"Umm, hey?" I said into my phone. ""eyyy babee. Where were you? I was supposed to pick you up for Jenna's party," he said amidst loud noise and music. Obviously he'd gone ahead to the party. Jenna Spooner, who you should remember from Ian's story, had decided to have a party to celebrate her 5th month as a "single woman" which personally i thought made absolutely no sense. But hey. Who says no to a party right? "Oh Yeah, shit, sorry. I had stuff," I answered. "Oh it's all goo--" i head a huge splash from the other side of the phone. "Haha this motherfucka fell into the pool he's so fuckin' drunk!" yelled Jared, laughing. I was pretty sure by this point that Jared was drunk too. I'm surprised he'd remembered me. "Yea-" I hear another splash a crack and then the phone disconnected. I guessed Jared had fallen into the pool. Whatever.
I looked up at Ian. He was patiently watching me. I suddenly became of my surroundings, it was getting dark. The sun was setting. Me and Ian had shared a sunset, how romantic. Ashlyn! Get a hold of yourself.
"So, it's really late. Won't your parents be worried about you?" asked Ian. "Umm, well normally my mom is never home anyway, and today I'm pretty sure she had some kind of dinner to attend," I replied. "What about you? I remember from when we were little your parents were really protective-of you and your friends, namely me," I said with a little smile. When me and Ian had been younger, we had been really good friends. I loved his family. He was an only child with doting parents. They had been the perfect, loving family. The kind of family I had always wanted. I used to wish that my parents were like that as a child, modeling the family I wanted after his. "Well, um it's not really like how it was in kindergarten anymore," he answered, looking discomfitted. I looked at him, questions in my eyes. "Uh, I guess no one really reads the obituaries, but uh my mom died 3 years ago of breast cancer. My dad hasn't really gotten over it," he said. He stared at the ground. His face emotionless. I felt my heart rise and fall. The real answer was in his statement. His mom died. and his dad wasn't okay. Oh my god. My mouth dropped open, "I'm so sorry." "Nah, it's uh okay, it was a while ago and uh you didn't exactly know or anything. It's um fine," he said, still staring at the ground. He kept stuttering when he spoke. I could tell it was really hard for him to talk about it. The sun had gone, and the stars were starting to show. We sat in silence for a while, watching the warm air from our breaths look steamy in the cold.
My phone started vibrating again. Me and Ian both looked up. "Jared" I picked up the phone and declined the call. "So, um at any rate, I guess we should be getting home then," I said. "What?..oh yeah yeah. I just need to grab my stuff from the guy's locker room. So I'll see you around then?" he said. "Yeah okay, umm see ya," I answered. We both awkwardly left in our respective directions.
I slowly walked down to the junior's student parking lot, thinking about my evening. I scanned the lot for my car. I'd forgotten where I'd parked. Where was it? I couldn't see it anywhere. I tried to remember where I'd parked it this morning, but my mind kept coming up blank. Then my phone started vibrating. "Jared" Shit. I'd come to school with Jared. Now how was I supposed to get home? My mom was at an important business meeting, and all of my friends were partying, sex-crazed, and drunk. Damnit. It was too long of a walk home also. How am I supposed to get homeeee. I whined to myself. I heard a beeping noise as someone unlocked their black Honda Civic. Who was at school this late? and more important..could they give me a ride?
I turned around to look for the driver of the car. It was Ian. Of course, I should've thought of that. I mentally slapped myself for being idiotic. I guess i had to impose on his hospitality and waste more of his time now. Sigh.
"Umm hey, Ian," I said. He glanced up from his car. "Oh. Yeah?" he said. "Umm, I'm like really sorry I have to waste your time but , uh, could you like possibly give me a ride home? I'll owe you forever," I said. He looked at me, somewhat surprised. "Yeah sure, but don't you have a car?" he asked. "Yeah, but I rode to school with Ja-"
"Oh yeah, um sure you can ride with me," he said, cutting me off and staring at his feet again. "Aww thank Ian, I love you!" I said, out of habit. After the words left my mouth, I realized how important they were to me to Ian. My heart twinged that this could be said so casually and meaningleslly between us. But he looked up at me quickly with a funny look on his face. Maybe he felt it too. or not.
I dumped my stuff in the backseat of his car and buckled into the passenger seat. Ian got into the car and turned it on. It was clean, and smelled like leather and..Ian. I flashed back to the memory of the kiss. He'd smelled so good, like soap and a tinge of Drakkar Noir. i knew the smell of Drakkar Noir because one of Ian's friends, Ben, wore it all the time excessively. But Ian wore just enough. It smelled amazing.
"Where do you live?" Ian asked. I heard "Brown-Eyed Girl" in the background. It was one of my favorite classic songs. I told him the directions to my house. We drove in silence for a while, and I began softly singing along with the song. "I love this song," Ian said.
"Yeah, me too."
In those statements a kind of understanding passed between us. I looked at Ian, allowing myself thoughts of him for once. I looked at his silky hair and beautiful eyes. He's just so gorgeous. Personality and looks put together. He's perfect...perfect.
Ian stopped the car and looked at me. I stared back.
"We're at your house," he said.
"I know," I answered.
Damn. i should've never allowed myself those thoughts. i needed to touch him. I HAD to.
Suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed me. I kissed him back, my lips molding to his, his to mine. I leaned into him, grabbing his hair. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him and closing the space between us. I felt his hands go under my shirt, massaging my back. We stopped kissing for a second, our foreheads touching. I looked into his eyes, his beautiful eyes. I could see him. I love him, i thought. I pressed my lips against his again. I dug my fingers into his back. He pulled away from me for a second to pull off his shirt, and then he was back. I felt him unbutton my bra. He started to kiss down my neck...
