Chapter 9

I raced around the apartment fixing last minute details. Craig was going to be here any minute. No one was home beside me. Sean and Ellie were out with Jay and Alex at the mall to make fun of people. I brushed my hair out of my face and up into a ponytail adding glitter to highlight my highlights. I ran back to my tiny room and grabbed my leather jacket. I put it on and sat at the kitchen counter. I propped my head upon my left hand and started to play with the daisy in the vase. Angela had given it to me the other day when I was getting help with the Algebra homework from Craig.

Craig and I had been dating for a little more than a week. Things were good. I spent every moment I could with him. My mother had said she was happy I was adjusting and glad to hear I had a boyfriend. I confessed that I might love him. At first I thought I was crazy for feeling that way after a week. My mother explained there is no set 'time' to fall in love. After speaking to her I gave in. I was in love.

I pulled out the daisy and asked it if Craig loved me. I pulled petal after petal saying 'he loves me, he loves me not.' I watched the soft white petals fall to the floor. I was down to the last few petals. I pulled the last petal off resulting with he loves me not. My heart dropped down to my stomach only to jump up when there was a knock on the door.

"Hey! I missed you," I answered the door placing a kiss on his pout lips.

"Hm...I missed you too. Ready to go?" he stuck his arm out for mine. I placed my arm in his nestling close to his warm body.

"Where are we going? Aren't we taking your car?" I asked unknowingly as we walked past his car.

He laughed lightly, "We're going to the Dot, which is down the street. There's something I have to do."

"Okay. I talked to my mom yesterday. She's happy that I'm happy here. She thought I was going to be miserable."

He wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me closer. "You would be miserable if you didn't have such a sexy stud as your guide."

We approached the door and he opened it for me. As we entered the café, I saw all the couples of Degrassi start to whisper. I hated that everywhere Craig and I went people would talk about us. It made the voices in my head louder.

"Autumn, this way. See we have this tradition here at the Dot. When you have a boyfriend or girlfriend that you want other people to know about, you carve it into the wall over here. I want to carve our names into it." He pulled out an army knife and started picking at the wood. Above where he was carving were other people's names and the words 'Lovers Wall.' I smiled to myself never realizing how special I could feel until now. No one had ever thought of something like this while I was in California. No one had ever given me the official title of being their girlfriend. I was always just someone's friend. Now, I really knew what it meant to be smitten.

He backed away from the wall and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. He sighed heavily placing a gentle kiss on my head. I stared at it for a few moments not hearing Paige and Hazel snickering behind me. I stood up on my tip toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. I guess he heard the snickering too after a while seeing as he started to tense up.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I'm not going to let them ruin our afternoon," I tugged him towards the door. He shot a glance at Spinner and Jimmy, who were supposed to be his friends.

Reluctantly, I got him out of the Dot. We walked out into the crisp air and felt a strong gust of wind. "I really hate them. I know that they're like my best friends, but seriously. They need to realize that I've changed. I don't know how I could have been so dumb. Whatever, let's go back to your place. It's chilly out," Craig said running his hands through his hair.

I stopped him before he could walk away. "Craig, don't let them get to you. Just listen to your heart. That's what I've been doing. Sure, I hear Paige's and Hazel's annoying voices in my head, but I've learned to ignore them. Okay?" I looked up at him and realized how cute he looked when he was frustrated.

"Yeah, okay." He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in for a kiss. As we stood there kissing I could rain drops falling on my head. I pulled away from Craig and looked up at the sky to see more rain drops falling faster and faster. I just stood there letting the rain fall on me. Craig on the other hand wasn't willing to take in the moment. "Autumn, it's starting to rain. Let's get going. We're going to get sick if we stay out here." He started to pull at my wrist but stayed in the same spot. I loved the rain. I stood there taking the moment in. But that's when it started to pour. I started to laugh. I grabbed Craig's arm and started running back to Sean's apartment.

I laughed all the way home with Craig trailing behind me. When we got back to the apartment, we were both drenched. We almost fell over when I finally got the door open. We were both laughing hysterically. Craig had his arms wrapped around my waist trying to support my exhausted body from running. I threw my keys on the counter and leaned my head on Craig's shoulder. He brushed a piece of hair that had fallen out of my face and grazed my cheek with his fingers, tickling me just a bit. He looked deep into my eyes and brought me close to his shaking body. He laid his lips on mine in a deep passionate kiss. I kissed him right back with everything that I had. I knew what was going to happen. We started heading to my room and I could his burning hands start to pull at my jacket. I unzipped his jacket as he slipped my arms out of mine. We were rapidly taking our wet clothes off until we were left with just our undergarments on. We fell onto my bed, him on top of me. I laid back and placed my head on the pillow I used. He was hovering over me looking down at me thinking about what was going to happen. He leaned in and kissed me again. This time he didn't stop. He kept going he unsnapped my bra and started working his way down to my boy-shorts. I couldn't past that point. I lost myself in the moment, not thinking about anything but our two bodies forming one. I let myself go. I gave him the most important part of me at that minute in time. I was his for good now. He had everything. He had my heart in his hands, not knowing the worst was yet to come.