Different

Chapter 10

~TARON'S POV
I stared at her. I couldn't even speak. She sent sparks through my body, she sent electricity through my veins. My heart raced, my blood boiled, my hands were shaking. She looked over at me with calm eyes and a smile crept onto her face. "You gonna drive? Or what?" My throat was too dry to speak. I blinked a few times before realizing that this wasn't just a dream. She poked my shoulder a few times before she noticed that I was still alive. "Um, yeah, yeah, I'm going. Let's go." I fumbled with the car keys and almost dropped them onto the floor. Erin giggled a little at my clumsiness. "Do you mind if I play some music?" I was focused and barely heard her speak. "Taron?" She touched me again with her fingers and caught me almost off guard."yeah, no, go ahead. I dont mind." I tried to play it cool, but I still couldn't get over that kiss. I would have never guessed that Erin was such a great kisser. Not saying that I'm a stalker or anything, but she hasn't had much kissing experience. Word got around about her. People say a lot of crappy stuff about her. But ya know, people say a lot of crappy stuff about me too. No, it's not a lie that I once was an alcoholic, and I still smoke, but that was all that could numb the pain of my past. My mother was killed in a terrible car accident, a drunk driver swirved into the side of her car. And it so happened that my father was the drunk driver. Small, sad little world we live in. My thoughts we drowned out by the calming tunes of Erin's phone. Some melodious sounds were washing over my body. "What's this?" Erin looked thoughtfully at me. "It's called What About Today by Lewis Watson. He's one of my favorite artists." My nerves and jitters were calmed at this point. The soft guitar melody, and the lead singer's voice was charming. Enchanting, almost. His voice was calm, and reasuring. As we came to a red light, I looked over at Erin, and see a different person. Her eyes were almost softer than before. Like she became someone else when she listens to music. Her body language before was stiff and poised, but now looking over at her, she's more relaxed. Words came out of mouth at that moment. "This guy, Lewis, he must be important to you." Erin obviously looked as if she was waiting for me to ask her that, and she immediately answered. "Yes. Yes, he reminds me of my um." Her sentence was short. I felt concerned, so I quickly looked over to her before returning my gaze back on the road. She was hurt. "My brother. He reminds me of Steven, my older brother. Steven was a very musical man, he got himself involved in every gig he could at school and even outside of school. He would come home every night past twelve and my parents would scold him and beat him sometimes. They said he was foolish for trying. 'aint no,' um, 'f'ing way that you'll be a musician, you're awful', they would say to him. I watched. Steven refused to quit, so he joined the local symphony. He was seat one in the trumpet section, and I went to all of the concerts, without me parents." She spoke so sincerely, about her family. I felt so bad for everything she went through, even the things she didn't tell me about. "Anyway, Steven also loved to sing. When I was little, I would make him do concerts for me in the living room, that was before my parents became drug addicts and shoved us into a cramped apartment. His voice sounded just like Lewis's. The tone, the volume, the charm. But, um, about 6 years ago, when I was about 11, Steven was killed. Shot. In the head. By." Her voice became quiet. Before she was done, I had pulled the car into the theater parking lot, and now I could watch and listen to her speak. Her eyes were welling up with tears. My heart sank to my stomach. "He was killed by my mom." She crashed into a pool of tears. I hesitated at first to help her, but my heart has a soft spot for Erin. I wrap my arms around her frail body, and I rest my hand on the back of her head, softly pushing it down onto my shoulder. Her hair smelled like rosemary and mint, and it was soft and light. "Taron?" She lifted her head and looked straight into my eyes. "Yes Erin?" Her lip quivered as she spoke. "Don't leave me, please." I felt small smile form on my lips. "Only if you promise not to leave me." She giggled a little. She lifted herself off of my shoulder and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. Then, her warm hand caressed my cheek, sending shock waves through my body. "Promise." I put my hand over hers, "promise." She leans in, and presses her lips gently onto mine. The feeling of kissing her again made my body want her more. Yes, the kiss was still innocent, but my mind raced with the thought of doing so much more. Knowing that Erin definitely wasn't that kind of girl, I kiss her back with love and gentleness. As we pull away from each other, we both start to giggle a little. "You wanna go see that movie now? I mean, it starts in 5 minutes, so," I smile. "You're so cheeky Erin. I love it." She winks at me and unbuckles her seatbelt. "Wait!" She looks over at me confused. "What is it?"
  "I just wanted to say, that I um, I kind of sorta love you." She smiles a huge smile. The biggest one I've ever seen on her lovely face. "Well, that's good to know, since I kind of sorta love you more." Before I could answer, she was out of the car and over next to me. She opened my door and watched me get out with a silly grin of her little face. "So, what are we seeing?" I reach out my arm to her and she immediately takes it in hers. "I don't know, how about you choose?"
~After the movie, we head back to the campus. I walk Erin over to her dorm quietly, since it's past one in the morning. We kiss once more, and I wait at her door till she is safely inside. I hear her through the door scream, probably with that friend of hers, Sara. I smiled a huge smile. Some girls are just too good to be true. Erin is definitely one of them.