Chapter 13: Chapter 13

We missed the second period altogether, so he takes me to my third-period class a bit early. We wait silently together in the hallway and then he pushes me up against a locker and we kiss passionately, his tongue mimicking penetration as it slides in and out of my mouth. He presses me harder against the locker showing me just how badly he wants me before whispering into my ear, “I need time to rethink our relationship.” He pushes off the locker away from me, leaving me wanting more and shocking me simultaneously. I’m a hot mess.

“Are you breaking up with me?” I ask dumbfounded.

“I don’t know if I can share you the way you’re expecting me to,” he confesses. The bell rings and the halls fill, Michael turns on his heel and walks away, not looking back. The steady stream of students makes him drift away from me quickly. I abandon the classroom trying to catch him locking my eyes onto him as the distance between us grows. I start knocking into other students as I try frantically to catch up with him, they give me dirty looks and slow me down, but I’m determined. I see him leave the front doors of the school and by the time I get out there he’s pulling onto the street.

Tears of frustration surge down my cheeks. I whip my phone out and text ANNA:

ISABELLA: I Am in trouble

ANNA: Where are you?

ISABELLA: Bathroom close 2 the office

ANNA: Ok 1 min

I go back into the school and wait for Anna in the washrooms near the front entrance. I splash cold water on my face when she comes in. I’m hoping I can hide the fact that I just finished crying but she notices immediately, “What happened? Are you okay?”

“Michael might be breaking up with me,” I blurt.

Her brows furrow, “You’ve only been together three minutes! What the heck happened?”

“God, where do I start? Okay, just before Scott and his mother came over for Thanksgiving I took a selfie and sent it to Scott. Then I turned my phone off because we had company.”

“Ya, so? How did you look?”

“Good, that’s why I sent it. Do you want to hear the story or not?” I question her irritated by her interruption.

Anna ignores my irritation, “He got mad at you for sending a selfie?”

“No, he’s peeved because he thought I dressed up for Scott, a guy I didn’t know. He thought I was trying to attract him, and when he tried contacting me he couldn’t.”

Anna smiles, “Were you trying to attract Scott?”

“No! Of course not.”

“So tell him. He won’t break up with you over a lousy selfie,” Anna argues.

“There’s more than that,” I continue. “When I went skating with Scott, our new coach Mr. Tammy said that he wants us to get ‘comfortable with each other and whenever we are together in the public eye, we’re supposed to look like a couple. It’s all about creating ‘chemistry.’”

Seeing where this is leading Anna assumes, “He saw the two of you together!”

“Worse than that,” I elaborate. “He saw us getting out of Scott’s Mercedes together, holding hands. I initiated it!”

“You didn’t! What’s he doing with a Mercedes? Why’s he going to our school? I can bump into this gorgeous guy anytime?” Anna asks shocked.

“Anytime, I was only doing what Coach Tammy instructed us to do.

His father gave him the Mercedes in the divorce settlement. He’s coming to our school, so we have the same curriculum and we can study together when we’re at competitions. Mom has it all planned out and she never told me. I just found out. I was showing him how to get to the office and then I ditched him to go to devotion.”

“Are you sure you only did it because Coach Tammy told you to!” She mocks. “I totally can’t wait to meet this Scott guy!”

“Yes, I already told you I hate the guy. He just doesn’t know it yet.” “So then what happened?”

“So when I arrived in devotion and didn’t find Michael there I was going to call him. That’s when I found all these texts from him that I forgot to read. He told me to meet him in his car. He was furious. Read them.” I hand Anna my phone.

“Okay, so you go into Michael’s car, and then what happened? He must have been super jealous seeing you with gorgeous Scott in a Mercedes no less,”

“I tried explaining to him what Coach Tammy expects us to act like a couple and that I’m not into Scott even a little bit.”

“Did he believe you?” “Nope.”

“Girl, Even I don’t believe you!” Anna teases.

“Seriously, what do I do now?”

“It’s obvious,” Anna says, simply, “serious ass-kissing! You have to make him feel like he’s everything to you, or just hope that he comes around.”

“I guess I’ll be puckering up. Can you bring me home tonight?” “Sure, I have to go back to class now. You should too, tell the teacher you were sick or something.” “I don’t feel like it.”

“You better go.”

“All right. See you out in the parking lot after school.”

“Sure,” Anna pushes the door open and I follow her out. I go back to class, but I don’t absorb anything that day, I’m too caught up in what happened with Michael.

“Dinner is ready!” Mom calls up the stairs. I take my earbuds out and place them on the nightstand next to my bed. I check my phone again hoping I will have a text message or email from Michael, but it is junk emails and no texts except for one from Lara asking how my day went.

I don’t want to answer the text, because I will have to get into the entire story all over again, and I’m just not up for it. I walk downstairs and take my spot at the dining room table. Mom and dad go all out making fried potatoes and palp, which they know are my favorites for dinner. I load four potatoes and start chewing down on them when I feel expectant stares penetrate me from both sides. Mom’s excitement to hear the day's events start bubbling over,

“Well, how did it go?”

“How did what go?” I ask knowing perfectly well what she was really asking. “It felt good to be back on the ice mom.”

She smiles at dad with her, ‘see I told you so’ look. “What did you guys practice today?”

“Coach Tammy wanted us to get comfortable with each other, so we did a lot of stroking and footwork.”

“Do you like him?” Dad asks. “Who? Coach Tammy or Scott.” “Both.”

“Ya, they’re okay. Coach Tammy wants us to act like a couple when we’re in public, ‘build-up chemistry.’ He says couples do better when the public senses it.”

“Partner or no partner, you know our rule Honey, no boyfriends,” Dad interjects.

Mom turns to dad, “If coach Tammy wants them to act like a couple then that’s what they’re going to have to do. He knows how to foster Olympic champions. Have faith.” She focusses her attention back onto me, “How did Scott look on the ice?”

If Anna had been the one to ask me I would have said: ‘fuckable.’

Seeing it’s my parents, I answer “With or without clothes on?”

Dad’s eyebrows arch, “Exactly what do you mean?” I notice my dad’s knuckles turning white while he’s gripping his fork. He waits for me to answer.

“He skates in a wife beater T-shirt and exercise pants.” “I’m going to have to come to your practice,” mom giggles.

“I hardly think his attire is appropriate for a crowded ice arena,” I comment.

Later that night, I lay in bed disheartened that Michael hasn’t called. The lights in my room are now off and I’m staring dispiritedly in the direction of where my phone is charging, hoping it will flash. My parents have already retired to their room and the house is darkened and still.

The phone flashes and vibrates against the dresser. I scramble quietly from under my comforter to check it. It was a text from Michael.

MICHAEL: I’m on your street waiting.

ISABELLA: Ok

I cover my gown with my robe and slip into my slippers before silently tiptoeing down the stairs. The hardest thing to do is soundlessly open the front door. Patiently I work the lock knowing even the slightest noise will give me away. Once I’m through the door, I close it just as carefully. The cold air goes right through me as I shiver turning to look for Michael's car.

I dash to it while he stretches to open the door for me. I slip in and his dark eyes lock with mine. He doesn’t say anything to me at first. His expression is intense. He rests the warm palms of his hands against my cheeks and he pulls me in for a kiss. His lips do light brush strokes against mine until he fists his hands into my hair and pulls me in for a kiss that claims me, “You are mine,” he says with conviction, “only mine.”

He continues kissing me sliding his one hand to the nape of my neck while the other hand slowly glides down my gown until it rests on me.

I’d never been touched there before, but now Michael’s hand is there touching me, and I’m receptive to it feeling hot all over. He starts exploring me and when he’s ready, he penetrates me with his finger. I moan into his mouth while his kisses are building passion. Their momentum makes my body quiver. I’m truly his.