East Chapel Academy

Chapter 34- Marcus

    You know Twilight isn't that bad of a movie.
    I think if Nia and I watch it a few more times it could become one of my favorites. Granted, I had my tongue in Nia's mouth half the time. But if everytime we watch it we ends up like this, we can watch it every single day for the rest of eternity.
    I ran my hand up Nia's waist, as we laid on the reclining chair. Nia ran her fingers through my hair bringing my head closer to hers. Our tongues tangled together in a deep kiss that left me breathless.
I heard the movie credits playing in the background, but I made no moves to change the film.
    Loud knocks sounded on the door. "Bubby! Nia! Are you in there?"
    I should have locked him in a closet like I had planned. "Should we let him in?" Nia asked pulling away from me slightly.
    "No, ignore him," I kissed her neck. "If we ignore him he'll go away." I tried to get back to what we were doing, but E.J. was not going away.
    He continued beating on the door. "Please, let me in."
    "Marcus..." Nia said in my ear. "We have to let him in."
    "But why?" I groaned. "We were having so much fun."
    She gave me a quick kiss. "And we can have more fun later. Go open the door."
    I went to unlock the door begrudgingly. I looked over at Nia who was straightening her dress and smoothing down her hair. I opened the door to E.J. staring up at me. He bounced into the room cheerfully he hopped into the seat next to Nia.
    "Were you two kissing?" asked E.J.
    "We were before you interrupted," I said getting short with him. Nia glared at me over his head. I pursed my lips together; I think it's best if I just be quiet.

    Nia turned her focus on E.J.. "What are you doing here, E.J.?"
    "I'm bored," he responded.
    I asked, "Didn't Mom and Dad play with you?"
    He scrunched up his face. "Papa wanted to take a nap, and Mommy wanted me to do puzzles with her. I don't like doing puzzles." Yikes.
    "I didn't know your Mom liked puzzles."
    "Oh, yeah, she loves them," I told her. "She likes the ones with a thousand pieces. It challenges her more."
    "Can we watch a movie?" E.J. asked.
    "We were going to watch Harry Potter, E.J." And just like I expected him to he protested.
    "But that's scary," he whined. "I don't like it."
    "It's not scary," Nia said trying to soothe him.    
    He nodded with a frown, "Yes it is. There's a big scary dog in it and spiders, and...and giants." His bottom lip started to tremble and tears began to well in his eyes. Nia put an arm around him, and hugged him to her side.
    "It's just imaginary, there's no need to be scared."
    "So the spiders aren't real?"
    "It's not real, and neither is the giant dog or giants," she assured him. "And if you get scared Marcus and I are right here."
    He clutched onto her hand. "You promise you won't leave me."
    "I promise," she smiled sweetly at him. This seemed to be all the assurance he needed.
    "Okay," he said still holding her hand. "Bubby, you can start the movie now."
    "What am I, a maid?"
Nia laughed as I searched for the movie on our tablet that controlled the screen. E.J's terrified of Harry Potter, I've tried to introduce him to it countless times but he can never get past the beginning, so I guess we'll see how this goes.
"Nia will you hold my hand when we watch the movie," I heard him ask her.
"No!" I wanted to yell. "She can't hold your hand then she won't be holding my hand."
But I knew she wasn't going to say no. Curse E.J and his cute lovable face.
"Come here," she said holding her arms out to him. He wasted no time climbing into her lap. "You can sit here, so I can hold your hand and I can hold Marcus' hand." Yes!
Laying the tablet next to me, I moved closer to Nia's side and slipped my fingers through hers. Smiling as her soft palm brushed against mine.
E.J needing everyone's full attention at all times, said, "But why do you have to hold his hand?"
Because she's my girlfriend, you gremlin.
I didn't think Nia would appreciate me comparing him to the cute furry creatures that turn into bloodthirsty monsters when you feed them at night, so I kept my comments to myself.
"What if he gets scared too?"
"But he will not," E.J insisted. "He's too big."
I scoffed. "That doesn't mean anything, I could get scared too." I won't, but I could.
"I'll just hold his hand just in case, okay," she said to him. He frowned but there was nothing he could do about it.
I stuck my tongue out at him from behind her back. He glared at me in the quickly darkening room, before resting his head on Nia's shoulder.
                                         *****
I had to say a small part of me was proud of E.J for not running out of the room screaming like all the other times we had attempted to watch this movie. He barely even cried.
"See that wasn't so bad," Nia said once it was over and the lights in the room had come back on.
"I love it!"he exclaimed. "I wasn't even scared. Bubby, I only cried one time."
"I know, champ,"I told him. "Good job."
"I knew you would like it," Nia smiled at him. The difference between her and Whitney is unbelievable to me, they're like night and day.
Whitney would have never allowed E.J to sit in her lap, she didn't even want him around when we hung out here. Not like he wanted to be around her, he would hide himself away until she was gone. But Nia is so sweet and patient with him.
"Thank you, Nia," he hugged her neck tightly.
"Ah, you're welcome." She ran a hand up and down his back.
"Can we watch the other one?" He asked pulling away from her. But before we could say yes, my mom's voice came over the intercom.
"Nia, Marcus, dinner's ready."
"Maybe after dinner, E.J," I told him.
He cheered excitedly as he got out of Nia's lap. "Do you think Papa will read them to me?"
This has to be one of my proudest moments as a big brother. "I'm sure he will."
We walked into the dining room, E.J hadn't let go of Nia's hand the entire way. Rosa had cooked a great dinner for us, but that's nothing new. Mom and Dad were already seated when we walked into the dining room.
"E.J I have been looking everywhere for you," Mom said as we came in. "Where were you?"
"I watched a movie with Nia and Bubby," he told her.
"I thought I told you not to bother them," she said.
"He wasn't a bother," Nia told her. "We just watched Harry Potter."
"You did?" Dad asked surprised. "And you weren't scared?"
"No, Papa, I wasn't scared at all. Not even of the big spiders and giants," E.J grinned proudly. "Nia held my hand the whole time."
"Well, that was very sweet of her," Mom said smiling at Nia. "But you all should sit I don't want the food to get cold."
I held Nia's chair out for her before taking my seat. E.J had trouble pulling his chair out so Nia had to help him.
"I hope this is okay, Nia?" asked Mom. "Marcus didn't tell me if you had any dietary restrictions or anything."
"Oh, this is fine. Everything looks great, Ellen," Nia assured her. "Did you cook?"
Mom laughed. "I'm afraid not, no one would want to eat it if I did."
Dad disagreed, "Oh, honey, that's not true." I would say otherwise, our pizza night was horrendous. I had to come downstairs after everyone was sleeping to get some decent food.    
She rolled her eyes. "It's okay, Barron. E.J don't think I don't see you only eating your mashed potatoes over there, you eat some of your vegetables."
E.J looked at his plate that consisted mostly of mashed potatoes guiltily. "Sorry."
"So Nia, Marcus tells me you're on the school newspaper." Dad said.
"Yes, I'm in charge of sports," she told him, wiping the corners of her mouth with a napkin.
"Really? Are you a big sports fan?"
"Uh,no," she answered honestly. "It's been a bit of a learning experience."
"I can't say I blame you," Mom said to her. "Sports are so boring. Not that I don't support you, honey. But those games are so exhausting to watch."
"Thanks, Mom." I was well aware of how boring she found my football games, but I appreciate her coming anyway.
"Barron's a writer," Mom told Nia.
"Oh, really? I thought you were in finance."
"I am," Dad said. "I don't write much anymore, but I used to."
Nia asked, "Why'd you stop?"
"Life got in the way, I guess," he sighed. "I only wrote for a few literary magazines. But that was before the boys were born."
"Oh stop selling yourself short," Mom reprimanded him. "He's fantastic. I wish he wouldn't have stopped."
My dad gave her a soft smile, before kissing the back of her hand. "You think too highly of me. But maybe I'll get back to it when I'm retired."
"Papa is the best reader," E.J said shoveling mashed potatoes in his mouth. "He always does the monster voices."
Mom looked over at him. "Don't talk with your mouthful, and eat some of your broccoli."
"Okay," he mumbled.
"Marcus said you asked him to take pictures for the newspaper," Mom said.
"I did," Nia smiled at me, "He did a great job, the photos were perfect. They're going to look great in the paper next week."
"That's wonderful," Mom smiled. "I've been trying to get him to take more photos for ages now. He's so talented."
"It's true talent you have, Marcus," Dad agreed. "Don't waste it or you'll end up an old man in finance like me." He laughed but he gave me a serious look afterwards.
"Nia, what are you planning to do after East Chapel?" Mom asked. "I know you two have plenty of time to think about it."
"I want to major in journalism," she told them. "And maybe go to Columbia or Brown, NYU if I don't get in to either of those."
My Dad nodded politely listening. "Those are all great schools. I am a Harvard man myself."
"I didn't know you wanted to go to Columbia," I said to Nia. We hadn't talked about our plans after graduation much, I just knew that she wanted to go into journalism.
"It's in my top five," she replied.
"Even if you don't know where you're going it's always good to have a plan," Mom nodded.
I don't have a plan. I don't even have a top five.
I know I'm supposed to go to college, but I don't know what I'll major in when I go. I haven't even thought about it. Unlike Nia. She has a plan, and goals. She seemed so sure when she was talking to my parents about her future. She knows exactly where she wants to go and what she wants to do.
And I don't.
*****
"Goodbye, Nia. I'll miss you."
E.J hugged Nia tightly as he stood on our steps. He was fresh out of the bath and in his pajamas. It was getting late, and Nia was preparing to go home.
"Goodnight, E.J. I'll miss you too." Nia said back to him.
"Come on, E.J, it's time for bed," my mom called from the top of the stairs. "Goodnight, Nia, it was so nice having you. Maybe we can finish that puzzle next time you come over."
"Maybe." She had roped the two of us into doing a puzzle with her. I was against it, but Nia wanted to. I had fun, surprisingly.
I learned that Nia likes to build the corners first. I like to start in the center myself. E.J even sat still long enough to help a little. He was sitting in Nia's lap, but who's surprised by that.
E.J gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before running up the stairs. "Goodnight!"
"I'm going to walk Nia outside, Mom!" I called as Nia and I began to walk out the front door. The cool night breeze blew past us as we walked to her car.
"I had fun today," Nia said as we stood next to her grandmother's car. "Your family is very nice."
"They're interesting aren't they," I chuckled. "They love you."
"They're sweet," she smiled. I looked down at her. She somehow looked more beautiful in the moonlight than she usually did.
"Um, I need to ask you something?" I said nervously.
"Okay, I actually had something that I wanted to ask you too," said Nia. She spun her keys around her index finger.
    "You go first," I told her.
    "No, you go first," she countered.
"No, you go first."
"No you go first." She was not backing down, so I guess I was just going to go first.
"Okay," I sighed. " I was wondering if you wanted to, maybe, go to prom with me? But only if you want to," I added quickly. "I understand if you don't want to."
I nervously awaited her response.
"Marcus," she smiled. "I would love to go to prom with you."
"Okay, good," I exhaled. "Because I already bought the tickets."
She laughed. "I was going to ask you, actually."
"You were?"
"Yes," she responded. "That's what I was going to ask you."
"I wasn't sure if you wanted one of those promposal things." Whitney would have wanted one.
"Oh my gosh, no. I hate being the center of attention," she said in horror. "It makes me nervous."
"Me too," I agreed. "I'm glad you said yes." If I have to go I'm glad it's going to be with her.
"I can't believe you thought I would say no."
I shrugged. "You never know." I leaned my forehead against hers. "What if you changed your mind about me, and you don't want to be my girlfriend anymore."
She closed her eyes, "No way." She leaned forward on her tiptoes, kissing me. I'll never getting enough of kissing her.
She exhaled, "I should go. My grandma will be worried."
"Okay," I held her. "Goodnight."
She gave me one last kiss before slipping into her car. I waited until Nia pulled out of the driveway before going inside.
I ran into my dad as I headed to my room. He was coming out of E.J's room, the sleeves of his shirt were pushed up.
"Did Nia go home?" he asked pushing his glasses to rest on top of his head.
"She just left," I replied, leaning against my bedroom door.
"She's a nice girl. I can see why E.J and your mother like her so much. And she got E.J to stay off that damned IPad for a few minutes, she's a miracle worker."
I smiled thinking about her. "Yeah, she's great."
"You like her a lot, don't you?" He asked.
"I do." More than I've liked anyone ever.
"I'm glad."
"Me too."