And Then There Was Victor

Chapter 20

Introducing Crystal to Victor had been easy. She was going to be in a play that Friday and Victor needed to do extracurricular activities for his resume so I volunteered him as 'stage-hands' to move chairs between scenes. It was a production of Mid-Summer Night's Dream and Crystal was one of the fairies. She looked like a little pixie and I watched the play with Jon and Steven, we even clapped when Victor crossed the stage to change chairs which startled him and made him drop two chairs. I watched as his entire neck lit up in red and I knew he was dying of embarrassment.

When the play ended, I went to congratulate Crystal and that's when I did it. I introduced Victor to Crystal. Her eyes lit up and Victor's entire demeanor changed, he always turned shy and reserved around girls he didn't know. Jon busted in and suggested we go watch Rome Must Die. Perfect. I turned to Crystal and asked her if wanted to join us.

"Oh, I'm not dressed right."

A ridiculous statement if you asked me; jeans, t-shirt, and flip flops were Florida uniform. Plus, she had that effortless cuteness that came from being petite and pretty.

"You look perfect," Victor said and I looked at him.

Crystal smiled and agreed and that was how we ended up in the movies. My plan was to leave Victor and Crystal alone and to sit with the other two but Victor turned to me suddenly.

"Sit with me and Crystal," he said.

"Why?" I hissed back, making sure no one heard us.

"So it's not awkward," he said.

"It'll be even more with me there!"

"C'mon, I don't know her, I don't know what to talk about!"

"Just talk about stuff!"

Then Crystal and Jon walked to us and we plastered twin smiles on our faces. Everything was OK, this was all perfectly fine. When Steven finally arrived with all of his snacks we made our way into the theater. Victor allowed Crystal to go first and slid in behind her, then turned to me. His eyes were wide and I let out a dramatic sigh, sitting next to him. A little girl sandwich with him in the middle. Jon and Steven broke formation and sat behind us. How awful. I was stuck as a chaperone to a guy I had kissed.

The movie started and I was suddenly quite aware of the warmth of his arm against my own, something I had never noticed before. How many times had we sat next to one another; thighs pressed against thighs? I stared straight ahead, shaking myself for being ridiculous. I looked down at the size of my thigh and then looked away. They were thicker than his and I was filled with embarrassment. Girls' thighs were not supposed to be bigger than guys and Victor was a beast in comparison to most guys. His muscles stretched at his joggers and my thighs stretched at my jeans only they were jelly and his were sculpted and well-formed.

When had I started thinking about his body like this? Yes, of course, he was muscled, he'd been muscled since I sat behind him in the seventh grade. He had been born muscled. Even his face had lovely muscles, you could see them when his face lit up with laughter. Wait, his face didn't light up. Well, yes it did, I admitted to myself. Suddenly I wanted to look at him but he was looking at Crystal whose thighs were delicately sized just like the rest of her. They were speaking and I sharply realized that I felt like a damn third wheel. Why had I agreed to sit with him? I craned my neck to look at Jon and Steve and they were happily engaged in the film. What the hell was I doing here? Stupid idea. I should flee.

Then Victor turned to me, his face close – so close I smelled the winter fresh scent of his gum – I wondered if my breath smelled. Probably did. He leaned in and I turned to give him my ear. His arm pressed harder against mine and I held still.