by Mott, Teisha
Nathan felt sorry for her. He could not imagine how difficult growing up must have been for Andie. “I think they’re absolutely nuts, not liking you and leaving you by yourself all the time!” He said. “If we are going by the girl I know now, you must have been really sweet as a kid.”
“I don’t know about that,” Andie disagreed. “Apparently, they thought I was ugly and disagreeable and spoilt! And I didn’t look like them.”
“Well, even if you were ugly and disagreeable and spoilt, you certainly are not now!”
Andie smiled. “You’re just saying that!”
“No I’m not. You’re by far the prettiest, funniest girl I’ve ever met!” Nathan whispered. “You are...” He took her hand, folding her fingers to his, and leaned forward.
Andie pulled back. “What are you doing?”
“Well, I was going to kiss you,” Nathan said with a chuckle.
He felt her hands tighten around his, and she looked away.
“Andie,” he said in a quiet voice, drawing her gaze to him. “Do I frighten you?”
Andie blushed bright red. She shuffled away from him and took a huge gulp of her water. “I really don’t think this is a very good idea.”
“And why not?” Nathan’s eyes seemed to penetrate her soul as he stared longingly into her eyes and she began to get a prickly feeling at the back of her neck.
“Well first of all,” Andie took another sip of her water, wondering why her throat was getting drier by the second. “First of all, we’re friends, and friends don’t go around kissing each other.”
Nathan began to comment, but Andie continued. “Second, I have never been kissed before. I have no idea what to do, so I’m pretty sure you’d be disappointed.”
Nathan burst out laughing at the look of pure panic on Andie’s face. She was positively freaking out! He pulled her to her feet, took the glass of water from her free hand and set it down. He tenderly cupped her face, which was still flaming red, with his hands.
“Andie, Andie, Andie,” he whispered, his lips moving dangerously close to hers. “First of all, I thought you figured out by now that I want to be so much more than just your friend.”
Andie could only manage a faint sigh.
“And that thing about never being kissed before – isn’t it a good thing I know what I’m doing?”
“But Nathan…”
“Shh,” Nathan whispered. “I’m not going to bite you, you know.”
He lowered his head and kissed her. It was a slow, light kiss, nothing that Nathan had not experienced before, but the sensation went all the way through to the centre of his body. His stomach whirled, and his groin tightened. Even his knees bobbed a little.
Andie resisted at first, pushing against his chest with her palms. Then she relaxed, melted into him, feeling too overwhelmed to fight. Before she knew it, he pulled away.
“There. Did that hurt?” He was stroking her hair.
Andie shook her head, not trusting her voice to speak.
“Good,” Nathan whispered. “And for the record, pretty girl, kissing you could never be disappointing.”
Nathan splayed a hand in the small of her back and drew her in. This time, Andie did not resist as he pulled her close. Holding her steady, he poured every drop of concentration into kissing her again. His tongue gently parted her lips and invaded her mouth. He pulled her closer and ran his free hand over her derriére and between her legs.
“Too fast!” A little voice in her head screamed, but she ignored it. It was only a kiss, and there was no danger in that. Nothing wrong with yielding a little. Besides, it was Nathan, and he would not do anything to hurt her. He was so good-looking and sweet as a teddy bear, and he had helped her get an A for her GT11A paper.
Nathan combed his fingers through her hair, loosening her ponytail, as he pressed her to the wall, leaving his hands free to move over the contours of her back.
“Andie,” he moaned, as he pulled his lips away from hers. He buried his face in her neck, then drew a long breath, tightening his arms around her and holding her face against his heart.
Andie stayed there. She did not say a word, just listened to his heart as it pounded in his chest. Her brain was feeling fuzzy, to say the least. A lone tear fell from her eye and coursed down her cheek. She had read countless novels, and watched countless movies with girls who had experienced their first kiss. But nowhere in her wildest imagination had she thought she would ever have experienced anything like what she just had.
“Andie,” Nathan said, his voice sounding raspy as he pressed a kiss to her hair. “I think your backpack is ringing.
“What?”
“That ringing,” Nathan repeated. “It’s coming from your backpack.”
“My backpack?” Andie was confused. Then it hit her. “That’s my cell phone,” she said, wriggling from Nathan’s grasp. She rummaged through her books, and grabbed the phone her mother had given her as a part of her date pack. “Hello!”
Nathan moved back to the desk, pretending to arrange Andie’s papers, as she took the call. It was her father.
“I’m fine, Daddy,” he heard her say. “I’m down by Preston. Dylan offered to drop me, but I wanted to stay behind and do some work.”
There was a pause, and Nathan wondered whether Dr Persaud was upset that Andie was with him instead of at home.
“I’m sure Nathan doesn’t mind,” Andie continued. “He offered to drop me home earlier.”
Nathan was beginning to lose interest in the conversation Andie was having with her father. He took the empty plates and glasses from their earlier snack to the common area. Jeremy was there, practicing problems for his Financial Management II midterm.
“It’s quiet in there,” he commented. “No action?”
Nathan ignored him, and piled the plates into the sink.
“I can’t wait to see your face when you lose the bet!” He guffawed.
“Concentrate on the Fin. Man,” Nathan hissed as he headed back to the room. “Hopefully you’ll do better on it, than on betting on me not getting with Andie.”
Andie was off the phone. “Daddy just finished lecturing Grad school,” she told him. “He’ll be ready to go as soon as I can get to the lecturers’ parking lot. I told him you’d walk me.”
“Sure,” Nathan said good-naturedly. “You ready now?”
Andie nodded, as she stuffed her textbooks into her backpack. She pulled out a hairbrush and re-fastened the pony-holder that Nathan had ripped out earlier. She blushed a little, remembering how he had kissed her.
Nathan ushered her out of his room. Andie noticed that Jeremy was still in the common area.
“Bye Jeremy,” Andie said, insisting on being polite to him.
“Bye, Andie,” Jeremy replied. “Are you leaving with everything that you came here with tonight?”
“I hope so,” Andie said, not getting the innuendo. She had not positioned her calculus text properly in her backpack, and the corner was poking her. She stopped at the door to adjust it.
Nathan got Jeremy’s meaning loud and clear, and counted slowly backwards from ten, as he resisted the urge to punch Jeremy.
“Hey, pretty girl…” Nathan began.
“Hmm?” Paying attention to adjusting the book in her backpack properly, Andie did not see Nathan leaning toward her until he was so close that she could not push him away. Not that she would have. The kiss he placed on her lips was warm and electric; just brief enough to be surprising, especially since he had done it in front of Jeremy.
“Nathan!” Andie protested, pretending to be embarrassed.
“Couldn’t help it,” Nathan laughed. “I mean, you were right there, looking so cute and kissable!”
Andie shook her head as she went out the door. Nathan cast a quick glare at Jeremy.
“Hold that, Malcolm!” His lo
ok said. That should shut Jeremy up, if even for the remainder of the week. He took Andie’s hand into his, as they walked towards the campus.
“Aren’t you afraid all your hall mates will start making comments when they see us walking together and holding hands?” Andie asked.
“I’m not embarrassed to hold hands and walk with, or even kiss my girlfriend for all to see!” Nathan returned.
“Girlfriend?” Andie questioned. “When did I become your girlfriend?”
“Wait a minute,” Nathan said, shaking his head a little. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you the girl I just shared the most mind-blowing kiss with in my dorm room not even ten minutes ago?”
“Kisses, not kiss,” Andie corrected. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but the fact that we kissed doesn’t mean I’m your girlfriend. I read somewhere once that ‘kisses aren’t contracts, neither are presents promises’.”
“What do you want? A signed document?” Nathan put in facetiously. “I, Nathan Jayden Hansen, hereby declare that I like Anne Dru Janine Persaud, and I want her to be my girlfriend. I promise to treat her good, never make her cry, and make out with her – sometimes in public – for as long as she will have me.”
“Can I have it in quill and ink, and on parchment?” Andie asked.
“If once I’ve drafted it, we can seal it with a kiss,” Nathan agreed.
They were all alone on the Preston Highway. The only light was the soft glow of the half-moon high in the sky. Andie felt extremely warm and comfortable.
“Let’s forget the quill and ink and seal the deal here!” She said, turning into Nathan’s arms.
“Does that mean you accept?” Nathan stroked her face.
Andie smiled. She responded by pressing her lips firmly against Nathan’s. He held her close, and moaned as his tongue met hers. She was the sweetest girl he had ever met. It was as though he had been kissing her forever; as though he could go on kissing her forever.
They were interrupted by a security guard doing rounds.
“Get a room!” She snarled.
Andie pulled away from Nathan, feeling a little bit self-conscious. Nathan smiled at the sheepish look on her face.
“For someone who claims never to have been kissed before, you certainly catch on fast!” He commented.
“What can I say?” Andie quipped. “I learn from the best!”
Nathan wordlessly reclaimed her hand with his, and they walked in silence to the Lecturers’ parking lot. Dr Persaud was there, chatting to two other lecturers. He spotted Nathan and Andie, and excused himself.
“You almost got left behind, little girl!” He greeted them. “It was your mother who told me you weren’t home yet.”
“Then Nathan would have taken me home,” Andie said. She threw her bag on the backseat of her father’s Mercedes Benz SUV and got in. “Bye Nathan!”
“Bye Andie,” Nathan said. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Of course!”
Andie fastened her seatbelt. Nathan was talking to her father. She wondered whether they were discussing her. Andie did not know how she would broach the topic of Nathan being her boyfriend to her parents. She had never had a boyfriend before. Samantha had dated, but nothing steady. In fact, apart from her cousin, Kamilla, who was married, the only other cousin with a boyfriend was Bianca. Bianca and Tevin had been together for four years, ever since Bianca was fourteen. She had been in the tenth grade, and he was in eleventh. Bianca, Andie thought, had a plethora of experience dealing with boyfriends, and explaining the situation to parents. Andie frowned. Uncle Jeffrey was different from her father. He had spoilt Bianca a lot, trying to make up for the fact that her mother had left her when she was three. And Julie, Bianca’s step mother, was more like a fun big sister than a parent. It would have been much easier for Bianca to talk to her parents than it would be for Andie. She would phone Bianca, nonetheless, when she got home. Perhaps they could do a three-way conversation with Klao. Klao did not have a boyfriend at that time, but Andie remembered her having one in sixth form. It had lasted one year. Andie thought one years’ experience was more than one evening’s worth, so Klao would be able to help.
Andie sighed and adjusted herself in the leather seats. Her father glanced at her.
“You alright, punkin?” he asked.
She nodded. “I guess,” she replied evasively. “Just tired.”
“You got a lot done this evening?”
“Yeah, I did,” Andie smiled. “I think I can get an A for Calculus.”
“Wow!” Dr Persaud commented. “A for Calculus, A for Politics…think you can eke out an A for Econ?”
“If I do, will you get me a car?” Andie asked cheekily.
“No!” Dr Persaud said. “If I get you a car, you will go traipsing all over the place and your mother and I may never see you again!”
“Samantha has a car and you see her all the time!” Andie argued.
“Samantha doesn’t have a Nathan!” Her father teased.
Andie smiled and blushed. Her father did not miss it.
“Look at your face!” He said. “All smiles and blushes. ‘Andie and Nathan sittin’ in a tree…’!”
“Daddy! Stop!” Andie protested. “What’s wrong with you?”
Dr Persaud laughed barkingly. “Ah, my child. There’s nothing wrong with me, and from where I sit all is paradise with you and Nathan.”
“Is it all right, Daddy,” Andie asked cautiously. “I mean, if I like him like him?”
“Do you?” Her father asked.
“I guess…”
“I see. You guess!” Dr Persaud nodded. “Yup. That is first love code for ‘Daddy, Nathan is so dreamy! I want to run away with him and have his baby!’!”
Andie sighed and looked away, and her father decided to be serious.
“Listen, punkin,” he said. “I am a do as I do kind of guy – you know that. Your mother and I were light years younger than you and Nathan are when we decided that we were going to be a couple. I would be the worst sort of hypocrite in the world if I were to tell you that you can’t go steady with Nathan. You’re eighteen years old, Andie. You are an adult, and you are free to do whatever you want to do – within reason.
“Moreover, I like Nathan. I think he is a solid and upstanding young man, and if I could choose for you or Samantha, he is just who I would have picked. I don’t usually speak for your mother, but I am sure she will agree with me on this one. If you like him, and he likes you, go for it. But please, please don’t do anything that will make you ashamed to look at yourself in the mirror, and don’t be afraid to come to me or your mother for anything whatsoever.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes dear?”
“I think you are the most awesome daddy ever!” Andie said passionately.
“Well, I do try!” Dr Persaud said immodestly. “And about the car thing – we’ll consider getting you one when you’re twenty.”
“Twenty?” Andie exclaimed. “I might be dead by then!”
“Well you don’t look like you’re going to die anytime soon,” her father said. “So you can wait for two measly years. Besides, you can’t have it all. You have a boyfriend, and now you want a car too.”
Andie smiled. “Can you believe it? I have a boyfriend! I, Anne Dru Janine Persaud, have a boyfriend!”
“And what is so wrong with Anne Dru Janine Persaud that would preclude her from having a boyfriend?” Dr Persaud asked.
“She is not the girlfriend type,” Andie started to explain.
“Well, clearly she is!” Her father countered, “Or she would not now have a boyfriend.”
“You know what, Daddy?” Andie said. “Anne Dru Janine Persaud believes you are absolutely correct. Now, if you don’t mind, she would love to stop referring to herself in the third person now.”
***
“I have a boyfriend!” Andie screamed, bursting into Samantha’s bedroom.
Samantha was lying on her stomach, flipping through the latest copy of Bella Magazine. “No shit, Sherlock!” She commented, without even looking up at her sister.
“Aren’t you excited for me?” Andie asked bouncing on Samantha’s bed.
“I’m ecstatic on the inside,” Samantha said dryly. “Go and bathe and change your school clothes. I can’t believe you threw your dirty self into my clean bed. Now that you have a boyfriend you are going to have to start carrying yourself better than you do.”
“You’re such a buzz killer,” Andie scoffed, getting out of her sister’s bed. “I’m going to call Bianca and Klao.”
She skipped through the bathroom to her bedroom not bothering to close the door.
“I have a boyfriend!” Samantha heard her scream into the telephone to either Bianca or Klao. Samantha shook her head.
“Teenagers!” She thought, ignoring the fact that she, too was still one, and would be for another six months. She got out of bed and closed the bathroom door, blocking out her sister’s excited chatter. Every second word from Andie’s mouth was Nathan.
Samantha had never seen Andie as excited about anything or anyone. Her greatest loves were swimming and mathematics, and not even a trophy at a swim meet, or the mathematics award at Hialeah Academy ever got her talking so loudly and animatedly. Samantha rolled over and put the magazine aside. Once again, she recalled what Jeremy had said about Nathan messing with Andie. She had forgotten to ask Micah what Jeremy had meant. She made a note on her things-to-do pad, and placed it in her backpack. She would find out exactly what was up with Nathan, and if he had any intention of hurting her little sister, there would be hell to pay.
***
