EMILY
I followed him to an empty classroom where the sounds of the music wasn't too loud. He closed the door behind him, drowning the sounds of Jason Derulo's Talk Dirty. I guess the teachers had never paid attention to who was choosing the music and from the looks of it, the explicit version was about to play. I wanted to see the looks on their faces when they realized what was playing.
"What are you smiling for?" Carson asked.
"Nothing. What was it that you wanted to talk about?"
The vibrations of the music erupted from the closed door.
Carson looked uneasy, out of his element, like he was shit-scared about something and his nervousness was getting contagious.
Was this about Sky? Maybe he needed my help to win a date with her. Carson wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, he didn't take hints, he just ran with the thought and his mouth sometimes could use filters.
Carson and I had sort of kinship in the past; we were the outcasts of society. While he was over six feet now with most of his baby-fat gone, he was still that same introverted nerd who had trouble socializing. It might not seem like that from the outside but he was struggling with a lot of things.
"If this is about Sky, and if you genuinely like her, I'll help you out."
He gave me an incredulous look, "Sky? Oh, no. It's not about her."
"I assumed you liked her since you've asked me if she dated Seth or if he had some history with her."
He shrugged, "Yeah...Uh..." he avoided eye-contact.
What the hell is happening?
"Em, let me just cut to the chase. Are you still in a relationship with Seth?"
"I told you we broke up!"
"You're not even fuck buddies?"
"God, No!"
"Well, this is about him."
My chest tightened with fear. What was he going to tell me about Seth?
You probably don't know of this but I saw Seth parading around some hot chick last night. I think he's already moved on.
"So, you wouldn't have a problem if I pursued him, right?"
"Pursued him for what?"
"Romantically." He blurted out and I watched his adam's apple bob.
I gaped at him. I wasn't sure if I was hearing this right. Did he just say he wanted to pursue Seth for a relationship?
Before I could get another word out, he said, "I've been confused for years."
"But you and I—"
"Yes, I know, Em. I told you I liked you and I was attracted to you...or so I thought. That was one reason that I decided to lose my virginity with you because we were comfortable with each other. I know how much I hurt you during the process, I didn't know what I was doing but...I was under the illusion that my feelings were romantic which wasn't the case. I was forcing myself to like you because the alternative scared me."
"Oh, Carson..." I reached out to take his hand.
He held it, covering his hand with mine.
"I used to visit a bookstore where I genuinely liked a guy and I couldn't stop thinking about him, I went there every day just to talk to him and even though I slept with you, Em, you completely slipped out of my mind. He made me forget you and that scared me so much that I stopped going to that place and I believed that if I went after you, and if you gave me a chance, I would get back to normal.”
“That was the reason you joined our school?”
“Partly the reason.” I saw two red spots rising on his cheeks. “I was thinking if I dated you, I’d get over this fascination I have over dudes.”
“And it didn’t go away, right?”
He nodded, “It got worse. I started noticing Seth and I was drawn to him. Instant attraction, maybe that’s why he made me so goddamn angry.” He shook his head, giving a humorless laugh, “I’m such an asshole. I was furious at myself more than him and I took out that anger in the parking lot that day. I kept hitting him like I expected the attraction would just fade away. The next time when I went to apologize to him, he said we were cool. My heart was going to jump out of my chest.”
I laughed, “He has that effect on people.”
“You would know that more than anyone else.” He smiled shyly, “I…I decided to face what was going on and I started to really see him. At that time, you were dating Seth…”
“Carson, I support you. I think that goes without saying. I don’t care if you like girls or guys or both.”
“I’m gonna stick with dudes. I don’t think I’m interested in girls anymore.”
“Great. I’m really glad you figured this out, but you also have to know that Seth is straight, as far as I know. He’s never been into guys.”
“I know that, okay? But you never know, maybe I could convince him to swing the other way? Experiment with me?” He grinned.
I giggled, “I don’t think that’s going to happen but knock yourself out.”
“Seriously? You’re giving me permission to ask him?”
I nodded, “Yes. You should tell him about your feelings if that’s what’s going to make you happy.”
The word ‘experiment’ made me a little uneasy. Carson was hot in that athletic way and if Seth was gay and interested in him, they’d be a super-hot couple.
I fanned myself, trying not to think of anything inappropriate. I hoped that Seth wasn’t going to be game for any “experimentation.” If he was then I’d probably be doomed. It would still hurt if they got together.
“Also, is it okay if I kissed him?” He asked.
“No,” I said without a second thought.
“Please.”
“Carson, you said you would tell him about your feelings but that’s as far as you go!”
“But Emily, you just told me you’re not dating him and I thought that’s fair game…”
“What’s fair game guys?”
Sky barged into the room and walked inside wearing an irritated look on her face.
Carson’s face fell. I swallowed. how much did she hear?
“I’ve been looking for you for hours. Owen’s starting to annoy me again, he’s giving me the goo-goo eyes from across the room. Can you dance with me, Carson? That would ward off that unwanted creature.”
“Uh…sure.”
“Can you also pretend you’re my boyfriend so he would stop bothering me?”
“Yeah, okay.” Carson said walking towards Sky, “Are you coming with us, Emily?”
*~*
Since Sky kept insisting, I gave into her request and went onto the dance floor.
Seth was nowhere in view, and he’d promised he would be back soon. I’d just started to warm up when they began playing a slow song. Couples started milling onto the dance floor and that was my cue to exit.
I suddenly started to feel hot and a little hungry so got myself a plateful of finger food. When I had nothing else to do, I resorted to watching the dance.
“Emily, hey!”
I looked up to find Ian standing before me. He raised his hand, “Dance?”
He seemed so glad to see me, and it appeared like it had taken him a lot of guts to come up here and ask. I didn’t want to see the smile wiped off his face.
“Sure.” I placed my hand in his.
He dragged me to the dance floor when I confessed, “I’ll just warn you, I’m not a good dancer.”
He chuckled, “That’s okay, I’ll teach you. Just go with the flow.”
How does one go with the flow if they don’t know what to do? The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass him and myself in front of everybody.
His hand remained on my waist, and I put mine on his shoulder as we fell into step with the rhythm of the song. He was sweet and polite as he showed me what to do and it was quite easy to follow.
Ian’s dark eyes twinkled excitedly. He leaned into my ear to whisper, “You’re so pretty.”
“Thanks.” I smiled.
We moved smoothly to the song; he really was a good teacher.
“Are you free Saturday evening?” He went straight to the point.
“No, she’s not.” Seth had walked between the dance floor, pinning Ian with a glare that told him to back off.
Seth turned to look at me, “Will you do me the honor of this dance, Princess Emily?”
What the fuck?
Before I could refuse, Ian stepped away politely, smiling, “Maybe next time, Emily.”
Seth grasped my hands and put them around his neck almost forcefully and then he grabbed my waist and started moving with the song, or better yet, compelled me to move with him.
A strong whiff mixed with his perfume entered my nostrils, “Were you drinking?”
“The boys brought some stuff mixed with Pepsi. I just took a few sips.”
“It doesn’t look like a few sips to me,” I mumbled.
“It wasn’t much, I promise, baby.”
“Don’t call me baby.”
“Watch-du-you want me to call you then? Do you like Princess better? Should I call you Princess Emily of the big white castle?”
I threw him a look but he continued smiling coyly, tightening his hold over my waist.
Bruno Mar’s song ‘Just the way you are’ started playing. I moved along with him, he towered over me, completely dominating my space with his big ass shoulders, his large hands on my waist slipped a little and landed on my ass and I felt a slight but deliberate brush of his fingers there.
I looked up at him and caught him smirking, he leaned in and kissed me on my cheek and then brought his mouth to my exposed neck. “You’re gorgeous.”
“Seth…” I warned him.
He took soft nibbles of my skin, ignoring the fact that we were in public. When Seth was tipsy, he got a little extra bold.
He cupped my face in his hands, “You don’t want me? Do you want sweet Ian instead?” His green eyes pierced through mine and they held so much pain. “I love you,” he mumbled dipping his wet tongue in my ear.
“Seth…not here…”
“Somewhere else?” I gasped in surprise when I felt his hard-on press against my stomach, he grinned, “Sorry, I can’t control myself when I’m with you.”
“I don’t feel like dancing. Let’s get out of here.”
“Sure. Whatever my princess wants.”
I felt like he was taking a dig at me by calling me a princess.
His suit was thick and it was dark so no one would be able to see the bulge in his pants.
I watched his eyes burn into mine, “You wanna stick around here or head home?”
“Let’s go to your place. You live close to school, don’t you?”
He didn’t seem pleased with the idea, “My place? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I mean if it’s okay with you.”
“Alright. I’ll jus…text Carson and see if he and Sky would leave together. I was supposed to be her ride to get home tonight.”
But you’re kinda drunk so you can’t!
A few seconds later, he got a text back confirming that Carson and Sky were leaving but they were disappointed we weren’t staying for the prom king and queen winners.
I insisted on driving even though Seth said he hadn’t had too much to drink. I didn’t trust him. It was hard to drive a stick shift but Cale had taught me to drive it before. He’d said I couldn’t do it so I’d taken that as a challenge and learned it. We usually had the competitive thing going and I was glad it was being of some use now.
I drove for five minutes until I came to a forest like area. It was surrounded by trees and barely any light. It was a creepy place to drive into. When I asked him if I was on the correct route, he told me to go on.
“You’re not getting me murdered here, are you?”
He chuckled, “They’d find out who did it. Someone must have seen you leave with me. Plus, I already have a criminal record, baby. Take a left from here.”
It led us to a gravel road to a trailer park. Mobile houses lined on both sides as I drove deeper into the area. Seth told me to stop in front of an old grey trailer. It was the kind of thing you could hook to a truck and take it on trips.
Someone sitting outside the other houses waved at Seth as we entered the trailer.
It was a cozy place with an attached kitchen, little space to move around. Two windows with white curtains hanging on it. There wasn’t much furniture in the room, just a two-sitter couch and a Tv screen. Mostly the essentials. Seth’s books were sprawled over the little round table, an empty coffee mug sat on the counter.
“Home sweet home!” He called behind me, kicking the door shut and locking it.
His arms went around my waist and his mouth attacked my bare neck, “I’ve been waiting all evening to have you alone.” He kissed noisily, his teeth grazed my skin, burning where he bit gently into it.
“Seth…”
He pushed me against the wall and captured my mouth in his.