A Proscriptive Relationship (49 page)

Happy birthday? That’s what he had to say? Happy birthday? Not “I love you”?

Mr. Heywood watched me with amused eyes as I debated what I should do next. My first instinct was to punch him. I really, really wanted to punch him. After I punched him, I wanted to tell him how much I loved him. But that was out of the question. There was no way I was going to say it again! Not after that. I knew he was teasing me to get a reaction out of me, and I wasn’t going give him the satisfaction.

“
Thank you,” I finally responded, pulling my expression into an innocent smile. “It’s nice to finally be considered an adult.”

“
You’re welcome,” Mr. Heywood responded, now looking a little miffed. “You know, Holly, I think you’re hanging out with Jeremy too much.”

Before I could ask him what he meant by that I heard my mom’s voice. Immediately I turned away from Mr. Heywood and grabbed my glass of water, taking a sip. As my mom and Jeremy entered the room, I felt Mr. Heywood’s leg against mine again. When I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, he smirked.

“
Sorry it took so long,” my mom apologized, taking her seat again. “It suddenly got really crowded in here.”

“
But I brought back menus,” Jeremy told us and gave us each one. “Anything interesting happen while we were gone?”

“
Nope,” Mr. Heywood and I responded casually, but simultaneously.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow, but said no more. I opened my menu and scanned the food choices quickly, already knowing what I was going to get. As they say, like mother, like daughter. My mom loved steak, and so did I.

The waiter eventually came back to us with our drinks with an apology for the wait. As he placed down one of the glasses of Coke, Mr. Heywood and I both reached for it and he ended up closing his hand on mine rather than the cup. I quickly retracted my hand, looking down so no one would notice the rogue blush now on my face. When our drinks were settled our waiter took our order. Jeremy was the odd man out, ordering chicken while the rest of our ordered steak. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mr. Heywood was ordering his meal exactly like mine on purpose. Not many people replaced their vegetables with a second helping of mashed potatoes.

My mom grinned as the waiter walked away. “Wow Chris, you are just like Holly.”

“
Is that so?”

My mom nodded. “Not many people order double mashed potatoes.”

“
I do love potatoes,” Mr. Heywood responded. I quickly shot a glance at him and saw him grinning.

“
So does Holly!”

“
Is that so?”

“
Yeah, she literally likes every kind of potato.”

I grimaced. “Mom . . .” Were they really going to talk about potatoes?

“
I like every kind of potato too,” Mr. Heywood told my mom. “Canned, mashed, baked, sweet, you name it.”

“
Holly too! You two are meant for each other.”

“
Mom!” I cried, sending her a warning glare.

“
What? It’s true though,” she protested.

Mr. Heywood chuckled beside me and I resisted the urge to look at him. Jeremy was laughing to himself across the table. I narrowed my eyes pointedly at him and he sobered up, giving me a half-smile.

“
Lynn, you get along well with Chris. How long have you two known each other?”

My mom turned to Jeremy, her face blank in thought for a moment. “About two years, I think.”

I stared at my mom in surprise. “What?” I turned to Mr. Heywood, who didn’t look shocked at all. “How did you two know each other?”

Mr. Heywood raised an eyebrow. “Holly, our parents were in the same car crash.”

“
So?”

“
So you think I wouldn’t have met your mother?”

“
I attended his parents’ funeral,” my mom told me. “He also stopped by your dad’s. You might have seen each other before without knowing it.”

This information gave me a shock. Mr. Heywood and I might have met before? But I didn’t remember it. It was kind of entertaining to think that Mr. Heywood and I could have seen each other back then and have had no idea we’d be where we were today.

 “
I didn’t know your parents were in the same crash as Holly’s dad,” Jeremy said in surprise. “What a coincidence.”

“
I know, right?” I responded, shifting in my seat. My leg lost contact with Mr. Heywood’s and after a split second of hesitation I boldly pressed it back against his. Even though it was only a small contact, it made me giddy.

“
You two meeting each other was, like, fate, huh?”

I frowned at Jeremy. He and Casey would get along great.

Mr. Heywood laughed quietly from beside me. “Perhaps.”

My mom smiled at me with one of those smiles that makes you think that the person smiling has ulterior motives for doing something. Creeped out, I turned my attention to a group of people being seated at the next table. My eyes widened when I realized one of them was James from my biology class. I quickly turned to Mr. Heywood, my eyes wide.

“
What—” he began to ask as he looked behind me. Immediately he turned his head towards the wall. “Shit,” he muttered.

 “
What’s wrong?” my mom asked, turning to look at the group of people.

“
James. A kid from my class,” I told my mom quietly, putting my hair over the side of my face just in case he decided to look over.

My mom looked surprised. “Are you serious?”

“
Completely.”

“
This is not good,” my mom responded. “We should probably go, just in case.”

“
Mom, I don’t want to waste your reservation,” I told her quickly. “If I just leave, it will be okay.”

“
But it’s your birthday!”

“
I’ll go,” Mr. Heywood interjected. “I’ll go wait in the car or something while you three eat.”

“
Don’t do that,” I said.

Mr. Heywood raised an eyebrow at me. “What other choice do we have? We can’t let him see us together, Holly.”

“
I know,” I responded in dismay. “But being out there alone . . .”

“
Holly, why don’t you and Chris go out there for now, and Jeremy and I will tell the waiter to make our orders to go,” my mom suggested. “We can all eat at our house instead.”

“
I think that sounds like a good idea,” Jeremy interjected before I could agree or disagree. “It would be bad if James saw you two together like this.”

“
Holly, you go first,” Mr. Heywood ordered, still looking at the wall. “Try to get by without being seen.”

“
But—”

“
Go,” Mr. Heywood ordered.

A small scowl appeared on my face. Mr. Heywood and I alone again tonight? The thought made my heart pound. I didn’t want to re-confess, but if he did anything that threw me off again, I didn’t know what I would say. It seemed like a dangerous thing for him and I to be alone. I sighed, pushing myself out of my chair.

“
I’m going.”

“
We’ll be out when the food’s ready,” my mom assured me, but something about her look made me think she was implying something else.

Turning towards the door, I focused my attention on the floor and kept my head down so I wouldn’t be recognized. Of course though, nothing could work out for me. Before I reached the door, someone bumped into me and I snapped my head up to find James looking down at me in surprise, his arm wrapping around my waist to steady me.

“
Holly?” he asked in surprise.

Shoot. “Oh, hi James.”

His eyes left my face and traveled down my body quickly. I slowly removed his arm from around my waist as he checked me out.

“
You look really good,” he complimented. “Red is your color. Who did you come with tonight?”

“
Thank you, and my mom and a few friends.”

James eyes shot over towards the table where Jeremy, my mom, and Mr. Heywood sat. I held my breath as his eyes narrowed slightly, then relaxed when they returned to me. He hadn’t recognized Mr. Heywood.

“
Sounds fun.”

“
Yeah, but I’m leaving now,” I told him. “So I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“
Okay, bye Holly.”

I exited the room before he thought of something else to say. Hopefully Mr. Heywood would be able to leave the room undetected. As I made my to the front of the restaurant I caught a few people staring at me and I blushed. I was never going to wear this dress in public again.

Cold air bit at my exposed skin as I stepped outside. I shuddered, walking towards the car and waiting for Mr. Heywood. It was dark, and standing outside by myself made me feel nervous. Not that I could blame myself: anyone who had once almost been kidnapped by gangsters wouldn’t feel safe alone at night. Not anywhere.

When Mr. Heywood stepped out of the restaurant all my worries disappeared. A smile of relief spread across my face as he started walking towards me. He gave me a sheepish grin as he grew closer. I raised an eyebrow.

“
I forgot the car keys,” he admitted before I had the chance to ask him any questions.

“
Oh. Well that sucks. It is, like, forty degrees out here.”

“
Come here,” Mr. Heywood ordered, gesturing for me to follow him with his hand. “We’ll see if my car is unlocked.”

I followed him without hesitation as he started towards the dark parking lot behind the restaurant. As we went further away from the lights of the restaurant I moved closer to Mr. Heywood until I was practically hiding behind him. The parking lot had no lights, so the only light came from the moon. I began to grow apprehensive, my eyes flickering all around me.

He stopped suddenly and I bumped into him, jumping from the sudden contact. A startled gasp escaped my lips and I took a step back away from him. “Sorry, you scared me.”

He gave me a confused look. “How? I was in front of you the whole time.”

“
I guess I’m just being paranoid,” I admitted quietly.

Mr. Heywood didn’t respond, but I felt him envelop my hand with his. I blushed, but didn’t attempt to pull away. Without any words he continued to lead me through the parking lot towards his car. When we arrived he stopped, turning to look at me. His expression was a guilty one.

“
Holly, I’m sorry,” he apologized.

I blinked at him. “For what?”

“
The whole gang situation,” he told me, a hard edge to his tone. “I hate the fact that you have to be scared of walking through a parking lot at night.”

“
You’ve apologized for that enough, you don’t have to do it again,” I told him. “Besides, like I’ve said before, it’s just as much my fault as it is yours.”

Mr. Heywood sighed. “You know, Holly, you should stop being so nice to me.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I’m hardly as nice to you,” Mr. Heywood told me, a smirk now on his face.

“
You’re nice enough,” I murmured, looking away from him. “If you were any nicer, I’d be worried.”

He laughed. “Still, aren’t you angry with me?”

“
For what?”

“
You know, for telling you to re-confess your feelings.”

My eyes widened slightly in shock and I quickly turned back to him. His eyes were filled with amusement as he watched me. How could be bring that up so easily? He was definitely trying to elicit some kind of reaction from me.

“
I’ve been thinking that saying that to you was pretty unfair of me,” Mr. Heywood continued, lightly tugging on my arm to bring me closer to him. “It must have been embarrassing enough to admit your feelings by accident.”

I blushed now, mostly due to his words, but also due to our closeness. “I . . .”

“
However I did say that, and you’ve waited, and now today’s your birthday,” he said, now speaking in a low and alluring voice. “Is there something you want to say?”

“
No,” I responded, my voice equally as quiet as his.

“
Not at all?”

“
No,” I repeated stubbornly.

Mr. Heywood hummed quietly, yanking me to him again, this time making our bodies collide. I gasped in surprise as he twirled me around and pressed my back against the side of his car. Both his hands were pinning my hands to door and he brought his head down so we were face to face.

“
Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to say anything?”

I shook my head determinedly. Now was the time to stay bold. If I could keep myself from re-confessing right now, Mr. Heywood would do it. He obviously wanted me to—that was why he was teasing me. I swallowed nervously as his eyes pierced into mine. Soon we were in some sort of staring contest.

Part of me toyed with the idea that the only reason Mr. Heywood wouldn’t confess was because of his ego, which was probably true, but I would never say that to him. Another reason was because he wanted to see me embarrass myself by confessing to him again. That one was the more likely reason.

After what felt like a million years he pulled away from me, letting my hands go. “Gee, Holly, if you’re this stubborn you’ll never get a boyfriend,” he commented in amusement.

That set me off. I narrowed my eyes at Mr. Heywood, a scowl slipping onto my face. “Stubborn? I’m the one who’s stubborn? I’m not the one that told the girl that confessed her love to him to re-confess again only one week later just because she wasn’t a legal adult! I mean really, who does that? Don’t you think that was hard enough for me that night? What makes you think that I didn’t get over you during this time?”

“
Holly.”

“
Maybe if you would actually man up and deflate some of your ego you’d realize it’s unfair to make me re-confess again. And all night you’ve been trying to push me to do it. Even in school! You have to confess that you have a confession to make. You really lay it on thick don’t you?”