Inception (4 page)

Chapter Six

On
Saturday night, all four of us -- Skylar, Mira, Kylee and I -- all go to the pool hall just off campus.  A bunch of kids from school come here and told us about being able to use fake ID’s. .  The owner is cool as hell.  He knows damn well we’re all underage and have fake ID’s but doesn’t call us out.

I grab a round of beers for our group and head back to the table
we’ve been given.  Mira thinks it will be a funny for Kylee and me to verse her and Skylar.  Mira is playing that adorable, “I never shot pool before insert face of innocence”, game.  She’s damn good at it.

As I make my way to the cue ball to take my shot, Mira just happens to drop the ch
alk on the table and leans over suggestively, to pick up the little blue square.

“Oops, I’m so sorry.  I hope this won’t be too distracting.”

I take my turn and miss by a long shot.  Mira laughs and high fives with Skylar.  Mira lines up to take her shot and she’s having trouble adjusting her angle.  Skylar steps up behind her, maneuvers her arms and hips to get a better shot and she sinks the eight ball, signaling the end of the game.

“Ha, we win.  Next round is on you two,” Mira says, giving Skylar a hug. 

“I got this round.  Danny got the last one.  Kylee, wanna come help me carry them back?” Skylar asks.

Kylee jumps from her stool to follow Skylar, leaving Mira and I alone at the table.

“You think I don’t know what you were doing, Pea?” I say as I lean over the table in the same manner as she did a few moments ago.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mira laughs.

“Wanna go outside and get some air?” I ask.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.
” She hooks her arm through mine as I lead us out of the bar.

We step out into the cool night air and Mira wraps her ar
ms around her body.  I should’ve thought before I asked her to come out here.  September in Michigan is a tricky month.  It’s either cool as fall or a hot Indian summer.  You can feel the chill of fall in the air tonight.

Without thinking, I pull Mira in for a hug, wrapping my arms around her body to keep her warm.  She’s just that kind of girl.  The kind you want to care for and make sure she’s comfortable all the time.  Mira doesn’t
back away, instead, she welcomes the hug and wraps her arms around my waist, resting her hands on the waist band of my jeans.

I didn’t mean to
, but a groan escaped directly into her ear, causing her body to react.  I can feel her breath hitch and she rests her head on my chest, directly over my heart.  I can feel my pulse in my fingertips, there’s no way she can’t see how she affects me; how I react to her slightest touch. 

Knowing th
is is exactly the right moment -- the moment I told her about when she was drunk -- I pull slightly back from our tangled bodies.  I carefully motion for her to look at me.  As soon as her emerald green eyes hit mine, I almost lose all control.

As soon as my lips are a hair from finally touching hers, I stop myself.  I can’t push her into this, especially if she does just think of me as a friend.  As much as I want to devour her lips, making it weird between us stops me dead in my tracks.  I can feel her breaths on my face, almost begging
me to claim her mouth.

“Mira?”

I didn’t get a verbal response.  She leans in the few millimeters between us and places a small kiss on the corner of my mouth, then the other corner.  Just when I’m about to move to kiss her, she pulls back.

“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to separate our bodies, but she doesn’t let go.

“Don’t apologize.  You didn’t do anything wrong, Danny.”

“Why did you stop?” I ask, confused as hell.  There needs to be some sort of manual to understanding the
female mind.

“You promised,” Mira responds, blushing a light shade of pink.

“What did I promise?”  Okay, now I’m even more confused than I was before.

“The kiss.  You promised that it would be magical.  I didn’t want to kiss you when you promised to kiss me.”

She remembers?  I only said those things because she was trashed and she wouldn’t remember.  Not wasting another second, I make good on my promise.  I kiss her with everything in me and don’t hold back.  I grab her by the waist with one hand, the other I wrap around her ponytail.  I don’t just kiss this girl, I claim her.  I make her mine. 

Mine.

When I pull back from the kiss, I realize I’ve never been so fired up in my life.  I feel like I’m on top of the world.  It must have affected her pretty well, too, because she doesn’t even open her eyes.  She just stands there on the street, with her eyes closed and lips parted slightly.  She takes her fingers and runs them across her swollen lips, probably remembering the feeling of my lips on hers. 

When she opens her eyes, she smiles at me and pulls me down to he
r.  Instead of kissing me again she whispers in my ear, “You are excellent at keeping promises.”

I kiss her temple, holding on to her just for a little while longer before I say anything.  I have never had a kiss feel so empowering

“There are a lot more promises, Pea.  Don’t you worry.”

As I’m about to kiss her again, Skylar comes out of the pool hall.

“There you guys are.  Are we playing another game?”

“Yeah, we’ll be right there,” I say, not taking my eyes off Mira.

Eventually, we go back inside and finish another few games and beers with our group.  At the end of the night I want to ask Mira to come back to the house, but I really don’t want to move too fast with her.  My gut tells me to keep it slow.  When we’re leaving, Kylee asks if we’re going back to our house or their dorm room.  I answer that I have to go see my mom in the morning and can’t hang out much longer, I swear I see disappointment in Mira’s eyes. 

W
e reach the dorms a short time later and I walk Mira upstairs to tell her good night, like any proper date should end.  She kisses my cheek and tells me that she had a great time and can’t wait to do it again.  I don’t know if she’s talking about pool and beers or the kiss.  I really hope it’s the kiss, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions. 

After we see the girls into the building, Skylar and I head back to our house.

“You really like her, huh?” Skylar asks.

“Yeah.  I really do.  She’s something different.  I don’t even know how to explain it.”

“Well good luck, bro.  I think she likes you too.  You should see how she looks at you.”

“What about you and Kylee?  Anything?”

“No, she’s like my kid sister.  I like her.  She’s cool.  Friends but nothing more,” Skylar responds, chuckling.

The rest of the short drive is quiet except for the radio playing in the background. 
We pull into the driveway and walk into the house.  The first thing I do, after changing into a pair of sweat pants, is text Mira.

Me:  Thinking of
u

It took about ten minutes for her to text me back. When my phone finally
vibrates, I have to say, I feel like a teenage girl waiting by the phone for a boy to call. 
Man card revoked.

Mira:  Sry.  Was in the shower.  Thinking of
u 2

Me:  Thinking of me in the shower?

Mira:  No LOL just thinking of u.  I had a great time.  Do it again soon?

Me:  Anytime!

Mira:  Promise ;)

Me:  Promise! 
u know how I feel about promises

Mira:  yes I d
o


Me:  Get some sleep Pea.  Night

Mira:  Night Danny.  I PROMISE I’ll get some sleep.  Sweet dreams xoxo

Well that’s all the signal I need.  This girl
is as into me as I am into her.  Now to find a way to officially make her mine. 

“Sky, are there any formals coming up?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?”

Figures the kid doesn’t k
now shit about school functions.  With a quick look at the University website from my phone, I confirm there is a formal in a few weeks. 

With all the romance novels girls are talking about these days, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a way to make her mine.  I don’t have billions of dollars or own a cable knit sweater, but I’m sure I can find something r
omantic to do.  I’m going to have to find a way to ask her to this formal but with some huge romantic gesture. 

Chapter Seven

For the next week and a half, I spend every waking moment trying to find the perfect way to ask Mira to go to the formal with me and agree to be my girlfriend.  Just when you think that you’re over the awkwardness of asking a girl “out”, life comes up and slaps you right across the face.  I didn’t come to college to whore around; I want someone to spend my time with; someone to love.  I think that Mira Anderson might just be that girl.

With the formal only being two weekends away, I really need to step up my game. 

On my weekly call to my mother, she told me, “Make sure to give her enough time to shop for a dress.  You boys have it so easy.  A suit is a suit and a tux is a tux.  For a girl, Daniel, a dress is the most important part.  It’s something she’ll remember forever.  It has to be perfect.”

“Sky, what are you doing?” I yell from my room.

“Nothing, why?”

“If you wanted to do something huge to get a girls attention and maybe ask her to a formal, what would you do?”

“Are we talking about Mira?” Skylar asks, appearing in the doorway of my bedroom.

“Yep.”

Even though Skylar is my best friend, my brother, I hate going to him for advice about girls.  I always feel like such a pussy.  Skylar isn’t one of those guys that screws around, but he doesn’t have a steady girlfriend either.  Never has.  Come to think about it, I haven’t seen him give any girl more than five minutes in the last few weeks.  That in itself is strange.  Skylar always had the girls eating out of the palm of his hand in high school.  Skylar McBride was always all the girls’ first choice.

Maybe he does have a thing for Kylee and doesn’t want to say anything?

Within seconds, Skylar is walking though the doorway into my room.  He casually sits in the swivel chair I have at my desk and kicks his feet up on my bed.  He looks lost in thought until he starts firing off ideas.  Thought after thought are pouring out of his mouth until he suddenly stops, looking like a deer in headlights.  The smile that spreads across his face is priceless.  Of all the times not to have a camera handy.

It’s
like a light bulb has gone off and his idea is the most perfect thing I have ever heard.  This guy knows his women.

We spend the rest of the night concocting the perfect plan.  The detail going into this idea is outrageous, but everything he says, I run with. 

“How do you know all this stuff?” I ask, genuinely interested.

“Dude, Kylee talks a mile a minute.  I probably know the brand and size of panties that Mira wears, bro.  This is exactly the thing that will light up her face.  I wouldn’t lead you wrong.”

For the first time, I might be a little upset that I’ve used so much of my time with Mira fantasizing about her rather than getting to know her.  It’s true; the way to the girl is through her best friend.  Girls share all kinds of crazy details about each other with anyone that will listen. 

The next morning, Skylar and I wake up early as hell to get started.  The plan is to catch Mira while she’s still sleeping.  Skylar text
s and tells Kylee to tell him if Mira wakes up and tries to leave.  Everything has to be perfect.

Our first stop is the florist.  Kylee let it slip in casual conversation that Mira’s favorite flowers are
daisies.  Lucky for us, they are in high demand and the florist is stocked full.  Purchasing two dozen, we head to our next stop; the music store.

Kylee, that evil genius, also spilled that Mira is obsessed with love story movies from t
he eighties.  You know the kind:  Girl meets boy, falls for boy but he doesn’t fall back right away, girl tries to move on and then boy comes to his senses, and finally just before the credits roll, boy makes some huge gesture, usually involving a piece of farm machinery or a boom box.

Shitty for us, a boom box is not easy to find on such short notice.  On the other side of the unlucky coin, I remember that Skylar had a system insta
lled in his car a few weeks ago; a system that is going to be powerful enough to do what I want to do.  After twenty minutes of searching the love songs section, I find the perfect song to play for Mira. 

Finally, we head over to the café
where we met Mira and Kylee at the first day on campus.  I’m happy that I remember how Mira takes her coffee, and that Skylar spends so much time with her as a study partner, that he knows the kind of food that she eats.  Leaving the café with the perfect cup of coffee and a croissant, we drive over to the dorms.

I know that Mira and Kylee live on the third floor and face the parking lot.  Skylar backs up the car in a spot closest to their window.  He sends a quick text to Kylee to let her know we’re here and to wake up Mira. 

A few minutes later, I hear “Fall For You” by Secondhand Serenade start playing through the twelve inch sub woofers in the back of Skylar’s car, I start to panic.  Am I doing too much?  Should I have just called her? 
Fuck it, too late now, Danny.

Taking a calming breath, I start the walk to the
girls’ dorm room.  Between my nerves and the stairs to the third floor, I’m out of breath before I even knock on the door.  Pausing at the door, I wait to knock, giving me the few moments I need to compose myself.  With two dozen daisies in one hand, I use the other to knock. 

Mira answers the door, looking absolutely breathtaking.  You can tell she just woke up.  Wearing an oversized tee shirt, hair in a messy bun and no makeup, this girl looks like an angel. 

“Danny?”

“Good morning,” I say, handing her the bouquets of flowers.

“What’s going on,” Mira says with a huge smile on her face.

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, I’m surprised.  Really though, what’s going on?  What’s with the music and flowers?”

“Mira, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen and I would love nothing more than to escort you to the formal in a few weeks.  And when I escort you to the formal, I really hope that you will let me take you, as my girlfriend.”

“Wow!”

Mira takes the flowers, putting them to her face and inhaling the scent.  When she looks up to me through her lashes, I can see the smile starting to form behind the flowers.  Her eyes say everything she’s feeling.

“I would be honored to have you as my escort and my boyfriend.”

My heart leaps for joy as soon as she says the word boyfriend.  I waste no time gathering her in my arms and kissing her sweetly. 
As much as I want to consume her in this moment, I can’t scare her off yet.  There’s something about her.  I have never felt a pull like this toward another person, ever. 

“Just let me know what color dress you pick so I can find my suit,” I whisper in her ear, catching her completely off guard.

“How do you know about stuff like that?”

“My mama didn’t raise no fool, Pea.”  That’s the God’s honest truth, too.  My mom made sure that I knew all the in’s and out’s of the way a girls mind thinks.  It’s all about paying attention to the smallest of details. 

After a week of casual dates, heavy make out sessions and walking her to class, Mira is out shopping for dresses with Kylee.  When my phone goes off with a text notification, I unlock my phone; it’s Kylee.  She took a picture of Mira trying on dresses at one of the boutiques in town.  I don’t think Mira knows the picture was taken.  She’s not posing or smiling at the camera.

She’s looking in the mirror with
the slightest smile on her face, picking the hair up from her neck and staring at how she looks in the dress.  I thought she looked beautiful on the morning that I surprised her.  The look on her face is soul capturing.  I save the picture to my gallery and text Kylee back.

Me:  She looks amazing.  I really like it.

Kylee:  She’s buying it.  Start picking out ur suit.

Me:  I’m on it, thx.

Kylee:  Anything to see my girl happy!

By the time the following weekend rolls around, I have my suit on, along
with a dressed up Skylar, heading to pick the girls up.

“Are you going with Kylee?”

“Yeah, she didn’t have a date so I said I would take her.  She’s a sweet girl, just not my type.” Skylar cuts me off before I even have the chance to ask him about their dating situation. 

The ride to the
girls’ dorm is quiet, but not an uncomfortable silence.  When we arrive, we both go upstairs to get them.  Kylee opens the door, looking beautiful.  She went with a simple black dress that comes to her mid thigh and one sleeve and rhinestones across the neckline. 

“Kylee, you look amazing,” I say.

“Thanks.  Wait until you see Mira.  Wow.  That’s all I can say.”

No sooner did the words leave her mouth that I see Mira step into view.  Wow doesn’t do her justice.  She looks even more beautiful than she did in the picture Kylee text me.  The floor length sky blue dress that’s tight across her torso and then flows to her feet makes my heart skip a beat.  She has her hair pulled up, showing off her sexy ass neck. 

“God, Pea, you look stunning.”

“Thank you,” she says, blushing, “You look good too.”

“Well, are you guys ready to get this over with?” my over excited, sarcastic ass best friend says.

The dance is run of the mill.  Nothing exciting to report.  We dance, drink tequila from a flask that Skylar brought in with him and laugh.  Skylar and Kylee spend most of the night laughing and making fun of the sorority girls and their hideous dresses.  I think Kylee might have got
ten into a verbal altercation with one of the girls, but I am too occupied with making Mira smile and I don’t pay much attention.

Leaving the hall just before the party is over, Mira and Kylee are walking arm
in arm in front of Skylar and me, carrying their uncomfortable looking shoes.  I think they might have had a little too much of the tequila from the flask; they can’t even walk a straight line.  They are weaving side to side in front of us, causing Skylar and I to look at each other and laugh.

“You girls doing okay?” Skylar asks.

“Other than the fact that our feet hurt, I think we’re fine, “Kylee answers for both of them.

“How about you, Pea?  Holding up okay?”

“My damn feet hurt so bad and if I step on one more rock, I’m going to lose my shit,” Mira complains.  She’s so adorable when she’s pissed.

“If you hike your dress up, I can give you a piggy back ride back to the car,” I say, wondering if she’s going to take me up on my offer.

“Fuckin A Right, let’s get this show on the road.” Mira stops in her tracks, waiting for me to get closer before she hikes her dress up to her hips and hops up on my back as soon as I’m close enough, “Now I’m amazing.  Thanks Danny.”

“Any time, Pea.
  Let’s get you to the car, huh?”

Grabbing her behind the
legs, I take off toward the car.  Trying to spare her some modesty, I told her to let her dress go, so it hangs beneath her ass, so she’s not exposed.  There aren’t many people out here, but I still don’t want anyone seeing what’s mine.  Turning around when we reach the car, I see Kylee trying to talk Skylar into a piggy back ride too, which he’s firmly declining.

“Not
gonna happen, Ky.  I’m not a fucking horse.”

“It’s a piggy back ride, not a hor
se ride, ass.  You suck at life.”

The bickering continues all the way to the car.  As Skylar unlocks the doors, Mira asks me to ride in the back with her and let Kylee sit up front.  I gladly accept her offer and climb in right next to her. 
I place my arm on the back of the seat and Mira cuddles into the crook of my arm. 

“I had a really good time, Danny.  Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, Pea.  I had a blast.”

The girls don’t want to go back to the dorms,
so back to our house it is.  We decide to put in a movie after the girls change.  I give Mira and Kylee a pair of gym shorts and tee shirts to wear.  Mira shocks the hell out of me when she comes out of my room only wearing the tee shirt.  Luckily, it comes to her mid thigh. 

She comes over to me and cuddles
up in my lap to watch the movie where we end up falling asleep.  Waking up the next morning, we’re spooning on the couch and someone covered us up.  I manage to get off the couch without waking her so I can make some coffee.  Walking to the bathroom, I see Kylee asleep in my bed and Skylar isn’t anywhere to be found.  He must have gone for a run or something. 

After the coffee finish
es brewing, I bring in two cups; a cup for me and one for Mira.

“Pea, wake up.”

“Morning,” Mira says, stretching and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“How did you sleep?” I ask, praying she says
that she loves sleeping here.  I haven’t slept that good in a long time and I think it’s because of her.

“Wonderful.  I could get used to this,” she says, taking the coffee mug from my hand.

“You can stay any time you want.  I like having you here and waking up next to you is nice too.”

“I might take you up on that.  This girlfriend thing has perks.”