CHAPTER 12: A Sweet Confession
"Were you really in love with Chris?" Matt asked surprised.
Lori nodded and said, "Yeah."
"You liked Chris and Greg?" Matt double-checked.
"Umm...yeah." Lori said getting nervous. She knew there were some bad thoughts probably floating around in his mind.
"Did you ever like Frankie, Jesse or me?"
"Honestly?" she asked looking at him. When he nodded she said, "Yeah."
"So, who'd you like?"
"You and Jesse. I mean, it was hard for me to stick to one guy because I have so much in common with all of you."
"What about Frankie?"
"I dunno." she shrugged. "He's older than me."
"How old are you?"
"17 and a half."
"He's 19."
"Yeah, I know." Then she blurted out, "I did this Dream Street soul mate quiz in a magazine once and it said that you were my soul mate."
"Are you serious?"
She nodded and she started blushing, which she hoped that he couldn't see, but he did. "Yeah."
"Interesting."
"What is?"
"I dunno. I just felt like saying it." He laughed and shrugged his shoulders. Then he looked around and saw a family of four getting ready to bowl. "We should probably go find Greg, but I um...it was nice talking to you."
"It was nice talking to you too." she said. She thought for a minute then asked, "Are you leaving?"
"No. I just didn't want to go find Greg without saying that I enjoyed talking to you."
Lori half-smiled and said, "I enjoyed talking to you, too." She gave a full smile and said, "Matty boy."
"She even knows my nickname." he laughed.
"Bally."
"Haha. Come on cutie. Let's go find Greg. He's probably wondering where we are. He's probably been thinking we've been making out."
"I wish." Lori thought out loud. She blushed and immediately started walking towards Greg about 30 feet away. Matt jogged up behind her and took her hand, which made her scream in horror because she didn't know who it was. She turned around and said, "Damnit Matt. You scared the shit out of me."
"I didn't mean to. I just had to ask you something first before we went over to Greg." Matt said quickly.
"What'd you need to ask me?"
"About that guy you like......does he really go to your school?"
"I wish he did, but he graduated."
"So he graduated from your school last year?"
"No. I'm saying that he didn't go to my school and that he graduated. I don't know where he went to school. He lives in New York. He doesn't even live in New Hampshire." she blurted out. "I just wish he did."
"Who are you talking about? Not knowing is driving me crazy. I really wanna know." Matt said impatiently. He started getting antsy which made Lori watch him with anticipation.
"Calm down Matt. It's OK." she said trying hard not to laugh.
"Tell me who you like and I'll calm down. I really wanna know who you like 'cuz I um...." his voice trailed off. "This is hard for me to say, seeing how we've only known each other for a couple hours or so, but I um...like you."
"Matt?"
"Yeah?"
"You know how you asked me about the songs I was singing earlier and how you asked me to tell you who they were about?" she began.
"Yeah."
"Well, um, in all honesty, they were about you." she said letting the words slowly roll off her tongue and out of her mouth. She froze on the spot and she could feel his eyes on her.
"They were?" he asked trying hard not to sound too excited. He wanted to be cool and act like a normal guy, but he was too happy.
"Yes."
"You're so sweet." He threw his arms around her and picked her up off the ground and spun her around then put her back down. He looked at her and something made him get closer to her. When they were inches apart and Matt looked like he was about to kiss her, she backed away.
She put her fingers to his lips and said, "There's no need to rush. I'm not all about that."
He kissed her finger then took her hand and gripped it tightly so she couldn't get away. Smiling, he placed a kiss on her cheek, which made her look over at him.
"Cool it Matt." She turned her head and looked away from him even though she really didn't want to. She could look at him till the end of time, till the stars fell from the sky.
"Lorr?" he asked looking over at her.
"Yeah Matt?" she asked sweetly. She looked over at him.
"Who do you like?"
"I just told you that I was singing those songs about you so what do you think?"
"You really are sweet."
"So, do you know who I like yet?" She smiled and said, "Thanks. You're sweet too."
"You like me."
"Yeah I do. A LOT." She said putting sress on A LOT.
"I can tell you do."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can." He smiled at her.
"Do you think of me as a fan still?" She looked away from him then back at him, hoping he would give her the answer she wanted to hear.
"No. I think of you as....." He broke off, scared of how she would react to what he was about to say and how he would react once he told her how he truly felt. They still barely knew each other. Sure they knew a few things about one another, but it takes a while to completely know a person.
"Yeah?"
"Lorr, I really care about you. I know we've only known each other for about 2 hours, 45 minutes, and 3 seconds, but I just...I need to tell you that I like you a lot. I've never felt this way about anyone before and it's scaring me. It's like, in the short time I've known you, you've already become a part of me. A HUGE part of me."
Chapter 13