Imaginary Boyfriend

Chapter 24: Picnic

Chapter 24

         Despite being an hour late for work, that day had gone pretty good. Well, it was average, but the thing that made it "good" was the fact that I didn't see Rhys. Ever since I rejected him (and that's putting it lightly because, really, I basically legged it as soon as he kissed me) we hadn't really talked. 

         Of course, that wasn't due to his humiliation. No, no, because Rhys had in fact called me exactly seventeen times. I didn't have an excuse for what I did that wouldn't embarrass him further so my plan for now was to just steer clear from him for as long as I could. 

         I felt really bad. I mean, his ex-wife had just died, he was probably going through a lot, and now I've just made it worse. Was I leading him on?

         I thought back to our previous times together. Oh, crap. Did I? 

         Now that I thought about it, it did seem like I was interested in him. After all, I agreed to tutor his son, comforted him through his ex-wife's funeral, and then spent the whole day with him and Craig. And I'd been so nice and kind to him. 

         I banged my head against the teacher's desk. My last class had left for home, and for some reason, I was still here thinking about Rhys. 

         My phone vibrated from next to me, causing me to jump. Reaching for it, I saw it was a text. From Sam. Even reading his name caused my heart to do a somersault.

         Meet me at the apartment. Got a surprise for you ;) Sam. 

         The winky face made me giggle. My insides were feeling warm already. Excited, I stood up and began collecting my things.

         "Um. Katrina?"

         I froze. Uh oh. "Rhys," I said, spinning around and putting fake cheerfulness in my voice. "Hey! How... um, how are you?"

         He smiled at me with sad blue eyes. "You've been avoiding me."

         I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. "I don't know what you mean," I told him vaguely, busily piling up the rest of my books and hugging them toward my chest.

         Rhys took a step forward. "Listen, I just wanted to apologise."

         I smiled shakily. "It's fine, honestly. I'm partly to blame too. But, er, yeah. I need to be somewhere so..."

         I tried to side-step him but his arm shot out to block my way. "Wait. You can't leave just yet. We need to talk."

         My eyes flickered towards the clock and then back to Rhys. Sam was waiting for me, I didn't have time to stop.

         "I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I really have to go. Another time maybe?"

         When I tried to move around him again, he stopped me again. I clenched my fists, angry at his constant attempts. 

         "No," he said desperately. "Just wait."

         I sighed, tapping my foot impatiently. "You have two minutes, Rhys. I really need to be somewhere."

         "Why?" he asked

         I licked my lips nervously. I knew exactly what he meant. "I don't like you like that."

         "No," he repeated, shaking his head vigorously. "You kissed me back. I felt it."

         I was stumped. Yes, I did kiss him back, but that was only because I was kissing Sam! Well, kind of. Sighing, I raked a hand through my tangled raven-black hair and gave Rhys one long, hard stare.

         "I was in shock. I did not kiss you back, okay?"

         The way his face fell kind of teared my heart open. I really liked him. But only as a friend, and I didn't enjoy hurting him like this. 

         He looked down at his feet. "Okay. I understand."

         Biting my lip, I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly, before stepping around successfully and exiting the room. As I made my way to the parking lot, I couldn't help but feel bummed. Even though I was about to see Sam. 

**

         "A picnic? Seriously?"

         Sam grinned and held up the basket. We stood in the middle of the park, with a blanket laid across the fresh grass, and it was so embarrassing.

         "People are looking," I hissed at him, folding my arms across my chest.

         "Come on!" he whined, patting the space next to him. I stared at him flatly. "Please," he added, pouting and batting his eyelashes. I sighed and sat down with him. His face was too cute, nobody would be able to resist it.

         "Alright, what did you bring?"

         Sam opened the first flap in the basket. His smile dropped. "Oh. Great."

         I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

         "I forgot the cutlery."

         I exhaled sharply and laughed quietly. "Well done."

         Sam shot me a glare before opening the next flap. "Nevermind," he said wistfully. "Doesn't matter anyway, because I forgot the food aswel."

         I groaned at the same time as my stomach rumbled. "Well, this is just dandy."

         He laughed and flopped down on the blanket, staring up at the sky. I lay down beside him and linked fingers with him. We were silent for a few moments until I suddenly spotted something. Feeling a smile tug at my lips, I pointed upwards to a cloud shaped vaguely like a heart. "Look," I said, nudging him gently. "It's a heart."

         Suddenly Sam was on top of me and his face was inches from mine. "How appropriate," he commented smoothly, before lowering his head down to mine.

         It was a long, close-mouthed kiss that made my pulse quicken. I grinned, pulling him closer to me. Then I suddenly realised where we were. My eyes widened and I hurriedly shoved against him.

         He fell back onto the blanket, confused. Blushing red, I wiped my lips and sat up. "Sam!" I screeched. "We're in a public place! You can't just do that."

         He smirked. "We were only kissing."

         "Yeah but..." I trailed off. "The position..."

         Sam leaned forward to pinch my cheeks. "Aw!" he cooed as I pulled a face. "You are just too cute!"

         I pushed him away but couldn't help smiling. I'd thought it might be a mistake to go out with him, but really it wasn't. It felt natural and... 

         Right. It felt right.

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Kay, its been a while, BUT let me off this once because it was my birthday this week XD And since it's half term, I'm off for a week so yeah, expect frequent and long updates!