Beauty and the Geek

Chapter 13.

  "Ready?" Will asked, a hopeful smile on his face.

Will had borrowed his Mom's car for the day, promising that he would have it back safe and sound that night, under the pretence we were on a 'field trip' for our English class. In reality, we were going out of town for an impromptu 'romantic getaway' – I had suggested it to get away from Brett's obsessive phone calling and persistent stalking.

Since the incident at his house, Brett hadn't stopped turning up, coincidentally, in places that I frequented. He would stand on the sidelines, looking scared to talk to me. After being caught red-handed by his Mom, he knew that one wrong move could have him in serious trouble. Nevertheless, I still didn't like the way he looked at me – like I was some kind of object that he owned. His eyes told me that if I stepped out of line he would make me pay.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Will's hand rested on my own as we stopped at a red light.
"Huh?" My daydream was interrupted. I glanced at him, biting my nails nervously. "Oh...yeah. I'm fine."

Naturally, I had kept the details of the night with Brett to myself. It was humiliating that he had forced himself on me and I knew Will would be angry. I was scared about what he would do to Brett or, more so, if Brett would retaliate. My poorly constructed plan was to keep quiet in the meantime and hopefully everything would blow over. But then again, when did things ever go the way I wanted?

---

Will adjusted his sunglasses and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, as I felt the first sinking sensation of sand under my feet. Throwing off my flip flops, I let my toes curl beneath the wet sand and felt my whole body relax. Will was wearing a scruffy band t-shirt, his hair unkept and his usual jeans replaced by summer shorts. He looked older than his 18 years as he towered above me.

"What are you looking at?" He smirked, his narrowed eyes visible even through his glasses. "Do I have something stuck in my teeth?"
"Nope," I smiled goofily. "I'm thinking about how perfect you are."
"What?!" He blushed hotly, taken aback. "That's rich coming from you..."
"Just accept the compliment and shut up, Will."
"Hot! Can you boss me around more often?"

He looked at me with a sneaky glint in his eye, a cute smile forming on his lips. In that moment, I felt secretly smug someone like Will was even slightly interested in me. The irony wasn't lost on me; I never thought a few weeks ago that I would feel grateful someone like Will was interested in me. Life was a constant, terrifying surprise.

"Race ya!" Will motioned to a post near the end of the beach and took off quickly, sprinting with all the speed he could fathom. His legs carried him gracefully over the sand as I tried to keep up. Reaching the end, we both collapsed giggling, our bodies imprinting firmly and leaving lasting impressions – just like we had left in each other.

---

"I've got sand eeeeverywhere," Will complained, itching under his t-shirt.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have made 'sand angels', whatever they're supposed to be," I laughed. "Really badly – may I add."

"Is that so?" He raised an eyebrow, launching himself towards me and grabbing me by the waist.

He proceeded to throw me onto the nearby bed and tickle me until I begged him to stop. We paused to look at each other; the atmosphere in the room filled with tension and uncertainty about what would happen next. He brushed back a stray hair from my face delicately, as I felt my heart stall inside and a lump in my throat the size of Texas...

THUMMMMP THUMP.

The moment was rudely interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Do we have to answer that?" I asked, quietly, as he looked at me with obvious frustration.
"No...but we should," He groaned, planting a quick kiss on my lips.

Will opened the door, shirtless, with evidently flushed cheeks, to face a very angry Brett...who was staring straight at his girlfriend lying on another guy's bed.