Oh, But You're An Explosion

That night I was on the phone with my mom when he text me. I was going to ignore it, but my mom told me to look.

"Oh, come on, Anna! Just give the poor boy a chance! You never know; he might be the one." she said for the second time. "He can't be that bad."

I laughed. "Mom, you have no idea."

"Oh, shut up and text him back." she laughed. I groaned and looked at the phone.

Me + you = downtown. Meet me outside.

"Moooom! This is all your fault!" I groaned, texting him back. Yeah, yeah. Hold on for like... five minutes.

I instantly got a reply back. Ok. I'm outside.

I looked out my window and, sure enough, he was sitting in his car on the other side of the street, closing his phone. My mouth hung open. Was all this really necessary?

"What? What's all my fault?" my mom asked, a noise erupting on the other end of the line. "Oh, damn! I dropped the fucking thing... again. Congrats, Daph. You're a failure." she laughed, talking to herself. I rolled my eyes.

"He wants me to sneak out with him again. I don't wanna', mom! And it's all your fault because you said I could come out here!" I whined, pulling on some pants.

She laughed. "Oh, please. You know you wanted to get out of here. You're no Laguna Beach type-of-girl, Anna. You're a Portland girl through-and-through." She had a point there. I definately didn't stick out in a crowd here; in Laguna I was the black sheep.

"Yeah. Okay. Well, I'm going to go hang out with this idiot. I'll call you some other time, ma." I mumbled, slipping on my flats and heading for my bedroom door.

"Oh, yay! Okay! Tell me how the date goes! Love you, bye!" she shouted happily.

"Ma, it's not a-" I was cut off by the dialtone.

[--]

We sat on the grass by the water. The large bridge leading into the city was in view and I couldn't help but be amazed by the lights that shone against the night sky. It was dark where we sat; so dark the only thing I could see was Oli sitting next to me, sipping at his Pepsi that he got from a 7-11 on the way here.

It was actually quiet between the two of us. There was no bickering, no fighting, just silence as we watched absolutely nothing. It wasn't an awkward silence; it was more like an enjoyable silence... something I never thought I'd get with Oli in the same city as me.

"Do you like Portland?" Oli asked from next to me, interrupting the peaceful silence.

I licked my lips and pulled my hoodie futher up my head. "It's alright. I mean, I wouldn't mind moving, but it's okay for now." I sighed, looking at him with my peripherals; he was already looking at me. I bit the inside of my cheek, leaning over my lap and sighing. "Do you like it here?"

He smirked. "About the same, really. I don't mind visiting every now-and-then. I usually just come here because of Adam and Erin. They're pretty good friends of mine."

That sparked something I've been meaning to ask him. "Oh. How did you meet Adam and Erin, anyways?"

"Well," he started, smiling, "I was here with my brother, Tom, having a vacation from Sheffield. I decided I wanted to go partying on my own and set out to find a place. I stumbled across this shit bar that actually let me in, though I was only nineteen at the time. I got completely wasted and Adam and Erin somehow bumped into my when I was walking down the street and drove me to my hotel room. I don't remember much of it, but they called the next day and got Tom, asking if I was alright. We've been cool ever since."

I laughed. "Figures. They're so nice."

Oli turned towards me. "How did you meet them?" I laughed, turning towards him, and relayed the story of Erin breaking my face with the record store door. He laughed the entire time. "That sounds... not very surprising."

" 'Cause it's not. We got along perfectly ever since." I laughed, looking down at my finger nails. I started picking at them nervously. I knew exactly why I was nervous; I was actually having a human conversation with Oli... and I wasn't minding it. I wanted to punch him in the face and call him a whore so he'd act like he usually does, but he'd probably just laugh at me... and I don't want to hear that amazing laugh. It would only make me melt inside.

The silence erupted again, but this time it was an awkward silence. But, thank God, my phone started ringing in my pocket the second that he opened his mouth.

I took it out and looked at the caller-ID. It was Erin.

"Yes?" I answered, smiling.

She laughed. "Where are you?"

My eyes bugged. "Uh... nowhere."

"You're with Oli, aren't you?" she asked, an obvious sense of happiness in her voice. I groaned and she laughed. "I'll take that as a yes." Pause. "Who drove?"

I thought for a second. Why? No idea. I knew Oli drove. "Um, Oli."

"Okaaay. Where are you guys?"

I looked at Oli, mouthing 'where are we?'. He just laughed and snatched the phone from me. I tuned out their conversation and started yanking grass out of the ground... piece by piece. It was distracting and very time-consuming, so don't laugh.

"They're meeting us here." Oli said, handing me my phone.

I took it and shoved it in my pocket. "Who? Adam and Erin?"

"Yeah. And Curtis and Trisha."

"Oh. Okay."

"You want to go back to the car and wait?" he asked, standing up."

I shrugged. "Sure."

He offered me his hand and I took it.

[--]

Loud noise was blasting from the speakers when Adam's car pulled up next to us. I could only guess that they had gone out drinking. I looked at Oli and he shrugged. We were both thinking the same thing.

Adam knocked on my window with a goofy smile on his face. "Open up da windooow!" I rolled it down and he placed a loud, wet kiss on my cheek. "Anna!"

I gave him an odd look. "Yes?"

"How are yah, Dollface?" Adam shouted, leaning into the window and kissing Oli's hand. I rose an eyebrow at the act as he continued to talk to Oli, already forgetting that he had asked me how I was.

Erin hopped in the backseat, laughing. "We went to a party and he... experimented slightly. He's been like this the entire way here."

I gave him a disapproving glare. "Wow. That's kind of dumb."

She laughed. "Yeah. I know. But hey, he's having fun, isn't he? Tomorrow he's going to feel like shit and I'll get to say 'I told ya' so!', so it doesn't really bother me all that much anymore."

I laughed. "Yeah. I guess you've got a point."

Oli looked at me oddly. "Do you want to go home?"

I nodded quickly, whispering, "yeah."

[--]

When we pulled up out front my house I smiled at Oli "Thanks for getting me out of there. I just... feel kind of odd around people that do drugs. My step-dad had a problem with all of that and-"

He kissed me.

"It's okay. Just get some sleep." he said, breaking the kiss. I nodded stupidly, getting out of the car and floating all the way to my bedroom. I didn't remember the walk by the time I layed down in my bed, but that kiss haunted my dreams the entire night.