Deadly In Love

Chapter 5: Talk The Talk, Walk The Walk

On Monday, the only thing that anybody could talk about was our date. Neither of us answered any of the questions, and my friends shooed most of the people off. And of course, being a high school with students who need to have a story, the rumors came flooding in. Some people said we spent the whole time making out, some said we argued the whole time, some said it was just a long awkward silence, some said I went to his house after, and some said he ghosted me. 

The rumors spread around until about Wednesday, and it was starting to annoy me and Banner. At lunch, he pulled me aside. He moved closer, until his mouth was next to my ear, gently pushing back a strand of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail. The whole cafeteria was watching, seeing what he would do. 

“These rumors, is it just me or do they annoy you too? I think we should tell people what actually happened, and if you want, we can act like the kiss never happened. Or not. I want the world to know that I got to kiss the most beautiful girl in the world.” He whispered. I blushed, moving my head so I was near his ear now.

“Yeah. Let’s tell them the truth, including the kiss. Unless you don’t want to. Because I know for a fact that I want the world to know that I got to kiss you.” I whispered back. I pulled my head back. He reached behind my head and took the elastic out of my hair.

“It looks better this way. You look like an angel.” He said, gently grabbing my hand and putting the elastic on my wrist. We were standing near the wall close to the door to the cafeteria. He stood in front of me, around two full feet taller than me. Without thinking, I grabbed his face and pulled it down, tilting my head and going up onto my toes. This time, instead of both pulling back in a few seconds, it was a good-sized kiss, and neither of us seemed to care that the whole grade was watching us. He kissed me back, his soft lips almost sucking on mine, as they interlocked. 

When I finally pulled back, since I had to go up onto my toes to kiss him, I fell forward onto him. He caught me, and I apologized, walking around him to go back to my seat with my friends. I made eye contact with the wooden boards on the floor. All of my friends sat staring at me, stunned. They started ranting about the kiss, but I wasn’t listening. I was thinking about when he caught me after I fell. I noticed a scar on his arm that I had never noticed before. It wasn’t very long, just a short line, but it looked deep. It was stitched over, so it must have been really bad of a cut. What could have caused it?

The next weekend I got dressed for the walk, wearing a tight cropped shirt and baggy ripped jeans. As soon as I finished getting ready, I heard the doorbell ring. I opened the door, and sure enough, it was him. I stepped outside and we were face to face, as I was standing just outside of the doorway and he was standing on the top step of the short stairway leading up to my front door.

“Hey Lacy. You look beautiful. As always.” He said, with a small smirk on his face. 

“Thanks. You look perfect. As always,” I said, with a wink. He put his arm around my shoulder, swinging around so that he was standing next to me. We walked down the stairs and began walking down the sidewalk of the street my house was on. 

“Can I um, can I have your number? Please?” He asked, suddenly seeming nervous although he was perfectly confident flirting with me before.

“No.” I said, jokingly. He seemed embarrassed and was about to say something during the next second or so. I pulled out my phone and gave it to him, while he gave me his, and entered our numbers into each other's phones. When he gave my phone back, I put it close enough to my face that he couldn’t see my screen, and in the spot where I had to enter his name, I entered Banner, but with a heart emoji at the end. We just talked for a while, but I started to get cold. He noticed, even though I hadn’t said anything and put his sweatshirt over my shoulders. 

After a little while, he pulled his arm off of my shoulder and slid his arms down mine, twisting until he was holding both of my hands. “Lacy, I wanted to ask you something. Will…will you be my girlfriend?” He asked. He made eye contact with me, his eyes switching back and forth between both of mine and my lips, in a triangle. I froze, wide eyed and smiling, while also having a shocked expression on my face. I stared up into his eyes and froze for a second before answering.

I said yes, and he picked me up by the armpits and hugged me. I squeezed him so tight that he had to put me down, and we laughed together. We continued walking, and I was thinking about asking him to come over to my house. I didn’t want it to sound weird or like I wanted to do anything with him, but I really wanted my parents to know that I had a boyfriend. After all, it is better than them finding out by accident.

“Since we’re dating now, is there any chance that next weekend you can come over for dinner and meet my parents? It would be fun, and my parents would love to meet you, plus, I want them to approve of you. That is, unless it's too soon, i mean, we've only been dating for like 2 minutes, so if you don't want to i totally understand.” I said, not realizing he had said yes before I had even started giving my reasons why. He laughed at that, which shut me up.

“I said yes already. Of course I wanna meet your parents. Does next Saturday work for you?” He asked. I smiled and nodded. “Bye, see you Monday.” He said, kissing me and leaving. I walked into my house, and immediately started thinking about how to tell my parents I invited him over.

“Um, Mom, Dad? I need to ask you something. You know Banner? The one who the date was with, and who I just went on a walk with. Can he come over for dinner next Saturday to meet you guys?” I asked. They both seemed a little bit stunned for a second, but then decided to let him come over. I didn’t tell them that he was my boyfriend. I figured that Banner could just introduce himself to them as my boyfriend.

I practically skipped up to my bedroom and went to call Casey to tell her the news, but just as I picked up my phone, I remembered the fight. For a minute I sat there just staring at her name on my phone; Bestie Xoxo. Just as I was about to turn my phone off, my notification sound went off. It was a text from Banner. 

Banner: Hey, babe

You: Babe?

Banner: Do u mind if I call u that?

You: Yeah, no, it's fine babe

You: Hey remember how you’re coming over next weekend? So…I kinda didn’t tell my parents that you’re my boyfriend because I panicked. Can you introduce yourself to  them as my boyfriend?

Banner: Of course, no problem, but I gtg. Byeee

You: Thanks! Byeee

I turned my phone off and rested it on my chest, staring up at my ceiling. I couldn’t believe that I was dating Banner. He was too good to be true.