by Michelle Day
“You haven’t heard a single thing I’ve said have you?” He asked.
“I have, you said I wasn’t looking at the screen,” she gave him a weak smile.
“You mean I have to go over it all again?”
“If you want,” she shrugged.
“It has nothing to do with what I want,” his fingers sliced through his hair, “I’m supposed to be tutoring you but that’s really difficult when you sit there daydreaming.”
“Hmm,” Angel murmured. All the while wondering what it would be like to kiss him.
“Angel, you still aren’t listening.”
She leaned towards him, putting one hand on his knee to steady herself then pressed her lips to his. For what felt like an eternity, he just sat there, and then his hand softly stroked the back of her arm, sending shivers up her spine. His lips parted and their tongues met. The jolt that ran through Angel as her tongue touched his, made her think she’d got an electric shock Oh. My. God. Her head was spinning He tastes so nice. She pushed her fingers into his hair, finally feeling it’s silky softness and pulled him to her, she felt his hand on her shoulder and gasped when he pushed her away, stood up and turned away from her. She moved to stand behind him, touching his arm. “Gavin?”
He jerked away from her. “Do you think your parents are back with my car yet? I really should make a move.”
“I’m so sorry,” she moved to touch him again, he let her this time, she felt him tremble. “Your voice was so hypnotic and I was watching your lips move and just lost myself wondering what it would be like to kiss you.” She moved closer.
“Well now you know,” he said quietly. “You need to make up your mind who you want to be with,” he told her.
“I’m with Quinn,” she replied firmly.
“Fine,” he pushed his text book into his bag. “Just remember you kissed me, you made the first move,” he growled.
“I’m so confused,” she sank onto her bed “I really like you Gavin, but I’m not ready to give up Quinn just yet.”
Gavin dropped to his knees in front of her and cupped her face with his hands. “I really like you,” his voice soft now, “I want to be the one you won’t give up, the one you turn to when you’re upset and I can wait until you are ready to let me be that person.”
“You really are a nice guy aren’t you?” Her hands covered his.
“I’m trying to be,” he answered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked.
“I’m still battling some demons, but I’m beginning to like who I am, you’ll find out more as you get to know me.” He dropped his hands onto her knees.
“You won’t let me get to know you.”
“I will Angel, I warn you that there are things about me that you won’t like.”
“Well, there are probably things about me that you won’t like.”
“There’s only one thing I don’t like about you Angel,” he came to his feet. “Quinn.”
“You just ruined a perfectly nice moment,” she tutted.
“Sorry, I need to get home, when do you want another session?” He moved to leave her room. She walked with him down the stairs.
“Tomorrow?”
“Ok, I’ve got to work straight after college, but I can come over from there?”
“Or, I could meet you at work and we could go to yours.”
“Actually that would work better, my pc is faster than yours so that programme will run quicker which will give you less time to watch my lips,” he grinned. “Be a good girl and grab my car keys for me,” he winked at her.
“Huh, I take back what I said about you being a nice guy,” she said over her shoulder.
Both Angel and Gavin had a restless night’s sleep. Angel couldn’t get the feel of his lips and hair out of her head, now she wanted, more than anything else, for him to pull her into his arms and kiss her again while pressing his hard body against hers. Just thinking about it turned her on. She imagined the hands touching her were his and soon she was sighing and moving her hips to the rhythm of her hands.
Gavin was hot, sweaty and unable to sleep. He kicked the duvet off of the bed and lay in the centre of the six foot square mattress on his back, spread-eagled, trying to get some cooler air flowing over his body. He must have drifted off to sleep as when he woke a short while later, he could swear he felt Angel’s lips on his chest as she began to kiss her way down his body. Realising it was only a dream brought him back to reality with a bump, he was breathing quickly and was even sweatier now. He ran his hand down his chest and stomach, wiping the sweat away, his fingers brushed the tip of his erection. He closed his eyes, wishing her touch didn’t thrill him as much but glad that it did. Moving his hand slowly, he imagined what her smaller delicate hand would feel like if she touched him there. His imagination pushed him over the edge and his orgasm was upon him quicker than he had hoped.
The first lesson the following morning was Biology. Gavin hadn’t been near Quinn since the incident during the previous lesson and wasn’t looking forward to an hour sitting next to him, he needn’t have worried.
Mr. Benson stopped him as he walked through the door. “Change of seating plan today,” he told him, “Kiera, kindly sit next to Quinn today, Gavin, you take Kiera’s seat next to Angel.”
“But Sir,” Quinn protested “I could sit next to Angel.”
“Yes Quinn, you could, but there is a good reason you and Angel don’t sit together. And this will get Gavin away from the window resulting in him being unable to watch the netball match for the duration of the lesson.” This last comment caused most of the class to laugh and Gavin grinned as he made his way to Angel’s table.
Sliding into the seat next to her he smiled and said. “Do you think you’ll be able to concentrate with me sitting here?”
“I think I’ll manage,” she answered,
Gavin shuffled a little closer, “how about now?”
“I’m still fine.”
He slid closer still, so his arm was touching hers, he leant against her, “how about now?” He asked, she laughed and pushed him away.
“That’s a little too close,” she told him.
Gavin moved away a tiny bit, “are you sure you won’t lose yourself looking at my lips?” He teased, “I could always make sure my hair covers my face so you can’t see,” he finished pulling his hair forward over his left cheek, making a curtain between them. He caught his breath as she reached out to smooth his hair away from his face.
“I’m sure I’ll manage just fine if your hair is away from your face little boy,” she grinned.
“Oooh, low blow,” he told her.
Quinn cleared his throat, causing both Angel and Gavin to turn and look at him; he glared at both of them then mouthed, “leave him alone” at Angel. She huffed and turned her back on her boyfriend. Gavin stretched and raised his left hand on the pretence of pushing his hair away from his face, as his hand passed over the back of his head; the only finger visible to Quinn was his middle one.
When the lesson ended, Gavin and the rest of the students filed out of the room. Gavin was greeted by a bunch of his friends waiting for him so they could walk across campus to their next lesson. He noticed Angel walking away on her own and asked his friends just to hang on for him.
“Hey Angel,” he called jogging up to her. “If you’re free lunchtime, do you fancy lazing around on the field and swapping music files?”
“I can’t, sorry, I’ve got some art to finish.” she shrugged an apology.
“Ok, no prob, I may just go to the band auditions then.” He turned away to a chorus of, “oh, crashed and burned my friend,” and, “shot down in flames dude,” from his friends. Gavin clutched his chest and dropped to his knees saying, “I’m mortally wounded.”
“Fool,” Angel responded but she was laughing as Gavin’s friends dragged him to his feet, she flicked her long dark hair over her shoulder and left them to it.
During lunch, Gavin had made his way to the
auditorium where the college’s resident rock band were holding auditions for a singer, their previous one had emigrated and left them in the lurch for the forthcoming battle of the bands competition. Gavin hadn’t been in a band since leaving his Gloucester home town and sorely missed it.
The auditorium was packed with potential singers and their pods of supporters, Gavin was no exception, his friends having forgone their usual football game to show him their support. It was stiflingly hot in the auditorium, as it was situated next to the staff room and not sound proofed in the slightest, the faculty had insisted that all doors and windows remain closed at all times as they didn’t want to be blasted out of their inner sanctum by teenagers belting out rock and metal music.
Gavin pulled off the long sleeved t-shirt he had been wearing over his black vest top and settled down, waiting for his turn, making sure to drink plenty of water and munching on a stick of liquorice to help his voice.
He was the third singer to be called and was midway through his second song when he spotted Angel and Kiera sneaking in via the side door. He lost sight of them when they sat behind a large crowd of girls at the edge of the room.
“Bloody hell he looks good in that,” Angel whispered to Kiera. “Sorry, I know you two are involved but credit where it’s due, he is damn fine looking.”
Kiera giggled, “He looks better without his clothes.”
“Whore,” Angel grinned.
“Angel, if you are interested in him, don’t let what he and I get up to put you off, we aren’t dating, oh that sounds good,” Kiera said as Gavin began to sing a Saliva track.
“I don’t know, I do like him and I feel relaxed around him but I’m seeing Quinn and I also like being with him.”
“But do you trust Quinn?”
“Yeah I guess,” Angel mused.
“You guess? Do you trust Gavin?”
“Actually, yes I do, so far he’s been nothing but honest with me and he’s very funny whereas Quinn always seems to have an ulterior motive to everything he does.”
“Quinn just can’t understand why you two have been dating for six months and you still won’t let him in your pants,” Kiera commented.
“I won’t let him in my pants because at the moment he’s being twat of the century,” Angel huffed.
“He’s always being twat of the century; if I was you I’d dump Quinn and give Gavin a try at least he’d make popping your cherry memorable.”
“Kiera, is that all you think about?”
“No, I just find it hard to believe that you are nearly twenty years old and still a virgin.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Angel defended herself “Anyway, I couldn’t date Gavin while you and he are at it.”
“Don’t you worry about me, he has some friends coming down at the weekend, there’s a bunch of us heading down to the beach, you and twat of the century should join us.”
“I’ll see what he says.”
“Cool, look, I’ll see you in Maths, I really need the loo,” Kiera gathered her things and left.
Angel stayed for the remainder of the auditions then slowly began to make her way out of the auditorium.
“So what did you think?” Gavin came up behind her as she reached for the door.
“Obviously singing is something else you do exceptionally well,” she told him. “Have the band said anything to you?”
“They’ll let us know in the next couple of days,” he replied. “Hold this for a sec,” he handed her his bag while he pulled the long sleeve t-shirt back over his head, “Thanks,” he took his bag “I don’t do everything well,” he told her.
“Name something you can’t do then,” she demanded, they were walking closely side by side down the long corridor that led from the auditorium to the maths block. The corridor was heaving with fellow students but it may as well have been deserted for all the notice the pair took.
“I can’t ski,” Gavin said. “But I can snow board,” he shrugged.
“How does that work?” She asked.
“I’m a guy right? You girls are always saying that us guys only have one brain cell, so why the hell would I want to split it to control two planks of wood, when I can keep it intact and just control one?” He grinned.
“You’re such a moron,” she hit his arm, laughing all the time.
“Careful, you’ll hurt my feelings again,” he laughed with her, “I also suck big time at video games, I can’t roller skate in any form, skateboard or ice skate, so you see, I’m not good at everything,” he finished.
“Enough,” she wheezed, almost crying with laughter. “I admire your ability to take the piss out of yourself.”
“That is one of my many talents,” he agreed, he glanced up as Quinn passed by on Angel’s other side, she hadn’t seen him and Gavin wasn’t about to point him out.
“Well, I’ve got Maths so this is my stop, I’ll meet you at work later?” She asked.
“Yeah, my shift ends at six.”
Quinn was sweetness and light on the way home, he even stopped to pick up the Chinese take away that Angel had mentioned she fancied earlier in the day.
“How was your tennis match?” Angel asked as she busied herself putting the empty cartons in the bin.
“Good. I won of course” Quinn gloated. “What did you get up to at lunchtime?” He asked.
“I finished some outstanding pieces of art then Kiera and I went to watch the auditions in the auditorium,” she said coming to sit next to him.
“You went with Kiera?” He questioned.
“Yes, didn’t I just say that?”
“You did. If you went with Kiera, how come I saw you coming out of there with Gavin?”
Angel sighed; she knew where this was going. Quinn had been complaining all week about her spending time with Gavin.
“He was auditioning, Kiera left early so he walked me to my Maths lesson,” she explained.
“You walked right by me and completely ignored me,” he told her.
“I’m sorry, I obviously didn’t see you,” she apologised.
“If you hadn’t been gazing into his eyes you might have realised I was there.”
“I wasn’t gazing into his eyes,” she protested.
“Yes you were, you were laughing and playing with your hair the way you do when you fancy someone,” he accused.
“It’s not a crime to have a laugh with a friend.”
“Oh, he’s a friend now is he? Is that why you’ve been spending all your time with him instead of me? Quinn demanded.
“You know full well he’s tutoring me.”
“In what exactly? Doing practical Biology I bet.”
“It’s your fault I’m spending so much time with him, so why don’t you just drop it?”
“How the hell is it my fault?”
“You just had to go and taunt him about the things I told you in confidence. If you had kept your big mouth shut he wouldn’t have gone for you and his punishment wouldn’t be tutoring me.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous,” Quinn bristled “Even if you are right, which you aren’t, you are having far too much fun with this tutoring business for it to be completely above board and you enjoy his company far too much.”
“You’re just jealous because he’s more popular than you are and the general consensus throughout the college is that he’s a stand up guy who’s fitter, better looking and wealthier than you are. You only dislike him because he won’t bow down and be one of your yes men, you need to get over yourself,” she shouted.
“See, you defend him way too easily, why don’t you just admit that you like him?”
“So what if I do? I’m with you, I wouldn’t do anything with him while I’m dating you,” she lied, remembering the kiss.
“I don’t believe you. I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
“You don’t own me, I will be friends with who I like, you don’t get a say in that,”
“He’s turning you into a bad tempered little slut;
you’ve probably already let him have you when you’ve been refusing me.”
Angel jumped up from her seat. “You are unbelievable, go fuck yourself Quinn,” she whirled away and stormed out of the house.
She had been walking at a vast rate of knots for fifteen minutes, when she realised that not only had Quinn not bothered to come after her, but she also had an almost three mile uphill walk home in most unsuitable shoes.
“Shit,” she murmured to herself. She stopped walking to rummage in her bag, making sure her credit card was in her purse, once she had established that it was there, she took a left turn onto the main road and headed for the nearest off license.
Chapter 6
Gavin finished his shift at the health club, he pulled on his jeans and stuffed his life guard shorts into his bag along with the long sleeved t-shirt and vest top that he had worn to college that day and left on his white health club t-shirt. He headed for the car park fully expecting to see Angel waiting by his car, sorely disappointed when she wasn’t there. He stashed his bag behind the driver’s seat then fished his phone out of his pocket to see if she had left him a message, again he was disappointed when he saw there were no text messages or voice mails.
He dialled her number, concerned that she hadn’t been in touch, she answered on the first ring.
“About time you called. Sorry I’m not there, I can’t wait to see you. Can you pick me up outside the Wine Rack on Kingston Road?” She gabbled.
“Are you ok?” He asked.
“I’m fine,” she replied, then he heard shuffling. “Whoops, missed the wall,” followed by giggling.
“I’m on my way,” he told her. He found her exactly where she said she would be, sitting on the wall outside Wine Rack, two carrier bags and her school bag at her feet, taking deep gulps of a Bacardi Breezer.
“Hello little boy,” she greeted him as he stepped out of the car.
“Are you drunk?” He asked.
“Nearly,” was her reply as she came unsteadily to her feet.
“I thought you were meeting me at work.”
“Yeah I was, didn’t make it. I had a row with Quinn, stormed out of his house, the fucker didn’t even come after me,” she leaned on him.
