Chapter Eleven- Huh? What?
"Do you?" she asked.
"Yeah, I do."
"Do you?" he reiterated.
"Hmm...yeah."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*50 MINUTES LATER*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Matt opened the car door for her and helped her out when his father came out of the garage. He walked over to them and said, "Hello Matt."
Matt looked at Lori then turned around to see his father walking towards them. "Hi dad."
"New girlfriend?" his dad, Michael, asked.
"No, not yet." Matt replied.
"What's her name?"
"Lori, but I call her Lorr."
"I prefer Lorr."
"Well, Matt and Lorr, there's leftover pizza if you want any." Michael offered.
"I was going to make her soup." Matt admitted.
"Why are you making her soup? Does she not feel well?" Michael asked out of concern and curiosity.
"I don't think....it's just..yeah..she doesn't feel well."
"If she needs anything, Lynn is inside. She's reading the newspaper."
"OK. Thanks dad, but I'm gonna take care of her."
"OK." Michael said. "Is she spending the night?"
"Yeah she's spending the night." Matt confessed.
"Do her parents know she's here?"
"Yeah they know I'm here."
"OK. You can sleep in David's room because he's spending the night over at Jason's house."
"OK. Thank you Mr. Ballinger." Lori smiled gratefully.
"You're welcome Lorr." Michael smiled back at her. "And let me know if Matt annoys you or does something wrong. I'll take care of him for you."
Lori giggled and said, "OK. I"ll let you know."
"Daaaad!" Matt whined.
"You should take her inside and show her around."
"OK."
Once Lori got her bag, Matt took her hand and led her inside his house. "Your dad is really nice." she told him.
"Yeah. He's pretty cool for a dad." Matt admitted. Changing the subject, he asked, looking over at her, "Does your tummy still hurt?"
"Honestly, being with you, has kind of made me forget about it."
"Awww."
"Yeah." She giggled.
"If your tummy still hurts you can tell me. I can try cooking chicken noodle soup."
"If you want to you can, but you don't have to. I brought well..."
"Midol?" he guessed.
Shyly, she nodded and said, "Yeah."
"Would you rather have soup or do you just want to take..midol?"
She shrugged and said, "I don't know."
"You want soup don't you?"
"Honestly?"
"YES honestly."
"Yeah."
"I'll make you soup. Come on." He led her into the kitchen and said, "You can sit at the table if you want."
"So, um, how long did you and that girl go out?" she asked breaking the silence. She watched Matt pour the can of chicken noodle soup into the pot and turn on the burner then he turned around to face her.
"Not even a month. I met her...I dunno when I met her. Being with you has made me forget all about her."
"Matt, thanks for making me soup. It's really sweet and I really appreciate it."
He took her hand and sat down beside her and placed a tiny kiss on her cheek. "You're welcome...and I know you appreciate it."
"Do you really not know when you met her?"
"I couldn't tell you when I met her. Why?"
"Making conversation. I just....figured...."
"No. Talk to me."
"That's exactly what I was doing. I was talking to you. I was trying to get to know you better....I just....I never should have brought up your ex-girlfriend."
"How about we talk about US instead of whoever that other girl was?"
"And what exactly about US do you want to talk about?"
"Do you think we could ever be more than just....?"
"Friends?" she finished for him.
"Yeah. Do you think we could ever be more than just friends?"
"Do you?"
"Yeah. Do you?"
"Let's...take it one step at a time...who knows...tomorrow I could end up waking up in your arms...but I really don't wanna rush into anything right away. I can't just give my heart away and end up getting my heart broken."
"You in my arms....hmm...yeah."
"Before you start daydreaming...."
"I should check on the soup." he laughed.
"You don't wanna burn it. The pot will be a pain to clean."
"Dishwasher." Matt pointed to the dishwasher.
"The easy way out." she joked.
"Hey, why make things harder than they have to be?" he shrugged.
"I dunno." she shrugged and he got up to make sure the soup wasn't burning, which it wasn't.
"Do you like anything with your soup, like crackers or something?"
"No, not really." she admitted. She hesitated for a couple minutes then asked, "Would it be OK if I went to change into my P.J.'s?"
"Of course. Go ahead." Matt gave her a reassuring smile. "You can use my room...hehehe."
"Nice try."
"No. I'm serious. You can use my room. It's upstairs...second door on the left." Then he asked, "Want me to show you?"
"Second door on the left?"
"You got it."
"Sweet. I'll be down in like 5 minutes."
"Don't leave me by myself for too long."
"5 minutes is a short period of time."
"It's getting longer if you stay down here."
"OK. OK. Fine. I'll go now."
"I'm not trying to get rid of you princess. I just want to take advantage of the time we have together."
"I get what you're saying."
She got up and grabbed her bag and he said, "If you run into my mom just tell her you're a friend of mine."
"You could always tell her you're my girlfriend, too." He grinned.
"Who's your girlfriend?" Lynn asked walking into the kitchen.
"She is." Matt pointed to Lori.
"Lorr, right?" Lynn asked looking at her.
"Yeah." Lori smiled.
"This must be the girl who my little boy is crazy about." Lynn smiled at Matt.
Lori blushed and said, "I don't know about that."
"Don't be so modest." Matt laughed but went back to stirring the soup so it wouldn't burn.
"Is Matt cooking?" Lynn asked surprised. The look on her face was priceless.
"Yeah. I'm cooking soup." Matt had a huge smile plastered on his face.
"You must really like her if you're cooking for her." Lynn told him.
"I do really like her. She's just...being a little difficult right now."
"Gee...you're so sweet Matt."
"Lorr, if you need anything let me know, OK?" Lynn asked giving her the look like she knew that she was having her 'monthly friend'.
"OK. I will." Lori smiled.
"OK." Lynn smiled back. "She's a cool girl Matt. Make sure you don't lose her."
"Nah. I won't lose her." he assured his mom.
"Where do you live Lorr?" Lynn asked out of curiosity.
"I live in Rochester." Lori replied.
"New York?" Lynn guessed.
"Rochester, mom, as in Rochester, NEW HAMPSHIRE....it's like maybe 4 or 5 hours from here." Matt corrected.
Chapter 12