My Country Paradise

Chapter 8: Look Who's Here

The next day, Joy and Alyssa had planned to go to the movies and to my dislike Jake, Alyssa's boyfriend, was meeting us there. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way. The way he flirts with her, the way he talks, the way he acts like he knows everything-- it all makes me so mad. It was around noon when we began piling into Aunt Darcy's car, which she was letting us borrow, to make our way to the movie on time. Andrew's large, recognizable red truck pulled into the driveway. I looked at Alyssa with confusion clearly showing on my face.

"Come on Alli, we know you like him."

I groaned. "So?"

"So we invited him," Alyssa's voice squeaked annoyingly. I wanted to snap at her, but I couldn't deny I was glad he was coming along. Joy looked at me tauntingly from the passenger seat and I turned away, looking out the window. Andrew climbed out of his truck wearing a light blue polo and long jeans. He looked cute, I must admit. I noticed myself blushing just looking at him and tried to get myself under control. Joy continued to stare at me and I turned to snap at her.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing," she snapped back, equally hostile. I let it go as Andrew opened the door on the other side of the car. He climbed in and sat down next to me.

"Hey Alli," he smiled at me and then turned to greet my two sisters. "Hi Alyssa, Joy." Alyssa smiled at him, but Joy just stared of course. "So what are we going to see?" The question was mostly directed at me, but I didn't have time to answer before Alyssa spoke up.

"Jake and I are going to see a romantic movie," I couldn't help but scoff and Andrew turned to look at me, "but you guys can go see whatever you want." I waved Andrew's confused expression away and looked out the window as Alyssa drove away from the ranch house. Andrew moved closer to me and put his arm around my shoulder. I blushed and decided it was best not to look at him or Alyssa or Joy.

"So, what are we going to see?" he whispered in my ear and I merely shrugged, not looking at him. "Come on Alli. Look at me." I slowly turned to look at him. He smiled cheekily and an uncontrollable giggle escaped from my lips. "Ha," Andrew laughed, "You're too easy."

"Sure," I whispered sarcastically. Alyssa and Joy continued to stare at me through the car mirror, making me feel uncomfortable. I took Andrew's hand that was slung around my shoulder and moved it back to his own lap. He now stared at me as well and I looked down uncomfortably. "Could you quit staring at me," I growled quietly at Alyssa and Joy. They looked away, but snickered to eachother. Ugh, sisters could be so annoying. Andrew laughed out loud and I sent him a glare as well, shutting him up instantly.

"And I thought Alli was the nicest person in the world," Andrew mumbled to himself, eyeing me playfully. I shoved him into the car door and he let out a deep chuckle. I turned my attention back to Alyssa.

"So...when's Jake supposed to get there," I said, using a little too much emphasis of dislike on his name. "because we wouldn't want him to be late, now would we?"

"No," Alyssa stated. "Jake will be there about ten minutes before the movie starts. He told me."

"Of course he told you," Joy piped in, only to be given a swat by Alyssa. "Hey!"

"Sorry about them," I laughed nervously in Andrew's direction. He gave me a sympathetic smile and laid his open hand on the seat between him and I. I looked down at his large hand and up into his handsome brown eyes. He smiled knowingly and moved his hand a little closer. Slowly, I moved my hand down to his and laced my fingers through his. I smiled, this time managing not to blush. Luckily, Alyssa and Joy were busy arguing in the front seats and were paying no attention to us.

"Was Uncle Rob upset about the stillborn calf?" I asked him softly.

Andrew frowned a moment before speaking up. "No, he understood." He paused for a moment, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "You were right, it was okay." The grateful smile he sent me sent my heart into a pounding frenzy. I looked down at our hands, still intertwined, and gave his hand a gentle squeeze, looking back up at him to smile.

A few minutes later we arrived at the movie theater and got out quickly, mostly because Alyssa was in such a hurry to see her boyfriend. Andrew and I followed Joy and Alyssa a little ways behind, just smiling at each other. The movie theater was small, compared to the ones in Norman, and smelled of warm, buttery popcorn. The walls were painted a deep red, and the carpeted floor was nearly the same color. A few teenagers were scattered around, talking quietly in groups. I almost envied them until Andrew took my hand in his and smiled gorgously at me. Alyssa was in hot pursuit of someone, which I soon realized was Jake. He was tall and lanky; a mess of curly blond hair fell to his forehead and he was wearing his typical attire, a red sleeveless workout shirt and black sports pants. When he saw Alyssa, he walked towards her with his arms outstetched. She walked into them and I saw him whisper something to her. He closed his eyes and practically gave her a butterfly kiss. I cringed and turned away.

"Alli, are you okay?" Andrew's soft voice came from behind me. I turned around and managed a smal smile in his direction.

"I'll be okay." I whispered reassuringly. Especially with you by my side I wanted to add, but decided it wouldn't be best. I took a deep breath and then led Andrew over to where Alyssa and Jake were standing. Joy had wandered off to get popcorn and drinks.

"Hi Al," Jake said loudly. I hated that nickname, but he wouldn't stop calling me Al.

"Hi," I said quietly, annoyance causing me to stiffen.

"Who's this?"

"Um, this is..."

Andrew stuck out his hand to Jake firmly. "Andrew." Jake shook it, released, then pulled Alyssa into his side. I looked away uncomfortably. Alyssa giggled and continued to flirt with him. I was sure I was going to do something erratic and stupid until Andrew took my hand and pulled me away from them.

"Man, he really ticks you off, doesn't he?" Andrew stated more than asked. I nodded.

"He just...he makes me so mad. He's hurt Alyssa a number of times, he's constantly flirting, and he's just...just too immature!" When I realized I had raised my voice, I looked at the ground completly embarrased. Andrew suddenly pulled me into his arms and I felt my stiff muscles relax. I took a deep breath, breathing in the soothing fragrance of his cologne.

"Don't concentrate on them anymore, okay? Just relax and have fun." Andrew's baritone voice helped to further soothe me. I nodded into his chest and then pulled away.

"Thanks," I smiled shyly.

"Anytime," he replied meaningfully. Hand in hand, we walked up to the ticket clerk and chose a random movie. Unfortunately for me, it turned out to be a horror movie and I was clinging to Andrew half the time. Not to mention, he would start laughing hysterically every time I jumped. After the movie had finally ended, we went back out into the main lobby. Jake, Alyssa, and Joy were waiting for us.

"What did you guys watch?" Joy asked.

"We watched a horror movie!" Andrew growled, coming up behind her and scaring the heck out of her. I burst into laughter and held up my hand to give him a high five, but he just took my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine.

"Hey!" I protested. He gave me a sly smile and kept walking. Alyssa and Jake walked ahead of us and stopped in front of his tiny car. Alyssa threw me the keys and I scrambled to catch them.

"I'm going with Jake. So your driving Aunt Darcy's car."

"You're going home with Jake?"

"Nope, Jake's coming here."