Hello, my lovely readers. Who has been enjoying all the Kolvina we're seeing on the screen lately? On with the show…
Chapter 2: Study Date
There are times in my life that I think that I've hit rock bottom. Like the day that I turned twenty-one and drank so much that I allowed Nik to convince me that my name was "Kola Bear." An incident that was taped and sent to all of my ex-girlfriends which included my dancing around in a giant diaper. Or the time that I graduated from high school and had the flu but insisted on attending the ceremony. I fell off the stage and broke my arm. Then there was the time that I used Elijah's credit card to purchase a classic car for my sixteenth birthday, going over the ten thousand dollars over the limit and nearly being arrested for fraud.
Yes, those were times that I thought I had hit rock bottom; until I found myself waiting impatiently for an underage girl to exit her house so that I could take her to a coffee shop. This was ridiculous. I should not be this disturbed by taking her to study. It was not like I was taking her to a bar so that she would become intoxicated or to a motel to have illicit sex. So, why in the bloody hell, did I feel like I was doing something horribly wrong?
"Kol," Davina greeted me with a wide grin. I looked up and felt my own smile slide right off my face. The girl was barely dressed. Getting into the car, Davina displayed far too much leg in a skirt that I was not sure covered her knickers and she was wearing a tank top that was cut far too low. "Are you ready?" she asked me, turning toward me.
"Davina, I think you should go back inside and change," I told her calmly while my hands clutched the steering wheel.
"Why?" Davina inquired as she leaned forward to check her lip gloss in the rearview mirror, pressing her small body into my personal space.
"Because you might get cold in that lack of a proper outfit you have on," I replied with my head twisted toward the driver's side window.
"Kol, I'm over here," Davina called. When I refused to look at her, Davina rolled her eyes before she reached out and took hold of my chin, turning my face to look her in the eye. "I'm. Over. Here," she stated while searching my eyes. "What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing is wrong with me other than your being dressed more like you're trying to compete with Bekah in a Strumpet of the Month contest," I spat at Davina who reared back as if I had slapped her.
"Davina," I said quietly when she reached for the door handle but could not seem to get the door open. "I did not mean that. Davina, damn it. I just. I'm not used to your showing yourself off like this."
"Like what?" Davina hissed, her voice unsteady. I couldn't see the tears but I could see her shoulder quavering and I wanted to hit myself for hurting the girl like this. "Like a seventeen year old girl? Or would you like me to dress like my mom. Or maybe you'd like it if I just didn't do anything."
"Davina. You're acting like a child," I muttered and instantly regretted it.
Davina's head snapped up and she pinned me with a furious look. "A child? That's the problem, Kol. One minute I'm a child. The next I'm a whore. What am I, Kol?" the girl was sobbing angrily before she turned and shoved the door open. She would have gotten out if it weren't for my grabbing her by the arm and hauling her back into the passenger seat. Davina's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Kol?" I had never touched her like that before. I was breaking all my self-assigned rules to get through this period without screwing the whole thing up.
"Davina… I…" I began, feeling flustered as I relaxed my hand on her arm and found myself stroking her skin. "I… I don't know why I made that hideous comment about your outfit. I just think like a man and I think of what other men will think… and want when they see you… like this… and I just want you to be safe. Alright?"
"Kol," Davina leaned forward in her seat and wrapped her arms around my neck. Feeling her pressed against me, smelling the light perfume on her skin, I thought I would die. Or maybe that was a happy wish. I could die happy in this girl's arms right at that very moment. I was being very, very foolish with my arms riding low over her back, hands just grazing the skin between her shirt and her skirt. Pulling back, Davina smiled at me. "Thank you for the concern. But I can take care of myself. Now, let's go before Josh thinks that you drove off the road and starts calling all the hospitals in the area."
Regrouping, I settled into my seat as Davina fixed her makeup. Driving down the road in silence; I tried to think of something that would cause me to behave. Think of lambs. Yes, that is rather unsexy, unless I think of Davina being one of those sheepherding women in a little outfit. Oh, damn. Or maybe I could think of Nik. Yes, total turn off. Better yet, Nik running around in his bloody boxers, eating breakfast, talking with his gob open, chatting about the his latest failure at the box office.
Parking my car, I got out and walked around to open Davina's but she had already popped out like a toy in one of those boxes. Only this toy was showing arms and legs and… Oh, why? Sliding my light jacket off, I hurried over to Davina. Draping the jacket over Davina's shoulders; I felt satisfied when the girl grinned up at me.
"Really, Kol?" Davina laughed as we walked toward the café with my arm around her shoulders. Withdrawing my arm, I pulled the door open so she could walk ahead of me. Just as I suspected every single male's gaze moved toward the teenage girl who had shoved her arms through the sleeves of my jacket which turned out to be longer than her skirt. "Josh. Aiden," Davina squealed happily as she made her way toward her dark haired friend and a young man I was not familiar with. "Aiden. This is Kol. My tutor. Kol, this is Aiden. He's Josh's boyfriend."
I smiled and offered my hand to the young man who was sitting beside Josh whose cheeks were flushed. "D, we've only been going out a month," Josh said with a nervous laugh.
"So, you're happy. That's what counts," Davina said brightly as she took her place at the table for four across from her friends.
"Yeah, and look at us, on this cozy little double date," Josh said with a pointed look directed at Davina whose jaw dropped before she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Not a date. Study session," I corrected quickly, lest others with no lives were paying attention. "So, Aiden, how did the two of you meet?"
"At the student union," Aiden replied at the same time that Josh replied "On ."
"Oh, my God. You two are so cute. I want to wrap you up in a bow," Davina teased the new couple as Josh blushed but was all smiles.
"When are you going to start going out with –," Josh began when he groaned loudly. "Ow."
"You okay?" Aiden asked Josh with a look of concern.
"Oh, I'm good. Just a cramp. But it went away," Josh replied, massaging his leg while Davina looked around, the picture of innocence.
"I'm going to go get a coffee and something to eat. Does anyone else want anything?" Davina asked, moving to get up when I placed a restraining hand on her shoulder, thinking of her standing at the counter while the men examined her in her tiny skirt.
"I'll go get whatever you'd like, darling," I murmured, without thinking as Josh snorted, loudly and then moaned again.
"Ow," Josh hissed.
"Cramp again?" Aiden asked. "Do you want some Advil? I think I have some on me in case of headaches."
"No, I should be fine," Josh replied through gritted teeth as he gave Davina a feral look.
"What would you like?" I asked Davina.
"You," Josh muttered and then jumped to his feet. "Got to go to the bathroom," he said. Davina's glare followed him back to the men's room where he disappeared.
"I want a mocha cappuccino, a ham and cheese sandwich and a chocolate chip cookie. One of the big ones. Someone told me I was fat today and I want to prove to them just how fat I can get," she told me with an intense gaze.
Grinning, I looked at Aiden. "I'm good, thanks," he told me.
"Be back soon with my queen's two thousand calories that she will have to spend the week running around the race track at her high school getting rid of," I called over my shoulder.
"Jerk," Davina called as I laughed while heading off toward the counter. The tall, red head at the counter flirted with me outrageously and I felt the urge to ask her for her phone number just to prove that I could date someone my own age. When I looked back toward my table, seeing the look of anxiety on Davina's face, and dare I say more than a bit of jealousy, I simply paid, moving on. Why would Davina be jealous? Surely she did not share my feelings? Did she?
Turning back to look at Davina with a wicked smile I found that she was no longer alone with her friends. There were now teenage girls and two boys standing by my table obscuring my view of the girl I desired. 'Who the bloody hell were these people?' I wondered as I collected our order and headed back as the group of teens pulled another table up to ours. What in the bloody hell?
"Hey there," a teen girl with black hair called to me and I vaguely remembered her being introduced to me by Davina as a girl named Monique who was supposed to be the female best friend. Why exactly; I was not sure. "You the tutor boy?" Monique questioned me with a wide grin.
"Man. I am the tutor man," I replied with a forced smile while standing above a boy who was now sitting in my seat. "And who might you be?"
"Kol, this is Tim," Davina said like Tim's name was the most wonderful word in the entire English language. My stomach flipped and I wanted to kill this boy. "Tim, you're kind of sitting in Kol's seat. But you can find a new one, right, Kol?" Davina asked in that same bright tone of voice without even looking up at me. Feeling the urge to drop the tray of food and walk out on these children, I decided to stay composed.
"There's an available seat over here," Monique called to me while patting the seat beside her.
"Thank you," I replied, rewarding her with a genuine grin. Walking over; I sat down. "And, Davina, if you'd like your food then you can come get it, love." I informed Davina whose eyebrows rose.
Smiling, Davina got to her feet and slid out of my jacket, laying it over the back of the chair. The blonde haired boy at the adjoining table let out a long wolf whistle. "Damn, Davina. Look at you. You're all grown up," he joked with a smile that made me want to drag him outside, making him eat his words and a few teeth.
"Thanks, Ollie," Davina replied with a toss of her hair over her shoulder. Sashaying over to me, she leaned over, giving me a view of black lace bra before she collected her items. Looking down at me with a smirk; Davina whispered. "Thanks, Kol." Then she bloody well winked at me. Walking back to her seat; her hips moved in such a way that had me wishing I had my bloody jacket back.
"So, what were you all up to before we showed up?" Monique inquired.
"We were studying," Davina said mildly as she took a sip from her drink.
"Really, Davina?" Monique shook her head. "Find another lame excuse to lure a guy out onto a double date." The other girls as the table began to laugh while Oliver leaned over, trying to get a better look down Davina's top and Tim looked embarrassed. At least the Tim person wasn't as much of an ass as the Oliver one who I was going to murder before the study session was over.
"Are any of you in Davina's class?" I questioned the group, trying to gain their attention and distract them from Monique's incorrect observation.
"Which one?" Monique asked. "Because I'm in several of them. Which ones are you qualified to tutor because I could use some help in my math, science, history, sex ed–"
"Monique, sex ed isn't a class," a girl with short brown hair pointed out.
"Oh, shut up, Cassie. And it should be. Okay, well, how about home ec? I just don't understand why the teachers would want you to run around with a fake baby. If you're careful enough, you can have your fun and not have a squalling brat on your hip, ruining your figure," Monique lectured the group with a smile.
"They're not in my class," Davina stated with a glare directed at Monique.
"Good. I mean, what a pity, but you'll have to be leaving because Davina truly needs to be paying attention here," I informed the group.
"I'll see you later, Davina," Tim called as he got up and the rest of group got up as well.
"See ya around, Kol," Monique whispered, squeezing my shoulder before heading off to another table with even more teens.
Aiden shook his head when Davina's class mates were out of earshot. "That was not in any way awkward."
"No, of course not. What's the opposite of a cougar? Because I thought for sure that Monique was going to be pulling her panties off and writing her phone number on them," Josh said with a shake of his head.
Davina was smiling as Josh talked but it seemed frozen on her face. "No, Kol would not be interested in someone like Monique," she told Josh with a shake of her head as if I werern't there.
"Why?" Aiden asked with curious look. "I mean I wouldn't be for obvious reasons but –"
"Because –" Davina began.
I interrupted them, thrusting my body closer with my chin on my balled fists and a smirk on my face. "Because she's a minor," I deadpanned. This was meant to be a joke although Davina was not laughing when she sat back and glared at me with her lips pursed.
"You mean you would go out with her if she was of age? So, you could have sex with her without the worry that you would get in trouble because you're a typical guy who has no interest in a girl for her brain but only for her body. Right?" Davina accused me with pointed look as she leaned toward me so that our faces were only an inch apart. "Then it looks like you're in luck because Monique is turning eighteen in two months. Want me to text you her number?" When I did not accept her challenge but kept my mouth shut, Davina got to her feet. "Josh, can you give me a ride home?"
"Sure, D," Josh replied.
They were leaving when I got to my feet and called after Davina. "You forgot you're food."
"I don't want it," Davina snapped. "Why don't you give it to Monique?" That was the last thing she said before she left the café. At that moment I felt like the biggest ass in New Orleans.
"Don't take it too hard. She'll come around. Or at least I think she will," Aiden told me, sipping his coffee.
"After some time she might. Perhaps not," I replied flippantly.
"You know, it's not my business, and I just met you but I would say that you two like each other, a lot. Maybe it's because I'm one of those people who are sickeningly happy right now and it's making me say things that I wouldn't ordinarily but did you try just telling her that you like her?" Aiden asked me with a serious but compassionate look. Nice guys were annoying.
"No. Yes. She's a bit young. Don't you think?" I replied slowly.
"So, the minor thing does bother you? Does that mean that she's right and this is all about sex? You know that there are plenty of other girls to have sex with that are over eighteen, if that's all you want," Aiden pointed out. "Not that I'm judging. It's just that Davina seems like a great girl. I think she deserves better than that."
"Davina is a great girl and she deserves the world to be placed at her feet," I told Aiden who smiled.
"So, tell her that," Aiden told me as I grabbed her sandwich and cookie.
"Thanks, mate. I'm sure we'll meet again," I called as I rounded the table and grabbed my jacket.
Soon I was leaving and driving to Davina's house. Parking across the street, I waited until I saw the girl sitting at her window. Picking up a pebble, I tossed it at the window, causing the girl to look down.
Waving, I saw Davina roll her eyes and disappear. Two minutes later she was opening the front door. "Kol, what do you want?" she asked me. Standing in the doorway in her flannel pyjamas and hooded robe, I felt myself smiling.
"I brought you your food. It would be a shame to let it go to waste given how much they overcharge and since I don't need the calories and how else will I get you to go running with me so that I can train for the marathon?" I inquired.
"What marathon?" Davina asked me as she took the offered food.
"There is always a marathon. I'm thinking something to do with a charity. Like breast cancer. 'Protect the Tas Tas' and all that business," I replied with a grin as Davina rolled her eyes but laughed anyway.
"Good night, Kol," Davina called. As she was about to close the door, I placed my hand on it and made my move. Pressing my lips to her forehead, I pulled back to see a look of amazement.
"Good night, Davina," I waved and began to whistle on my way back to my car. All in all, it hadn't been such a bad night.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Peace,
Jessica