White is for Virgins (25 page)

He wiggled his eyebrows and placed the candy on his desk nonchalantly.

See, now if I did something like that, I’d get caught within seconds. And the goods would be confiscated. Life was unfair that way.

I eyed Fox as he un-wrapped the
Smarties and stuck a white one in his mouth - right on the tip of his tongue.

I cleared my throat, careful not to draw unnecessary attention to myself.

It certainly got Fox’s attention, which was what I was going for.

“Can I have some?” I mouthed sheepishly.

He stared at me blankly as he pushed the smarty in between his two rows of teeth with his tongue.

“That depends,” he smiled slyly, “What are you willing to do for them?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. He was truly hopeless.

I regretted asking him for anything, even though it was just candy, and sat back in my chair.

Pretending to be interested in an educational slideshow was twice as hard as actually paying attention to it, but I tried.

I saw a hand move across my desk, and it left behind a Reese’s Cup. I smiled victoriously and tore open the package.

Biting into the outer edges of the chocolate cup, I chewed happily, saving the peanut-butter inside for last. It was like the center of a sandwich, you eat the yummy crust to get to the scrumptious center.

I looked over at Fox who I was aware had been watching me eat the whole time. We were both holding our half-eaten cups, both saving the soft centers for last.

Copycat.

“Loser,” I mouthed, pushing the last of the chocolate-peanut-buttery goodness into my mouth.

“Reject,” he countered, finishing off his candy as well.

“Got anymore?” I asked less sheepishly this time.

He smiled wickedly and unzipped his treasure chest of a backpack to reveal his stash of Halloween candy. It had taken up about three quarters of his backpack.

“Holy shit, dude,” I murmured, staring at the contents.

“Yeah, Nick and I split the winnings last night,” he said. “I took all the good stuff. It’s crazy how much candy-corn I had in my bag. Rip-offs,” he muttered.

I smiled to myself, and the bell rang.

Yes!

I grabbed my backpack, and a handful of Fox’s candy, and escaped the dull room to enter the traffic jam of a hallway.

I felt someone holding me back, a force counteracting with my forward motion. I didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. Fox held onto my backpack frequently throughout the day.
Why?
I did not know.

He followed me to my usual lunch table and I sat across from Lily like always. The only
un
usual thing about this whole situation aside from the fact that Fox was sitting at my table was
where
he was sitting.

Next to Lily.

Not like I expected him to sit next to me (ok, I kinda did…) but he didn’t really seem to know Lily. That’s a lie, he knew everyone. But they barely talked. From what I knew, anyway.

Nick showed up and sat beside me, and we all sat there comfortably.

Fox dumped half of his backpack onto the table, and we all grinned as he told us to dig in.

“You stole all the good stuff,” Nick muttered, grabbing a few pieces of candy.

“Well I’m giving some back,” Fox chuckled. “Don’t hate, brah, appreciate.”

We all ate candy for a bit, and talked about normal stuff; nothing in particular.

“So, um,” Fox swallowed the last of his KitKat as he turned to face Lily.

She looked back at him innocently.

“Wanna go out this Friday?” he asked spontaneously.

You could practically taste the amount of shock in the air. I blinked several times before closing my jaw. Nick just sat there, completely still. I think he was holding his breath. But then again, I was too.

That was beyond unexpected.

From the look on Lily’s face, I could tell she didn’t see that curveball coming. None of us did.

“Friday?” she replied finally, “Can’t.”

I exhaled with relief, making sure it wasn’t obvious that I was happy to hear that.

I mean… Fox and Lily?

What?!

“Saturday then?” he asked calmly.

I held my breath again.

Lily always seemed to dislike Fox. So she was going to turn him down, I was sure.

I was so sure.

“Okay,” she nodded slightly.

Turned out, I was wrong.

The rest of lunch was a blur. I didn’t talk. Nick and Fox talked about the game. Lily gossiped about something… I couldn’t really remember.

Fox and Lily? Dating?

Fox dating in general?

Puh
-lease! He didn’t date!

Red Cross was something I definitely wasn’t looking forward to after school…

***

“Hey you,” Lily said as she caught up to me after Health.

“Hi,” I replied, heading for my locker.

“Listen,” she started, “I just wanted to make sure you’re ok with my date Saturday.”

That was the fourth time she’s asked about it.

“Lily, I’m fine with it. Why wouldn’t I be?” I said in a monotone voice.

Why wouldn’t I be?

“You keep saying that.”

I closed my locker with a bit more force than intended.

“Well, maybe that means it’s the truth.”

Lie.

“Right,” she sighed in turn.

“Lil, if you keep questioning me about it... then maybe you should reconsider,” I suggested.

Had my intentions been too obvious with that statement?

I shouldn’t be telling her to reconsider! I should be offering her advice (which I had none of) and helping her pick an outfit with my excellent fashion tips (which I also had none of).

She bit her lip and stared at her feet.

“You shouldn’t be regretting your decision. You wanna date him, then date him,” I told her gently, “It’s not anyone’s choice but yours.”

“Okay,
Em,” she smiled.

Blowing my bangs out of my eyes, I went in the direction of history – a class I was in no mood to attend.

***

Avoiding this whole ‘dating’ situation proved an easier task than I’d originally imagined.

That was of course, if I focused completely on my school work, Nina, and my iPod. Then I was golden. If I looked either Fox or Lily in the eyes for more than a few seconds of time, I’d crack. I’d pummel them with questions, and come off as incredibly desperate.

Desperate and
confused
are two totally different things, though.

Miraculously, I’d made it through the week without mentioning tonight’s event. Or
mistake
.

I could hear the rain drops rhythmically hit the glass of Lily’s bedroom window. The perfect weather, for a
perfect
day, I thought.

As Lily continued rummaging through her closet – which was bigger than my bedroom – the doorbell rang.

“Oh, that’s probably him,” Lily mumbled, up to her face in fabric as she struggled to re-hang several blouses.

“I’ll get it,” I suggested as she continued sorting through clothes.

I sighed and walked down the carpeted stairs and took a right to meet the front door.

I pulled it open and avoided looking at Fox… instead, I focused on what he was carrying. Holly.

“Normally, guys bring
flowers
for the date,” I smirked, stepping aside.

“A little originality never hurt anyone,” he said, setting Holly down as he passed by me. I inhaled his cologne in the process.

I eyed her with a bemused look before inspecting Fox. I’d never seen him in anything other than his khaki uniform pants, or his track shorts. Seeing him in jeans was definitely a change. He looked good,
as always
. I admired the fact that his jeans were just the right amount of baggy, and didn’t hang off his ass. He had on a white button down, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The simple gold chain around his neck really completed his attire.
And that hair…

“Where’s Lily?” he asked nonchalantly. My eyes shot up to meet his instantly.

“Where would she be?” I replied. Despite the fact that he hadn’t caught me ogling, my cheeks flushed.

“Geez, girls take forever,” he sighed, leaning against the wall.

“Emmy,” Holly mumbled with outstretched arms.

I lifted her up and smiled as she played with my bangs.

“Oh, right,” Fox said, “She’s yours for the duration of my date.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” I nodded sarcastically. “It’s not like I had plans or anything.”

Fox smiled obnoxiously before running a hand through his hair.

“You nervous?” I teased, twirling Holly around. She squealed.

“Nervous?” he asked amused. “This isn’t my first date,” he clarified.

“Really?” I asked, feigning complete and utter shock, “Fox… has been on a date before?”

“Yeah, unbelievable, I know,” he humored me.

It suddenly got quiet again.

“Lily!” I yelled up the staircase.

She needed to get her little butt out of here! This was getting more uncomfortable by the second. The faster she left, the faster I would stop thinking about how much fun they were going have and what they were going do… Within a few hours, this would all be over with.

“You don’t seem too happy for me,” Fox observed.

“Why would I be happy for you?” I snapped.

“Because I asked your friend out,” he said axiomatically.

“That terrifies me,” I admitted.

“Why?” he snorted.

“Because you – Fox Evans – are going to take a girl out,” I explained, “On a date.”

“We established that.”

“You don’t date.”

“Says who?”

“Says the ever-updating list of girls you’ve been with,” I said matter-of-factly, “You weren’t meant to be committed to one girl. You said that yourself!”

He clenched his jaw lightly and stared at the top of the stairs. I followed his calm, entranced gaze to find Lily descending the staircase.