All I Ever Wanted

Chapter 12

"He's up to no good, Abby!" Tanner warned. "Watch, tomorrow he'll probably be kissing some waitress or something."

"You're just jealous," I replied. "Maybe you're the one I shouldn't trust!" I pushed his chest to get him away from me and I walked away, grabbing Clayton's sleeve and pulling him away with me.

"What's wrong?" He inquired, looking worried. See? I knew he really cared for me. I'd show Tanner. I'd prove it to him. But not right then. I needed time.

"Everything's perfect," I lied. What if Tanner was right? What if I was just another one of Clayton's million girlfriends that get dumped the next day?

"Can I make it up to you?" He smiled.

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward to kiss me again, but I backed away.

"I'm sorry, I just...I need some time."

"Time? Time for what?" He looked shocked.

"Look, I like you. I really do. But how do I know you're not just using me for ... for 'fun'. I mean, the kiss back there was great and all, but I don't even know if I wanted it. Like you said, you were making out with Alex. And now, not even a week later, you want to kiss me." I wasn't angry, just confused and irritated.

"I know, I know. It's just...I'm not good at this kind of stuff. I'm not good with girls." I laughed historically. Clayton? Not good with girls? Give me a break! "What? What's so funny?"

"Clayton, you've had, like, a bajillion girlfriends."

"Well, yeah, but I'm not good at 'guy code' or 'girl code' or whatever they're called." Ha! He's an amateur at dating. That could be bad, but it was still utterly hilarious to me. He was the most popular person at our school. "Can you stop laughing so hard? It's not funny!" But, after a while, he was laughing along with me.

"You know, I'm gonna have to teach you." I said after we finished laughing. We had walked all the way to the park, which was at least five miles from the ice cream parlor.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," he teased, making a childish face.

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