My Geeky Boyfriend

Chapter Twelve

Hawk (P.O.V.)

I could make out distant sounds of someone moving around. The more conscious I became however, the closer the sounds seemed to be. So, using all my willpower, I popped both eyes open.  The first thing that welcomed me, was the soft feel of the pillow on my face. 

Since when did my pillow smell so nice? Last I checked, it always smelled like hot Cheetos and chips because of the many times I lay in bed doing movie marathons with my sister. And it might or might not smell like a day old chicken bone which I was too lazy to trash. You get the idea. 

So, imagine my surprise when I found myself sinking into a pillow which not only smelled nice, but felt just as nice; with its fluffy whiteness making me want to bury my head deeper. The fluffy Whiteness.

Wait, white? Since when did I have a white pillow? Where the hell did my black, monsters in the city pillow go?

I bolted upright at lightning speed from my lying position. 

Bad idea. 

The horrible throbbing in my head almost made me believe my skull might rip in two. The pain was that much. I placed two fingers on my temple, rubbing small circles on it; trying to deceive myself into thinking it helped reduce the aching. But I soon realized that I had more to worry about than the banging in my head.  I nearly jumped out of my own skin when I heard someone say, "you're awake. Good morning."  

Tracing the source of the voice, I was faced with a young blonde girl seemingly in her mid-twenties, who at the moment, was smiling softly at me.

"Uhm...hi?"

 Real smooth, Hawk.

You managed to give the dumbest reply.

Stupid, stu-- I was stopped from my mental criticism when I noticed that there were other people standing in the room; a man in a white shirt which was tucked too neatly in his black trousers, and two girls who were dressed in the same outfit as the blonde girl - simple black gowns matched with cute little white aprons, which were tied around the waist. 

Now, the man was the one who spoke. His voice was so gentle, that I was certain he was the kind of person who'd tell someone their hair was on fire and say it as though he was saying the name of his pet.  

"We're sorry if we disturbed you."  

"No, it's fine. You didn't disturb me at all."

I wanted to add that the only disturbance I was having now was the pounding in my head, but I decided against it.  

"We thought it'd be better to have everything ready for you before you woke up."

Everything ready? That was when my eyes sized in on what they were carrying. The blonde girl was holding a small tray containing painkillers and a glass of water. The two other girls were holding... 

Oh god!  Was that?  Was this?  Was I?  The sight of the tray which one of the girls was holding, made me struggle to stop my mouth from watering. If it wasn't a buffet, then it was the closest thing to it. Each and everything there, looked as exquisite as a chef's menu in one of those food magazines. And believe me, there were a lot of things.  It was with great effort that I managed to pull my eyes away, instead focusing them on what the man with the gentle voice was holding - I recognized them as my clothes.  But then, how was he with my clothes?

My eyes immediately drifted to my body, and that was when I took note of what I was wearing.  I was in a big blue shirt, paired with pants whose sides I was certain I'd have to hold on to if I wanted to prevent it from slipping off my waist. How did I get into these clothes? How was I in this room which looked like it belonged in an episode of "Keeping up with the Kardashians?" And why were these people treating me as though I were some sort of royalty? 

As though sensing my confusion, the man with the gentle voice said, "your clothes were a bit messed up last night, so I had it cleaned for you. There were no spare clothes available, so I had to make do with my clothes. I'm sorry."

He was sorry? And of all people, he was sorry to me? And not for banging my head to a wall, but for giving me his clothes to wear?  Wait a minute, was this a dream? I pinched myself to confirm if it was real, and that s**t hurt like hell, so it had to be real.

"Oh, it's fine. It's just uh, I don't even remember changing into these clothes," I admitted shamefully. 

The man however, smiled reassuringly at me, as though trying to convince me that not remembering how I got into different clothes than mine, was a completely normal thing.

"Actually, I helped you change. I had to take off all you were wearing to help you feel more comfortable."  

An awkward, "oh," escaped my lips.

But all I could think of was the man with the gentle voice changing my clothes, with the three girls watching him. I shuddered at the image, so I shook it off my mind and instead watched as the girls arranged everything for me before excusing themselves, even throwing me smiles before leaving.  Was this some sort of reverse reality?  The man with the gentle voice also made to leave after dropping my clothes, but the sound of my voice stopped him.  

"Uhm...when you said, 'all I was wearing,' were you also referring to my underwear?"  

There, I said it. And never had I wished I could take back something I said than I did right now.  The man however, looked somewhat concerned, much to my chagrin. Did he think I was a weirdo? Did he...

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize you'd need a change of underwear. I would have changed it if I did. I'm really sorry about that."  

Could this situation get any more embarrassing? Now, I was certain I'd have preferred if he thought I was a weirdo. The man did look genuinely concerned that he had offended me by not changing my underwear. 

I could only manage a small, "you don't need to be sorry, it's fine. Thank you for cleaning up my clothes."  

He relaxed visibly at that, smiling slightly before exiting the room and shutting the door behind him. 

Wait, why did he shut the door? 

Oh no! 

Could it be? 

I'd seen this scene before. The innocent kid wakes up in a strange, big house with seemingly nice people, only to find out he's been kidn*pped by...drug lords! 

Ok, even in my confused state, that didn't seem like something that'd actually happen. At least not to me. I mean, who in their right mind would choose to kidnap me? 

 Maybe a crime boss? Or someone who wanted to sell my organs? Could that be the reason they were treating me like this? All of this fancy food, was it just to fill me up so my organs could be healthy enough to be cultivated? Well, if I was going to be opened up soon, I could at least enjoy this mouthwatering treat before I did.  But on second thought, should I? What did my parents say about accepting things from strangers again? 

Oh yeah, my dad said: 'you can't let free candy slide. You take that candy and punch that motherfucker in the face if he tries to pull you into a car.'  

But after a hard nudge from my mum, he was quick to add that he was just kidding. Although knowing him, I doubted he really was. 

 In the end, my hand betrayed me - it grabbed the fork and dug in. As I savored the taste of the food in my mouth, I was certain that if eating something this delicious was the price I had to pay for my organs, then I would gladly give them away. Alright, maybe I was just being paranoid. I didn't even hear the door lock, so it was obviously just shut and nothing more. 

My head began to throb again, and this time I reached for the painkillers and water.

Why did my head hurt so bad? And how come I didn't even remember how I got to this room?  The man with the gentle voice did mention that my clothes were messed up last night. But how did that happen?

The last I could remember was arriving at that party, accepting a drink from Kevin and...  The party! 

Memories of it flooded my head; Kevin cheering, me playing some weird drinking games, me throwing up in a vase, me doing some crazy a*s moves on a table - which for some reason, everyone was imitating, Kevin leading me to a red car. 

Wait a sec, red car? And that was when it clicked - Stephanie's car!  

"Holland is soooo beautiful, she's just so perfect. She's what I imagine pizza would look like if it had body parts."

"But it's pretty funny you know - I'm a hawk who looks like a weasel," I giggled to myself, resting my head on the car window. 

Oh god! Each memory made me cringe harder than the last. But on the bright side, now I was certain I was in Stephanie's house. She took me away from the party last night, and I was pretty sure she wouldn't know where I lived - well, that is unless she was a secret stalker or something. So, she must have brought me to her house. That'd explain the ginormous room and the many helpers.  I rushed through my breakfast, eager to head outside, and also mortified at the thought of doing so.

'But you're also really pretty Stephanie. But you look like a pancake.'  Kill me!

The first thing I noticed as I stepped out of the room, was that this house was huge. It was like a maze of rooms and corridors. I could only wander through the corridor, hoping I could at least get an idea of how to get to Stephanie. But I was really beginning to lose hope that I'd be able to do that on my own.  Thankfully, I spotted a smartly dressed young man whose outfit seemed quite similar to that of the man with the gentle voice. I called his attention and explained my situation to him.

He smiled politely, saying he'd lead me to Stephanie himself.  I threw him a smile in return; that kind that was mixed with gratitude and embarrassment. I felt like a kid who got lost in the mall and had to ask an adult for help to find his mummy. All that was left was a piece of candy in my hand, and for me to tug on the hand of the young man who was walking sharply ahead of me. 

After a series of turns and going down a large staircase only to be met with a few more turns, we finally arrived at what I assumed to be the kitchen. The sound of laughter resonated through the room.

"No, Andy, we should add that later."

"Aye aye, captain," answered the man who I figured to be Andy, making them both chuckle.

He was dressed in a chef's outfit, his hat almost touching the ceiling.  But at the moment, I was more enthralled by the other person in the room, than by Andy's super long hat. The Stephanie in front of me almost seemed like an entirely different person; one of her hands was clutching a big glass bowl, while the other was stirring the mixture in it. Her cute pink apron had been adorned with smudges of flour, and there were chocolate smears on her face, but she didn't seem to mind. She laughed at something Andy said, playfully nudging his sides.  Andy was the first to notice me.

"Hello," he greeted, smiling warmly at me.

I could only offer a shy smile in return, adding a small, "hi."

What was with people in this house and smiling? They seemed to really love it. 

Stephanie's attention turned to me too, leaving a chirpy grin to spread across her face.

"Oh, there's my celebrity boyfriend."  

"Hey," I answered lamely.

Get your s**t together, Hawk. I wanted to ask what she meant by celebrity boyfriend but decided against it. She was probably just messing around with me as usual.

"I need to go get the shrimps for the dish; Danny forget to get it."  

"Typical Danny," Stephanie said, making them chuckle.

And I, of course, found myself in that awkward situation where I had to smile even though I didn't get the joke.  Andy excused himself soon after, leaving just me and Stephanie in the kitchen. Feeling slightly less awkward than before, I moved from my position near the door, and towards where she was standing. 

She was absorbed in pouring the mixture into a pan, so I had time to think of getting something out which wasn't a monosyllable.  

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

She pulled out something from her pocket and passed it to me.

My phone.  

"Dove called last night."  

"Oh. What did she say?"  

"Well, nothing much, except that she couldn't believe I was your girlfriend." S

he made air quotes when she said girlfriend, to which I chuckled.

"So," I started unsurely, as Stephanie placed the pan in the oven.

"How bad was I last night?"

I managed to get the question out in a single breath. 

She stopped from clearing out the messy table, staring incredulously at me instead.

"You don't remember?"  

"I uh...I don't remember much."

"So, you don't remember the party and you doing the Hawk duck?"

The smile that crawled on her lips at the last two words was hard to miss.  

"Yeah, I kind of remember that" I admitted, secretly wishing I could be one with the white walls of the kitchen. 

The Hawk duck? I felt like dying from secondhand embarrassment.  

"And you remember getting in my car?"  

"Yeah."  

"And you remember calling me a pancake?"  

"Yeah, sorry about that," I answered with a sheepish smile.

But judging from the smile on her face, she didn't seem to mind.  

"And you remember when you kissed me?"  

"Ye--"  

Wait, what?  

"Oh, right. We did."

I had no idea how, but I managed to chuckle between every word.  

"Yeah. I mean it's not really a big deal, it's just a drunken kiss, right?" She added.  

"Y-yeah, totally drunken."

Stupid move, Hawk. Way to make things awkward.  Stephanie must think I was a weird, sexually deprived teenage boy. Which if you thought about it, was pretty true.  Gosh, my thoughts were only worsening my embarrassment. What other thing did I do last night? Lick my toes? Or worse still, did I maybe... 

The sound of Stephanie's laughter broke off my thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't keep it in anymore. You should have seen your face," she said between laughs.  

"So, I didn't ask you for a kiss?"  

"Of course not. You passed out in the car."  

My relief was pretty clear in the way my lips curled into a smile. I didn't ask her for a kiss.  

"You know, SpongeBob, you're the only guy I know who looks happy about not kissing me," she mused, smiling softly at me. I could only chuckle in reply.  

"Well, you didn't do many asides what you remember. In fact, you've become a celebrity after last night."  

"Yeah, right," I snorted.  

"See for yourself," she urged, holding her phone out to me.

I wished I never reached to take it from her, because nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.  It was a video of me, Dancing the...oh no! The Hawk duck! And the video had gone viral! 

I looked up from the phone to find Stephanie smiling.

"Told you you're an online celebrity now."  

And in that moment, I knew it - I was never drinking again.