Love Among the Pizza Boxes

Barf.
Work.
Somehow it always seems to ruin my life.
I sound like a whiney teenager so I’m going to stop now.
I sigh and start the Pizzamobile.
So Shayla and I haven’t left the park yet.
And I really don’t want to leave.
Shayla sighs from the passengers’ seat. “…So… Just take me home?”
I blink.
Nod nod.
Sigh.
“Yeah.”
“Thanks.”
So now we’re driving to Shayla’s house.
It’s pretty quiet until we get into Shayla’s driveway and she’s just getting out of the car, but then she leans back into the car, ducking her head below the hood. “Hey- Why don’t you come by the observatory tonight. After work.”
I smile a little. “I’d like that.”
I sound like such a girl.
Damn my conscience.
“I’ll see you at the observatory then.”
“Yeah.” She smiles and quickly kisses my cheek.
And I don’t know why – because she’s done it a million times before - …. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But still.
Anyways.
So I don’t know why but it makes me blush.
And grin like a child.
A stupid little child.
“You’re so cute.”
Blush…
Blush, blush, blush.
She giggles and waves a bit.
I look up at her because I was looking at my shoes.
I have huge feet.
And I wave back at her.
“I’ll see you tonight.”
And with that, she shuts the door.
Work.
Barf.
...
“Riku?”
I blink and look up because I was staring at my feet again.
Beth?
She looks… I dunno.
Serious.
She looks really serious.
Which is weird because usually she’s not.
“Yeah, Beth?”
She takes a deep breath. “You said my dad works in your apartment, right?”
I nod. “Yeah… Why?”
“I… Can I…” Her uni-brow gathers in the middle and she looks at the ground. “Can I see him? …Sometime?”
“Uh.”
I don’t know why she’s asking my permission.
It really isn’t my business.
“Yeah, you can.” I nod a little. “But you don’t have to ask me. You can just… see him.”
“But… I don’t know. I mean – I haven’t seen him for months. I, uh…” She scratches her wrist and mumbles, “I don’t want to go alone.”
“Oh.” My eyes widen a little. “You want… me to come with you?”
“Well, yeah…” Beth looks back up at me and she looks small and vulnerable. “Will you?”
“Uh… Yeah.” That almost comes out as a question.
Silence.
I almost expect the phone to ring.
“Riku?”
“Yeah?”
Beth smiles and puts her hat back on. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” I say.
But she probably doesn’t hear me because she went into the kitchen.
…….
So now I’m at the observatory.
I don’t know why, but I’m nervous.
Nervousness is not a fun thing to have.
It means sweaty palms and stuttering and shaking and blinking a lot and putting my foot in my mouth.
So I take a deep breath and I knock on the observatory door.
Which is weird because it’s a public place and I could’ve just as easily walked in.
Stupid Riku. You’re so flippin’ smart.
So then I walk in.
Shayla’s standing in the hallway with her eyebrows raised. “Uh… Hey.” She waves a little with a bit of smirk and takes a small step forward. “Come on.” She gestures to further down the hall that’s pretty much pitch black. The only light that’s on is dim and just above the door.
I sigh and scratch the back of my head. “Yeah…”
And with that I follow her.
She laughs a little and takes a soft hold of my hand.
She flicks on the flashlight in her other hand and we make our way down the hallway.
“So where’re we going?” I ask, trying to fill the dark silence.
Because I don’t like the silence.
Nor the dark. Because dark reminds me of lonely. And lonely isn’t a good feeling to have when you’re with your girlfriend.
“Mmm… You’ll see,” Shayla says with a quick wink at me.
At the end of the hall there’s a set of big, black doors.
Shayla turns off the flashlight and it’s very dark.
“Close your eyes.”
I want to ask why. But I don’t.
Because this is a movie moment and I don’t want to ruin it.
My conscience is a girl.
I close my eyes.
I can hear Shayla opening the door and then I feel her hand grasping my arm.
I let myself be tugged into the room.
“Open ‘em.”
So I open my eyes.
And it’s pitch black still.
Except then I realize that it’s not and I look up.
Above us is the night sky, crystal clear.
There are so many more stars than I ever knew there were.
Maybe that’s because it’s projected onto the ceiling of the observatory.
But it’s pretty nonetheless.
And I sound like a girl but I don’t really care because that’s the only way to describe it, really.
Shayla’s hand is still on my arm.
And now we’re going towards a platform at the center of the room with what I assume is the projector on top.
Shayla climbs on top of it and then lays down.
I blink a couple of times.
Then I climb up there and lay down next to her.
Then I look over at Shayla.
She isn’t looking up at the stars.
She just has her eyes closed with a faint smile on her face.
So I smile back at her even though she isn’t smiling at me.
And I gently take her hand in mine.
She opens her eyes and turns her head to me and looks me straight in the eyes and she smiles.
She just smiles.
And that makes me smile.
Then she closes her eyes and again and breathes out and it sounds like she’s deciding something.
I wonder what she’s thinking.
I wish I could read minds sometime.
Like Edward.
No.
Not like Edward.
Because Edward is a pixie who drinks animal blood.
… Yes. Pixie.
“Riku?”
“Shayla,” I say in reply, my voice just over a whisper.
“Can you do something for me?”
I blink and nod at the same time.
That was weird.
“This is uh… Can you?... Riku, would you kiss me?”
And so I do.
And my free hand instinctively comes up to rest on her cheek.
And her hand is lightly brushing the side of my neck.
So after a little while my hand travels from her face to the back of her neck, where I sort of twirl the little hairs back there with my fingers.
Shayla giggles a little and pulls back. “That tickles,” she whispers.
My crooked smile comes out from hiding and I kiss her again.
And she kisses back, holding my head in her hand.
Laying on my side is getting a little uncomfortable, so I reposition myself.
Oh, look.
I’m straddling Shay’s hips.
Sort of.
Shayla takes a sharp breath and presses her lips harder to mine, gathering the back of my shirt in both her hands.
And I don’t know why, but it’s at this time that I decide to remember that Shayla’s tongue is ticklish.
So I go on ahead and tickle it a little, just to see her reaction.
Shayla laughs breathily, but doesn’t pull back.
She draws herself closer to me and takes more part in the tickling.
Something is taking over me.
Something… Strange.
Some wave of emotion or instinct that’s lapping at my toes and slowly washing over me.
It makes me feel so strange, almost out of control.
I don’t know if I like this feeling or not.
But I’m not doing anything to stop it.
And I don’t know if I’m making the right decision by not doing anything to stop it.
So maybe I should.
But something’s holding me back from stopping it.
Shayla’s snaking her hands up the back of my shirt now, but then she suddenly stops. She pulls away from my mouth and stops her hands at my shoulder blades.
“Can I?” She whispers.
For a second her question goes straight over my head.
Oh.
I nod. “Yeah,” I whisper back.
Shayla nods back and strips my T-shirt from off my back and she throws it behind her.
Then she smiles and leans her head down and softly runs her teeth down my neck.
She slips her hands to my stomach and strokes the area just above my waistband.
…
Riku, you aren’t allowed.
Riku, I won’t let you.
Aww, dang.
That’s a funny noise coming from me.
I didn’t just do that.
Nope.
…
But I did.
So then I just tangle my hands in her hair – which, by the way, seems much softer than usual.
Shayla’s mouth now ventures further down. She plants little kisses across my collarbone, then she goes back up and kisses along my jaw.
I take this opportunity to catch her lips with mine again to distract myself from her hands.
It doesn’t really work.
But now her hands aren’t on me, but rather on her shirt, slowly undoing the buttons as she continues to place little kisses along my jaw and neck.
Oh.
Okay.
So then I help her with her shirt.
My fingers are fumbling all over the place.
She laughs aloud and finally slips out of the fabric, revealing a black bra and a layer of goose bumps.
And then my hands travel up and down her stomach gently, almost out of instinct.
Then I realize that a lot of the things I’m doing are by instinct.
Then Shayla pulls back to look me in the eyes, her breathing shallow. And she grabs both my hands and slowly drags them up and up and- Oh my.
Oh my.
.....
Oh my.
I'm feeling her up.
But there's something in my way...
Her bra.
So I decide to get rid of it.
But I'm having some issues getting the clasp undone.
The people who design bras should make them come undone a little more easy.
That way I don't look like a complete retard here.
But no.
I'm making myself look really inexperienced at this...
Maybe that's because I am.
Aw God.
...
Victory is mine.
I smile a small smile of triumph as the bra clasp comes undone.
Shayla smiles back, showing just the bottoms of her teeth. Then she slides the straps off, throws her bra a few feet away, and puts my hands back on her with a little sigh.
My eyes widen a little.
They feel so different without a bra on.
...
So what I do next is a little awkward to explain through words...
But at least I made her moan... Right?