Mind Games.

chapter 34: Christmas day.

I slept in until 9:30 the next morning. When I got up, I didn't worry about a shower. I just threw on a pair of jeggings with my white sweatshirt and brushed my hair. After it was put in a ponytail, I walked out to the kitchen where Mr. Marsh was cooking bacon and eggs. He turned to face me with a smile on his face.
"Merry Christmas, Alice!" He exclaimed. I smiled back at him.
"Merry Christmas, Simon." He was wearing a black button up t-shirt with black stone-washed skinny jeans. His hair was neat and fluffy against the morning sun. I stretched in my seat at the counter and laid my head on the counter.
"Are you excited to see what your present is?" I asked him. He smiled and nodded.
"Yes, but first, breakfast!" He set a plate in front of me that was full of bacon and over-easy eggs. I took a bite and smiled. After we had finished breakfast, I got up and clapped my hands together.
"Ok, time for presents!" We both walked over to the living room and I sat down on the couch. He sat in a chair across from me. I smiled and took the present that I had gotten from Kendall from underneath the tree. I set it on the arm of his chair and crossed my legs.
"Ok, open it!"
"What is it?" He asked me, picking it up. I shook my head and replied,
"Just open it and see." I instructed him. He shrugged and tore the paper off of the little box. Once all that was on the coffee table, he took the top off the box. Once it was on the side, he stared at his present, almost in disbelief. I giggled and scooted up slightly in the couch.
"Do you like it?"
"Alice...you shouldn't have." He said. He lifted the silver rollex watch into view. It had six pink star diamonds incrested on the rim of the watch. I smiled and tucked some loose strands behind my ear.
"Do you like it?"
"Yes. Are these real?" He asked, still in denial. I nodded and explained,
"They're pink star diamonds, the rarest in the world. Five ounces can sell for more than 80 million in an auction."
"How did you get them?" He questioned, turning to face me. I smiled and replied,
"I have my connections. Don't worry about where they came from, just enjoy it." I blushed when he smiled at me and wrapped the watch around his wrist.
"My present isn't even close to this..."
"I don't mind, Simon." I'm starting to get used to calling him that...
He smiled and handed me a box that was wrapped up in gift wrap. I smiled and tore it open. After it was done, I opened the little box. He had given me two things.
One was a big jar filled with the fiesta lime inscents I had smelled at the store the day before.
The second, was a little necklace with the infinity sign on it. I picked it up by the chain and held it in between my fingers.
"I love it." I told him, looking up to meet his eyes. He smiled and got up.
"Here, let me put it on." I handed him my new necklace. He took one end and wrapped it around my neck from the side where my hair wasn't, and he used the other to go under my hair and link the necklace together. I shivered slightly when his fingers brushed against the side of my neck, extremely close to my collarbone. He apparently noticed, because he chuckled a little and asked me
"Are you alright?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, there's just a breeze in here."
"Hmm." He said it like he didn't believe me. But he didn't say it, he just sat back in his spot. "I feel bad that I didn't get you anything good." He stated. I frowned and shook my head.
"That's not true, Simon. I really do love this necklace."
"There must be something else I can do." He said it in a questioning way. I didn't really need anything else from him, but I wanted him to feel better, so I just shrugged.
"I...I've always wanted to learn how to dance?" I said in a meek way, hoping that he didn't know how to dance. But, as my luck would have it, he knew exactly what to do. He nodded and smiled.
"Alright, I'll show you." This surprised me.
"Now?!" I asked with more resentfulness than I had anticipated. He tilted his head and asked,
"Why not?"
"I, well...." Think, think! "I'd like to go on a walk or something first." There was nothing else I could think of at that moment. Luckily, he nodded in agreement.
"Ok, I'll show you later when we get back." I sighed in relief and we both went to get our snow gear on.
At first we walked around aimlessly, but then we came to a gigantic hill where people were skiing. Mr. Marsh smiled and said,
"Do you know how to ski?" My heart stopped and I shook my head.
"No, I-I have terrible balance and-"
"Come on, I'm going to teach you how." He insisted, taking my hand in his. Suddenly, I felt so much more calm. His hands are so soft, and warm, and soft...
What's happening with my brain right now?!?
He paid a man for our skis and we went to a little building where they kept the skis. He slipped his boots into his with no effort, but I couldn't get mine to work.
"Ugh, I can't...get my foot...in the ski!" Mr. Marsh chuckled and bent down on one knee in front of me, taking my foot in his hand.
"You put the foot here, and then..." He was able to get my foot into the ski. I felt my cheeks blush. He smiled and we both started trecking to the ski lift. A woman with two little girls was waiting behind us in line. The little girl with a blue hat turned to the girl with a red hat and whispered,
"Do you think he's a prince?" I smiled and listened to the other little girl.
"I don't know. He's handsome enough for it." Mr. Marsh turned around and said,
"Thank you." They both immediately hid behind the woman's legs. She giggled and smiled at Mr. Marsh. He smiled and turned back to face forward. A man ushered us to sit on a bench that would take us up the hill. Once we started on our ascend, I giggled and stated,
"I didn't know you liked kids."
"Eh, the skinny ones can get annoying after a while." He joked. I rolled my eyes and looked out at the snow covered landscape.
"Thank you for sharing this place with me. It's amazing." I heard the words escape my mouth, but I never remembered thinking of them. He smiled down at his hands, then looked back out.
"I'm glad you think so. Everyone else I bring here thinks it's just a boring little town." His words shocked me, and I turned to face him.
"Who thinks that?"
"Pretty much everyone else I've brought here. Friends, my father..." He trailed off. I smiled and pushed him playfully.
"And girls?" He rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"Especially girls. Girls are gross." He said in a childish voice. I pouted and crossed my arms.
"Not me though, right?" He smiled and shook his head.
"No, Alice. Not you. You're not gross."
"Yay! I don't have to become a boy!" We both laughed at my joke as the chair lift dropped us off at the top. I looked over the edge and saw people skiing down the hill. Some did back flips, others went at uncanny speeds. I bit my lip and said,
"Maybe this wasn't a good idea..."
"You'll be fine, do you trust me?" He asked, handing me my ski sticks. I looked up at him. He was smiling in that perfect,wonderful way of his, and suddenly, all of my fears melted away. I nodded.
"Yes, I do."
"Ok, then. Now here's what you do..." We spent the next ten minutes going over what I was supposed to do. Then, it was time to go down the slope. He skied in front of me while I tried not to kill myself on the way down.
"Ok, in, out...in, out...in..." But I lost control about halfway down, and I went speeding forward. Mr. Marsh stood at the bottom of the hill, watching me. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted,
"Alice! Slow down-" but I had already reached the bottom of the hill and I ran into a gigantic pile of snow. Well, that was fun...
Mr. Marsh helped me stand up.
"Are you ok?" He asked me, looking down at me while brushing snow off of my shoulders. I nodded and sighed.
"I think I'm done skiing for the day." I smiled when I saw him smile. Then, he brushed some snow from my cheek with his thumb.
"Ok, whatever you want." He smiled and we returned the skis. Then, we started back to his house.

(6:30pm...;)

I was making some hot cocoa while Mr. Marsh took his turn with the shower, although I was pretty sure that I used up all the hot water. I had changed into my blue and black spotted pajama shorts with a loose zip up t-shirt that was blue. It hung off my shoulders, so you could see the tank top and bra strap underneath.
I swayed in my spot in front of the hot water, playing with the infinity necklace Mr. Marsh had given me. I smiled and thought about the way his eyes lit up whenever he smiled. The way he always walked with a strong confidence, the way his hair was always perfectly in place...
Snap out of it, Alice!!! I shook my head and poured some water into two coffee mugs, then I mixed in the hot cocoa mix and sat on the couch with my legs crossed. I switched on the tv and turned it to 'Chopped' on the food network.
Mr. Marsh reappeared after a ten minute shower. He was wearing a red and black flannel button up t-shirt with jeans. His hair was messier than before, but I didn't mind, in a negative way. He sat down in the spot beside me and set a pile of papers on the coffee table.
"Ugh, as I've said before, I hate homework."
"Your professor gave you homework for Christmas vacation?" I asked him, frowning. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. I shivered, and again, he noticed.
"Are you ok, Alice?"
"Huh, yeah, must be that breeze again." I said, trying not to sound stupid. He shrugged and replied,
"Well, to answer your question, yes. I have to do pages sixty two through two hundred and five of chemistry." He looked like he really didn't want to do it. I smiled and set my hot cocoa down, scooting up in my spot.
"I'll help you."
"No, Alice, I couldn't ask you to do that-"
"It's fine, Simon. I can help." I assured him. He stared at me for a few moments, then he just shrugged and scooted over a little for me.
"Ok, so I'm having trouble with this one problem..."
An hour passed and we got most of it done. But when we got to problem 201, we got a little stumped.
"Well, maybe we could use iron and-"
"No, that wouldn't work." I interrupted him. He bit his lip and frowned.
"Well, what about nitrogen..."
"Mm...no." I said, thinking hard about it. He sat back and sighed.
"What do you think?" He asked me. I stared at the problem on the paper. What is the solution...
"Maybe this requires a basic equation of physics?" I stated in a way so it could be objected. I never, not in a million years, would have guessed what happened next.
I turned to look at him. He looked back into my eyes. All I could see were stars. Then, he smiled gently at me, sat up, and set his hand onto my left cheek. It was warm and soft. I could've fallen asleep in them. Then, he leaned his head in so our faces were only about three inches apart. Oh my god...is he doing what I think he's doing!?!
"What physics, Alice? There's nothing but chemistry here." He whispered it. My cheeks were blushing to their maximum now. Then, he leaned in gently, slowly closing the gap until, for the first time, our lips made contact.

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BOOM! What just happened?! AHH!!! Ok, I'd like to tell you guys about the last chapter when Mr. Marsh found an inscent labled, ISIS. That's a true story! I was in a little boutique smelling inscents, and I saw one labled, ISIS! It smelled really bad, but anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, enjoy the next one, bye! ;P.