Under the Radar

Hello Louisiana

I was vaguely aware of soft short kisses along my shoulders. My eyes fluttered open at the sensation. Turning to face Matt, I smiled. He kissed me and smiled back.

"Good morning Marissa," he whispered. I sighed dreamily. I would love to hear those words every morning for the rest of my life. Closing my eyes briefly, I sighed again.

"Good morning Mattie," I smiled. He kissed my nose and I giggled. Sitting up, I took my hair out of my ponytail and fluffed it a bit. I looked back over to Matt and smiled. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back down. I squealed. I was lying beside him again. His smile turned devilish and I threw my head back as I laughed. There was a light knock on the door.

"Marissa... Matt, George dropped off Matt's bag. And Headmaster said that you two were going sight-seeing today. Is everything okay in there?" Benny asked through the door. Matt started to laugh and so did I, but I quickly shushed the both of us. Reluctantly, I got up and opened the door. Benny looked at me sheepishly and handed me a bag. I smiled at him.

"Thanks Benny. We'll come get you when we're ready to go," I answered. He nodded and walked back to his room quickly. I laughed and closed the door, going back to Matt. I tossed the bag in the corner with my bag and grabbed my brush. I brushed through my hair quickly and put it away.

"Do we have to go out today? Can we just stay here?" Matt asked.

"No," I answered. "Louisiana is beautiful and full of history. We won't be disappointed." I chuckled. I looked over to find him pouting.  I laughed and leaned over to kiss his poked out lip. He kissed me fully and pulled me down by my waist. He turned so he was on top of me and pressed his body against me gently. I closed my eyes and let my hands tangle up in his hair. Remembering what I was talking about before he distracted me. I pushed him off of me gently.

"You're not being fair," I breathed. I stood up and went to my bag. Picking out some blue jeans and a fitted red shirt, I went to the door of the bathroom. "You should be dressed by the time I get out... or we're leaving you here." I smiled devilishly. He was about to protest but I went into the restroom before he could. I dressed and brushed through my hair. I left it down and wavy but pinned my bangs back. I came out to find Matt only half dressed. I smiled and rolled my eyes. Wrapping my arms around him, I rested my head on his back.

"You just love to keep your shirt off, don't you?" I sighed. He chuckled and twisted in my arms so he was facing me. He draped his arms around me and tilted his head. He kissed my head.

"I think you love it more than I do," he mumbled, resting his cheek on my hair. After a few blissful seconds, I pulled away. Finding his shirt, I threw it at him. He caught it effortlessly and laughed. "Alright, it's going on." He smiled. I smiled as well. His shirt was a simple black tee with a pattern in white across it. He ruffled his hair and shook it. I rolled my eyes at how easy it was for him to make his hair perfect. After we put our shoes on, I grabbed my purse and we headed to Benny's room. A few minutes later, we were on our way to the biggest shopping center in Louisiana. Benny dropped us off near the front. I knew he was only leaving us alone because of my background, but I let Matt think it was because of him. I think I might've gotten a little too excited about the trip. I dragged Matt by the hand to every store we saw. He didn't complain though. When we met back up with Benny for lunch, I had gathered three shirts, two new sweat pants from Pink, a little black dress that Matt liked a lot, and a pair of fuzzy slippers. Benny saw the bags and shook his head smiling. I shrugged and sat down.

"What? Katy and Vy gave me guilt money from the E! special they gave away," I smiled. Matt chuckled, sitting beside me. He kissed my nose and smiled. Benny motioned to the food in front of us. They were huge bowls of some sort of mix.

"Crawfish etouffe," Benny explained.  I smiled and picked up my spoon. I took a bite. The flavor danced across my tongue. It was a perfect ratio of spicy and mild. It was the perfect temperature; it didn't burn my tongue and it wasn't too cool. The crawfish collided with the rice and sauce, making a perfect blend in my mouth. I closed my eyes and moaned.  I smiled and looked back to Benny.

"It's delicious," I sighed dreamily. They both laughed at me. Matt held my hand under the table and started in on his food. When I finished, I slumped back in my chair and sighed contently. Closing my eyes, I let my hand rest on my stomach. Matt chuckled and brought my hand up and kissed it. I giggled and opened my eyes, looking at Benny.

"That was good," I smiled. Benny shook his head and laughed.

"I would think so. You ate a whole Creole bowl full of it," he laughed. I turned my head into Matt's shoulder and closed my eyes. I kissed his neck softly.

"I'm full," I whispered. He chuckled and kissed my head. After everyone else finished their bowl, we made our way to the movie theatre. There we watched some sort of comedy movie. I moved the arm rest in between Matt and me, slung my legs over his. I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around him. He wrapped one arm around me and the other over my legs and kissed my forehead. I sighed contently and closed my eyes. I wasn't really paying attention to the movie.

"I wish we could live like this forever," I whispered to him. He sighed and turned his head to look at me. He smiled softly and kissed me.

"Come live with me," he whispered hopefully. I furrowed my brows and sat up.

"What do you mean?" I asked, still quietly. He turned to me fully.

"I mean, when you finish with... 'You know what'... come live with me. Then every day will be like this," he shrugged. I held a shocked expression before I smiled softly with tears in my eyes and nodded. I laced our fingers together and kissed him. I kept my lips pressed against his and held his cheek. I couldn't believe he just asked me to live with him. I was thrilled... I was more than thrilled; I was ecstatic. I pulled back and rubbed his cheek with my thumb. I smiled as the tears spilled over my cheeks. I shook my head at him as he brushed off the tears from my cheeks.

"I can't believe you just asked me that," I whispered, smiling. He chuckled and pulled me into him. I rested my head on his shoulder again.

"Well, I love you, and I want to spend every day with you. God knows I'm a mess without you," he chuckled quietly into my hair. I giggled and kissed his jaw.

"I love you too," I whispered against his jaw before I turned my attention to the movie. When the movie ended, we all made our way back to the hotel. Benny didn't ask much and he let us have our quiet in the car. He smiled back at me in the rearview mirror though, so I knew he knew something was up. By the time I opened the door to our room, I was exhausted. I collapsed on the bed and sighed. Matt laughed and took off my shoes for me. I mumbled a thank you and curled up on my side. Matt chuckled and got in beside me. He turned the lights off. Wrapping his arms around me, he formed to my back. He kissed my shoulder and sighed contently.

"Goodnight Marissa. I love you," he said quietly.

"Goodnight Mattie. I love you too," I muttered, already halfway asleep. He started humming softly and I was soon drifting off into a state of deep sleep.