Corrupt Me

I have got to admit, I was really nervous about going to meet Angel in the library after school. Even though I was acting nonchalant and cool when I was talking to him in biology, my insides were churning and I felt like my heart was beating too hard and fast for what would be considered healthy.

I was pretty quiet for the rest of the day. Isabelle and everyone else noticed and, luckily, they didn’t say anything. I didn’t really want to explain why I was feeling nervous about meeting Angel, mainly because I wasn’t sure myself. I just…for some reason, he makes me uncomfortable, but at the same time, I want to get to know him. I’m sure there are things in his life that have made him the over-the-top, sex-crazed, dirty-minded boy he is today, and I’m curious to know what they might be. Maybe I could help him, somehow? I don’t know, but…yeah, there’s just something about the way he acts when he thinks nobody’s looking that makes me think he isn’t as tough as he makes out…

Anyway, after the bell rang the final time for the day, I moved slowly out of the classroom and headed to my locker. I dumped the books I wouldn’t need inside it. I grabbed my biology text book and some loose-leaf paper and a pen, and then slammed my locker door and headed towards the library. I met Isabelle, Portia, Lachlan and Lisa on the way and stopped for a few minutes to say goodbye for the day. After Isabelle and I exchanged kisses on the cheek (she went in for a full lip-lock but I’m still not ready for that) and I gave everyone else a hug, I decided I should probably go meet Angel, provided that he showed up, of course.

Since nobody was around, I decided to skip. Yes, you can call me weird, but I absolutely love skipping; I have ever since Georgia and Elise taught me how to when I was five years old. It just gives me this strange sense of freedom that I can’t ever get from walking or running. Unfortunately, my skipping time didn’t last very long. I had forgotten that I’d instructed Angel to meet me outside the library, and assumed that he would already be inside by the time I got there. I was wrong. I stopped skipping abruptly as soon as I saw him casually leaning against the brick wall, staring at me. I stood still for a second, and then began slowly walking towards him until I was stood in front of him.

“Hi, Angel,” I almost whispered, my voice shaking. A frown flew onto his face and he looked kind of guilty for some reason.
“Hi… I… look, I’m sorry,” he said, glancing at the ground and then back up at me.
“For what?”
“For acting like a complete dick to you. It’s not you I’m pissed at.”
Well, that’s good to know. There is someone he’s “pissed” at though…
“Is it Isabelle?” I asked, tipping my head towards my shoulder slightly.
He looked a little shocked at my question. “Was I really that obvious?”
I laughed, before replying, “Kind of, yeah.”
“Oh.”
I laughed again, but quickly broke off. There was something I really needed to say, and I was going to say it before I lost my nerve. “Look, Angel, you don’t have to like my g – Isabelle… but, well, I want us to be friends. As crude and sexual and…flirtatious as you are, I didn’t like it when you weren’t talking to me. It worried me and I don’t even really understand why… Can’t we be friends?” I couldn’t look at him after that, and made myself believe that my shoes were absolutely the most enthralling things on the planet. And I can’t believe I made a mess of saying the word “girlfriend”. Why is it so hard for me to say?

“Okay,” he said. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his tone, so I kept my eyes down.
“Really?”
I felt Angel put a finger under my chin, and he forced me to look at him.
“Yes, really.”
My forehead creased as I tried to figure out his angle.
“Aw, come on, baby. Smile! It’s the second best thing you can do with your lips.”
“What do you – Oh! Angel!” It took me a while to understand what he was saying, but I was shocked that I did.
Angel was smiling really big now. “You have a dirty mind, if you got that one right away. Now come on, let’s learn about testes and sperm and shit. You can sit on my lap, if you like, and we’ll see what pops up.”

Oh my gosh, he is so crude. I pushed him away from me, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the same time. “You are disgusting,” I said and headed into the library. I didn’t look back to see if Angel was following me, but I assume he was. I found the last free table and plopped all my stuff on top of it, the slight wind making one of my loose-leaf pages fly onto the floor. Bending down, I felt someone staring at my butt. I figured it was Angel just being a pervert like usual, and I decided to tease him a little, and kept my butt in the air for a little longer than necessary. When I finally stood up and turned, he had a pained expression on his face, which made me smile on the inside.

Angel made his way over to where I was and let his heavy biology book drop from 3 feet in the air onto the table. It made a huge bang, and the librarian glared at him, but he didn’t seem to care one iota.

“Okay, let’s get this shit done,” he said, and headed towards the bookshelves. I followed.

***

I spent a lot of my free time the rest of the week with Angel in the library. And it actually wasn’t bad. I had a lot of fun, to be honest, even though we only spent 70% of the time working, and Angel spent the rest of the time making me squirm. I think Isabelle might be getting a bit jealous though, and proved it on Friday at lunch when Angel was coming over to ask me if I wanted to work with him in the library again in the afternoon. She spotted him before I did, and made a huge show of wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me hard on the mouth for the very first time. I was so shocked I just stood there unmoving until she pulled away. Then I spotted Angel looking furious, but, in a split second, morphed his face into a smirk, which confused me to no end.

He came up to me then, and asked me about working in the library, and, I was about to say ‘yes’ when Isabelle hissed in my ear that she was coming over to my house for dinner that night. I tried not to look overly disappointed when I told Angel that I couldn’t work with him that afternoon, but I’m not sure it worked.

Why do I keep acting like this? Why should I be upset that I miss one study/assignment afternoon with Angel? He’s just a friend, for crying out loud! My God gosh, this is doing my head in. (And since when have I ever taken the Lord’s name in vain before? I think the way Angel speaks is rubbing off on me.)