Intellectual: A Young Adult Romance

by Katie Wright

  "You cleaned?" I questioned him. Tony seemed to stare at me few moments before confirming what I already knew was true. He normally didn't bother since it was just me and him.

  I got the idea that I was interrupting something, "Is someone here?"

  Tony shook his head, "No."

  "Then why are you still dressed like, do you have plans tonight?"

  He looked down at himself, "Actually no, I just got back from work and I didn't have time to mess the place up."

  I laughed and understood. I flopped on the couch and took my coat off, "I'm tired."

  "Oh," I thought I heard disappointment in his voice, "You sure you want to hang out tonight?"

  "Yes of course." I really didn't want to go outside right now although I knew the eeriness of the city wouldn't change in an hour or two.

  "I got us a movie to watch," He smiled.

  "Well why don't you change into comfortable clothes," I offered.

  "Yeah okay."

  He left me and I knew something was different about Tony. It could have been my recent paranoia but I knew Tony and I knew something was up. He returned and we started watching a horror movie, excellent choose in the state of things. I didn't argue because I didn't want him to think anything was wrong. He knew I got scared; I must have jumped on top of him multiple times.

  He would laugh and then I would push myself away. Then one time I threw myself into his shoulder and winced in pain.

  He wrapped his arms around me, "Heath watch it or you'll hurt yourself."

  I just nodded into his shoulder. Then I tried to pull myself away when I felt his arms encasing me.

  I looked up to see Tony's eyes staring down into mine, "Tony?" I questioned.

  His head dropped and then in a matter of seconds his lips were on mine. His hand that had placed itself around me had glided up to my jaw. I didn't mind Tony's kisses, they were nice but something wasn't right. Why was I really kissing him? He deepened the kiss and pushed me down on the couch.

  Then he started trailing kisses up and down my jaw line. I couldn't put my finger on it but this wasn't what I wanted. Yes, Tony was attractive, no I rephrase, he was hot, but I felt nothing for him. He was a friend and I didn't understand why he decided to do this now.

  He seemed to really be getting into it and I well, wasn't. I took my hand and grabbed a hold of his hair and brought his head up from my stomach, which he was now attacking with his lips.

  "Yes?" He was out of breath.

  "Tony," I started to sit up. "I can't do this."

  I put my head in my hands and began rubbing my eyes.

  "You're right I'm sorry."

  "Don't be sorry, I just can't."

  Tony got up and turned the lights on and then sat back down next to me. "I just thought, I don't know. I'm attracted to you Heath. Remember that last week before graduation?"

  I looked at him and nodded.

  He continued, "Well, after what we did I just wanted something with you but realized it was too late. I just passed it off but seeing you again I realized that I really like you."

  "I like you too," I admitted.

  "No I mean I like, like you."

  "I know what you meant," I confessed. I did like him as a friend and I wondered if maybe I should give this, this being me and Tony, a chance.

  "So what are you saying?"

  He had every right to ask that question but I didn't know how to answer him. Leading him on would be wrong. I was almost certain that I couldn't go on with this never ending struggle between me and Casey. If it hadn't happened yet it was never going to happen.

  "I'm just saying that maybe we should try this. But maybe not go so fast."

  He smiled and I felt a load of relief. He gave me a hug and a chaste kiss on the lips, "Sounds good to me."

  I agreed and told him I better get home it was getting relatively late.

  I walked outside his apartment and forgot that I had been recently scared by the scenery. That was until I heard someone walking behind me and the footsteps only seemed to be getting closer.

  I was near my car when I felt someone push me into my hood. I screamed as my forehead made contact with the car. I turned around to see my assailant. I would have been relieved to see a friendly face but Dan was no longer a friend.

  "Dan?" I asked, questioning not just it being him but why he pushed me.

  He stood over me, "You lied. You saw what was in there, you bitch."

  For some reason I wasn't exactly scared of him. I know I should have been but he was pretty stupid to be standing out there trying to attack me in front of a bunch of apartment buildings close to one of the busiest streets in the city.

  "You're an asshole!" I don't know where this new found courage had come from but before I knew it we were both jumping at one another. I should have accepted that I was smaller than him and most people but I was enraged. He didn't seem to mind hitting me in the head a few times with his hands. I tried biting him but I knew I was losing and now I was getting tired. The scene must have been comical but soon enough I realized that maybe I should have been a tad fearful.

  With one final push I fell back between the front of my car and the back of another one. No one had passed by and I wondered if the dear city of brotherly love was just bullshit, and you know what? It was still a city and these things happened everyday. Now I knew why, people minded their own business, if they didn't get involved they couldn't get hurt.

  Just as Dan made what I supposed was his final attack I saw another shadow. The person seemed more formidable and had Dan on the ground wincing in a matter of seconds.

  "Heath, call the police." I realized it was Tony and still in fight mode I dialed the police.

  Dan didn't make any attempt to move from where Tony was pinning him. No one spoke until the police got there and by then they were asking tons of questions.

  I had to make a statement and so did Tony. Finally I called my parents and explained to them what happened, they decided they were going to come over and pick me up. Tony offered to drive me home but it was now almost two o'clock in the morning and I knew he was tired.

  "It's okay thanks. How did you know I needed help?"

  "Actually," he said, "I thought you had already left. I was going to the convenience store when I saw you two. See I told you he was crazy."

  "You and Casey both," I muttered.

  "Casey too," he quirked an eyebrow, "Yeah I forgot about him. Another smart man, although if were really smart he wouldn't have given me the chance to save the day."

  "What do you mean?"

  He shrugged, "Uh, nothing. You're rents are here, better get going. I'll call you tomorrow? And maybe we can plan something."

  I grinned, "Sounds good. See you later."

  I waved and jumped into my parent's car. My dad jumped up and quickly thanked Tony and told him he could come over to dinner. My family's way to thank people was with food and it worked every time.

  The next week was, well would take too much time to explain in detail and to be honest I don't remember much. Let's just say going into work was surreal. Meg had already spoken to the police and Dan's employment was terminated indefinitely.

  Dan was charged with assault and given a restraining order of about three hundred feet away from me. I also found out that Dan was indeed stalking me and that the police had repossessed everything they found in his apartment. Apparently he had been following me since day one of our meeting.

  I got to look at some of the contents of the boxes but after about twenty minutes I didn't want to see anymore. There were pictures of Casey and me outside his house and at the beach. Chills ran up and down my spine as I remembered the events of the last summer reentering my mind.

  He had been there for almost everything, if only at a distance.

  The nightmare only lasted a week or so and not long after I was hearing phone calls from my friends and family wishing me well. It was too much to bear; I hated being the center of attention. I felt like the
whole incident was out of a Law and Order episode.

  Casey had left a few messages with me but I didn't have the nerve to call him back. He had been the one to originally tell me if I was uncomfortable to say something. But who knew if this would have lasted longer if I hadn't stayed over. Dan would have still been around me but then again I would have been safe and at home.

  Luckily 'season greetings' was on the agenda. It was time to shop for my family's and friends' Christmas gifts.

  Tony and I made a trip on a Saturday out to the mall. I perused the commodities of Macy's and Strawbridge's. Sticking with department stores was my forte because I always felt they had everything, plus the mall itself was a mad house this time of year. Sticking to one store seemed more feasible in my mind.

  Then Tony said he was hungry so we took a detour to the food court. People had tons of bags piled around them and you could sense the psychosis of many of the shoppers.

  "Heather?" I turned after hearing my voice. I didn't see anyone but then I heard it again.

  "Casey?" I almost doubled over when I saw him and his "other" half.

  "Hey Heather," Lucy too sweetly greeted.

  "Hey guys."

  Tony turned around after realizing I had stopped.

  Casey and Lucy both glanced at Tony.

  I gestured to Tony and then to Lucy, "Lucy this is Tony and Tony this is Lucy, Casey's girlfriend."

  Tony quirked a dark eyebrow and offered a hand which Lucy took and shook, "Nice to meet you Lucy."

  I was positive I saw Lucy's eye's glitter up at Tony. I think Tony and Casey noticed as well but Casey didn't give any idea that he cared. I could still hear Sarah's words, 'he's just trying to make you jealous.'

  "So I guess you guys are here shopping?" Casey asked and placed his hands in his pockets before Lucy had a chance to grab on.

  Tony put one arm around my shoulder, "Yeah well I guess it's more like a shopping excursion slash date. After this we're going over to Delphi's."

  "Oh that's a nice place." Lucy seemed to be a bit more open to me and I wondered if it was because she knew I wasn't after her man. Which I never was! 'Keep telling yourself that,' my inner voice shouted.

  "But for now we're going to get a quick snack to regain our energy." I smiled sickly back at Lucy.

  "Us too!" Instead of holding onto Casey's hand she held onto his elbow. A weak display of her attempt to claim him as hers but I guess that was just her way of telling me that he was still hers. Although he was never mine technically no matter what anyone says.

  Lucy spoke up, "I heard what happened Heather. I'm so sorry."

  "Yeah me too." Casey mumbled. He wasn't looking at me but at the crowds of people.

  Tony broke the awkward tension, "Why don't me and Lucy get us a table while you two go get us the food?"

  We all glanced at him but then agreed.

  Casey and I trudged along and after finally deciding getting one large pizza would be adequate for four of us we placed ourselves in line.

  "I'm sorry I haven't called you." I hoped he would accept my apology but he not looking at me the entire time was very discouraging.

  "I understand you've been busy."

  "Yeah." We stood there for another few minutes in silence and the line hadn't gotten any shorter.

  "Jesus, Casey."

  He glared back at me. His eyes were an intense blue, one that I hadn't seen before, almost ice. "What," he bit out.

  "Well if we're going to be in line we could at least talk to one another." I tried to keep my voice even and not get angry with him. But right now I wanted to ask him what was up his ass besides Lucy?

  "We don't have to talk, I can entertain myself."

  Nice comeback, I thought. "Casey why are you mad at me?"

  He started to scratch his head animatedly, "I don't know, uh, let me think." Then he took a hand from his head and burst out, "How about calling your friend back and telling him you're okay!"

  That startled me back into bitchy Heather mode, "I'm sorry okay? I've been kind of busy like you said…"

  "I just said that to be civil," he cut off.

  "Well it's so nice you care!"

  "I do care that's why I'm pissed, Heath," his hands looked like they were going to strangle me and then he dropped them. "I can't do this right now," he sounded tired.

  He got out of line and went over to Lucy and Tony. They left and Tony came over asking me what was wrong. I mentioned I wasn't feeling good and needless to say we didn't get our pizza. We also decided to go another night to Delphi's.

  Blessed Event Chapter 19:

  It seemed as though the museum had offered me an indefinite amount of time to recover but I wondered if they just didn't have anything for me to do now that Dan wasn't there.

  I didn't dwell on it because I was still getting paid. I don't know if they put my injuries under workman's comp. That would be amusing.

  This time off gave me ample time to hang out with my friends. Jane and I decided a Friday night of catching up was in order.

  "So," she began placing herself between the couch cushions, "how are you doing?"

  She was hesitant to ask, since I hadn't really spoken about Dan for nearly a week, "I'm actually okay. I mean he didn't do much damage…"

  "Yeah but that's gotta be freaky. I mean he was spying on you, he was a stalker!"

  "True, but I don't really want to talk about it and not because I'm in denial but it's over now and I still have to be at his court hearing that I'm not looking forward to."

  I closed my eyes and leaned back into the recliner.

  Jane pushed herself up from the couch and offered me a determined look, "Okay then what about Tony?"

  "Oh no!" I took the pillow behind my back and placed it over my face. If there was anything I didn't want to talk about more than Dan it was Tony.

  "Oh come on, take that pillow off your face!"

  I took the pillow off and pouted. "Please Jane?"

  "No, if we're not going to talk about Dan then we're talking about Tony."

  "Why?"

  "Because I said so, now, tell me!"

  I rolled my eyes, "What do you want to know?"

  "Everything, like are you dating and where does Casey fit in? Are you trying to get back at him?"

  "Get back at him for what? He hasn't done anything."

  "Exactly and that's why. He hasn't reciprocated but maybe Sarah is right, he's using Lucy. If I actually had any empathy for that girl I'd feel bad but I don't."

  I laughed in spite of myself, "You're evil."

  "I know, now spill."

  I let out a loud breath, "Fine. Before Dan attacked me and everything I was over Tony's. And anyway we started kissing, well he kissed me and I kissed him back but it felt wrong. And then I made him stop and he seemed upset."

  "Yeah well that makes sense."

  "Yeah well then I don't know if it was his sad face or well…"

  "What?" She was going to make me say it.

  "Well I guess before I decided we should date I thought of Casey and how he was still with Lucy…"

  "You see," she cut me off.

  "No," I stopped her, "not to make him jealous. But I figured if it hasn't happened then it never will."

  "It's never going to happen because neither of you will make a move. I mean how long can there be sexual tension before he ravishes you."

  I tried not to blush at the thought. I had had intimate dreams of Casey and me in bed together. Granted I was a virgin but I had a vivid imagination. "Jane stop."

  "You're blushing; I knew you weren't so innocent."

  "I can't…"

  "Why not?"

  "Because!"

  "Because why? He's a good guy even if he's banging a little girl…"

  "I really don't want to know," I barked at her.

  "I knew it you want him so bad."

  "Fine, but haven't we established that!"

  "Yes…" Jane and I both stopped at my cell phone ringing.

&n
bsp; "Maybe it's Tony," she jested.

  I grabbed the phone from the end table and looked at it, "No, it's not," I answered, "Hey Brian."

  Jane mouthed Brian and I nodded.