Tears Of Fire

Chapter Sixteen, Part One

I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes.

“Good morning.” I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes and saw Dallas sitting on the edge of my bed, smiling that unspoken smile that was starting to drive me insane. I threw a pillow at him and looked at the clock beside me; it was 3:30 pm. I wasn’t surprised, considering I had been up since eight am last night.

“Shit!” I said, I had missed school, and then I remembered I was taking a break.

“Nice to see you too...” Dallas said, trailing off.

“No, it’s not you, I just missed most of school but then I remembered that I’m taking a break.” I told him. The smile returned and he moved closer to me, now knowing that I probably wouldn’t punch him in the face. I stretched and lay back down.

“Drake’s gone for the day so it’s just us.” Dallas told me, his smile growing. I gave him a sarcastic smile.

“Great.” I said with sarcasm colouring my voice.

“What? You don’t like me? I’m hurt.” He said faking being upset. I laughed and threw another pillow at him. I crawled out of bed and walked to the bathroom and got in the shower. I came out with a towel wrapped tightly around me and stepped in to the huge walk in closet. I picked out a pair of shorts and a tank top. After I was dressed I made my way up the stairs to the main room. I wandered my way to the kitchen and started rooting through the cupboards. After almost literally crawling through one, I gave up and went to the big walk in pantry. Of course, there on the first shelf I see, is my goal. Popcorn I climbed a little to grab a bag of it then went out and popped it. Dallas found me standing at the counter, waiting impatiently for the microwave to hit zero. I smiled at him and he returned it with a blazing smile of his own. I could tell he had something he wanted to say, but I wasn’t going to ask him what it was. The microwave beeped and I pulled the popcorn out and set it on the counter. I turned around to find a bowl in the cupboard but suddenly, Dallas was right in front of me, an inch away from touching me. He wouldn’t meet my eyes as he reached around me and pulled down a bowl from the cupboard behind me. He didn’t touch me at all though I hadn’t moved as he leaned forward. It was strange, but I wasn’t going to question it. I tried glancing over his shoulder to see the clock but he was too tall so I ducked a little to see under his arm. It was somehow five o’clock. I took the popcorn that was now in the bowl in to the main room and sat on the couch. Dallas followed behind me, looking everywhere. I tried getting a read on his mind but he closed it once he felt me trying. I shrugged. Though the couch could easily seat five, Dallas chose to sit next to me. He sat so close to me that if I were to breathe in too deeply, I would touch him. It was almost intimidating. It was also just so confusing and frustrating. I gave him the popcorn after eating only a little bit. He took it, still focused on the television. I made a slight face, remembering that he didn’t know me very well and it was the same with me to him. I remembered that because, anyone who knows me more than a little, like my friends at the school, knew I didn’t give up popcorn unless something was wrong. I stood up and blocked the television from Dallas’ view. He gave me a look, but like the entire couple of hours so far, he didn’t speak.

“What? You have something to say so say it.” I told him, getting impatient. He smiled that unspoken smile of his.

“I’m thinking. I’m thinking I should get to know you before I decide whether or not if I like you. Not like as a friend, but as something more.” He said, and then went back to thinking. I swear to god I was about to strangle him. I couldn’t deal with more complications. He seemed to consider what to say and then he smiled. “I just wanted to get that out there before Drake does.” He said. He was lucky I didn’t kill him right then and there. He obviously saw it on my face and he put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “You asked, not me.” He said and I wanted to hurt him more because it was true.