Everything You Want (16 page)

Kieran nodded.  “You read my
mind.”  He picked up his phone and dialed.

“I thought you were throwing that off the
balcony.”

He pulled the phone away from his ear. 
“I will if you want me to.”

“After the pizza,” I said, because I was
hungry.

“After the pizza,” he agreed.

I listened as he ordered a large
pepperoni and sausage from the pizza place down the street.  I came up
behind him and ran my fingers up and down his arms, and bit back a smile when I
felt him shiver.

When he ended the call, he turned in my
arms and cupped my face.  “What are you trying to do to me?”

I shrugged.  “I’m just waiting on
the pizza.  I’m starved.”

He lifted his eyebrows and grinned. 
“Starved, huh?”

I nodded innocently as he bent down to
kiss me.

Kieran

“Well, look at you,” Emery said as he
approached me in the hall between classes.  “You either drank all the
coffee in the lounge this morning or you saw your girl last night.”

“I didn’t go to the lounge this morning,”
I said, attempting to contain my smile and failing miserably.  I couldn’t
help it.  This excitement was something I hadn’t felt in a long time. 
It was radiating from me.

“I haven’t seen a guy smile like that in
this school in a long time.  I want to meet this girl.  You’re really
into her, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“I could also say I told you so. 
Are you taking her out tonight?”

“Yeah.  Nothing big, just hanging
out with some of my friends.”

He nodded as the bell rang and we both
went back into our respective classrooms.

My students were sitting at their desks,
chatting away, as if the bell hadn’t just sounded and I hadn’t just walked into
the room.  I shushed them and proceeded to collect the homework from the
night before.

“Mr. Riley,” one of the girls in the
front row said as I stood in front of her desk, “You look different today.”

“How so?” I asked, taking up the papers
she handed me for her row.  My hair was pulled up and I’d gotten up in
time to shave.  I’d worn the same green button-up shirt and dark pants
combo at least ten times this semester already, and I wore the same black
leather shoes everyday.

“You look, I don’t know, happy or
something,” Evelyn, the girl, said.

Oh, that
.  It was one thing for Emery to be
able to tell, but my students?  I had no idea that they were that
observant.  Or, you know, that they cared about anyone beyond their own
social circles.  This was the ninth grade, after all.

“I’m always happy,” I replied
nonchalantly, and walked to the next desk.

“No, you’re not, Mr. Riley.  You are
so Emo!”  Another girl, Simone, yelled from the back.

I scrunched my face.  “I am not
Emo,” I said, while the rest of the class agreed with Simone.

“It’s because he’s in love,” Wesley, a
kid who liked to think of himself as the next major comedian, shouted out,
drawing out the word “love” like it had five O’s instead of just one.  “I
heard him talking to Mr. Appleby about it in the hall.”

The girls rang out with a chorus of “Awww’s!!”
and I could feel the heat rising in my face.  This was not a conversation
I wanted to have with second period.

“Okay, enough about Mr. Riley’s personal
life.  Let’s talk about solving equations!” I said enthusiastically,
walking to the marker board.

“Well, are you?” Evelyn asked.

“Maybe.  Now back to math.”

“Aw, he is!” she shouted excitedly. 
“What’s her name?  Is she a teacher, too?  Does she work here?”

“She is not a teacher.”  I
hesitated, and then added, “Her name is Marissa.”  I knew they didn’t need
to know, but I couldn’t help it.  I wanted to tell them.

“Is she hot?” One of the guys in the back
shouted out.

“Yes, she’s very beautiful.  But
seriously, guys.  Algebra.”

“So, are you, like, going to marry her or
something?” Wesley shouted out, causing a few others to laugh.

“I really haven’t thought about it,” I
answered honestly and turned back to the board to begin writing out an equation
for them to solve.

I tried to concentrate as I began my
lesson, but images of Marissa walking towards me in a sparkling white gown kept
catching me off guard.  I knew it was only because of what Wesley had
said, but still.  It had me thinking about it.  Would I marry
Marissa?  It was too soon to tell, but I was thinking about it, and the
thought didn’t make me want to run away, which was a huge development in and of
itself.  But, more than that, it made me happy.  Very happy.

I saw her again in my head, her green
eyes glittering, her perfect white gown shimmering in the sunlight.  Her
gorgeous smile as she made her way towards me.  My heart was melting, and
I hoped my students couldn’t see.  I turned back to the board to scribble
down the next sample problem, and to hide the wide smile that had taken over my
face.

Marissa

The waiter set my fettuccine Alfredo in
front of me and it smelled so great my mouth began to water.  I was a
sucker for pasta, so I was glad Ollie had suggested an Italian restaurant for
dinner.

Kieran had ordered spaghetti and
meatballs and it looked great, too.  I slid the breadstick I’d been
nibbling on across the edge of my plate, soaking up some of the Alfredo sauce
and took a big bite. 
Oh, yeah
.

The restaurant was jam-packed and we were
all settled in at a large table in the middle of a crowded room.  I was
seated between Kieran and Shannon, with Ollie, Vivienne, and Alisha on the
other side.

The waiter came around and filled my
glass with fresh tea and Kieran offered me a meatball. 

“No thanks,” I covered my mouth and
mumbled through a mouthful of fettuccine.

Kieran nudged my shoulder with his and I
glanced over in the direction he was staring.  Vivienne was feeding Ollie
a forkful of spaghetti and he was smiling and it was just the cutest thing
ever.  They didn’t see us watching, and we laughed quietly to
ourselves.  Kieran had whispered to me on the car ride over that he
thought Ollie had finally met his match, and even though I didn’t know him very
well, I had to agree.

After dinner we walked down Beale Street hand
in hand behind the others.  It was a slightly cool night and Kieran had
wrapped his jacket around my shoulders since I’d forgotten to bring mine.

“Hey, let’s pop in here,” Ollie said when
we came up on a coffeehouse with a nice little café area set up outside.

“You want some tea, right?” Kieran asked
as we entered.

“Yes, please.”

“Hot or cold?”

I thought about the chill in the air and
answered, “Hot.”

“Got it,” he said, walking up to the
counter with the other guys.

Alisha touched my arm.  “Let’s go
find a seat,” she said.

I followed her to the back of the small
building where there were a couple of larger booths.  I slid in the first
one and, to my surprise, she slid in right beside me.

“So, you sure look like you’re having a
nice time tonight,” she said.

I hesitated before faking a smile. 
“Yeah,” I nodded, “I really like hanging out with everybody.”  I wondered
where she was going with this.  That girl made me nervous. 

  “Kieran looks happy, too. 
Strange.  He’s usually itching to get rid of a girl by now.”

“Oh, yeah?”  I said,
nonchalantly.  Why was she telling me this?  She was so weird.

“Yeah, no offense.”

“Of course.”

“It’s nothing about you.  It’s
Kieran.  He’s pretty messed up.  There’s this whole sob story about
his ex back home.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Do you?  I’m surprised.  He
hates to talk about it.”

“I guess I don’t blame him,” I said,
staring at the napkin dispenser, the sugar packets, anywhere but those huge
blue eyes.

She nodded her head in agreement and we
didn’t talk for several seconds and I thought the conversation was over. 

But of course it wasn’t.

“Just watch yourself, okay?  You
look like you’re getting way too cozy and he’s not who you think he is.  I
know he makes you feel special and stuff, but that’s just what he does.  Can’t
help himself.  I’m telling you, you have no idea.  So keep your eyes
open,” she said.

I stared at her wide-eyed. 
What? 
Alisha was supposed to be one of his best friends.  Why would she say
those things about him?

As if she sensed my question she added, “Just
a friendly warning.”  She smiled that cute, innocent smile that I was
beginning to think was anything but friendly.  I’m pretty sure my mouth
was hanging open.  Who did she think she was?

The boys and Vivienne came over to us
then, cutting our conversation off just as I was going to ask Alisha where she
got off.  She moved so Kieran could sit next me.  He handed me my
drink and I thanked him quietly, wondering what in the world had just
happened.  Alisha was staring at me across the table with a sad smile,
like she pitied me or something.  I took a sip of my drink and ignored
her.  Kieran slid an arm around my shoulders and offered me a blueberry
scone from the basket they’d brought to the table.  I shook my head,
suddenly feeling nauseous.    

We stayed at the coffeehouse for almost
an hour and every few minutes I heard Alisha’s voice in my head. 
He’s
not who you think he is…He’s not who you think he is...He’s not who you think
he is…

What was that supposed to mean?

As we walked back out into the cool night
I took a deep breath and shook my head once, trying to shake her words out of
my brain, but they were stuck.  And when Shannon pulled up to the curb
outside the apartment about twenty minutes later, and we’d said our goodnights,
they were still there. 

Kieran followed me up the stairs.  I
paused between our doors and turned to him.  He pulled me to him and kissed
me deeply.  “Sorry,” he said when we finally broke apart.  “I’ve just
been wanting to do that all night.”

“Don’t be sorry,” I said, placing my
hands on his chest.  Before I could enjoy it too much Alisha popped into
my mind again.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around why she would bash
Kieran like that.  What she said couldn’t be true.  But then a little
voice at the back of my mind whispered,
But what if it is?

We were interrupted by a scratch and a
whine coming from inside my apartment.

“Oh, Tulip.  I bet she’s ready to
burst.  I better get in there.”  I started to move away, but Kieran
just tightened his arms around my waist. 

“Am I going in there with you?”

“Do you want to?”

He gave me a blank stare and laughed. 
“Obviously.” 

“It’s late,” I said, raising a brow. 
“I don’t want to be responsible for you being too tired to properly bestow your
awesome algebra knowledge on all those awaiting ninth graders.”

“Yeah, there’s that.  But I’ve
really been craving some of those cookies.”

“I don’t have any cookies.”

“Oh.”  He frowned.

“I have red velvet brownies.”

“Brownies work.”  He perked back up.

“Ha.  You ate a whole plate of
spaghetti and two scones at the coffeehouse.  You are not hungry.”

He tilted his head to the side and smiled
as he dipped down and kissed me lightly on the forehead, and then the lips. 
“Humor me,” he said.

Butterflies filled my stomach and I
convinced myself Alisha was wrong.  I knew exactly who Kieran was. 
She was just a strange girl with severe issues who was trying to get rid of me. 
So she didn’t like me.  I didn’t care.  I wasn’t going anywhere.

I gathered a handful of his shirt in my
fist and pulled.  “Okay, I’m convinced.  Come on in.”

Kieran smiled triumphantly as I dragged
him behind me.  “I was hoping you’d ask.”

Kieran

“Alisha,” I said as I climbed the stairs,
surprised to see her leaning against the railing in front of my apartment.

She looked upset, or nervous, or maybe
both.

“Where’ve you been?” she asked, and I noticed
that her voice was shaky.  “You should’ve been home an hour ago.”

“The store,” I said, holding up the two
plastic grocery bags in my right hand.  “Have you been waiting on me that
long?  Why didn’t you just call?”