Sequel: Milestones: Commitment ›
Milestones: Teenagers
Chapter Eleven
I stood on Rita's front walk with her as we stood there waiting. She'd gotten her mother to push their departure back by a cuople house so she could say goodbye to Brian, who was released from the holding cell at the station at 10:30. It was already almost 11, and Rita and her mother wre supposed to leave at 11:30.
"Whereis he?" Rita asked, getting impatient, though I didn't blame her.
"He'll be here," I said, reassuring her that Brian wouldn't blow her off. As soon as I finished my sentence, Brian's care came into sight. He stepped on the breaks and parked on the side of the road, not even bothering to turn off his car.
"I amso sorry I'm late. I had to walk to my house to get my car," he said as he came up to us on the front walk. Rita nodded, a sad smile on her face, and Brian engulfed her in a hug.
We all jumped when the silence around us was broken by the sound of shattering glass and then yelling. Rita shuddered and shut her eyes as she sighed. The yelling grew louder and it was coming from inside; it was Rita's parents. Suddenly the front door slammed open and Rita's mother came power-walking toward us.
"I'm sorry Rita, but we have to gonow," she said, and then went toward her van.
"But Mom-" Rita called after her.
"I can't stay here another minute, Rita. Please," her mother sighed, and then walked around to the driver's side door and got in.
Rita turned back to us, lookin even sadder, if possible. "I gotta go, guys," she said, and I nodded. Brian hugged her once more and kissed her cheek.
"You have my number if you wanna talk or anything," he said when he pulled away.
Rita nodded. "I will." She then gave me a hug.
"You take care of yourself okay?" I asked, and she pulled away and smiled sadly again. She nodded and took a step back from us.
"Maybe I can convince my mom to let me come visit in the summer or something," she suggested. "I gotta go guys. Bye," she said. Brian and I waved to her as she got in the passenger seat of the van. The vehicle started up and back out of the driveway. Rita waved one last time, and we waved back before they drove away.
Brian and I just stood there for a moment or two in silence. Footsteps sounded on the porch behind us. "You kids best be getting on home," came the voice of Rita's father.
"You want a ride?"
"Yeah thanks," I said, and followed Brian over to his car. The ride was quiet the entire way to my house. When he pulled up in my driveway, I hesitated. "You'll be okay, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine.... it's not like it was some huge serious year-long relationship. Areyou gonna be okay?" he joked back.
I chuckled. "Yes, I'll be find. I'll see you at school Monday, Brian," I said, and then got out of the car and walked to my door.
A week had passed since Rita left us. Brian and I were back to hanging out a lot. I liked having a guy friend who I wasn't romantically involved with. I'd never had one of those before. It had almost become a norm for Brian, Matt, Val, and I to hang out at my house which was the case that Friday.
"Guys, we should do something tonight," Val suggested while we were all huddled around the TV. Matt, Brian, and I were all playing Perfect Dark on the Nintendo64 while Val sat on the couch. She wasn't too big on video games.
"Like what?" Brian asked, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"Well there's a school dance tonight at eight," she suggested. The three of us didn't even bother to pause the game before turning to give her blank stares.
"Well, I have to babysit tonight at six, so I can't go... Not that I'd want to," I said.
"School dance? Definitely not going," Brian said, making a face.
"Matty..." my sister said, pouting. He sighed.
"Alright, I'll go with youm" he mumbled.
"Good," Val said, and then came up behind him where he was sat on the floor. She bent down and whispered in his ear, and then Matt stood up.
"You guys play without me. I'm.... yeah," he said, and then the two of them headed upstairs.
I rolled my eyes and looked at Brian. "It never stops with them does it?" I laughed.
He scoffed. "Teenagers..."
I laughed again. "Like you're one to talk," I said.
"Hey now, I haven't gotten laid in about five months, thanks," Brian retorted.
"Oh really?"
"Yep."
"So you and Rita...?"
"Nope."
"Oh," I said, and then the two of us continued with our game. We changed it so we were working together to beat the game.
"So um.... when do you get off babysitting?" Brian asked, breaking the silence.
"Not sure. It's never the same every time. I'd imagine sometime around eleven, but that's just a guess. Why?" I asked back.
"Well, since I'm not going to the lame school dance with your lame sister and her lame boyfriend," Brian said, and then I laughed, "then we should go do something when you get home. Maybe go see a late movie or something."
"Sure. How about I come throw rocks at your window when I get back?" I laughed softly. I saw Brian smile out of the corner of my eye.
"Or, you know, the front door always works," he said, knowing I was only kidding.
"Okay." We continued to play Perfect Dark for awhile while Valary and Matt were busy upstairs. The phone started to ring so I paused the game and got up to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hi Shelley, it's Mom," came the voice on the other end. I smiled and walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, how's it going up in San Fran?"
"It's pretty good. We're leaving in a couple minutes, so I just wanted to call to let you know that we're coming home tonight."
"Oh, does that mean Nana's okay now?" I asked as I watched Brian enter the kitchen and open the fridge. He pulled out a can of Pepsi and stood there as he took a drink.
"Yeah, she's doing much better. So you'll be there when we get home tonight?" she asked quickly.
"Um, depends on when that is. I'm babysiting tonight and then Brian and I are going out afterwards," I said as I leaned against the doorway, facing the living room.
"You and Brian, huh?" my mother asked, and I could tell she had a smug smile on her face.
"Yes... why?" I asked, smiling to myself.
"Like, as a date, or-?"
"No, just as friends," I said, and I didn't notice Brian standing behind me until I felt him blow into my ear. "Ahh -- stop that," I laughed.
"What was that?" my mother asked.
"It's Brian, he seems to like interrupting my phonecalls with you," I said, and stuck my tongue out at Brian. He crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out as well. I laughed again; it was a cute face.
"Brian's there?" my mom asked, sounding highly amused.
"Yeah he's here, we've been playing video games since we got home from school."
"Okay. Well, I gotta go, your father is trying to push me out the door... you know how he is," she laughed. "Love you sweetie."
"Love you too mom, see you tonight<" I said and then hung up. I looked at Brian and glared before laughing.
"Oh, you liked it, don't lie. Totally turned you on," he smiled as he left the kitcen and took a seat in the living room, grabbing the controller. I took my place next to him and we started the game again for a few minutes before I had to leave.
I cursed myself when I got back in the spare car my parents left for Val and me if we needed it for something. The clock already read 12:36 in the morning, and I'd just gotten out of babysitting. It took me a solid ten minutes to drive back home, and when I pulled into the driveway, I saw Brian's car there, and he was sitting on the steps of my house, smoking a cigarette. I pulled into the garage and turned the car off, walking up to him.
"How long have you been sitting there?" I asked quietlu, taking a seat next to him on the top step.
"About fifteen minutes... I cam over to see if you stood me up or something, but you really weren't home so that made me feel loads better," he said as he smiled, handing me the cigarette. I took a drag from it and gave it back.
"Why would you ever get stood up?" I chuckled. "You don't seem like the kind of guy who gets turned down a lot."
"You'd be surprised, actually," Brian said quietly, running his hands through his hair.
"Well, those girls are crazy or something. You still wanna go to that movie?" I asked, and Brian finished the cigarette before crushing it under his foot.
"If you want to," he replied with a shrug. I stood up.
"Okay, let's go then," I said, and I pulled Brian to his feet. "Aren't Matt and Val back from the dance?" I asked, noticing all the lights off. My parents still weren't home either.
"Nope, they are staying at Matt's tonight," Brian said and then started the car, taking us to the theatre.
It was almost 3 in the morning when Brian and I walked out of the theatre after the 1 o'clock showing of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. The parking lot was virtually empty and I couldn't stop laughing as we walked out of the building.
"Ohmygod, I loved the part with the thing... when they did that thing, with the thing. YOu know what I'm talking about?" I laughed, and started twirling around in the grass by the sidewalk around the outside of the theatre.
Brian laughed at me. "You'll have to specify, my dear. What are you doing?" he asked.
"Dancing, duh. What does it look like?" I said, and then Brian laughed harder as I lost my footing and fell down. I rolled onto my back and laughed as I looked up at the night sky. Brian leaned over me.
"Are you okay? Did yo uhave some drinks while you were babysitting?" he asked.
I took a deep breath. "I'm fine Brian, and I'm completely sober. I'm just in such a good mood and I don't know why. I mean, I don't think I've ever felt this way before in my entire life," I said in all seriousness as I looked at Brian's face. I couldn't figure out where such an uplifting feeling was coming from, but I didn't ever want it to leave me. After a few moments of shared silence, I burst out laughing again. "Oh, listen to me. Help me up?" I asked as I held my arms up for Brian to take. He grasped my hands in his and quickly pulled me up. The feeling grew stronger and I got lightheaded from getting up so fast. I stumbled forward, ending up closer to Brian and his face was right near mine when I looked up. The laughter died down again, and we just stood there for a second or so. I hadn't realized that when I stumbled, I had placed my arms around Brian's neck to hold myself up, or that his hands were resting comfortably on my hips to steady me.
I watched Brian's eyes closely as they flickered down to my lips and then back up again. He cleared his throat. "Uh, I should probably get you home now. It's late," he said as he pushed me away slightly.
I nodded, placing my hair behind my ears and pulling my jacket closer around me. "Yeah, okay," I said, and we made our way to his car in silence.
When Brian pulled up alongside my house, he offered to be a gentleman and walk me to my door, which I thought was a sweet gesture.
"Well, I don't need to ask if you had a good time, cuz the scene you pulled earlier kinda confirmed that," he chuckled. I smiled and nodded.
"I did. I had a great time. You know... we should really do that more often... just me and you hang out, you know?" I suggested.
"We should, shouldn't we?" Brian chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, thank you for the movie, and for throwing popcorn in my hair," I smiled. "I'll see you at school Monday."
"Alright. See you," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets as I turned to the front door. I turned the knob and had it open for a split second before I felt Brian's hand around my wrist. "Wait," he said, and pulled me back. I spun around, not knowing what he wanted, and then felt his lips collide with mine.
My eyes widened as I felt him apply more pressure and wrap his arms around me, pulling me closer. I relaxed after a moment when I realized the giddy feeling I had felt all night was growing, and closed my eyes.
After a couple seconds I slightly parted my lips, feeling Brian graze them with his tongue. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his tongue pushed into my mouth, and he started to push me backwards. My back hit the doorway, my side brushing the unlatched door, causing it to swing open. I moaned as Brian expertly massaged his tongue with mine. I didn't even hear the footsteps coming down the stairs, I was so focused on the good feeling and Brian.
Suddenly the light of the living room snapped on. "What the hell?"
Brian and I jumped, pulling apart. Val was stood there in her pajamas. "I uh, I thought you and Matt were staying at his place," Brian said, clearing his throat.
"Well, we were, and then we decided to come here instead. What the hell are you doing here at 3 in the morning?" she asked, looking tired as hell.
"Uhm, nothing," I said, and turned to Brian, who mouthed a 'goodbye' to me. "Bye," I whispered back and he left, a rather nice blush on his cheeks. I closed the front door behind him.
"Okay, were you seriously just making out with Brian or were my eyes deceiving me?" Val asked. I didn't answer. "Are you guys dating?"
"No... we just went to see a late movie at 1 when I came home from work," I said, explaining her other question.
"...Oh."
"Mom and Dad home?"
"Yeah, they're upstairs sleeping," Val said and then turned to go to the stairs. "G'night Michelle," she mumbled, going back up the stairs. I shut off all the lights and headed up after her, thinking of nothing except Brian and his mindblowing kiss.