I Loved You Before I Met You (New Version)

59

   I slide off the front of the desk and walk up to Lila and hug her. "Thank you for being so cool about this and promising not to say anything. You don't have any idea how much I love her."

   As I release the hug Lila says "yeah I do. I can see the way you look at each other and I'm happy for y'all. I can't believe I didn't realize this already."

   Lauren stands up "thank you Lila. Just please remember not to say anything. Now what did you need to ask about the study guide?"

   Lila looks at Lauren for a minute "oh yeah, the study guide. Is this what the test is going to cover or just an idea of what could be on there?"

   Lauren laughs "to be honest I'm not sure. This is what Ms. Smith had for today. I don't know why she waited until the day before the test to hand out study guides. Just study it and I will talk to her tomorrow. I will make sure if the test is different from the study guide, that the test will be graded on a curve."

   Lila smiles "okay that sounds good. I was surprised to see you as the sub today."

   "Well, I didn't have enough time to find a sub this morning because I ran a little late." Lauren looks at me when she stresses the word late.

   I can't help but laugh a little but quickly cover my mouth when Lauren gives me the look that basically says 'shut up'.

   It's like it automatically clicks with Lila and she whisper yells "oh my gosh! You two were having sex this morning wasn't you? I saw the way Kyler was staring at you during class. I should have known something was going on between you two because she looking at you like she wanted to gobble you up." Lauren laughs and just shakes her head as she looks at me.

   I just shrug at both of them. What can I say, I love what I was looking at. Lauren happens to look at her watch "Kyler, why did you stay in here instead of going to class?"

   I wink at Lauren, "don't worry we're not doing anything in that class. You know I'm exempt from all my end of the year exams."

   Lauren shakes her head "you still didn't need to cut class. I expect better from you and you should know that."

   Lila starts to walk towards the door then turns around and opens her mouth. Before she can say anything I cut in "ok, I think that's enough talking about this here. We will talk about this later Lila." She nods her head and waves bye as she leaves and shuts the door behind her.

   "Thank you for not freaking out when Lila walked in on us. I know I shouldn't have kissed you but I couldn't help it."

   Lauren smiles "you were not the only one at fault on the kiss. And I promised I would try not to freak out if someone finds out about us. I'm not going to lie, because it's hard but I'm trying to stay level headed especially when its a family member or best friend."

   Lauren sits back down at the teacher's desk. "You should head home and I will see you in a couple hours." She says as she looks up at me with those beautiful blue eyes.

   I grab my backpack then lean towards Lauren and whisper "I love you."

   Lauren smiles and whispers "I love you more, now go."

   "I love you the most." I say as I'm heading to the classroom door so I can leave and go home for the day.

   When I get home I change clothes and slip on black under armor pants and a white tank top. Just as I finish changing Kyle calls so I talk to him as I get a head start on dinner. It's always nice to talk to my brother but sometimes it's weird since I never knew I had one. He gave me some unexpected but great news that I can't wait to tell Lauren about. I'm a little nervous to tell her because it's something we haven't quite talked about as far as our future goes.

   As I finish up in the kitchen there's a knock on the door. I know it can't be Lauren because she has her keys. Confused, I walk to the door and slowly open it to find Julia and an older couple at the door. Julia pulls me into a quick hug "hey Kyler, it's good to see you."

   Pulling away from the hug, I open the door more "um, it's good to see you too, come in."

   Once we are all inside Julia introduces me to the older couple. "Mom, dad this is Kyler, Lauren's girlfriend, partner, lover whatever you want to call this gorgeous girl. Kyler, this is mine and Lauren's parents David and Jessica." Julia says as I shake her dads hand and give her mom a quick hug. I don't know why I hugged her but it just seemed right. "Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. James."

   I am freaking out inside because Lauren told them my middle name and then Julia introduces me as Kyler not Shay. Lauren is going to flip, I need to text her and warn her what she will be walking into when she gets home. I swear I could throat punch Julia right now.

   Mr. James looks at me "it's nice to meet you too Kyler but please call us David and Jessica." He looks at Julia "Jules you left something out when introducing Kyler to us." I look at Julia and she shrugs her shoulders like she has no idea what he is talking about. Mr. David speaks up, "you left out student and ex step daughter when introducing her."

   I blink a few times as I'm trying to process what was just said. About that time the front door opens and Lauren and all her beauty walks into the apartment.

   As Lauren closes the door she sees her parents and sister. "Mom, dad, Julia! What are you guys doing here?"

   Mr. David speaks up "we wanted to come see you and meet Kyler." Lauren glances at me with a panicked look then looks back at her dad "you should have called."

   Her dad laughs "you would have tried to convince us not to visit. My guess is, so we would not find out Kyler or should I say Shay as you said your girlfriend's name was, is the same person and your ex step daughter and a student at your school."

   I walk over to Lauren and take her purse and laptop bag to go put them in the bedroom. As a force of habit I lean in and kiss her sweet lips. Without thinking she returns the kiss then we both remember her parents are in here. "Sorry" I whisper as I turn to take her belongings to the bedroom. She grabs my arm before I can walk away.

   I turn back around to look at Lauren as she smiles and confidently says "it's okay and I love you."

   This makes me smile "I love you too beautiful." She lets go of my arm and I go to the bedroom putting her stuff up.

   As I walk back into the living room I see Lauren's parents sitting on the couch, Julia on the loveseat and Lauren is sitting in the chair. "Lauren, why don't we all go out to dinner. Nevermind, you probably can't go out in public with Kyler." Mr. David says.

   Julia quickly jumps in "I think it would be a good idea to cook here or order in and eat together. That way everyone is comfortable." I walk over to the chair that Lauren's in and sit on the arm of the chair. Lauren reaches up and squeezes my thigh. I place my hand on hers and lightly squeeze her hand.

   I glance at Lauren then back to her parents. "I actually had already planned dinner and there will be enough for everyone." I quickly stand "we are going to have chicken quesadillas and nachos with homemade salsa and queso. The salsa and queso have been slow cooking since I got home. It will not take me too long to cook the quesadillas."

   Julia smiles and says "that actually sounds really good. I thought I could smell salsa cooking."

   Lauren stands up "we will finish cooking and y'all can just relax here."

   I stop Lauren, "I will cook, you stay in here and visit with your family."

   Lauren shakes her head "baby, you know we usually cook and clean together unless you've already cooked everything by the time I get home."

   I look at Lauren and smile, "It's been a while since you've seen your parents so spend time with them."

   Lauren grabs my hand and says "fine but at least let me help with the prep work for the quesadillas." Of course I agree to let her help plus it seems like she wants to get away from her parents for a few minutes. I don't blame her though because I want to be away from them too. Not because they do not seem like nice people, it's just this was not how we planned for me meeting them for the first time.