Contracts

"I-I love you, too," Adelise stuttered. Orick smiled, and leaned down so their foreheads were touching. He grabbed both her hands and held them to his chest-- gripping tightly, never wanting to let go.

"I would have never guessed," Orick said. He leaned in to kiss her softly. A small peck. This peck didn't shoot electricity through her. No, it made Adelise feel empty, weak, vulnerable.

Knees shaking, Adelise almost fainted. "Sorry; I'm usually not like this," she explained. "It's just that... I... I've never felt this way before."

"Neither have I, my Love. Being with you is amazing; there's no way to describe it. Every time we touch--- the sensation is like catching lightning in a bottle. Every time I hear your voice, the whole world goes away, like life's a stage and you just go the spotlight. And I''m the lucky audience." Orick said softly.

"How can you say that? How can you say such words when you've hated me for a year? I don't understand you, Love. And anyways, what kind of real guy says stuff like that? Only sparkly fairies who eat lions say that kind of stuff, from books!" Adelise exclaimed. She wasn't used to these weird feelings and the only way she could get away with not knowing what to say was to say things slightly irrelevant and pray that it actually fit into the conversation.

Orick looked offended and rolled his eyes. "I have not hated you for a year. When I called you those names, when I talked about you behind your back, when I started that rumor that you were an illegal immigrant--"

"That was you?!" Adelise yelled, her hands flinching; she could barely restrain herself from slapping him.

"Umm... Yeah. But that's not the point here. What I'm trying to say is: All that stuff about me hating your guts was just a facade. It's how I deal with things. I'm the tough guy, you know, the one who doesn't have feelings? I'm not supposed to be in love. I'm the rude, sarcastic, smart-aleck who knows way too much for his age, that is supposed to be a jerk to everyone because that's the only way to fill the of void space in his heart that doesn't contain feelings-- which, contrary to popular belief, does contain feelings."

"That was a really long explanation..."

"Whatever. So anyways," Orick continued, "I'm not saying we can't be in love or anything. But I just don't think people would approve of this relationship."

"Yeah, I agree. You, the kick-ass popular kid who dresses like he's going to a royal banquet to school, who has new groups of people tracing his footsteps every day, dating moi, an ugly nobody with only five friends? Pshyeah, people are gonna think I'm you're coverup because you're a homosexual or something..."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Shut up! I can say things if I wanna! You're the one who said all that crap in a romantic fashion and such!"

"Hey! I read!"

"Yeah, college textbooks!"

"And romance!"

"How manly..."

"Shut up! You're derailing us from the discussion!"

"Blah, whatever."

There was a a half a minute silence as they both glared at each other. Orick finally rolled his eyes and spoke:

"You're not a n ugly nobody. And you have WAY more than five friends."

Adelise slapped him.

"What was that for?!" Orick whispered loudly.

Adelise smiled and shrugged. "For complimenting me. I hate that."

Orick sighed and nodded his head disapprovingly. "Okay. But yeah, no one can know about 'us', alright?"

Adelise thought for a moment. "Does this mean we're not in an official relationship? Like, I can still flirt around with guys? Because I totally have guys to flirt with?" she said sarcastically.

Orick rolled his eyes (a common behavior between the two), and said: "Yes, we're in a relationship. But no, we're not in one."

"So, what you're saying here is that... It's... complicated?"

"Yes, now are you in or not, Love? Because if not, I don't think I could stop myself from jumping off a cliff."

Adelise giggled. "Yes," she said in confirmation. And with that single word, the unspoken contract was made.