With These Words

“Bye,” Jonathan gave me a quick awkward hug. “Thanks for all the candy.”

“Yeah,” I nodded and ran my hand through my hair. “Thanks for the pizza.”

“No prob,” he smiled. He turned to Kyle and slapped him on the back. “Next Thursday, bro, we’re gunna kill it.”

“Fo sho!” Kyle flipped his hood up over his head and rocked back and forth on his feet. “You ready to go?” He looked down at me.

“Clearly she’s not,” Caleb answered for me. He smiled and ambled up to me. “I’ll catch you later, Georgia,” he spread his arms out for a hug.

“Um,” I avoided looking at Kyle as I wrapped my arms around Caleb’s middle.

He instantly pulled my closer so my cheek was pressed to his chest. “I promise we’ll have that putt-putt date soon,” he laughed lightly.

“Yep,” I unclasped my hands, preparing myself to end the hug as quickly as it started. Caleb, on the other hand, had different plans.

He gave me another squeeze before gently pushing me away so I was arm-distance away from him, his hands firmly on my biceps. He smiled cheekily. “You want a ride home on my bike?”

“Kyle’s kind of giving me a ride…” I spoke slowly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kyle sigh and lean against the wall. He pulled his mouth up to one side and folded his arms over his chest. “I think we’re going to go hang out or something.”

“Oh?” Caleb frowned. He sounded surprised.

“Sorry?” I looked at his hands, hoping he’d take the hint that I needed to leave. He didn’t.

“You wanna hang out with me later?” he asked, his smile returning.

“What?” He took me off guard. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. “I don’t…well I mean…”

“Not tonight,” he rubbed my bare shoulders with his thumbs. “Maybe like…tomorrow?” He shrugged.

“Maybe,” I nodded.

“Maybe,” he repeated with a grin.

“Bye, Georgia!” Austin called from the kitchen. He waved and poured himself another glass of grape soda.

“Bye,” I smiled weakly.

“Yeah,” Caleb shifted so he was in my sight again. “Bye, Georgia.” He squeezed my arms and finally released me. “Call me.”

“Yep,” I pushed my hair behind my ear and nodded.

“You ready?” Kyle sighed from behind me.

“Yep,” I echoed myself.

“Good.” He placed his hand on my back and pushed me towards the door. “Later,” he told his friends before we headed outside.

We climbed inside his jeep and Kyle pulled his door shut with a loud slam. “God,” he rested his forehead on the steering wheel. He swiveled so he was facing me. “He’s so annoying.”

“Caleb?” Stupid question. Of course he was talking about Caleb.

“He’s always…touching you, talking to you, getting in your face…” He sighed. “It’s weird.”

I hadn’t found Caleb annoying. Sure, he was kind of…friendly maybe, but the only thing that was awkward was Kyle and Caleb together. They were clearly stepping on each others toes.

“He’s is kind of a close-talker…” I tried to participate in his rant.

He laughed. “I’m sorry. That must suck that’s always like ‘right here’.” He brought his face next to mine, demonstrating Caleb’s closeness.

“Uh, yeah,” It was starting to get stuffy in his car.

He smiled and returned to his own seat. “Anyway,” he put his car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. “On to ‘get to know Kyle day, part 3’.”

“Sounds intriguing.” I quickly buckled my seatbelt.

“Oh, you bet,” he grinned.

“I hope it doesn’t involve a lot of strenuous activity though,” I looked at him. “I think I overloaded a bit on the pizza.”

He laughed. “Happens to the best of us.” He adjusted his rear-view mirror. “And to answer your question, no. No strenuous activity involved.”

“Good,” I sighed and rested my head back on the head rest.

He turned on the radio. It was one of the many mix CD’s that I knew he was accustomed to making. “But it is going to be a bit of a drive,” he glanced down at me. “Is that cool?”

“Yeah,” I yawned. It was almost six.

He laughed. “You’re always stressing about work though? Don’t you got to go in early?”

I gave him a sly grin. “Maybe the flu I got last night could be a little worse than I initially thought…”

“Wow, Georgia,” He playfully punched my shoulder. “I think we’re rubbing off on you.”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “Maybe a little.”

::;::

“We’re here,” Kyle announced. He killed the engine and leaned back in his seat.

“We’re where?” I asked looking at the illuminated clock on the dash. The neon green numbers told me it was close to eight.

“You wanted to get to know me,” he looked at me and gestured out the window. “And this is me.”

“What is?” I squinted in the darkness. From what I could see, we were sitting in parking lot.

He laughed and unbuckled his seat belt. “Would you just get out of the car?”

I pushed open the door and hopped outside. Kyle walked around the front of the jeep and met me at my door.

“Well,” he clapped his hands together. “We’re walking that way,” he nodded towards the darkness.

“Wow, ok,” I put my hands on my hips and faced him. “One, you said there was no strenuous activity, and two? This is where the whole ‘serial killer’ thing comes into play.” I pointed into the darkness. “We’re hours from my house and you want me to follow you God knows where into a dark abyss.” I knew he wasn’t going to kill me, but this was a little strange for me.

He threw his head back and laughed. “Georgia,” He slipped his hand in mine and intertwined our fingers. “Just chill.”

We started walking in the direction Kyle wanted to go. “Look,” he pointed out a ways. “There’s street lights. That means civilization.”

I nodded. The only think I could really think about was my hand in his, and the tingly sensations that traveled through my arm.

“This is where I grew up,” he swung our hands back and forth between us.

“Here?”

“Yep,” he nodded. “I came here a lot with Jonathan and Marc.”

“When do I get to know where ‘here’ is?” I looked up at him.

“We’re almost there,” he smiled. “What? You don’t trust me?” he smirked.

“Well…” I grinned and tapped my chin.

“Hey,” he bumped his shoulder into mine. “This is going to be sick. I promise.”

We took a sharp right and headed towards an illuminated strip mall.

“Shopping?”

“Nope,” He shook his head and gave my hand a squeeze.

I squinted and tried to read the signs above each store.

As we walked closer, I stopped dead in my tracks. “A club?”

He stopped and faced me. “Of sorts,” he shrugged.

Tell me Kyle wasn’t the guy version of Haley. I had a hard enough time turning down all of her clubbing offers.

“So not my scene,” I told him refusing to move any closer.

“Georgia,” he whined and checked the clock on his phone. “Come on, we’ve got to hurry.”

I sighed and looked down at my wrinkly blouse and worn jeans. “I’m not even dressed to be in a place like this,” I protested.

“You look great,” he squeezed me hand. “But you always do. And besides,” He shrugged. “It’s not like this is a five star LA club. It’s kind of old,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “And I don’t really think there’s even going to be that many people there.”

I watched him. He was bouncing up and down on his toes, clearly excited. “Ok,” I nodded and continued crossing the vast parking lot with him. “Let’s go.”

We walked closer to the building. “Oh look,” I pointed a bright flyer that hung near by. “It says that…” I took a step closer to the paper. “DJ Knucklehead is going to be here tonight!” I snorted and looked at Kyle. “He sounds like a dork.”

He laughed “Well, you never know I guess. He could be like, the coolest person you’ve ever met.”

“Doubt it,” we continued towards the building. “He probably is some loser who thinks he knows music.”

Kyle only laughed.

He pulled open the heavy glass door for me and I was met with a loud blast of music.

“So much for not many people,” I looked at Kyle.

“What?” He leaned down closer to me.

I pushed my hair back and spoke in his ear. “There’s a ton of people!”

He looked at the crowd gathered on the dance floor. “Yeah,” he shrugged and reassuringly squeezed my hand. “I guess there is.”

“And no DJ!” I pointed to the empty turn tables. “Bummer.” I looked at Kyle and frowned. “I really wanted to wanted to see this guy!”

Kyle laughed too and leaned closer. His lips brushed against my ear, sending chills throughout my body. “Are you ready for part three of our day?” He leaned back so he could look at me.

I smiled and shrugged loosely. “I guess I have to be.”

He grinned and leaned closer to say more, but he was interrupted.

“Hey!” A girl shouted. She waved a camera in front of us. “You’re Kyle Burns right?” She had deep red hair and wore an excited smile. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen.

“Yeah,” He smiled. “You want a picture?” He pointed to her camera.

“Yeah!” she jumped excitedly. “Could you?” She held the camera out to me.

“What?” I looked over at Kyle, then back to the girl. “Um, sure.” Kyle dropped my hand and I took the camera from her.

She wrapped her arm snuggly around Kyle’s waist and Kyle did the same.

I positioned myself in front of them and held the camera up at eye level.

The girl rested her head on Kyle’s shoulder and held him close.

I quickly snapped the picture. “Alright,” I announced holding it back out to her.

“Do one more,” she waved my hand away.

Kyle gave me a sympathetic look, but I did what I was told.

The girl quickly reached for the camera when I was done.

“Thanks,” She mumbled. She returned her attention back to Kyle. “I’m Amber.”

“Hey, Amber,” He smiled sweetly. “Glad you could make it out tonight.”

“Well, duh!” She giggled. “How could I miss it?”

He laughed. “Well thanks. I appreciated it.”

“No prob,” She grinned. “Hug?” she held her arms open.

Kyle obliged and closed the space between them. He quickly pulled away, thanked her one more time, and she finally left.

He sighed and returned to my side.

“It’s kind of like she knew you would be here,” I frowned. “That’s a sure sign of a stalker.”

He laughed and took my hand again. I was hoping he would.

“Come on,” he led me closer to the back where the DJ’s platform was.

I was curious as to why we were going straight to the back, but at least he wasn’t asking me to dance. I did not dance.

“Stand right…” he placed his hands on my shoulders and moved me a few feet from the corner. “Here.” He smiled and dropped his hands.

“Why?” I made a face.

“What?” He cupped his ear and leaned closer.

“Why?” I repeated into his ear.

He grinned and took both my hands in his. They were rough from drumming. “You wanted to get to know me more, right?”

I nodded slowly.

“Well this is it,” he squeezed my hands and moved towards the DJ platform.

“Kyle!” I whisper-yelled. I scanned the crowd to make sure no one was watching. “I don’t think you can go back there!”

“No, it’s cool,” He said easily. He waved off my concerns and took the short flight of stairs two at a time.

“Kyle!” I whisper-yelled again. I was just waiting for a big man in a suit to kick us out. That was the last thing I needed.

“Hey, guys,” Kyle smiled and took the mic in his hands. He slipped a big pair of headphones over his ears.

“Oh boy,” I covered my eyes with my hands. What was he doing?

“This is DJ Knucklehead!” He looked over at me and gave me wink. “You kids ready to dance?”

The crowded cheered like there was no tomorrow.

“What?” I peaked through my fingers. DJ knucklehead? Was…was Kyle?

He laughed and flipped a record between his hands before he dropped it on the turn tables. The music started. It was a fact-paced song I had never heard before.

I was still confused. Kyle was a DJ? I felt slightly bad for making fun of his name, but how was I supposed to know it was him?

::;::

I rested my head against the soft material of the passenger seat. It was close to one in the morning, and I was happy to be back in the jeep.

“You did great,” I told Kyle as he shoved his key in the ignition. “I had no idea you were a DJ.”

He laughed and looked over at me. “So was DJ Knucklehead as big of a dork as you thought?”

I blushed. “I’m sorry about that…”

“It’s alright,” he put the car in reverse and headed back towards the highway.

The soft lull of the road was making me tired.

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Kyle warned turning on his cruise control.

I looked at him.

“I know it’s late,” He said shifting lower in his seat. “But I kinda wanted to talk,” he shrugged.

“About what?” I yawned. I watched the city lights out the window.

“I don’t know,” he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Whatever normal people talk about?” He looked to me and grinned.

I smiled. “I don’t think we’re normal people.”

“Yeah,” He wrinkled his nose. “I’m not seeing it.”

I sighed and rested my arm on the arm rest. It was getting harder and harder to stay awake.

He took one hand off the steering wheel and covered my hand with his, intertwining his fingers with mine.

I looked up at him and he smiled. His face was illuminated only by the glow of the dash.

“So…” I smiled and looked back out the window.

“So…” He echoed. He stroked my hand with his thumb and we fell into a comfortable silence.

“I’m sorry you had to take so many pictures tonight,” he finally spoke up. He glanced in his rear view mirror, then over at me.

I snorted. “Yeah, I love how every one took a picture with you, then started looking around for Caleb.”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what they see in him.”

I laughed again. “Well if it makes you feel any better, none of them noticed me either.”

“Really?” He pretended to be surprised. “No one wanted to take a picture with Georgia the magical bakery girl?”

“Hey,” I grinned and punched him in the shoulder. “You can kiss your free doughnuts goodbye.”

“Oh, God no! Not the doughnuts!” he laughed.

“Oh, just…just shut up.”

He squeezed my hand. “I noticed you tonight. Maybe the hundreds of other fan-girls were thinking about Caleb and I, but you had one guy in the club thinking about you.”

“How suave,” I told him sarcastically, but I blushed none the less.

::;::

“It’s so late,” I yawned and undid my seat belt. I couldn’t believe I had managed to stay awake the whole car ride home. “Thanks for…today.” I looked at Kyle. “It was nice.”

He smiled and undid his own seat belt. “I’m glad you had fun.” He put his jeep in park and cut the engine.

“I really should go,” I frowned. “I’m supposed to be sick.”

“Yeah,” he sighed and fiddled with his keys.

I watched him. It was that same ‘ok, I’m going to get out of the car now’ moments that I hated.

“Georgia, I like you a lot,” he blurted out.

“Uh…” I blushed. It felt strange to hear him say it out loud.

“And I know that you’re kind of on the fence about going on a legit date with me,” he continued. “And that’s cool. Like I don’t want to give you some sort of ultimatum or anything…I just,” he sighed. “I just wanted you to know that I like you. That I’m interested in you.”

I sat there, barely breathing, my hand still resting on the handle of the door. My heart was pounding.

“Well, I um,” He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to my forehead. “Goodnight, Georgia.”

Before he could return to his normal sitting position, I screwed my eyes shut and stuck my neck out so our lips would meet.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a soft chuckle.

I opened my eyes. His face was inches from mine, but our lips were nowhere near touching. I had missed.

“Why, Georgia,” he laughed loudly. “Were you trying to take advantage of me? Like this? In my car?”

“Oh, wow,” I covered my face in embarrassment and scooted as close to the door as I could. “I’ll see you later, Kyle.” I pushed the door open and grabbed my purse from the floor.

“No, Georgia wait,” he regained his seriousness. He reached out and grabbed my arm so I couldn’t escape through the open door.

I looked up at him and he smiled.

“Don’t worry,” he grinned. “I won’t hold your unladylike seductions against you.”

My face flushed. This was awkward.

He laughed again before cupping my chin in his hands and gently easing me towards him.

“Now, what is it that you wanted?” He asked once our faces were centimeters apart, his casual smirk was all I could see.

“I um, I don’t like close-talkers,” I cleared my throat. The feeling of humiliation was getting to me, and his cocky tone wasn’t helping. I was ready to get out of the car, but his hand held me in place.

He smiled and brought his face even closer to mine. “Is that so?”

I only nodded.

“Georgia,” he mumbled. His voice filled the car.

I swallowed. He was so close and…and honestly? I just wanted him to kiss me already!

He smiled and moved to the side and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He released my chin and started his car again.

I waited. I knew he would turn back to me, smile widely, and press his wonderful lips to mine.

But after a minute or so, I recoiled back to the passenger seat. I wasn’t able to deny the slight feeling of disappointment.

“Right,” I spoke curtly. I pushed open the door and slid out of the seat. “Tomorrow.” I gathered up my purse and closed the door behind me, eager to get to bed and forgot the last five minutes of this day.

As I shoved my key into the door, Kyle’s headlights disappeared down the street. I didn’t understand him.