Then Came You (8 page)

“What are you talking about?” I frown, stumbling as she pulls me up the stairs and into my room. “Dana? Where are we going?”

“To the barbeque, silly!”
She sings, ignoring the poor state of my bare bedroom as she delves into my wardrobe in search of an outfit, humming to herself. “Damn girl, do you have anything in here that isn’t jeans and hoodies?”

I roll my eyes and flop back on my bed, my eyes drifting shut as she defaces my wardrobe. I’m almost asleep when I’m jolted back to life with a “ah ha!” from Dana as she throws something at my face.

“Cute clothes!
Score!”
She cheers, dragging me up from the bed.

I wrinkle my nose at what she’s picked out – faded shorts and a floral vest top. Where the heck did these come from? “I am
not
wearing this.”

She snorts, putting her hands on her hips as she glares at me. “Um, yes, you are. Now
  
go get ready; I expect you to be beautiful by the time we’re leaving.”

“Easy for you to say,
”
 
I
grumble, snatching the clothes and storming to the bathroom. She’s wearing a red corset and black miniskirt today, with ripped fishnet tights and bikers boots. Dana is used to showing skin: me, not so much.

After a fast shower, I’m wearing the dreaded clothes and I am sat on the bed as Dana brushes my damp hair and dries it with the towel. “The sun will dry it in no time, and your hair will be lovely and wavy,” she explains, not even batting an eyelid when I tell her I can’t use the hairdryer.

I just don’t want to wake up dad. By ten thirty, Dana declares me beautiful with sparkling eyes and her hands clasped together. I roll my eyes and push her jokingly, before bracing myself and looking in the mirror.

I gues
s I look better; my hair is dark and wavy, my eyes are bright and I don’t look too horrible in the girly clothes. Before I can fully take it in, Dana has grabbed my arm and is dragging me down the stairs and out of the house.

“Come on,
chica
!” She sings, “Let’s go have some
fun!
”

The barbeque had more people than I had expected – and I didn’t know any of them. Dana and I ended up sitting near the pond at the park where it was being held, laughing and splashing each other every now and then. I was finally starting to relax when somebody sits next to me and puts an arm around my shoulder.

“Oh, hey Tyler,” Dana chirps, winking at me and smirking.
“Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hi Dana,” he nods at her, his eyes turning back to me as he grins. “So, you made it.”

I nod, “yup.” I have to bite my lip to prevent me from saying obviously, but by the look on his face, he’s already figured it out on his own. Dana is smirking as she watches us, before she jumps up suddenly, making me start.

“Well, I’m off to… mingle,” she says with mischief sparkling in her eyes. “See you guys later!” I watch in horror as she walks away, turning back to wink at me and mouth
I want details!
before
leaving me on my own with Tyler Masters

Tyler looks down at me and smiles. “Y’know, I’m glad you could come,” he tells me honestly, his cheeks looking flushed. “I was hoping we could talk about yesterday..?”

I gulp, my eyes looking up into his as my heart starts to thump heavily. “Oh, right.” I go silent, entranced by the glow of his eyes as I try to figure out what I should say.
“So, what about it?”

He frowns – clearly that wasn’t the response he was expecting. “Well, actually, I enjoyed it, and I was hoping we could do that again.”

I jump up, my cheeks burning. “Oh!
Really?
Because I was thinking that that could complicate things and we really don’t want that, do we? I mean, I thought we were friends.” I take a deep breath, my eyes meeting his again as I cover up the reluctance that’s screaming inside me. “So… I’ve gotta go and find Dana. I’ll – I’ll go now.”

I mumble the last bit, turning away quickly so that he can’t see me cringing. I clench my fists, but before I can take a step, a hand grabs mine.

“Darcy?” He says, his voice making me turn around to look at him. His face is stoic, meaning I can’t tell what he’s about to do. But his intentions are mad clear when his other hand reaches out to cup my face, the hand holding mine pulling me closer.

“I wasn’t asking,” he states, before leaning down and kissing me.

Twelve

That night, I couldn’t get that damn kiss out of my mind. In fact, the whole night was on replay in my mind – again and again, making my want to scream.

The kiss was slow at first, his lips barely moving against mine. It was hesitant, nervous. When he realised I wasn’t moving, he smiled against my lips and pressed harder against them, causing me to gasp. He took the opportunity to put his tongue in my mouth, licking my bottom lip from corner to corner until I moaned, my own tongue moving out to touch his, making me delirious.

We parted after a long while, both of us panting for breath as we stared into each other’s’ eyes. Our cheeks were flushed and our swollen lips were spread into wide, crazy smiles.

I giggled, my eyes widening at the strange sound coming from myself – I had never giggled before in my life. He’d chuckled softly at my expression, pecking my lips quickly. His arms tightened around my waist, one of his hands moving up to play with my hair.

“You know, I’ve wanted to do that for a while now,” he told me. “And it was just as amazing as I’d imagined.”

And then, I giggled again, for the second time that night.
“Really?”

He nods, his smile growing wider – if that was even possible.
“Really.”

“Me too,” I admitted quietly, my eyes flashing a little in surprise at that realisation. “I’ve wanted to kiss you too.”

On the ride home, Dana had teased me endlessly, her eyes sparkling as she watched my blush returning. “Hey!” She’d called out the window when I’d gotten out at my house. “Don’t be embarrassed – I think it’s cute that you’ve finally opened up to him! I think he’ll be good for you!”

I’d just smiled, before opening the front door and watching as she drove off.

Now, I was lying in bed, a pile of unfinished homework on my bedside table and a half-f glass of water next to it. My eyes were sparkling as I thought once again about Tyler Masters, before they grew heavy, and eventually, I fell asleep.

“Hey, Darcy?
Can I talk to you for a second?” I turn around with a small frown, my eyes almost blinded by the sight of bright green hair. I gasp.

“Remy? What have you doin?” I ask, shock evident in my voice. “I almost dropped my books!”

Her eyes water and she makes a little squeaky noise. “I know, okay? It was supposed to be subtle streaks, but the pink made it spread and my sister – argh! I
hate
her!” She bursts angrily, grabbing my arms and pulling me into the girls’ bathrooms.

I turn around to see her ripping a piece of towel from the dispenser to wipe her eyes, her lips pouted slightly. “Do you want to talk about it?” I ask her gently. She nods, and I wait for her to calm down.

“Sorry,” she laughs breathily. “I don’t usually explode like that. It’s just – my sister is back from university for a break, and, well, she hates my guts.” She shrugs at me with a resigned look on her face, before her eyes start to shimmer with mirth.
“Anyways – enough about me!
How was your weekend, babes?”

A flush comes from one of the cubicles and a girl with crazy red hairs walks out and gives us a funny look as she washes her hands. Remy winks and me mischieviously and I roll my eyes.

“I missed you so much, you know, baby. I dreamt about you every night…” she drawls, smirking when the girls’ eyes widen. “Do you want me to tell you what we were doing in my dreams? Well…” We watch as the girl practically runs out of the bathroom.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” I laugh.

Remy is bent over, eyes again for a completely different reason this time.

“So, are you alright, now?” I ask her, serious again. I pick my books up off the counter and clutch them to my chest, my eyes searching hers for anything. But, Remy is a master at acting, and the grin is firmly on her face as she loops her arm through mine and skips out of the bathrooms, humming melodically.

“Why, of course I am,” she sings, winking at me. “I have the best girlfriend in the world!”

Someone growls playfully behind us, and
a pair of arms lift
me up, making me scream as my feet loose contact with the ground and my books fly out of my arms. I turn around with a glare, my eyes meeting warm hazel ones alight with glee.

“Tyler!” I snap, smiling gratefully at Remy when she hands me my books back with a smirk.

“Darcy!” He mimics me with a grin, draping an arm around my shoulders. “Gee, calm down, Grumpy, and put a smile on your face. Today is the best day ever!
Now; as me why.”

“No,” I groan, rolling my eyes at him.

“Go on! Ask me why!” He demands, stepping forward in front of me and putting his hands on my shoulders.

“
Tyler.
Can’t we just get to class before we’re late?” I plead, pouting at him.

He sighs, kissing me quickly before pulling away with a smirk. “We will, when you ask me why.”

I sigh, giving up. “Why?” I ask him, my lips drawn downwards.

He grins at me, turning back so he can wrap his arm around me and walk me to class.
“Because
today
we are going on our very first date.”

“What? I never agreed to this!” I yelp. He chuckles against my ear as he nibbles it, smirking against my skin.

“That’s because I wanted to surprise you. Now come on – you’re making me late for class!”

Oh my god, I groan internally as I let him pull me to class. What have I gotten myself in to?

Have lunch with me.

I purse my lips at the scrap of paper, my eyes moving to where Tyler is sat with his friends, his eyes watching me carefully, a small smile on his face.
I small back, before sliding the note off the table and carrying on with my work.

Did you get my note?

I look at it and frown. Seriously, how persistent can a guy get? I do the same with this note, too.

Come one, I know you got that one!

I sigh irritably, my eyes narrowed as I one again push it off my desk so that I can carry on with my notes before Mrs Berkins notices that I’m a little behind and decides to lecture me.

Another note slides onto my table, the girl next to me not even bothered that she’s playing messenger as she doodles in the margins of the paper.

Hey! I SAW you throw that away just then!

A small giggle escapes my lips and I cover my mouth quickly, my eyes flashing up to meet Tyler’s as he smirks proudly at me, winking. Soon, another note is passed to me, the girl sighing with effort despite the bored look on her face.

So… does this mean you’ll lunch with me?

Finally, I give up, rolling my eyes as I write YES!
in
capital letters and passing it to the girl to give back to Tyler.

“Finally!”
She moans at me from the corner of her mouth. “I thought you were never going to reply!”

After class, Tyler waits for me so we can walk together to the cafeteria. He takes my hand and looks at me, as if to see if it’s alright. I smile at him, stretching up so I can kiss his cheek, my cheeks going red. He beams at me, triumph flashing in his eyes as we walk to lunch.

“So,” he says as we sit down, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. “I’m glad you decided to ask me to have lunch with you.”

Thirteen

“Put your head to the side – No, the left!
My
left!”

“Don’t you yell at
me!
It’s not
my
fault you coated my ear with pink dye! Now it’ll look like I have Pink Ear or something!” Remy screeches back at her.

 
“There is no such thing, you idiot! Now, move.
Your head.
To the left,” Dana says through gritted teeth.

“Stop telling me what to do!” Remy yells in a high pitched voice, her face going red.

Dana growls at her, her fists clenching tightly around the dye bottle and almost squeezing it to death. I quickly intervene, taking the bottle out of her hands and putting it on her counter.

“You guys need to calm down,” I tell them with a roll of my eyes.

“Yeah!”
Joey’s voice calls from where he’s sat at the table, his eyes glued to his phone. “I can’t hear my phone beep, and I’m falling behind with my messages; stop being so hormonal!”

Remy groans, looking up at me with a pout and narrowed eyes. “Darcy, can you dye my hair for me? Dana can’t seem to do it properly.” She shoots a quick glare at her friend before turning back to me with a sweet, innocent smile on her face.