The Game of Seduction

Kia turned over, propping up on one elbow, just as the person under then blanket sat up. It was Ian Foster, yet again. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”

“Trying to sleep,” he said, looking drowsy as he leaned back against the wall.

“Well then go home and sleep!”

“Can’t,” he said in a husky voice. “I already said I was staying over at a friend’s.” He ran his hand through his messy hair.

“I don’t care. Go sleep somewhere else,” Kia yelled, even though he was half a meter away from her.

“No, the cat’s sleeping in the other bed and that girly room is just freaky. You go,” he said, looking more awake now.

“I was here first,” Kia whined, kicking him a few times in the leg.

“Ow, stop that. You left.” He was starting to look annoyed.

“What?” Kia asked, confused.

“I saw you leave the room. I thought you weren’t coming back.”

“Well I did, so leave,” Kia kicked him again, feeling more irritated then necessary.

“Why the hell are you being so difficult? I don’t mind if you sleep here, so if you don’t like it than just leave! The pink room next door is empty.” He seemed angry now.

“Why the fuck do I have to do what you say?” Her eyes started to tear up, suddenly feeling really upset for some reason. “Why can’t I have things the way I want it? The world isn’t yours; you can’t just make everything go your way!” Kia fell back on the bed, feeling so exhausted.

“What the hell are you talking about?" Ian asked, looking really confused. “I’m too tired for this. It’s been a fucking stupid day,” he said, lying back down.

“It’s been a difficult, dumbass day for me too,” Kia said, kicking her heel down onto the bed like a child.

“What was wrong with your day?” Ian asked, but he didn’t sound very curious.

“None of your business,” Kia pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. It was a bit cold. The AC was set quite high and she was wearing just a green tanks top and a short black shirt.

“Was it because of Dylan?” Ian asked, spot on.

Kia looked at him, surprised. She had just realized it. She was being so grumpy because she was still upset about what happened with Dylan earlier.

“I saw you guys dancing and then you ran off looking pretty upset.”

She didn’t say anything. It was weird to talk to a stranger about her messed up relationship problems.

“You guys dated before right? He’s just a player, you know? It’s best to forget about him and avoid him.”

“I know that,” feeling tears swell up again. “I know he’s a jerk, but I liked him so much and every time I see him, those feelings just come rushing back to me. It’s friggin retarded. He keeps coming back and I can’t help but hope that something might change.”

“He’s just toying with you,” he said straight forwardly.

“I know that,” Kia said, admitting to stupidity. “I can’t help it. It’s messed.” She felt a tear roll down the side of her cheek. She actually hadn’t cried when she was talking to Jess and Rachel earlier. Now she’s drunk enough to cry in front of a stranger.

“The only way to get over someone is to move one,” Ian said, sounding like a wise-ass.

Kia already knew that saying. She was working on it. “Same for you,” she half mumbled.

“Huh?” Ian turned to face her.

Kia quickly wiped at her tears. “You’re probably all tired and pissy because your ex was dancing with some other guy earlier, right?”

Ian laughed bleakly, “Not just dancing, they’re already dating. Matt’s supposed to be my one of my best buds too,” he said, sounding grim.

“Sucks to be us, huh?” Kia stared up at the row of lights along the far wall.

“Sucks to be you more,” he teased. “Didn’t you guys go out like last year?”

“We broke up in December,” Kia corrected.

“Yeah, that was last year.”

“And it’s only March so don’t make it sound like it was so long ago.” She was getting annoyed by him again.

“But it was,” Ian teased some more.

A few months isn’t long, but to a guy like him, dating for a few weeks is considered long. “Shut up,” she said, not wanting to talk anymore. Kia tugged on the blanket, “Give me some,” she demanded.

“You don’t want me to leave anymore?” Ian asked, sounding smug. “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll do something to you?”

“I’m too tired and if you try something, I assure you, you will suffer greatly,” she warned.

Ian laughed, “Alright.”

“Get off the blanket,” Kia tugged harder on the blanket.

“Ok, hold on.” Ian shifted a bit and the blanket sipped out from underneath him.

Kia rolled into the bedside table, hitting the side of her head with a loud thud. “Ow,” she cried, “mother-” She clenched her jaw in a grunt of pain. It felt like pins and needles.

“Oh, fuck,” Ian leaned over. “Are you ok?”

Kia rolled back, lying flat. “Hell no...” Her hand held the throbbing area tightly as if her head would explode if she didn’t.

“Oh shit. Okay, okay,” Ian started panicking a bit. “Let me see if it’s bleeding.”

Kia rolled her head towards him, daring to release her hand.

He peered down. The Christmas lights were bright enough to see with. “It’s not bleeding. That’s good. I’m going to get you some ice.” Ian rolled over her and off the side of the bed.

A minute later, Ian came back with a small bag of peas. He sat at the edge of the bed, placing the bag next to her head. Kia sat up, suddenly feeling weird to be lying down like that with him so close.

“You should lie down for a bit,” Ian suggested.

“No, it’s less awkward this way.” She held the bag of peas to her head.

Ian laughed, “Awkward, yeah, that’s the word for it. It’s odd that we’ve never really talked. I think we’ve talked more today than all the times that we’ve ever talked before.”

“Yeah,” she agreed.

“Well, at least I knew you were clumsy before,” he smiled.

“What do you mean?” Kia asked, rising an eyebrow but it only made her wince in pain.

“One time in gym, you fell over and you brought down a cart of basket balls,” he laughed as he thought about it.

“Oh god,” she blushed,

“And you once spilt your water all across the court and instead of playing basketball, we spent half the gym period mopping up the floor.”

Kia felt her cheeks burn, “That was so... embarrassing. Please forget about that.”

“There was another time in bio, when you knocked over a whole tray of pipettes. You stood there frozen with your jaw dropped. It was so funny.”

“Man...,” Kia covered her face with her free hand. “That was horrible. I was so glad that I didn’t have to play for them.”

“I was so happy that we didn’t have to do 2 of the labs last year,” he laughed.

Kia laughed too and thought that he actually looked very cute when he laughs. “It’s weird that the good looking, Mr. Popular would remember stuff like that, especially about a plain old, unpopular girl like me.”

“I remember what is memorable. I have very good memory too. Good looks or popularity doesn’t have anything to do with it. And you may not be so popular but you’re not unpopular at least. But really, popularity isn’t much. Outside of high school, it means nothing. You have close friends that love and care about you, right?”

Kia nodded.

“That’s what matters. I probably have fewer close friends than you do. I’m just acquainted with a lot of people, people that won’t care what happens to me outside of high school.”

Kia nodded once again, understanding him completely. So this is what’s behind the face of Ian Foster...

“And you’re not plain. You’re actually quite pretty.”

Kia’s eyes automatically went a little wide, staring at him. What?

Ian leaned in closer to her. “You have amazing, big green eyes, delicate arched eyebrows, a petite nose,” he gently tapped her nose with his index finger, “high cheek bones, a beautiful, strong jaw line,” he ran the side of his finger down her jaw bone, pausing at her chin. “And perfect lips,” he said, brushing his thumb across her bottom lip.

Kia tensed up like a statue, blushing, but couldn’t look away from him. He was staring at her lips and she couldn’t help but glance down at his. She felt all funny inside, as if she was gravitating towards him.

Ian suddenly leaned back a bit, dropping his hand. “I... think the only problem you’ve got is that you’re shy with new people, so you don’t make friends that easily, right?”

Kia leaned back into the pillow and averted her gaze, “Yeah, that’s right.” He's a player, sweet talk is his specialty, she warned herself. She adjusted the bag of peas and was surprised by cold droplets rolling down onto her chest and falling to the back of her shoulder. “Ahh!” she gasped.

Ian noticed the peas falling down from the bag, “Oh no.”

“The bag is opened?” Kia questioned, incredulously.

Ian carefully took it out of her hands and set it on the bedside table, “Of course, did you think they sell peas in such a small bag? There was... an elastic band on it.”

“Not anymore.” Kia shot a glare at him. “It’s so cold...,” she whined, picking the peas off her chest. She handed them to Ian to toss into the garbage bin. Some peas went down her shirt and got stuck. Kia really didn’t want to make a mess of Devin’s room, but she had to get up and shake them out. Ian was picking up the peas on the bed. “Fuck, it fell into my bra,” she said, trying to get it out.

Ian snort, trying to not laugh.

“Shut up,” she said and pushed Ian, making him fall onto the bed. “It’s your fault.”

Ian laughed and helped pick up the peas on the floor.

Kia stood up after picking up what she could find on the floor and got a massive head rush. She felt the pressure in her head rise to a painful level and everything blacked out. Every part of her body turn weak and she herself tipping over, but before she crashed into anything, Ian steadied her.

“Whoa, you ok?” He had his hands on her arms to keep her balanced.

Kia’s vision cleared up after a few blinks. “Fuck, that felt like a sea of turtles rushing to my head.”

“A sea of turtles?” he laughed.

“What?” She said, annoyed and hit him in his side since his hands were still on her arms. “It hurt.” Kia tends to get a bit abusive sometimes, especially when she’s drunk.

“Okay, let me take a look at the bump,” he said, grabbing the left side of her head with one hand and brushing her long hair aside with the other hand.

Kia felt her chest sink for a second as she tensed up, cheeks flushed. His hands were warm even though he was just picking up frozen peas.

The light was facing Ian and the right side of Kia’s head. Ian leaned in, and brushed his thumb across the cool area, feeling the bump. He pressed down lightly.

“Ah,” she grimaced.

“I’m sorry. Does it hurt a lot still?” Ian asked, looking down at her with anxious eyes.

“No, not really,” Kia glanced away for a second and then looked up at him again. His face was a few inches away from hers and his hands were still tangled in her hair.

“Then why did you wince?” he whispered, raising one eyebrow slightly. Ian stared down into her eyes, searching.

“I don’t know,” Kia said with a furrowed brow. She was feeling all weird again. The bump was actually still kind of numb from the peas and hurt just a little bit when he pressed down on it. Looking into his eyes, she felt herself being pulled in. Something was telling her that she needed to pull away but she couldn’t do it.

Ian shifted his hand, caressing her face gently. “It won’t kill you,” he breathed. His face drew closer, just two inches away from hers, meeting her at eye level.

His breath was hot against her lips. It smelled of alcohol but not in a bad way. The scent was blended nicely with the smell of his cologne: sweet and earthy. “Hopefully,” Kia breathed, feeling scared and strangely excited at the same time.