Pizza Boy [Dog Days]

[04] DO YOU WANT TO KISS ME?

"Okay, So, you're reading Homer's Odyssey book, right?" Taya checks as she sits on her bed, pushing up her glasses. "You mean the most boring book ever? Then yes." Tyler nods, sitting across from her.

"You should wear your glasses more often. I like them." He comments. "I'll wear them whether you like them or not, thank you." She replies.

"So this book is one of the two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It's a sequel to lliad." She states.

"Epic?" Tyler chuckles. "It's not used in that way." She sighs. "Do you know what the main focus of the poem is?" She asks, taking out her notebook.

"Uh... soo it's about this girl named Dyssey, and she's so clumsy so whenever she falls down, everyone goes 'Oh, Dyssey!'And that's how the name came to be." Tyler guesses.

"I really can't tell if you're joking. Have you even read this yet?" She raises her eyebrows. "Uh, well, yeah.. but I zoned out for, like, half of it." He explains. "I also happened to have only read half of the book, so.." he shrugs.

"You are so hopeless." She mutters. "Okay, okay. If I'm so hopeless, I'll cut you a deal. How about.. for every question I get right, you have to kiss me." He smirks.

Taya pauses for a moment, scoffing. "I'm not gonna kiss you, Tyler." She shakes her head. "Well, we'll just have to see if I get an answer right." He crosses his arms.

"I'm not— I'm not agreeing to that."
She adds. "Just ask me a question, Tay-Tay." Tyler urges. With a sigh, she looks down at her notes.

"What language is this poem written in?" She asks. "Homeric Greek." Tyler responds quickly. "Easy."

"That's.. that's right." She nods. "Okay, next questions.."

"Hold on. I believe you owe me a kiss." Tyler reminds. "Also never agreed to that." She denies. "Fine, then. But I need motivation to learn here. It's either a kiss, or... that hat." He points over at her desk, where the red bucket that she had worn earlier is set down.

"I like that hat." She states. "You don't have to give it away if you kiss me." He grins. "I don't have to give you anything anyways." She argues.

"Taya! Bring Tyler downstairs! We're looking for Mabel!" Walter calls from downstairs. "Duty calls." He flashes her a smile, taking the hat and placing it on his head while she watches him leave.

After glaring at him for a moment, she stands up, following after him.

***

"Oh! Pedestrian!" Walter shouts at Tyler while he drives. "Are you kidding? He's, like, a hundred yards away." Tyler responds.

"Good thing I said so. That was close." The man tells.

They spend the rest of their day putting up flyers and searching for any sign of Mabel, though they couldn't find anything for the day.

Now, Taya sits at the park, watching all the other dogs playing, smiling to herself. "Where's Old Guy?" She hears a voice behind her, before seeing Tyler take a seat beside her.

"Back home." She responds. "Oh, well. Just you and me, then." He smirks, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, though she quickly pushes it away.

"You know, I see why you like this hat so much." He comments, taking the hat off of his head and holding it in his hands.

"And I'm gonna give it back to you." He smiles. "Thanks—" She reaches out for it, though he pulls it back.

"On one condition." He adds. "You have to answer a question right." He explains. "Okay. Easy." She shrugs. "Okay. Do you... want to kiss me?" He smirks.

Taya pauses for a moment. "No." She shakes her head. "Wrong answer. Try again." He replies. "No, I don't want to kiss you." She repeats.

He imitates a buzzer sound. She tries to reach for the hat again, though he holds it up higher so she couldn't get it. "One last chance to get it right or you're never getting the hat back." He beams.

"You are such an asshole." She groans. "You got one last chance, Tay-Tay. Gonna answer right, or.." he trails off.

"Okay fine." She sighs. "What?" He tilts his head. "I'll kiss you, okay?" She mumbles. "Oh, you're serious? Uh, okay." He eyes the ground, realizing he hadn't thought this all the way through.

Before he knows it, she grabs his shirt, pulling him in, and pressing a quick kiss on his lips, before pulling away almost instantly.

Tyler stares at the girl in shock for a moment, his mouth hanging open. She looks back ahead at the dogs playing, refusing to make eye contact with the boy.

"Can I have my hat back now?" She mutters. "Yeah, Uh. Yeah." He nods, handing it to her. "Um, Taya?" Tyler asks, forcing her to turn to face him.

When she does, she realizes how close their faces are to each other since Tyler had moved over. She notices Tyler slowly closing the gap between them, before eagerly kissing her once more, this time lasting much longer than the first.

Oddly, she finds herself kissing him back, running her hands through his messy curls while he holds his hands on her waist.

All of a sudden, Taya's phone rings, forcing her to break away from Tyler. Her Face is a bright shade of red now, as is Tyler's.

"I have to, Uh. Take this. It's my grandpa." She says, picking up. "Hello?" She sighs. "Yeah. I know. I'll be home soon." She nods.

"Okay, love you. Bye." She sets her phone down, then turns to Tyler. "Uh, I.. can I get a ride home?" She asks. "Oh! Yeah, of course." He nods.

***

"Well, uh, here we are, Tay-Tay." Tyler announces as he pulls up to the house. "Same time tutoring tomorrow before we set out for Mabel?" He asks.

"Yeah. Same time." She nods. "Well, I have to go inside now before my grandpa gets worried." She tells. "Okay. Bye, Tay." He waves.

Taya returns the gesture, then turns around, though she doesn't walk forward. With a deep breath, she spins back around, stepping in front of Tyler, and connecting their lips for a third time.

"Bye." She says just below a whisper as she pulls out, smiling.