my hand securely. “Yeah, we’re not the only ones not where they’re supposed to be!”

I winced. I’m sure he’d planned for that to be more menacing of an exclamation, but he wasn’t too good at deflecting.