"That was a good movie!" I smiled. "It's one of my favorites."
Dallas smiled back and pulled me closer to him. I blushed and rested my head against his chest, closing my eyes for a brief moment. We had visited a university in the morning and decided to spend the noon watching an old movie. I enjoyed every minute of it.
"What do you want to do now?" he softly asked, kissing the top of my head, his fingers running through my hair. I reached over and gently clasped his hand in mine, running my thumb across his palm.
"I don't know," I answered. "We can always watch another movie."
"Or," Dallas began. I looked up at him and he leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose. "we can dance."
"Wait what?" I asked, grinning. Dallas sprung up from the sofa and grabbed both of my hands, helping me up. The blanket we were cuddled up into fell onto the floor. Dallas took out his phone and played a song – old and soft. Grinning, Dallas interlaced our fingers, his other hand wrapping itself around my back. I smiled back and placed my hand on his shoulder.
And so we danced.
I was pretty surprised at myself. I had never danced with a boy before but I was pretty light on my feet. I actually wasn't bad. Dallas was a great dancer. He brought us closer and my breath hitched. I rested my head on his chest and breathed in his cologne. We stayed like that for a while – probably for two songs – before we pulled away. He smiled down at me and cupped my face, leaning down to kiss me. It was like every person I knew was taller than me. But I didn't care. I smiled into the kiss and lightly grasped his forearms.
"Oh, get a room!" Amber snapped, casually making her way to the sofa. She plopped down and lazily flipped through the channels. We pulled away and snickered. Dallas kissed me one last time and left the room. He was going out with a couple of his friends.
Grinning (and possibly blushing), I made my way over to the window, pulling the curtains away. I opened the window and gazed at the sky. Today was cloudy and it had rained early in the morning. The streets were still covered with puddles and the sky indicated that it was not over yet. That made me happy. I loved the rain.
"You want to get some food from the dining hall?" Amber asked, turning off the TV.
"Sure!" I grinned.
We exited the room and took the elevator downstairs to the lobby. I only spotted strangers lounging around. Entering the dining hall, Amber and I got some food and sat down next to Tymon, who was telling Dylan a story about his childhood. It looked like Tymon had made the move to sit next to Dylan and, well, Dylan wasn't enjoying it one bit.
Dylan rubbed his temples and closed his eyes for a brief moment. I chuckled and silently ate my food.
"What brings you here?" Tymon asked Amber with a grin.
Amber scowled. "What do people do in dining halls, you pea brain? Plus, I had to encounter Cupid here kissing her boyfriend." Amber rolled her eyes and angrily chewed on her bread.
"My bad," I said.
Amber rolled her eyes again but put down her food and squinted her eyes at me. "So tell me," she began, clearing her throat. "Did you guys...did you two...you know...do the deed?"
I looked up at her. "Do what?"
Dylan, Amber, and Tymon stared at me with flat looks, silence enveloping the atmosphere between us. It was almost as if I could hear crickets chirping in the background.
Tymon blinked. "Even I understood what Amber meant, Aubrey."
I frowned and racked my brain for some answers, taking a sip of my water while the three stared at me.
And that was when it clicked.
I spat out my water. "What?" I squealed. "Oh...Oh, my gosh. How could you—how could you just...Oh, no no no! No! Why would you—"
Amber barked with laugher. "Relax. It's okay. I was just asking, not judging."
While I continued to blubber out incoherent squeals, the three continued to stare at me. It was weird, though. People generally chose to do something and they would end up being shocked and that would lead them to their demise; like me with the water.
It always happened.
Amber and Tymon eventually got up and I silently ate my lunch, my face glowing red. I noticed Dylan was distracted by his own thoughts. He didn't seem to be happy and I wasn't surprised.
I cleared my throat. "How was your day?"
He looked at me. "It was okay."
I nodded and chewed on a grape. "Do you have anything planned? You know, for today?"
He shrugged.
"Are you going to visit David?" I asked.
"I visited him."
"Oh, how'd it go?" I smiled.
"Fine," he mumbled with a grunt. "He says hi."
"Oh, don't be shy, Dylan," I sarcastically said, shooting him a grin.
Dylan glared at me and I laughed.
"You are so grumpy," I said, throwing a grape at him. He caught it and popped it into his mouth. "We need to work on that. You are full of negativity. We need to replace that negativity with beautiful positivity. Literally, you'll feel a huge shift in your life. Plus, it's—"
"Will you shut up already?"
I gawked at him. Folding my arms, I frowned and wrinkled my nose. "See? That's it! That's your problem! You're so pessimistic. You're always throwing sarcastic retorts. I mean it's even hard for you to say 'thank you' but you've managed to say it to me about twice now because, you know, I am your best friend..." I shot him a grin.
"Oh, bug off," he muttered.
I scrambled up. "Get up."
"What?" Dylan flatly asked.
"Get up! Come on get up! We're going on a walk and we're going to explore and you're going to say some positive things today! Got it?"
"I'm not doing that," he seethed.
I glared at him and grabbed his forearm, pulling him upwards with all of my might. He grabbed my hand, looking down on me. "What the heck are you doing?"
"Healing you," I smiled. "Well, it's one of the steps! You won't regret it."
"I won't do it," he spat in a low voice.
I ran my tongue over my teeth and looked at Dylan with a flat yet challenging face. "Need I remind you that we live right next to each other? I will make your life a living hell."
"You already make my life a living hell."
I blinked at him. "I won't annoy you as much as I usually do."
We stared at each other for a couple of minutes.
"All right, I'll do it."
"Yay!"
I dragged him out of the dining hall and when we reached the lobby, I let go.
"I need to get something from my room," Dylan said.
I squinted at him. "You're not going to, you know, go up and never come back down and so when I go up to check on you, you would have either locked the room or run away, are you?"
"No," he said in frustration. "I've gotten to know you to know that I can't do that."
I grinned and he walked away. I waited for some minutes and that was when Dallas arrived. He smiled and walked up to me, kissing my forehead.
"Hey," he said. "What are you up to?"
"I'm going to take a walk," I smiled back.
He chuckled. "You sure like to take walks all by yourself."
"Oh, I'm not going to be alone!" I replied. "Dylan's coming with me."
Dallas pulled away and frowned. "What?"
"Dylan's coming with me."
"Oh," Dallas said. "I mean okay...but are you sure about that?"
"Yeah," I said, giving him a soft smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I've seen the guy buy cans and cans of beer," he retorted. "I don't want you to get hurt. Why don't you just spend the rest of the day with me?" He smiled.
"You know I love spending time with you," I said. "You don't have to worry. I don't spend time with dangerous people and Dylan isn't a threat to me. So don't worry, okay? I won't be long."
He looked unconvinced, possibly angry. I knew that Dylan and Dallas didn't get along. I shuddered when the memory of the fight resurfaced.
"Okay," Dallas said. "I'm sorry I got worked up."
He leaned down and kissed me again and I smiled. Dallas then walked away to join Abby, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. They then got into another serious conversation. Were all of their conversations like that? I swallowed and looked away. I tried to shrug off the burning curiosity. Somehow, I couldn't.
"Are you okay?" someone asked. I jumped and turned around to find Dylan standing beside me, hands in pockets, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," I smiled. "Yeah, I am."
Dylan sighed. "Well, what do we plan on doing now?"
I grinned. "Follow me!"
I skipped out of the hotel, Dylan hot on my heels. We walked until we reached the local park. I made Dylan stand near some old trees.
"Okay," I said. "Look at the trees. How do they make you feel? What do you think of them?"
"They're nice," he flatly said.
"Progress!" I said. "Okay, look at the fountain now. So?"
"It's nice."
"The cold and rainy weather?"
"Nice."
"Oh, for goodness sake, Dylan!"
"You know," I said, bringing the cup to my lips. "At least I got a positive word out of you – no matter how bitter and stubborn you were. Nice. It isn't too bad if you think about it."
When I ran out of places for Dylan to see, we stopped at a coffee shop. Dylan decided to stay quiet and looked out of the window.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked, smiling.
"No."
"It was worth a try," I said. He didn't reply and I sighed. It was like nothing appealed to him, but I knew he liked certain things. I just didn't know why he wouldn't admit it. He would look at things with distaste and sometimes, his eyes said otherwise. He was just so good at hiding his emotions. It seemed like the things that made him happy and the things that made him sad didn't balance. His life was filled with so much sorrow and anger.
I bit my lip and thought for a moment. Then, I smiled and took out a pen I had on me and snatched a napkin while Dylan continued to get lost in his thoughts. I quickly doodled something; a blob, if you must, and wrote down a quote that might just make his day. Silly, I know, but it was worth a shot.
"Psst," I said, passing the napkin to him. He raised an eyebrow and looked at it.
"What the heck is this supposed to be?" he asked.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm no artist but this is like a daily reminder for you. Whenever you feel upset or angry, just take this out and look at it. You'll feel okay. You'll eventually be okay, Dylan. You're welcome." I grinned and continued to sip on my drink.
Silence fell between us, but just for a little while.
"Hey, Dylan?" I began. "Did you really mean it when you said that I make your life a living hell?" He didn't answer. However, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dylan staring at the napkin I passed to him, and I saw his lips twitch into what seemed like a smile. A genuine smile. My heart warmed.
"No," he gently said, surprising me. He locked eyes with me and mine slightly widened. "No, you don't."
My heart warmed even more.
