A Unique Kind of Love (4 page)

"Family tradition," she whispered, then winked.

"Thank you.”

My mom hugged me and suddenly turned serious: "Be careful. Take the pepper spray with you, just in case.” At my raised eyebrow, she added: “You never know if he’s a pervert.”

I started laughing hysterically and answered: "Mom, we're just going to a restaurant and then watch a movie."

"Still. Who knows what's on boys' minds these days? Let's hope that Noah is a good guy," she warned me, pointing a finger in my face.

"Jonah, Mom. It's Jonah."

She rolled her eyes and muttered something about weird boy names. She walked out and closed the door.

Well, she's my mom, so that explains why I'm weird.

I took a peek at the bedroom clock; it displayed 7:00 sharp. Jonah was supposed to be here by now.

Would he bail on me?

Tick.

He wouldn't, would he?

Tock.

He wouldn't dare.

Tick.

Oh, yes he would.

The doorbell resounded in the whole house and I jumped.

"Lena! Your date is here!" My mom shouted.

I took a last look in the mirror and grabbed my black Guess purse on the way out the door. I put my cell phone, my lip gloss, a little packet of tissues and...The pepper spray. Who knew?

I technically sprinted down the stairs, but near the end, I walked elegantly.
Per se.
 

Then, I saw him.

Jonah was dressed in dark blue jeans, a white V-neck shirt, and a matching dark blue jacket. His hair looked perfect, his cologne made my nose tingle and, overall, he looked like a movie star playing the
supposed
bad boy.

When he saw me, his mouth dropped a little bit, but he recomposed himself quite fast.

I giggled at his reaction.

He smiled kindly and said, "You look amazing, Lena."

For a moment, I was so mesmerized I'd forgotten my mom was there.

She was smiling mischievously.

"Well, you take good care of her, boy.” She winked playfully. Even if I was annoyed by her, I was ecstatic. This was the happiest I'd seen my mom in days.

Jonah chuckled, then took my hand and placed a gentle peck on it. Like a feather.

"Don't worry, ma'am. She's in good hands,” he replied smoothly. “I'll have her back by 11, is that alright?"

I could see my mom swooning at his attitude. 

"That's marvelous. I'll go work on some designs now, bye!"

And with those words she turned around and headed for her room.

Jonah looked at me and smirked. "What a mom you have. Now I know where you get the weirdness from!"

I blushed a little.

"Oh, shut up.”

He opened the front door and ushered me to come, in a gentlemanly way.

"I must admit, I had a feeling you would’ve run away from me by now.”

I groaned. “Now, why didn’t I think of that?”

♥♥♥♥♥

"No, no, no!” I said stubbornly, crossing my arms. “There's no way I'm getting on this...this thing!"

Jonah whined, "Why? Come on!" 

I was currently standing on my lawn, in front of a black motorcycle with red flames all over it.

"No."

"Lena. Come on!"

"Absolutely not!"

Before I could process what was happening, I felt myself being carried, bridal style. I started hitting Jonah on the chest but that did nothing to stop him. He just smirked at my efforts to get free. But there was something else, something weird. I don't know. A strange feeling nagged in my chest. A bad feeling. I didn't feel like I was supposed to be in his arms. I shook that feeling away, determined to have a good night. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I was sitting on the motorcycle, a helmet on my head, Jonah comfortably sitting in front of me. I put my arms around him tightly and reclosed my eyes.

♥♥♥♥♥

"Babe, you can wake up now, it's over. And you're cutting off my circulation."

I hesitantly opened my eyes and immediately let go of my grip on his strong, muscular waist. I got off the motorcycle, stood up and brushed invisible wrinkles on my dress. I unbuckled the helmet and handed it to Jonah.

"Oh, will you stop smirking!" I said, annoyed a little.

I looked to the place we were standing in front of and frowned. It was a fancy, Italian restaurant.

Jonah slid his arm around my shoulder and we walked to the entrance. He opened the door for me and bowed, making me laugh.

We sat on a table for two and after about 10 seconds, a blonde waitress came towards us. Her shirt was a little too low for my taste, but Jonah didn't seem to mind at all. Her caked face was showing a wide, flirty smile. I already disliked her. Her eyes were glued on my date.

"Hello there, Jonah! Long time, no see! Do you want the usual?" She asked in a "seductive" voice. Jonah's eyes didn't lift up for a second from her busty chest.

"Hey, babe. Yeah, the usual. A lasagna, but don't make it too hot. At least, not as burning as you are right now." He winked and showed his famous smirk.

I coughed.

She turned to me, and immediately scrunched up her nose: "What do 
you 
want?"

"Baked potatoes and the chicken, please," I said, not paying any attention to the way she greeted me.

Her eyebrows lifted a little in distaste and said: "Wow, I know she's not the usual. She looks plain. What happened to you, Jonah?"

Frustrated by her attitude, I looked at Jonah expectantly, but he stayed motionless and silent. On the inside, I was punching her. On the outside, I stayed calm and collected. Her name tag read: Heather.

It's on.

"You, know, Heather,” I said, making eye-contact with her, “it's not really in your job description to flirt or tell any lies. If there's anyone unusual here, it's actually you. Plus, looking like a freaking slut won't help you get with him; he likes real girls, not dolls."

I was pretty sure I was burning holes through her. She snorted, twirled a strand of her hair and turned away. Jonah smiled a little and wasn't very discreet when he checked her out as she walked off.

When she was completely out of sight, he looked at me with a bewildered expression. "What was that all about?"

"She was being impolite," I simply replied, giving him a small smile. He laughed a little and we kept on talking. I couldn't stop thinking about the way he refused to defend me. It hurt a little. 

He was funny, I had to admit. A little cheeky but in an amusing way. He talked to me about how his friends were and about his football matches. He never seemed to stop talking about himself, or how he was the pride of the family. I chose to ignore his comment about the waitress being "burning hot.” To be truthful, he was slightly boring. Normally, a conversation was supposed to engage two or more people, not just one guy. 

Heather came back, the food in her hands. She put the plates down and grazed her fingers against Jonah's coat. He shivered and smirked. 

She gave me a smile that could freeze the Sahara over when she said: "Anything else?"

"A less slutty waitress, please."

Heather turned towards Jonah, her eyes wide. "Jonah! Do something!" He cleared his throat and played with the fork in his hands. 

"Babe, don't be like that. Heather isn't slutty. Be nice."

I've had enough of this damned date. 

I stood up and looked at Jonah. I took two full glasses of water in my hands.

SPLASH.

In a split second, Heather and Jonah were drenched in freezing water. His green eyes were blazing with anger. I gave him a sweet smile.

"And Jonah, don't bother talking to me again, I don't go out with assholes who don't respect their dates and treat them like dogs. So, no, I won't ‘
be nice.
’ Have a good night with Heather here, 
babe
."

I winked, turned around, and walked away.

♥♥♥♥♥

Damn, I felt proud of myself.

Walking out of the sucky restaurant, I noticed a boy coming in with an elderly woman. My heart started feeling weird. The boy raised his head up and our eyes met. Those blue eyes, they were no stranger to me. 

Why does he look so familiar? 
I thought, racking my brain for a response. 

I walked carefully towards him and tapped his shoulder. He and the old lady turned towards me.

"Excuse me, have we met before?" I asked.

His eyes widened slightly in recognition but he continued walking. He was almost entering the restaurant. The elderly woman stopped him.

“Liam, it’s impolite to walk away from people talking to you.” She turned to me, untangled her arm from the boy’s and extended a hand. “Hello, dear, I’m Darla Black.”

I shook her hand. “I’m Lena. Sorry for interrupting, I just thought I saw him-,” I nodded towards Liam, “-somewhere before.”

Darla looked at him. He shrugged. “Maybe he’s in one of your classes, Lena.”

I nodded, knowing now that was partly true. We had French, Art and Math together. “Maybe. Goodnight ma’am, sorry again. Sorry, Liam.” I waved at him.

“Call me Darla,” said the elderly woman. I smiled at her.

I backed away a little and tripped over something. A dirty bucket of water was behind me; someone must’ve forgotten to take it away after they were done sweeping the floor.

Liam’s arms stopped me from falling, but that felt familiar too. The feeling of safety…

It suddenly clicked in my head.
This
was the mystery guy who saved my life on the first day of school.

Before I could dwell on it, his grip on my waist was nonexistent. I straightened up and smiled. He stayed expressionless. There was something about him that concealed secrets. It intrigued me. 

"Well, Liam. Thank you for saving my life, again. Bye ma— Darla."

He stayed silent. He gave me a soft nod before turning away and going inside the restaurant with his grandmother.

I turned and walked away. I recognized the street and felt relief wash over me. The restaurant was extremely close to my house.

I took off my heels and held them in one hand. I walked and walked, a million thoughts running through my head.

That was why I didn't feel good when Jonah carried me. It was because I’d already experienced a feeling of safety elsewhere. With Liam. When I’d almost fallen – twice now - and he caught me, I felt safe. With Jonah, I did not.

On another note, how clumsy could I possibly get? I was tripping and falling everywhere these days.