Unraveling

“Seriously?” I asked, trying to hold back giggles.

Peter shrugged casually, his cheeks lighting up slightly, “What can I say? I was a huge nerd when I was younger.”

“Peter, that’s adorable!”

He closed his locker, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Peter directed the way toward the exit. The hallway was nearly empty only a few minutes after the bell rang this Tuesday afternoon. A few of the cross country runners jogged past us on their way to the field.

“Avery, you better not bring this up anymore.”

“How can you honestly not expect me to bring that up?” I giggled, “You realize this makes you the definition of ‘super nerd’.”

He gave me a playful l push, “You’re one to talk.”

“At least I didn’t believe in Batman when I was younger!”

“I already regret telling you.”

I smiled innocently up at him. Peter pushed the door open, holding it for me as we walked outside together. The weather was nice out. I could feel myself yearning to stay in the sunshine longer, but the heavy weight on my back reminded me of this evening’s tasks.

“You want a ride home?” Peter asked, dangling his keys from his fingers.

I raised an eyebrow, “You already got a pass to park here?”

“Just got it yesterday.”

I grinned and followed him to where he parked his car in the back of the parking lot. Peter and I climbed into his car, one of the last in the student lot. He cracked the windows some as he pulled out to let the hot air escape.

“So where were you on Saturday?” I asked, trying to strike up conversation between the two of us. “My grandmother and I were at your grandmother’s house, but you were a no show.”

He raised an eyebrow, giving me a side glance, “You were at my grandmother’s house?”

“She invited us for dinner.”

“Hmm,” He mumbled, “Failed to mention this to me.”

I grinned, giggling, “I think she wants to keep us all to herself.”

“I’d believe it.”

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. We fell into an easy conversation on the way home. I made sure to give him directions to my house when the turns came. Talking with him came easily. He was quickly working his way to becoming one of my closer friends.

We joked about the mutual teachers we had, and he continued to complain about the layout of our school. It seemed to be easier for him to get around now, which I was grateful for. He’d only gotten lost one other time aside from the first day.

He pulled into my driveway fifteen minutes later.

I noticed a particular bike parked along the side of the garage. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of it.

“Thanks for the ride, Peter.” I grinned, grabbing my bag from the floor as I opened my door.

“No problem.” He said, “It’s nice to have someone to talk to in the car aside from my family members.”

“I know how you feel.”

“Is that your bike?” He asked, nodding toward the motorcycle.

“No, it’s my boyfriend’s.” The words felt foreign to my lips, but left my stomach in a twist. He was my boyfriend. It felt great to finally say it.

“You have a boyfriend?”

I nodded bashfully, “Yeah,”

“Who is it?” He asked, “Why didn’t he give you a ride home on his bike?”

I hesitated. “You don’t know him. He doesn’t go to our high school.”

Peter nodded understandingly. “You have to let me meet him sometime, OK? That bike is beautiful. I need to get him to let me try it out.”

I laughed, getting out of the car, “I really don’t think he’ll let you do that, but I’ll put in a good word regardless.”

Peter grinned, putting the gear into the reverse as I walked up to the door. I waved good bye before stepping in and watching his car pull out of the driveway.

I closed the door behind me, dropping my bag to the floor. A white piece of computer paper had been taped to the wall with my grandmother’s shaky handwriting scribbled on it in black ink.

“Avery—With Gretchen. Be back for dinner. Love, Grandma.”

I tore the note off of the wall, crumpling it in my hand. Making my way into the kitchen, I tossed the make-shift basketball into the trash can like a pro. My stomach growled, begging to be fed. As I opened the cabinet, I found myself wondering where my boyfriend had gone off to.

I found my answer once I entered my bedroom.

Tyler was lying on my bed with a scowl on his face. He threw a plastic green ball up to the ceiling, catching it when it came back down. His feet hung off the sides lazily, the shoes piled on top of each other below.

I closed the door behind me with a smile across my lips.

“Hey there, Superman.” I said as I walked over with a bag of Doritos in my hands. Squeezing myself onto the little space left on the bed, I rested the bag near his head and opened it. “What’re you doing here?”

“I thought I’d come to see my girlfriend.” He muttered. His concentration was focused on the ball.

“I’m here now,” I said.

He didn’t respond.

“So how was your day of no school? Anything exciting happen?” I asked, trying to begin a conversation.

“Nope.”

So much for that.

“How long have you been here?”

“Little while.”

I pursed my lips, unsure why I was getting all these one-worded answers. “Is everything OK? You’re acting funny.”

“Everything’s fine.”

“Really? Usually you’re a little more excited to see me.”

He caught the ball, holding it to his chest, “Well excuse me for not jumping for joy that my girlfriend came home like she normally does.”

I crossed my arms. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Tyler…”

He sat up, exhaling sharply, “Nothing’s wrong, Avery. Please stop.”

I raised my eyebrows, surprised.

“I…”

Tyler fell back onto the bed, letting the ball drop onto the ground. It bounced twice before rolling against the wall.

I shifted my position so that I sat cross-legged, facing him. I took his hand, playing with his fingers softly. We sat in silence for a few minutes. I was surprised by his actions. Where had this come from?

Tyler sighed again, his fingers curling around my own. “How was your day?”

“It was OK.”

“Just OK?”

I shrugged, “Karen’s developed this crush on this junior. I’ve talked to him—he doesn’t like her one bit, but she’s convinced they’re going to get married.”

Tyler smirked, “Karen’s strange.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” I rolled my eyes, “She’ll get over it eventually, but for now I’m stuck with hearing about it.”

“Just tell her to shut up.”

“I can’t! She’ll rip my head off!”

Tyler laughed. I felt myself grinning at the sound. Hopefully he had gotten out of whatever stupor he was in a few seconds ago.

“So my grandmother’s coming home around six or so.”

“I saw.”

“What do you want to do until then?”

A devious grin crossed his lips as he rolling himself over to slip an arm around my waist. Tyler pulled me next to him awkwardly. I laughed and rolled myself on top of his back instead. “I can think of one thing we could do…”

I rubbed my hands up and down his back, digging my palms into his shoulders soothingly. “Do you have a condom?”

Tyler tensed up, “Shit.”

I giggled and continued to massage his back, “Don’t worry about it. I still would’ve said no regardless.”

He raised a hand only to flick me off.

I leaned forward and kissed the back of his neck.

“That feels really good, Princess.” He mumbled.

“Good.” I smiled, and continued, “So… I was wondering…”

“Hmm?”

“You know how we’re a couple now?”

“I am aware…” He chuckled, shaking underneath me. I rolled my eyes, squeezing my legs that straddled him.

“Well, can I tell people we’re a couple?” I asked. “I mean, I know you have your whole ‘secret-identity’ crap, but they’ll only know you as Tyler.”

He sighed, thinking it over. “I don’t know, Aves…”

“I highly doubt they’d assume you’re the Man with the Green Slash.”

“It’s a huge risk.”

I frowned, “Are you really saying no because it’s ‘a huge risk’? Really? You’ve put yourself in harm’s way how many times?”

“That’s different.”

“No, it’s not.”

Tyler shifted underneath me so that he was on his back. I sat with my body straddling his stomach, hands resting on his chest. He slid his hands up my thighs to my hips and stopped there. Tyler gave me a sympathetic look.

“I really don’t think this would be a smart idea.”

I sighed, giving up. “Maybe.”

“Listen, Aves, you know how I feel about you, and that’s what’s important.” He said, “But I can’t risk someone finding out.”

“I understand.”

He smiled gratefully. “Let me do something for you.”

I raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “Keep going.”

“Let’s go out to dinner.”

“Now?”

He nodded.

“My grandmother…”

“Make up an excuse.” He said, “Let me take my girlfriend out for one evening.”

“Where are we going?” I asked as I climbed off of him. Tyler sat up on the bed, watching me grab my jacket from the closet.

“Wherever you want to go.”

“Chili’s?”

“Sounds good.” He bent down to put his shoes on.

Tyler stood up and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the house. Maybe telling everyone would be a mistake. Maybe he was right.

All I knew is that I had him in my life right now, and I was thankful for that.

~*~

“Look who finally got hours!” Donavan grinned as I walked into work the next day. He wrapped his arms around me tightly in a hug. I laughed, slipping my arms around his body.

“I’ve had hours! You just haven’t been with me!”

“Whose fault is that?”

“Whoever schedules our shifts?”

He rolled his eyes, “Whatever. I’m blaming you.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, pushing past to drop my duffle bag off in the back room. Quickly changing into my uniform, I met my friend at the cash register. After getting a confirmation nod from Ronnie, I stood my group, waiting for the customers.

“Can I help whose next?”

A familiar face stepped up to the front of the line. My eyes widened as my lips ran dry.

“Hey, Avery.” Bentley grinned, “Can I get a number four?”