Chaotic (Imperfect Perfection) (12 page)

“Look.” Zoey jabbed at the paper
again with her pointer finger. “Apparently you’re hot news around here. I
didn’t know that I was living with an actual celebrity. Can I please have your
autograph?”

I threw a fluffy pink pillow at her
face, snatching the paper out of her hands. “What is this exactly?”

“The entertainment section of the
school paper of course. Do you live under a rock or something?” I gave Callie a
look and began searching the page. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know the school paper
was so interesting. I figured no one read it.”

I scanned the page until I found an
article where my name popped out at me. I skimmed it quickly, seeing that they
had done a small piece on me attending the campus and how I was a ‘ reality
star’. I guess if you considered five episodes and a follow up that had just recently
aired, a reality star, then the article was correct. I shrugged as I passed it
back to Callie’s waiting hands. “Whatever, it’s not a big deal, I’m sure no one
will even read this. Besides you two.”

“Yeah, right,” Zoey replied with a
roll of her eyes. “Anyway, on to what you’re wearing. I think you look hot, a
little too hot for Justin in my opinion, but I guess it’ll do.”

I straightened the denim skirt I
had on with a smile. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter who I’m going out with. I
wouldn’t want to disappoint.”

“Here,” Callie tossed me a hair
tie, pink of course. “You need your hair up with that shirt on.” She did a
little twirl of her finger, motioning to the backless lace shirt I had paired
with my skirt. “Justin won’t be able to keep his hands off of you,” she
snorted.

“And that’s supposed to surprise me
or something? Justin can’t keep his hands off anything with boobs.” We all
burst out laughing loudly; I almost didn’t hear the knock on the door. I
glanced down at my phone, seeing that it was just a little bit before seven. At
least he was on time.

“Hey,” he greeted simply, holding
out a box of gummy candies to me as I let him in. I couldn’t help but gush at
the gesture and by how he looked.

He had done a total transformation
from the grungy bad boy. He had a pair of dark washed jeans that didn’t look to
have one single hole in them and a black button down shirt, rolled to the
elbows. He looked…delicious. Of course, the lip ring and tattoos were still
there, just giving him that touch of bad boy, but I actually liked it. It sort
of surprised me. I had always been into the more clean-cut guys, like Chris or
Nash.

But that wasn’t what really got me.

No, the fact that he brought me a
box of my favorite gummy candies was what really got me.

“These are my favorite. How did you
know?”

He gave me a smirk, shoving his
hands in his pockets as he looked around our dorm. “I always see you sneaking
them during class. It sort of makes me wish I was the candy instead.”

My cheeks turned a bright red as
the image of Justin being in my mouth instead of the candy flashed through my
mind. How did he always turn almost everything into something sexual?

“Well, thanks. Way more original
than flowers. It sort of makes me think you’re a little bit of a stalker
though.”

“You shouldn’t think that, you
should know it,” he teased. Or at least sounded like he was teasing. “Are you
ready to go? I have plans for us that I think you’ll love.”

I looked at him warily, wanting to
know what his ‘plans’ were. Knowing Justin, he was ‘planning’ on taking me back
to his place so he could finally have his way with me. “Sure, just let me grab
my shoes.” I ran into my room, slipping on a pair of wedges that tied around
the ankle.

“Please, lead the way,” he
instructed as soon as I stepped back into the living room. I rolled my eyes at
him, knowing exactly why I needed to ‘lead’ the way to
his
car, but
stepped out before him and headed towards the parking lot.

I got into his car a little more
willingly this time and watched my surroundings as the campus disappeared and
we got on to the highway. He was humming along to the radio in an off key tune
that made me smile. He looked so sweet and innocent while he was doing it, I
really didn’t want to make fun of him. “Here we are.” He pulled into a crowded
parking lot and the sign read “Sandy Lanes.”

“You’re bringing me bowling?” I
scrunched up my nose at him and he laughed, tugging at my hand to pull me
across the seat and out the driver’s side. It wasn’t like I had anything
against bowling, I really wasn’t dressed for it though, and I figured Justin
would’ve taken me somewhere a little different.

“Yes, princess. Do you think you
can handle it?”

“Of course I can handle it. You
just should have warned me, I would have worn something else.”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t mind at
all what you have on.” His hand skimmed the hem of my skirt as he held the door
open for me. “In fact, it should make things more interesting.”

I rolled my eyes as we stepped up
to the counter. The old saying of ‘don’t roll your eyes or they’ll get stuck
like that’ ran through my head, but I couldn’t help myself. I felt like I
needed to have a constant eye roll going around Justin.

We got our shoes and picked out our
balls, which of course I had to be given a lesson on picking out the proper
ball. Justin insisted that I needed a set of balls, just in case something
happened to the other. Because a good set of balls was what really mattered in
life he explained.

“I’d like to place a little bet,”
he said after entering our names onto the scoreboard. Of course, his name went
in as King and mine as Sexy. I was expecting Queen or something since he
thought I was so stuck up about some things, but I guess that name would do.

“Of course you would. Let me guess,
if you win I owe you some kind of sexual favor,” I deadpanned at those gray
eyes that stared back at me, clearly amused.

“What kind of guy do you take me
for, Della?” He dramatically clutched his hands to his chest like I had
offended him, if that was even possible. “Actually, I was going to say if I
win, I get to pick our next date and if you win, you get to pick. Nothing
sexual about it. Unless of course you decide that’s how you want it to be.”

“Oh, so you just assume there will
be a second date?”

“There
will
be a second
date, Della. I can guarantee it.”

“Whatever,” I stood to grab my
ball, lining my feet up with the arrows. Bowling wasn’t something I had done
very often, but I had always been competitive. Nash seemed to always bring that
out in me and now Justin was doing it. I went to pull my hand back but was
stopped mid-swing when Justin grabbed my free hand. “Don’t you think you need
some assistance?”

“Not really,” I groaned, yanking my
hand out of his grip.

“Really? I figured you’d never done
this before. That’s the whole reason why I brought you, I wanted to give you a
hands on lesson.”

“Sorry to ruin your fun, but I
don’t need any lessons.” I grinned when I saw his disappointed look and took
off down the lane, almost managing to knock down all of the pins. Our scores
stayed pretty neck and neck for the rest of the game. I laughed more tonight
than I had in a really long time. Justin was constantly coming up with some new
way to tease or flirt with me but always just keeping it right at the edge of
over the top.

“Okay, last turn, this is your
chance for the win. Remember you get to pick the next date.”

I ignored his comment about there
all ready being another date and stepped up for my turn. I hit every pin,
pumping my fist as I spun around. “Strike!”

Justin grinned at my enthusiasm,
picking up his ball to finish out his turn. It looked like he purposely threw
the ball down the gutter, and he turned shrugging his shoulders at me. “I guess
you win. Have you decided where we’re going yet?”

“I guess you’ll just have to wait
and see.” He beamed at me when I said it, clearly I had okay’d the second date
and he was getting his way. I was actually looking forward to it.

“C’mon, let’s grab a bite to eat
and then we’ll get you home before you turn into a pumpkin.” He wrapped one arm
around my waist and led me out of the bowling alley.

He ended up taking me to one of
those drive in places where they bring your food out to you on skates. I hadn’t
been to one since before my parents divorced, and it brought back so many good memories.
I let myself get carried away, ordering a chocolate milk shake, fries, and a
hamburger. By the time I was finished I felt like I was going to explode.

“You have a little something right
there.” Justin’s finger grazed the corner of my mouth and I dropped down the
mirror to take a look. I figured it was some sort of plot for him just to touch
me, but sure enough I had a smear of chocolate across my face. I rubbed at it
with my finger.

“Is it gone?” I turned towards him
and surprisingly there was no smile on his face. Instead, he was staring at me
with a sort of wonder in his eyes. “No,” he whispered quietly. “I think I’m
going to need to help.”

His lips landed gently on my cheek
and he brushed them across my cheekbone, causing goose bumps to break out all
over my body. “And I think you have some right here,” he murmured against my
neck, his tongue darting out to lick a trail up to my ear. Normally, I hated
this kind of foreplay.

After Chris, things had been all
about sex and that was all I ever let it be. But Justin, Justin was a pro. I
pulled back slightly when his tongue moved to the seam of my lips. “Justin,
wait.” I held up a hand, putting a few inches of space between our bodies that
had somehow drawn together like magnets. “What exactly are we doing here?”

“What do you mean, Della?” He asked
in a husky voice, his eyebrows knitting together.

I licked my lips, thinking of how
exactly to answer that question. I really wasn’t even sure. “I mean…what’s
going on between the two of us? Am I just another girl in the long line of
those who should feel lucky to have been graced by Justin Parkers presence or
is this something more?”

“Della…” He reached out, tucking a
piece of hair that had escaped my pony tail. “We’re just having fun right now.
Does everything in life have to be so serious?”

I pondered his question for a
minute. Up until now, yes everything in my life had been serious. It seemed
like I had always had to lie about something or cover something up with what
had happened in my past. Didn’t I deserve to have a little fun?

“O-kay, I’ll bite. We’re just
having fun then.” I stuck a hand between our mouths right before he leaned back
down to place his lips on mine. “But I do want to make one thing clear. Even if
we’re just having fun, I think it would be a good idea if we don’t see other
people right now. I really don’t want to end up with any diseases.”

Justin snorted loudly before slowly
nodding his head. “I think I can handle that, Della.”

I grinned at his answer and reached
up to latch onto the back of his neck, pulling his head back to mine. I could
feel his smile against my lips before I took control, probing his oh so willing
mouth open with my tongue and diving right in. I needed to live in the right
now. And right now, this guy was so into me and into this kiss, with a hunger
like I had never felt.

He reached around, gripping my ass,
to pull our bodies closer. Our panting filled the inside of the car as we both
seemed to try and get as close to each other as possible while we explored each
others mouths. He pulled back slightly, grabbing my bottom lip in between his
teeth to suck it into his mouth and letting it go with a loud pop. “Where did
you learn to kiss like that?” I asked, my hands on his thighs as I tried to
return my breathing to normal.

“Do you really wanna know?” he
replied with a smirk, before I gave a quick shake of my head and mashed our
mouths back together.

                                                                                  
***********

“Wake up sleepy head, the fish like
to bite early.” My dad’s voice broke through the remainder of my hazy dream,
and I was pulled out of the sterile white room that haunted my dreams often.

“It’s all ready time to wake up?” I
groaned, slowly peeling my eyes open and saw his wide smile staring back at me.
I sat up with a groan and looked over to see it was five in the morning. Way
too early. Why did I agree on spending the night, just to wake up early on the
one day I didn’t have class until later in the afternoon.

“What’s the matter? You used to
love fishing. Please don’t tell me you’re too girly for that now. I think it’s
too late in the game to try for a son.”

“No, Dad, just haven’t been in a
really long time. Give me ten and I’ll be ready.” He left with a nod of his
head, and I took a speedy shower, throwing on sweat pants and a hoodie, and
pulled my hair up into a bun.

 I was a little groggy still with
it being so early, but I was excited about doing this with my dad. It was
something we used to do all the time.

“Here you go, thought you might
need this.” He shoved a to-go cup of coffee at me before we quietly exited out
the back sliding door and headed towards the dock where Grandpa had a small
fishing boat.

 After loading it up with rods, a
tackle box, and what looked to be some packed goodies from Grams, we made our
way out to the center of the lake. I had always loved coming out this early
with my dad. It was so peaceful, and it felt like it was always a bonding
experience between the two of us.

“So, your Grams said that things
are going well. How are you really doing, Della?” He placed both of our baits
on to the end of the hooks and handed me a rod. He still remembered that was
the one thing I refused to do when fishing.

“I’m really okay, dad. I’ve made
some great friends here, and I’m keeping up on my schoolwork. I like my job,
and I like making my own money. Grams set me up with a therapist when I got to
town and I go there once a week. I think I’ll be done with those pretty soon
though.”