| The soon-to-be eighteen year-old sat on the floor, her back against the wall. She has her knees drawn up to her chest, and was staring into space. The glitter on her bare shoulders had long since worn off, spreading to the top of her jeans and her blue and purple tank top. She blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall as she began to hear footsteps coming down the hallway of the Citadel Communications Building. She turned her head, brushing back a few strands of her auburn hair that had fallen in her face, to see who was intruding on her moment alone. �Hey,� the blonde guy said softly, coming to a stop next to where she sat. �Hey,� Sydney replied, half staring at the floor, half staring at his gray sneaker-covered feet. He really did have little feet� But big things come in small packages, she thought as her eyes ran up his khaki-covered legs, across the baby blue sweater he was wearing and finally making their way to look into his baby blues. �How are you?� Chad asked, taking a seat next to her on the floor, letting his hands drop on his lap. �I�m okay, I guess,� she said, averting her eyes from his glance. �Don�t lie to me.� He paused while she looked over at him. �You�re not okay. You�re ready to cry, I can see it in your eyes.� Sydney bit her lip. �No, I�m not okay.� She began staring at the wall again, avoiding Chad�s eyes. �I don�t know what to do. She�s going to kill me.� Chad closed his eyes momentarily and put his arm around her shoulders. �She�s not gonna kill you.� He paused while she turned her head to look at him. �She�s just upset, is all. She�ll get over it.� Sydney groaned softly. �You have no idea what girls are like when they�re fighting over the same guy, do you?� Chad shrugged. �Not really.� �Well they get vicious, I�ll tell you that much.� Sydney paused for a second to clear her throat. �Excuse me. But believe me when I say this, I wouldn�t put anything past her at this point.� �She�s that bad?� Chad asked, not wanting to believe that the situation was as bad as Sydney was making it out to sound. She blinked. �Of course she is,� she said, as if it were completely obvious to everyone but him. �Chad, she�s liked you for a while� She�s been putting me through hell for the past year. She thinks she�s gonna end up going out with you and getting married to you� Well, at least she used to. Let me tell you this much about a girl � when she sees all her dreams literally blow up in her face, she goes through three stages. One, she gets depressed. She�ll go through that stage eventually, but that�s not likely to happen too soon. Two, she gets angry. She�s angry right now. Very angry. And three, she gets even. She will get even with me eventually. If she doesn�t shoot me when I walk outside later, then she�ll get to me eventually.� �She would seriously hurt you just because you told me everything that she�s done?� Chad asked. �That doesn�t seem right.� �Yeah, well, it�s not right,� Sydney replied. �But girls are fickle creatures. I don�t even understand them completely and I am one. Right now, she�s liable to pull out a shotgun when I walk outside, she�s so pissed at me. You heard her on the phone before, she said she was going to kill me.� �I didn�t think she was serious about that�� Chad ran his fingers up and down Sydney�s arm a few times. �Don�t worry about her; she won�t hurt you.� Sydney turned toward him with a slight frown. �How do you know that?� �I won�t let her.� His comment brought a small smile to Sydney�s face. �Now that�s what I like to see, you smiling,� he said, pulling her closer to his side. For a moment, she was in heaven. But as she rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in his cologne, reality hit her. �You can�t be with me all the time, you know,� she said, not bothering to move her head. Chad was silent for a minute. �How is it that you know so much about all this, about her temper and everything� but you�re only seventeen?� Sydney chuckled. �I know a lot more than you think I do.� She paused to try and find the right words. �I know what it feels like to be dumped by someone you love� or think you love. I know what it feels like to be cheated on, what it feels like to be the one somebody�s cheating with. I know what it feels like to have everything that I counted on blow up in my face. It stings. And all this over a guy? You can count on it. I�ve been burned so many times by people� You would be surprised at all the heartbreak I�ve went through during the past seventeen years.� Chad smiled slightly. �Almost eighteen.� Sydney make a noise. �Yeah, some birthday I�ll have. More than likely, I�ll be stuck sitting in my house, watching my bratty little cousins run around the table while someone sticks a paper hat on my head and my family sings Happy Birthday to me in their usual off-key voices.� She made a face. �Happy birthday to me.� �Hey, I can guarantee you that your birthday will be better than that.� �Why, are you giving me a surprise party or something?� Sydney asked. She was well-aware that she was flirting with him� But see if she cared. �Maybe,� Chad replied with a smile. �There�s a surprise in order, I can tell you that much.� �So what exactly does this surprise entail?� Sydney asked. �Anything involving, say� Whipped cream?� Chad raised his eyebrows. �Hey, that�s for me to know and you to find out. By the way, do you know if Spencers still sells that Chocolate Whipped Cream?� Sydney laughed. �Yeah, they do, actually. That�s where I got Sean�s birthday present from.� �So what did you get him for his birthday?� Chad asked. �Strawberry Whipped Cream,� Sydney said with a sly smile. Chad laughed. �You are something else, you know that?� Sydney shook her head. �That�s what Sean said last night.� �Hey now, wait a second� I thought you liked me, not Sean.� Sydney froze momentarily. �I never said that,� she said nervously, looking back to the ground. She cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. Chad grinned. �So you do like me.� �I never said that!� �Then why does Tina wanna kill you?� Sydney paused for a second before answering. �Because� Because I told you that she was stalking you.� �Oh,� Chad said, removing his arm from her shoulders. �What was that for?� Sydney asked. �Well you don�t like me, I thought that-� Sydney groaned. �Alright, fine. I do like you. Are you happy now?� Chad smiled. �Actually, yeah, I am,� he said, depositing his arm back around her shoulders. Within seconds, his fingers found the side of her tank top and were playing with the side of the strap. Sydney�s heartbeat rose and she swallowed hard when his hand moved from her shoulder to her neck and began massaging the side of it. His hand slowly moved to the side of her face, brushing stray strands of hair out of her eyes. She had no idea what had happened at first � one second she was looking into his eyes and the next his mouth was on hers. As surprised as she was, she reacted to his kiss for a few seconds. But something inside her head was screaming at her to stop, that she was only seventeen and he was twenty-four� But something else in her mind was yelling that she was going to be eighteen in a month and that he had told her that he liked younger women; his last girlfriend had turned nineteen the day of their six month anniversary. She broke the kiss. She pulled back far enough so that her forehead was resting on his. �Chad� Why�� She trailed off before he answered. �Because I like you,� he said, his fingers entwining themselves in her shoulder-length hair. �But I�m not eighteen,� she breathed, not wanting to say it, but knowing that it had to be said to save her sanity. �I know that,� Chad replied. �But you are gonna be eighteen in a month. And just going out with someone isn�t illegal.� Sydney thought for no more than a moment. She pulled away from him, looked into his eyes and sighed. �Screw it,� she said, leaning over to kiss him. |
 |
|
|
|