Creative Girl and Him

Chapter 21

I pull the pizza out of the oven and call to Art. I grab the pizza cutter and cut the pizza in perfect triangles, I'll admit I'm slightly OCD about things like this... I grab two plates and I hear Art come down the stairs, I set the pizza on the table and hand a plate to Art.

"Thanks. This looks amazing." I smile.

"Thank you. My dad and I made pizza all the time." Art smiles and grabs a slice. "Careful it's hot."

"Hot can't hurt hot." I roll my eyes.

"You're a dork."

"Shut up and eat weirdo." I laugh and sit down across from Art and slide a piece of pizza onto my plate. We eat in silence for a while until I finally open my mouth.

"Can I ask you a serious question?"

"Sure." Art answers with his mouth full and I can't help but laugh.

"Have you thought much about your future? Like what you're going to do?"

"Be like Mr. B." I raise my eyebrows in shock with how quick he answered that. "Mr. B is my role model and that's what I wanna do."

"Be a role model."

"Yeah. Help the other Arts of the world." I can't help but laugh again. "The only difference between Mr. B and I though is that he has his wife."

"You'll find-"

"No." Art wipes his mouth. "I don't want that."

"Why not?"

"Mr. B still has trouble with his past. His wife and kids are put in danger and I don't want that." My heart breaks.

"They fell in love Art. She knew the risks, they both did... But they decided that they could go through it together."

"I don't want that. I understand that they fell in love but I don't want to. I don't want to put the person I love in danger, what kind of person would I be?" I hold my breath and look down at my pizza. I should have guessed.

"So, you're just gonna go around and have meaningless sex? Never get married and have kids?" Art shakes his head. "I don't understand."

"I don't expect you to Opal."

"You're being selfish. The girl you love and that loves you back is gonna be in pain forever."

"She'll be in real danger if she's with me Opal."

"She wouldn't care as long as she was with you."

"Enough Opal."

"No Art! I don't understand why you're gonna push away the love of your life for selfish reasons."

"I don't want you to get hurt Opal!" I'm slightly taken back by his response. Did he just-

"What?" He swallows hard.

"I don't want her to get hurt. She'd be the most important person in my life but the last thing I'd want is to see her hurt."

"She'd be hurt either way Art. The difference is she'd rather be hurt and protected by you. Not hurt by you." Art pushes his plate away.

"Thanks for the food. I'm going to bed."

"Art." He walks away and I hear the door close. I look down at the table and shake my head. I gather the dirty dishes and put them in the sink. I put the pizza in the fridge on a paper plate covered in foil and take the pizza pan to the sink. When I finish washing and drying the dishes, I put them away and head up to my room. I sit down on my bed and sigh heavily. I lay on my bed and close my eyes when I hear someone strumming a guitar. I get up and look out the window to see no one. I walk downstairs and hear it coming from Art's room. How did he get a guitar? I open the door lightly and see Art sitting on the window sill strumming the guitar. "That's really good." Art looks over at me.

"Thanks." I bite my lip and start to walk out. "Do you know how to play?" I shake my head and Art gestures for me to come in. "I'll teach you a few cords." He stands up and walks over to the bed. "Come on." I walk in and close the door behind me. I sit beside him on the floor and he hands me the guitar. He grabs my hands and leads them over the neck.

"I'm sorry for what I said Art."

"Press your index finger on this string." I look down at the guitar and press my index finger down. "A bit harder." I press my finger down harder. "Now slide the guitar pick along all the strings smoothly." I do as he says and it comes out terrible. "Wow okay that was bad." I laugh and shake my head.

"Sorry. I'm really not good at string instruments."

"Here." Art grabs the guitar and holds it. "Put your hands on mine, make sure your fingers are against mine. We'll act like you're good and you're teaching me." I laugh and do as he says. "Your hands are really tiny."

"Up shut Art." Art laughs and starts playing slowly. My hands follow his going up and down the neck and strumming the strings. I smile as I hear the beautiful song. I rest my head against Art's shoulder as I watch our hands move together.

When the song ends Art stays still for a few seconds before pulling one of his hands away and resting it on top of mine. His hand is really big compared to mine, I never noticed before. He intertwines his hand with mine and he rubs his thumb along mine, making me smile a little bit more. "You were right." I look up at Art to see him looking down at our hands.

"But you were too. To a certain extent."

"Maybe but you had the right idea about being in harms way but protecting each other is better than me hurting her." I scan his face.

"I did make a good point, but you made a good one as well." I look back down at our hands. "It would be hard to protect her and your child." I feel Art take a deep breath and lean forward. He presses his lips against my shoulder and I shutter lightly, getting the goosebumps. Art works his way up to my neck and my breath gets stuck in my throat. I grip his hand tightly with a gasp as he bites my neck lightly. "Art." He pulls away and I feel cold.

"I should get to bed. We have class tomorrow." Art pulls away and sets the guitar down. I walk up to him and look up at him while he looks down at me with a calm expression. I swallow hard and look down at our hands. I take his hand and intertwine it with mine. Art squeezes my hand lightly and I smile. I look up at him and Art is smiling back down at me. "Night Opal." I stand on my tiptoes and wrap my free arm around his neck and pull him on for a light kiss. He kisses back and when I pull away, Art pulls me back for a longer kiss.

He pulls away and I can't control myself. I wrap my arms around his neck again and kiss him more. His hands are gripping my hips firmly and pulling me closer to him. I pull away slightly, my breathing hitched and I slide my hands down his chest. I tug lightly at his shirt and Art grips my hips tighter. He kisses me again, this time more frantically and passionately. He bites my lip and licks it lightly, I smile and do the same to him and he eagerly slides his tongue against my lip again, asking for entrance and I allow it. After a few more minutes of a heated make out session, I pull away and smile.

"Pain and pleasure right?" I take a few steps back. "Always leave them wanting more." I wink and laugh as Art gives me an angry yet sexy look. "That was my revenge for making me look like a fool before making the pizza." I walk to the door and step out. "Night Art." I laugh as I walk out of his room and up to mine. I lay on my bed and touch my lips.

That was definitely the best kiss we've had yet. I hope it gets better the more we do it. I'd be willing to practice forever.