I went over to the window and saw Michael standing outside. I went over to my closet and put on my pink Ugg boots that were sitting nearby and went to the window. The best thing about my room is that it was upstairs, while my parents had a room downstairs, and because it had an open latch window with a balcony. As I opened the window, I went outside on the balcony and luckily, the ladder was sitting pretty by the side of the house. It's not like I sneak out the house a lot, it's just that when I did, I always made sure the ladder was there so I could get out. I motioned to Michael to grab the ladder, which he did. He moved it to the window while I waited on the balcony. As I carefully stepped onto the ladder, I took a step at a time, making sure I wasn't going to fall off or make any noise. When I reached the bottom, I noticed Michael was there holding the ladder so it would be steady for me.
When I reached the final step, I hopped off, and fell into Michael's strong arms. We looked at each other for a moment until I pulled away from him.
"Hello," he said quietly.
I smile at Michael. "Hello."
He was looking finer than ever, wearing a blue shirt, black jeans, and a black leather jacket.
"Thanks for seeing me tonight," he said as we went over to his BMW 528i, which was parked out on the street.
"My pleasure," I said as I climbed into the passenger seat. He waited until I was inside the car before he closed the door and went over to the driver's seat. As he turned on the engine, he slowly pulled out onto the street. When we were down the street, he turned on the radio and I noticed Michael had it on 97.9 The Boxx, the hip-hop and R&B station in Houston. One of my favorite songs at the moment was playing.
"I love this song," I said as I started to bop my head lightly to the beat.
"I like it too."
"I didn't think you listen to The Boxx."
"Why would you think that? Because I'm white?"
"To be honest, yeah."
Michael laughed. "I listen to a lot of things, from R&B, to rap, and hip- hop to pop. I like to be diverse."
I nodded my head and smiled.
"So who's your favorite artist?"
"I have so many. Let's see, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, and Usher. I even listen to Justin Bieber."
"I do too. My friends laugh at me because I like Justin. In fact, I'll listen to pop more than rap and R&B."
"Really. Who's your favorite group?"
"I love Maroon 5; I'm more into Imagine Dragons now."
"I like Imagine Dragons too. I heard they're going to be in concert next month at the House of Blues. I would love to go see them."
"So would I," I said smiling.
As we continued to talk about music, I felt really relaxed around Michael. I didn't know where we were driving to, but I didn't care. Just being with him was the only thing that mattered to me.
Being around Charlie was so relaxing. I loved just hearing her talk, seeing her smile, looking into her mesmerizing eyes. When I called to ask if she wanted to see me, I didn't know if she would have agreed, but to my surprise, she did. When I saw her climb down the ladder, it seemed like she knew the routine all too well. I wondered if she had done the sneaking out thing with her other boyfriends.
As we were driving to White Park, I knew it was way after hours, but I knew a secluded spot we could go to so we would not get caught. White Park was the place for couples to come to be alone, make out, and do other things. But tonight, all I wanted to do was be around Charlie and get to know her better. As I pulled my car into the secluded area behind some trees, I put the car in park and turned the engine off. I kept the radio on so we could hear some music. I got out of the car and went out into the mid- October night, taking in the cool breeze of fall weather. As I went around to the passenger's side, I opened the door and took Charlie's hand as she got out of the car. She closed the door and we went over to look at the view of the beautiful lake in front of us. The sky looked kind of dark, but we noticed a few stars trying to peak out under the dim night sky. I looked at Charlie and noticed she was shivering.
"You're cold?" I asked her.
"A little,"
I smiled as I took off my jacket. I draped it over her shoulders and she smiled.
"This is so beautiful. How did you find this place? I've been in Houston all my life and never knew about this."
"I always came here growing up. Usually, this is the place couples come to be alone, but for me, this is my thinking place. I always come here before a big game, or if I'm thinking about something."
"You never brought Danielle here?"
"No. You're the only person."
Charlie smiled as she looked at the sky.
"What are you thinking about right now?"
"You. Wondering how lucky I am to be with a beautiful girl right now."
"Stop it. You making me blush," Charlie said as she looked down to the ground.
"Well it's true. You are so beautiful."
Charlie looked at me as she moved closer to me. As we looked at each other, another radio station, 104.1 KRBE, was playing Rebecca Ferguson, "Nothing's Real but Love." As I looked at Charlie, I took her hand and looked into her brown eyes.
"You like to dance?"
She smiled and came in closer to me. It felt good to hold Charlie in my arms. It seemed like we made a perfect match. As she came closer to me, I could smell the peach scent that was on her skin. We looked at each other with a look that meant we really liked each other. I wanted to kiss her, but I didn't know if it was too soon.
As we stared at each other even longer, I noticed something drip on my shoulder. I looked up and saw that it had started to rain. Even though it was raining, neither Charlie nor I noticed. We just kept dancing to the music. And then it happened. I figured it was the perfect opportunity to kiss Charlie. So I did. I licked my lips a little and put my hand in her hair. I reached over to her and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. The kiss was everything I expect it to be. Charlie was a little surprised by the kiss, but she later gave in and put her hand behind the back of my neck. We were standing in the pouring rain kissing each other like it was going to be our last. Even though we would probably be sick in the morning, we didn't care. The only thing that mattered was that things had changed between us. And it felt pretty good.
When we finally pulled ourselves from each other, we were back in my car and I was taking Charlie home. It was 12:30, so I knew I had to get back home since I had an early football meeting in the morning. The team was going to go over some plays for the big game. While I was driving, Charlie looked over at me, took my free hand and put it in hers. I gave her a heartily smile as I turned onto her street. When I parked my car on the curb by her house, I quickly turned off my car lights and turned off my radio. I suddenly became shy as I gazed at Charlie. Even though our relationship had changed, it still felt like we were still friends. I guess because we only had known each other for two days now.
I guess Charlie was thinking the same thing because she looked at me with a perplexed look on her pretty face.
"What does this mean now, between us?"
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I like it."
Charlie smiled and kissed the back of my hand. I was suddenly turned on by her lips being on my hand. I wanted to kiss her again, but I knew it was late and we both had a busy morning ahead of us.
"I'll see you tomorrow," I said.
"Definitely," Charlie said.
~
It was the next morning and the big bonfire pep rally was later on that day. As I woke up at 6a.m. for the big team meeting, I was tired but happy. I was so happy, I hugged and kissed my mom and gave my dad a huge hug before going out the door. From the looks on my parents' faces, they were probably wondering what was wrong with me. It was clear, I was falling in love. I had to admit, it had only been three days since I met Charlie, but it felt like I had known her for years. I couldn't wait to spend my time with her this weekend. Especially when we go out on Saturday. That would be our first official date; even if there would be four other people with us. As I pulled up into Belmont's parking lot at 7:10, I hopped out of the car and ran into the athletics building where I noticed the meeting had already started.
"Nice for you to join us, Mr. Collier. Where were you? You knew you had a meeting at seven," Coach Phillips said angrily.
"Sorry Coach. I guess I lost track of time. It won't happy again."
"Better not. Now let's go over some more plays," he said.
I looked over at Chris and Tyler; each gave me a 'what's- with - you' look and turned toward Coach. I looked toward the blackboard and sighed. Hopefully, I won't be off on my game like I was with time.
When the meeting was over
,
I caught up with Chris and Tyler who were going toward the quad. We left the meeting at 7:45, so since school starts at 8:15, we had some time to spare. We sat down at our usual bench and watched people walk by.
"What's with you Collier? You have never been late to a team meeting," Tyler said as we sat down.
"Nothing. I was just running late today, that's all."
"Yeah right. Even since you met Charlie, you've been thinking about nothing else. Listen, it's great that you met someone and I'm happy for you, but you need to be focused for tomorrow. You're the captain and we need you one hundred percent out there."
I nodded my head in agreement. Chris was right; I needed to be focused on the game tomorrow. But for some reason, I couldn't. Charlie was all I could think about.
"I agree. And I will be focused tomorrow. Believe that."
"Enough about lecturing Michael. Tell us about you and Charlie. How are things progressing between you two?" asked Tyler.
"We met up last night and went driving. We ended up at White Park dancing under the stars."
"Boring. Is there any action in this story?" asked Tyler.
I looked at Tyler and sighed. Leave it to Tyler to be a pig.
"We kissed. That's all."
"That's great man. I hope things work out for you two," said Chris.
"I hope so too; but for some reason, I think things are going a little fast between us. I just met her three days ago and now we're talking about a relationship."
"Well take things slow. Try to get to know each other before a relationship is established," Chris said.
I looked at Chris and smiled. Out of the three of us, Chris was always the sensitive one. That was one of the reasons of why he is my best friend. I could talk to him about anything.
"Thanks man. You're right. Because I do not want anything to happen. I can't let anything happen."
Tonight was the bonfire pep rally. When I talked to Brandy earlier today in class, she told me that the bonfire is a big deal at Belmont. Many students volunteer their time and energy for a week to prepare for the bonfire and set up preparations for the big dance the following night. Parker's homecoming didn't come close to Belmont's. Even though it was also a big deal there, we never had a bonfire, and people were never energized the week ahead. We just had the game and a dance; that was all.
I was still reeling over what happened between Michael and me last night. Just the thought of having his full, soft lips on mine made me wish I could see him right now. I had to tell someone about what happened, so I told Brandy.
"What! That's great!" Brandy exclaimed.
"Well I'm glad you're happy," I said laughing.
"I'm just glad for you two. Although I don't know you well, I know you're a sweet girl and Michael needs that. You're a far cry from ice princess over there." Brandy twitched her head over in Danielle's direction.
"Thanks. Do you think she knows that Michael and I are talking?"
"I don't know, and who cares. Maybe she needs to know."
I looked over at Danielle. She looked in my direction and gave me a mean stare. I turned away from her nasty glance and looked at Brandy.
"I don't want her to know. Not yet anyway."
"Oh well. She's going to find out. Someone is bound to tell her that her ex is talking to the girl who bumped her from head cheerleader."
I sighed and looked out the window at the beautiful day in front of me.
I don't want Danielle to know. Usually I like to flaunt who I'm with, but this time, if I flaunted Michael in front of Danielle, or anybody in that matter, I have a feeling the outcome would be bad.
As I was getting ready for the pep rally, I realize that I forgot my cheerleader sneakers in my school locker. I told Brandy and Kim that I had to go back into the school and ran toward the building. The school seemed scary while empty. As I went to my locker, I felt someone grab me by the waist and turn me around. I looked at the person and realized it was Michael. Dressed in his football jersey and jeans, he looked at me and smiled.
"Hello," he said softly.
"Hi," I said in a sexy tone.
We looked at each other and before I knew it, I was leaning against a locker while Michael had his hands on my body, kissing me passionately. I forgot all about my shoes as I started to feel Michael's weight, among other things, pressing against me. After a few minutes of panting and groping each other, we pulled away with huge grins on our faces.
"I need to do that more often," Michael said smiling.
I smiled as I reached into my locker to get my shoes.
"You nervous about tonight?" he asked as he stood behind me. Just having his body close to mine, his breath on my skin, made me become extremely turned on. I closed my locker and turned around to face him.
"Why should I be? It's not like I've never cheered before."
"I know, but this time you're rooting for a different school. I know you'd rather be at Parker cheering for their team."
I smiled and put an arm around Michael. Since our kiss, we became more affectionate around each other. In Chemistry class, we found every moment we could to brush up against each other or to touch each other.
"You're right. I'd rather be at Parker. But if I didn't come here, I wouldn't have met you."