AAAH! So because I haven't posted in so long (sorry about that… realty kinda sucks….) I'm giving you three chapters in one sitting! YAY!
Enjoy!
I was in a slump for the next day and a half, until the doorbell rang. I quickly brushed my hair, and changed into jeans. I sniffled and then opened the door to reveal an excited Kat.
She pulled me out to her car and started to the mall. "So, you should really take better care of yourself, Annabelle. You are constantly sick!" Kat looked at me and I nodded for her to keep talking. "You know out of all of us, I think James missed you the most." I looked up sharply. "Whenever you weren't there, James would stare at your spot at the lunch table like there was an emptiness in his heart. But I couldn't do anything. Then, after school he would leave without a word."
"James was at school?" Kat nodded, so I returned to looking out the window. I was wrong about James. He had gone to school and wasn't watching me all that time. I watched Kat pull flawlessly into the parking spot she had chosen, which was as close as she could possibly get to the entrance of the mall.
Kat dragged me into a store and stopped in the middle of the store. She surveyed the clothes and then turned to walk outside. I lingered for a moment, but Kat's insistent tapping of her foot made me follow her out. We went to at least five stores before Kat decided on a store. After that, Kat started to pile dresses into my arms. After piling three dresses on me, she hustled me over to the dressing rooms where I began to try on the prom dresses.
The first dress was an ugly mauve color, but I put it on anyway. As soon as I stepped into Kat's view, she gagged and pushed me back into the room. I slipped off the dress and put on the next one, but Kat dismissed that one too. As soon as I walked into the dressing room I saw the last dress. It was a strapless, simple baby blue dress with a darker blue belt. It went down to my knees, but it was a gorgeous just the same.
As soon as I stepped out of the room, Kat broke into a wide grin. She pulled me over to where the full length mirrors and pushed me into it. I looked really good. Like Kat, I broke into a smile.
"Okay, now we just need shoes, accessories, and figuring out your hair and make-up," Kat said thoughtfully. She ushered me back into the dressing room, wanting me to change back into my regular clothes in order to find shoes and accessories.
I slipped back into my jeans and sweatshirt, and walked with Kat to the shoe part of the department store. She sat me down in a chair and I laid the dress out on my lap. I watched Kat speak to a sales clerk, pointing to me a couple of times and then gesturing to the dress and her feet and a couple pairs of shoes she liked. The clerk nodded and headed off into the back room. I noticed this ache in the pit of my stomach that had slowly developed, and I wondered if I got the flu, but then I realized that Kat was talking.
"Man, I hate sales clerks! Anyways, he is going to get you a couple pairs of shoes that I think will go well with the dress. Are you okay?" Kat said.
"Yep. Just a little light headed. I'm still sick, remember?" I answered. Kat nodded, and the clerk was walking toward us with six boxes of shoes. He set them down beside me and began taking out shoes. I dismissed the first three pairs, considering the heels were over about seven inches tall. The fourth pair were simple flats, so I kept them, but the next two were high, but not as high heels. Kat dismissed the clerk and gestured for me to put on the shoes.
"Which shoes stick out to you? I'm kind of leaning towards the flats, or the second pair of heels. I think the sea green is a good accent color for the dress. And since they are both sea green, I think we should buy both, and see which one goes best." Kat smiled at me and I tried to resist her, but she jumped up and grabbed the dress and the shoes.
"Wait, Kat. I can't afford all of this. Even you know that. You know my mom has me on a tight budget right now." Kat smiled and shook her head at my complaining.
"I'll pay for the shoes, and you'll pay for the dress. It's okay. I don't mind. It is my treat today, Annabelle." Kat stopped smiling and looked behind me. She waved and then looked at me. "Someone is here to see you, Annabelle." I turned and James was standing there, a sort of sadness in his eyes.
"Kat, will you excuse us for a minute?" I asked. Kat nodded and smiled.
"Of course. I need to use the bathroom anyway." Kat wiggled her eyebrows at me, and walked out of the room leaving James and me alone for a few moments. As soon as Kat was out of sight, James pulled me into a hug.
"It's official. I'm never doing that again," he said. I looked up into his eyes and he smiled. "You are no longer aloud to think alone again. Ever. Okay?" I nodded, and he kissed my forehead.
"James?"
"Yes, honey?"
"What about the Matter? Won't people notice it?" I asked. James let go, but then he grabbed on again.
"Nope. You would only notice it if you were actually looking for it." James looked down at me, and he reached to kiss me. He gave me a quick peck on the lips, and I knew he was hesitant to let up but he did anyways, before disappearing into the crowd as soon as Kat tapped me on the shoulder.
"What did he want?" She asked. I sighed and turned to her.
"He just wanted to make sure I was feeling better. So, do you want to go to lunch now? Or we could go back to my house for lunch?" I asked, but Kat reluctantly shook her head.
"Look, Annabelle, I know it was supposed to be our day, but I kind of have a date with Matt, so I have to go. But today was fun. I'll see you Monday!" Kat said quickly. And then she was gone. I picked up the shoes and the dress and bought it. Then, I walked out of the store, realizing I didn't have a ride home.
"Need some help with those bags?" I heard James' soft voice said. I turned and James grabbed the bags and still was able to wrap his arm around my waist. He pulled me closer and I put my face into his shirt. "Want to go to lunch?" James asked. He walked me to the food court, but I shook my head. "Do you want to go home?" I nodded, so James walked me to his car.
I fell asleep in his car, but when I woke up we had been in my driveway for over an hour. I flinched, but James' warm touch calmed me down. He picked me up and carried me to the couch in the living room, where he laid me down with my head in his lap. James stroked my hair out of my face and kissed me on the forehead. I didn't fall asleep again, but I kept my eyes closed, trying not to flinch when James would stroke the hair out of my face and his fingers would graze my ear.
A couple of hours later, I opened my eyes, and James was still looking at me in the loving way he had been earlier. I smiled at him and he leaned in for a kiss. James' lips met mine and his fingers intertwined in my hair. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled through the kiss. James let up and I opened my eyes. He smiled and looked down at me.
"Feeling better?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"A little. This cold hit me really hard, you know?" I answered. James nodded, and looked up out of the window.
"I am officially grounding you to this house until it gets sunny again because it is still really gloomy outside. I don't want you to get sick like that again. It killed me seeing you like that." James smiled slightly and I put my hand on his cheek.
"So you did check in on me?" I asked.
"Of course. I wasn't going to leave you alone for that long, Annabelle. I couldn't ever do that." James kissed my hand and I rolled off his lap. He looked at me like I was crazy and I smiled. I pointed at the garment bag and raised my eyebrows at him.
"Did you peek at my prom dress? Because if you did, I am going to kill you." I thought about it for a while then huffed. "Wait, no, that isn't fair," I said sarcastically. "I can't tease you like that!" I laughed for the first time in a while and James took a sarcastic deep breath.
"Annabelle, did you just laugh?" He asked, a smile playing on his face. I mocked him and stuck my tongue out. Then James' arms were wrapped around me and he was lifting me around the living room. I was laughing so much.
When James finally set me down, my stomach hurt. I flopped onto a couch and James looked at me and smiled. I hugged my knees closely to my chest and James came to sit beside me. He hugged me to his chest and I closed my eyes. He began to stroke the loose hair out of my face. He gave one last squeeze before separating from me, making me look up.
"Not to sound like an annoying boyfriend, but you do have to eat at some point. Even I know that," James said. I sighed and got up.
"Fine, I'll eat. But I don't know what I would eat, considering I haven't been to the market for a while, and we probably have no food left to eat," I said. But I sauntered over to the kitchen anyway. When I opened the fridge, I looked at James and smiled. "See, I told you." James walked up behind me and kissed me on the top of my head.
"I'm sure that I can whip something up for you, Annabelle." James looked at me and smiled. "Just sit down, you look a little pale. And blow your nose, the snot is grossing me out." James laughed, so I made a face at him. But that only made him laugh harder, so I left the kitchen to 'blow my nose.'
I watched James from the living room and shook my head. He occasionally looked at me and smiled and winked, but then went back to cooking. After about a half an hour, James emerged from the kitchen, holding a steaming plate of food.
"This was all I could really conjure up. But it should still be good." James handed me the plate of food and I looked up at him.
"If you keep making me food, I will be completely spoiled. Oh, and fat." I dug my fork into whatever James had made and then closed my eyes. "Okay, wow! What is this? This is amazing." James smiled.
"I actually don't know what it is. All I know is that I've made it before and it is really good." James looked at me and gestured to keep eating, so I did.
When I was done, I put the plate on a table beside me and got up. "I need to shower, and I need to change. I have to get this sick off of me. I'll be right back. Stay here, please, just stay right here. Don't leave, and don't come near the bathroom." James laughed.
"I'm a lot of things, Annabelle, but I'm not a perverted teenage boy." James continued to laugh and I turned around, shaking my head.
I stepped in the shower and I let the water run down my body, but the knowledge that James was in the house made me rush through my shower. I quickly dressed in my regular jeans and t-shirt. I wrapped my hair up in a towel. I walked outside to where James was reading a magazine.
"That was fast. Felling better now?" James asked. He pulled me into a tight hug and breathed in. He pulled my hair out of the towel and let it fall to my waist. "You are so beautiful with your hair down, Annabelle." James put his face in my hair and breathed in. I smiled lightly, thinking about how lucky I really was.
"James?" I asked. He nodded at me, and I looked up at him, making his head fall from my hair. "I want to talk about the nightmare with you." James lightly shook his head and looked into my eyes.
"Annabelle, I told you not to worry about it. Really, I don't think it is anything to be worried about. Okay?" I nodded, but that wasn't it.
"But James, please just-"
"Annabelle, no. Trust me, okay?" James' sternness made me be quiet about the nightmare. At that moment, I knew he was hiding something; I just didn't know what. "Alright, look, enough of this. We need to get you out of this house again. It is good for you, Annabelle. You need to do something. What do you want to do?" I looked up at James and smiled.
"Hey, didn't you just 'ground' me to this house?" James shrugged. "Fine. I don't know. We could see a movie, or go to the park." James looked at the clock.
"Alright, we will go to the movies. What should we see?" He asked, as he walked me outside to the car. "Wait, I know exactly what we will see." James smiled like that awkward moment hadn't just happened.
"Okay." I shrugged my shoulder. I laced my fingers through his, forgetting the nightmare for a few moments. "Let's go!" I laughed. James lifted my hand to his face and he kissed the top of it.
He helped me into the car, and as soon as he was in it, his hand was in mine again. I could feel the Matter, but I simply pretended it was actually James' hand. Every so often James would look over at me and smile my smile. I loved when he did that. It was so nonchalant, so beautiful. It was perfect. And he was perfect. I looked out the window and watched everything pass. The trees, bushes, the people, the other cars were just a blur in the window. In that moment, I wish I could have drawn it. James, me, the blur. It would have been perfect. The absolute perfect moment. I let myself forget that he was hiding something from me and just focused on the moment. I rolled down the window to let more air in. The May air on my face, blowing my hair back, and everything else made me content. Simply content. Not happy, nor sad. Just the right emotion.
Two more chapters await you if you press next….
~R.S.
