Under the Radar

Truth, Dare, or Vodka?

The next morning, I waited ten minutes later to get up and get ready. Yesterday's dreamlike state was over, and reality caught up with me again. I drove over to Matt's place and tried to prepare myself. I sighed and parked the car when I saw Katy's car still in the drive. They hadn't left yet, meaning Matt was probably throwing a tantrum.

Turning the car off, I walked to the door. I opened it to see Katy sitting on the couch with Benny, and Matt standing in front of them with his arms crossed. They all looked over to me when I walked in. My face instantly looked tired and worn out. Matt was the first to speak.

"Where have you been? We're going to be late for school," he said grabbing his bag and heading towards the door. He was trying to act like nothing had happened, but I couldn't do that.

"No Matt, you're going with Katy. She's watching you today. I'll be at school after lunch," I said emotionlessly. He looked at me in disbelief.

"No," he argued. "You're my assigned guard. I only trust you." He turned, sounding like a child. Looked like I was right about the tantrum. I crossed my arms. His words hit me hard, but I wasn't about to let him see that.

"Vy and Katy are also your assigned guards, I just happened to have been at the head for this mission. And since you trust me so much, do what I ask and go with Katy," I said emotionlessly again. He puffed and opened his mouth to argue but quickly shut it. I raised an eyebrow at him and he puffed again before stomping out the door and slamming it shut. Katy looked at me surprised.

"I thought he wasn't a brat," she shrugged heading out as well. When the door closed behind her, I crumbled. Shaking lightly, I lowered myself down to the couch. Benny stood immediately.

"Are you okay kitten?" he asked almost fatherly. I nodded and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath as the tears started flowing silently. I heard him leave and then return. I opened my eyes to see him smile sadly at me and hand me my water just the way I liked it. I thanked him silently and gulped down the water.

"Do you have anything... stronger here?" I asked once my tears died down. He noticed where I was heading and shook his head.

"You're not going to get drunk this early in the morning before you go to school. Too many things can go wrong," Benny shook his head. I looked at him with pleading eyes. One thing I was certain of, Benny never liked to see me in pain. He sighed before he went back to the kitchen. He came back with a colored sports bottle. He held it out to me, but pulled it back before I could take it. He gave me a pointed look.

"Don't drink while you're driving. No drinking in class, and please stay in control of yourself," he instructed before he handed it to me. "Don't think that I'm just giving it to you either. I'm only doing it because you look like you're about to jump off a cliff and I can never say no to you. Please don't do anything stupid, and careful not to answer someone's thoughts. Don't get caught. And for heaven's sake, please don't... blow... cover." He gave me final instructions on the Vodka I was now holding in my hands. I thanked him with a brief hug before I sighed and drove off to school.

When I reached the school, I took a gulp of the drink. It burned going down, but it felt warm in my stomach and gave me a fuzzy feeling. After another gulp, I locked the doors to my car and went inside. I got to school earlier than I said I was going to be there, but I shrugged it off and went to my class. I felt able to stomach seeing him now that I was a little more relaxed. I kept my mouth shut and went to my seat next to Matt.  He looked at me a bit surprised. I only smirked at him and then tuned into the lesson. It was boring me to tears, but I couldn't exactly leave. I still had to protect Matt. How could liking my job so much make me hate it at the same time?

After class, the girl who thought Matt had a cute butt the first day of school stayed behind to talk to him again. He smiled politely at her and listened to her. I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the drink. Matt saw it out of the corner of his eye before he looked at me curiously. Politely excusing himself from the girl, he walked over to me.

"Marissa, what is that?" he asked.

"Vodka, got a problem with it?" I said, tipping the drink to my lips again. He took the bottle from me and held it away from me. Jasmine looked at me curiously. I only glared back at her. "Stare much?" I said rudely. She gave me a look before she left the classroom. Matt looked at me a bit irritated and held the bottle at his side.

"Marissa, why are you doing this?" he asked. He looked desperate for confused, but I couldn't give in to him as much as I wanted to.

"Because of you!" I snapped. I cooled down a bit and sighed. I ran my fingers through my hair. The tears blurred my vision. I was done for. There was no way around this.

"This is all your fault," I said quieter before I turned to leave. I wiped my tears as I headed out the door. I made it to my locker and put my books up. I felt an arm on mine and I automatically knew who it was. My head spun a bit when I turned to looked at him. My locker was shut and Matt boxed me in with his arms against the lockers. He lowered his head to look at me. I tried to avoid his eyes, but his fingers lifted my chin. He stepped closer to me and wiped away a tear that just fell down my cheek. He stepped even closer to me.

Even my slightly slow brain understood what he wanted to do. No words, but he didn't need words. I knew what his eyes were trying to convey even without having to read his mind. He was going to kiss me, and I didn't know if I sould stop him or let him do it.