Something More (9 page)

“You know he wasn’t responsible for everything that happened to you in high school.” Emma put her hand Nyla’s knee.

“I know, but he didn’t make it easy. How many times did he trip me in English?” She looked up at her.

“But that was then; you would be just as bad as he was if you made him suffer for it now.” Emma looked at her as she would a five-year-old.

“I know I should give him a shot, huh? It’s just a hang session. I have a boyfriend and he has a girlfriend.” Nyla shrugged.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Emma smirked. Nyla furrowed her brows.

“Settle down; nothing’s going to happen. You can tell that neither of you are ready, but if you continue spending time together, mark my words, it’s only a matter of time,” Emma laughed.

“No, it won’t. I won’t let it get there. I don’t want to be with him like that anyway .” Nyla’s defiance only made Emma laugh harder.

“Mark my words,” she giggled.

Later that night, Jamison nervously approached her front door. He knew her sister was at Lindsey’s party, and her mother was at the Henderson’s annual holiday party where his parents were also. Dex and Emma had other plans. It was just Nyla and him. She was cooking dinner, and he brought movies. It felt like a date. He was more nervous than he had ever been for any of his dates; maybe it was because he didn’t feel good enough for Nyla. If he were being honest with himself, she was the only person he’d ever not felt good enough for. Maybe it was because she was herself with him and without him. She never pretended to be anyone but who she was. He rang the doorbell and shifted on his feet. She answered it in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, her hair pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head. He stepped back stunned. She looked beautiful and natural, and he couldn’t believe how she took his breath away. She narrowed her eyes as she surveyed him in his designer clothes.

“We said dinner and movies, right?” she asked, feeling a little embarrassed. He was dressed so nicely, like going-out-nice.

“Yeah, I just thought, never mind,” he said, equally embarrassed. He followed her to the kitchen where she pulled the lasagna and cheese bread from the oven. She placed it on the stove and turned and surveyed him again.

“Give me a minute.” She took off the oven mitts and raced through the house and stomped up the stairs. He stood in her empty kitchen suddenly remembering the last time he’d been there. It was a few weeks before they began their freshman year. She had surprised him with peanut butter cookies.

“Jamison, I know they are your favorite and thought you’d like some.” She held up a plate to him with hopeful eyes eager for his approval. He picked up one that looked like a football. He took a bite of it and thought it was the best peanut butter cookie he’d ever eaten. He didn’t let his expression show how much he liked it though. He finished it, and she continued to hold the plate up to him hopefully.

“Naw, I’m OK,” he said, even though he desperately wanted to eat the whole plate.

He shook his head, embarrassed that he had ever treated her so poorly. He turned and plodded to the stairs. In his urgency to apologize to her he suddenly gained momentum and ran up the stairs. Stopping at her closed bedroom door, he knocked; she didn’t answer.

“Nyla?” Still no answer. He knocked again, and the door creaked open. He poked his head in. She was nowhere to be seen, but he saw her bathroom light through the nearly closed door. “NYLA?” he called louder. She appeared in the doorway wearing jeans and a large, scooped neck, knit top that fell off her bare shoulder showing her delicate neck and shoulder.

“Jamison, I said to give me a minute.” She shook out her hair, free of the bun, and it fell into waves. He just stared at her. “What’s with you?” she asked, putting her hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side.

“Your cookies were the best I’d ever eaten,” he blurted out. Her lost expression said it all. She just stood there trying to figure out what he was talking about. He looked down at the floor and then back up at her, determined to tell her. “The summer before freshman year, you made me peanut butter cookies. They were the best I’d ever had, or had since, and I should have told you, but I didn’t. I’m sorry.” Her eyes hinted at a twinge of recollection.

“Best?” she asked.

“Ever,” he said and walked to her, not only invading her personal space but standing so close to her, he could scoop her up in his arms if he wanted to. He did want to. He wanted to throw her on her bed and have his way with her. A smile crept into the corners of her mouth, and he returned it. She took his hand and led him downstairs to eat. They did and then snuggled up on the couch to watch the Sandra Bullock movie they had watched in his room so many years ago in junior high. It was the best night in he had had in a long time, maybe ever. Finally, as he told her goodbye, he knew he had some things to take care of when he got back home. Chicago was home now. As long as she was there, it was his home.

Chapter 10

It was the last Saturday of the summer before Nyla’s freshman year of high school. She sat on the floor beside Jamison’s bed reading her novel. He lay across his bed playing video games. This was how they had spent their summer, holed up in a bedroom where she read and he played video games. That day he’d been playing for hours, but his game, his voice had become white noise as she was engrossed in her story of the steamy faerie knight.

“Nyla, what do you think?” She moved her finger to the word to hold her place and looked up at him. He was now sitting still, looking at her hopefully.

“What, Jamison?” He had her full, annoyed attention.

“Well, I was thinking we should do it before we start our freshman year so we aren’t the only freshmen who haven’t done it.” He looked down at his hands, still holding his controller.

“Wait. What are you talking about?” She climbed up on his bed to look at him since he refused to look at her.

“Well, we don’t want to be the only freshmen who haven’t kissed anyone, right?” He had a smirk on his face but still didn’t look at her. The mention of kissing forced her eyes to lock on his lips. She couldn’t help herself; she couldn’t stop staring.

“You haven’t kissed anyone?” she asked his lips and couldn’t believe her ears.

“No, I haven’t, and I thought since you and I are friends, we could just get it over with.” The smirk remained on his face, and his gaze finally found her. he looked into her eyes. “You don’t want to be the only freshman in entire high school who hasn’t kissed anyone.” She thought about it for a moment. Both Dexter and Emma had already had their first kisses just this summer; he might be onto something.

“We’re just friends.” She paused nervously. “This kiss doesn’t mean anything.” She looked at him seriously.

“Duh,” he said, as they scooted closer together. She put her hands on his shoulders lightly. He put his hands on her hips lightly. They leaned into each other. She closed her eyes, trying to memorize this moment, her first kiss. His lips were on hers. He sucked like he was a vacuum, and—then his tongue was touching her tonsils going from one side of the inside of her cheek to the other. She gagged and pulled away abruptly, coughing a little, catching her breath.

“OK, de-tongue-onator. Slow down.” She thought about all the magazine that she had read articles she’d read about how to kiss a boy; she remembered listening to her sister describe kissing her flavor of the month to Lindsey on the phone. “Just follow my lead, OK?” She held his eye contact. His face was bright pink, and he looked annoyed but agreed. “Close your eyes,” she commanded, and he did. She looked at his face as she leaned into him slowly. She licked her lips and saw that his were only slightly parted. She closed her eyes as she fit his upper lip between her lips and kissed it. Then she did the same thing with his lower lip. They did that a couple times, and he exhaled deeply. She then touched the tip of her tongue to his. He scooted closer to her and tilted his head, doing the same thing she had just done. He took the lead, and they began touching their tongues and opening and closing their lips as they gently continued their second first kiss. She didn’t know how long it was, but it had to be quite a few minutes before they finally broke and looked at each other. They were both breathing heavily.

“You want to do it again?” he asked eagerly, leaning back into her, millimeters from her face. In the past few weeks she had gotten her braces off and gotten contacts. She wasn’t such a dork. She was actually kind of cute, but not hot. He wanted all of his high school girlfriends to be hot. When he first asked her, he thought she would jump at the chance to kiss him and not be so resistant. He was glad he talked her into it though. For a first kiss, it rocked.

“For practice,” she said, still reluctantly. He grinned, seeing through it. She was breathing just as heavily as he was. He tried something different and put his hand under her ear so that his thumb traced her jawline. She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes.

“For practice,” he repeated and leaned in again. This time he took the lead from the beginning. Though it began as sweet as when she began kissing him, it soon became heated. He crushed her to him, and she began running her fingers through his hair, grabbing it with her fists. Then he pulled her down on the bed, and they were lying side by side. Their lips never left each other’s. He tried to touch her bare stomach, but she pulled her shirt down and pushed his hand away. It didn’t matter; they kissed for a long time. It had to be close to an hour when they abruptly pulled away from each other because they heard Nadia and Lindsey in the hallway. She stood and straightened her tank top and shorts and ran her fingers through her long brown hair as she looked at herself in the mirror. He leaned up on his elbows and watched her, thinking to himself that she could be hot if she wanted to be. Lindsey opened the door and looked from one of them to the other. She narrowed her eyes at Jamison as if she knew something. He wondered if his lips were as pink as Nyla’s.

“Your mom is here. It’s time to go, Nyla.” She grinned mischievously at them both.

“OK.” She crossed his room again and took her book from his bed, but she didn’t look at him. Her face was red. Was she embarrassed by him? He suddenly became annoyed. She didn’t get to be embarrassed by him, he thought.

“I’ll see you on Monday?” She finally looked at him, but he looked away.

“Yep.” He picked up his controller and resumed the game he’d been playing over an hour ago.

That Monday she walked up to him as he stood in his group of friends by his locker. She gave him a friendly smile, but he smirked at her.

“Hey, Jamison,” she said with no fear in her eyes. All his friends surveyed her and sneered back at him. She wore short jean shorts that showed her long legs and a hip length graphic T-shirt of an eighties rock band with some neon pink, turquoise and yellow, high top Sketchers.

“Hey, um, you,” he said, acting as if he didn’t know who she was and rolling his eyes at his buddies. She stood there for a moment contemplating him, and he felt his face warm as she watched him. Finally, she utterd a thoughtful “huh” and nodded her head as if she understood.

“I’ll see you around then.” She turned and walked away. He watched her, and then his buddy Wesley jabbed him in the shoulder and asked, “Is that your new girlfriend?”

“Whatever, man. I don’t even know that chick,” he said as he jabbed back at Wesley. She stumbled and paused but didn’t turn around. She just kept walking with her head held up straight.

Now sitting in the study session turned truth or dare, Jamison knew the memory Nyla was thinking of as the group looked at her and waited. They had returned home weeks ago after she spent the week in Indiana ignoring his calls, texts, and Status Quo messages. She had been very solemn on the drive home, listening to a playlist and reading a book. She had basically shut him out. After their return, she avoided him still. It didn’t change any of the decisions he’d made over fall break, and if anything, her behavior only reinforced his determination. She looked at him and shrugged as if he were the one prodding her for the information.

“Tell us,” Maddie pushed.

“It was just some loser who was a human vacuum. He didn’t know what he was doing. I think we nicknamed him the de-tongue-onator. Well at least my friends and I did.” Everyone chuckled, including Jamison. She looked at Maddie, hoping that answer satisfied her; it did. Maddie turned to Jamison next.

“When was your first kiss?” He glanced at Nyla. She looked at Ethan and gave him a weak smile.

“It was right before ninth grade. This amazing girl—actually taught me how to kiss because I had no idea what I was doing. I could have kissed her for hours.” Nyla couldn’t help but take a quick, jagged breath. “I know that we kissed for at least an hour. I’d say it was the best first kiss anyone could ever have.”

“How long were you two together?” Ethan asked, only half caring about the conversation. He was doodling on his notebook paper.

“Um, we didn’t date. She was just this girl, totally out of my league, but I guess she took pity on me one summer afternoon.” He shrugged. Nyla stood, went to the patio door, and slipped out into the crisp night air. She stood at the railing and looked off into the distance. It was dark, but the city lights in the distance looked like stars kissing the ground. Nothing made sense to her. Confusion had taken up residence in her brain, and she decided she probably needed a court order to evict it if that would even work. At this point, she wasn’t sure of anything.

“My first kiss was under the bleachers at a basketball game with a guy in the marching band. What was his name?” Maddie chimed in. Jamison ignored her. Instead, he rose and went over to the sliding door. He stood there for a long moment watching Nyla. Maddie continued with her story, but she sounded distant, like a TV left on in another room. He felt Ethan’s eyes on him, but he didn’t care. Finally, he slid open the door and stepped outside. He’d barely talked to Nyla since they’d gotten back from Morgantown. He missed her immensely. But she had engrossed herself with Ethan. Ethan was always by her side. Now here it was two weeks later, and this was the first time he’d been alone with her, and still Ethan’s eyes were on them.

“Sorry, I couldn’t take any more of the third degree in there.” She didn’t turn. She assumed it was Ethan who had followed her out.

“It’s OK; I used to be a dick.” He leaned on the railing at the opposite corner from where she stood.

“Used to be?” she asked innocently.

“I meant what I said.”

“I’m sure you did. And I’m sure you meant what you told Addison Grey the first day of school after you kissed her in the biology lab. How appropriate.” she countered, annoyed that she was so upset.

“What are you talking about?”

“I was in the girls bathroom, and Addison came in with her twin clones. You remember Kylie and Kaylee. She said you kissed her, and you were an amazing kisser. She asked you where you learned to kiss like that, and you said you’d never kissed anyone before. She told everyone what an amazing kisser you were.”

“Oh yeah,” he remembered. He had girls lined up for him to ask them out. He had a hot girlfriend within that first week of school, but then again he’d had a lot of girlfriends in high school. Yet, in that moment, standing by Nyla, he couldn’t remember any of their names.

“And then mysteriously a rumor started floating around that I had kissed Hershel Martin, and
he
taught me how to kiss,” she fumed. “Devon Meyer liked me until he heard that rumor. Then he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Hershel Martin.” She remembered Emma sitting her down in an empty home ec. room to tell her why Devon suddenly wasn’t speaking to her after the freshman fall formal. She couldn’t stop her head from shaking as she tried to calm down. It wasn’t working. He remembered. He’d heard Devon talking to his friend in the locker room after gym one day about how cool Nyla was. Jamison told Sarah Barker and started the rumor. Then at the freshman fall formal, after he’d seen Devon dancing with Nyla, he’d told Devon the story in the boys restroom. Devon didn’t talk to her again after that. He’d done similar things like that to a few other boys who had taken an interest in Nyla over the four years in high school— simple rumors, like booger eater, adopted by wolves, or the funniest that she was on a strict kelp diet.