Aurora Book 1: Soitera

5. Go Naked

Things go back to normal after that night. Everett's still kind, but he doesn't kidnap me to his house or show up in my garden. He seems to back off. Must have given up on his dare or something. I'm not as easy as he thought.

I spend a week researching the colleges. BlackRock really is the best option and that's the major I would have picked anyway. I love science and space. Business and computers are boring. Medicine gets yucky at times, and I've always been squeamish around blood. It doesn't suit me. I think I would like engineering classes. Building and designing is fun, but it's got nothing on space. Unless I could design stuff for space. That would make it more of a hard decision.

I sit in Mr. Nelson's office with the contracts in front of me. This is it. I can't help but smile as I sign the acceptance forms. I'm really doing this.

"I'm so proud of you, sweetie." Mrs. Young gives me a hug. "You make us all proud."

"Don't forget you said you would drive me."

"I will not forget. I'm actually looking forward to it."

Mr. Nelson laughs. "And here is your welcome packet and welcome items." He hands me a box bigger than the one my aunt sent.

"That's not going to fit in my locker. What's in it?"

Mrs. Young has a hard time picking it up. "Can someone take you home? You're not going to be able to carry it."

"Maybe Everett. I don't know."

"Here is the new student box." He puts another box on top of it.

"LET'S OPEN IT." I rip it open before anyone can stop me. It looks like a bag of stuff. I grab it and Mr. Nelson picks me up around my waist.

"Everett, can you take her home after school?" Mrs. Young smiles at him. "Or put the boxes in my car. I'll take her home if you can't. But she can't be around the boxes for now."

"IT'S LIKE CHRISTMAS."

"Yep. I'll take her home." He maneuvers around us and takes the boxes.

"MINE." I try to grab the bag.

Mrs. Young grabs her coffee. "You better run."

Everett laughs as he leaves.

When he comes back, I'm sitting on my hands trying to ignore my eye twitch.

"My mom said congratulations."

"You told your mom?"

"I told her what I was doing so she wouldn't worry."

"That does make sense. Thanks for driving me home. I didn't know who else to ask."

"You're welcome. Let's get out of here."

"There's still a half an hour left."

"They're not going to check that we went back to class."

"Well, now I'm going to." Mr. Nelson is leaning against his door with his arms crossed.

Everett turns white and I crack up laughing.

Then Mr. Nelson laughs. "Go ahead. Those boxes are going to drive her crazy anyway. I won't check for you."

"I thought Everett was going to pass out this time."

"He did get pale there for a minute."

We get to the house and carry the stuff to my bedroom.

"Wait." He pulls out the student box papers. "This is your student pack. Everything in here belongs to only you. You're not allowed to give it away, but you're free to use it now."

I rip the bag open and pull out a zip sweater. It's black with the BlackRock logo on the chest. Then it says student across the back. It's actually fitted. I wonder how they got my size. I model it and he smiles.

Then he lays back on the bed and crosses his feet. "Next."

I get a lot of student stuff. Pants, shirts, sweaters, a hoodie, binder, pencils, and a nice cup. Everything says student on it.

"This box is for you to do what you want with. You can keep it all or give some to family and friends."

I pull out a stack of 10 tee-shirts. "What in the world? This is more tee shirts than I own currently."

"Probably different sizes."

I find a small and switch shirts. "Small works for me." He stares at me with his eyebrows up. "Sorry. I forgot you were here, I think."

"Please, forget more often."

I laugh and throw a shirt at him. Then I try the medium. It's a little baggy but still good. "You want the L and XL's?"

"I'll take the extra larges. Keep the larges to sleep in."

"That's not a bad idea. I'm gonna give one to Mr. Nelson and Mrs. Young. They helped a lot."

"Yea, they did. Don't forget you have just as many sweaters too. They zip. These are the nice ones."

"Take the big ones. I claim the little ones. I wish I had a closet."

"I'll get you a rack." He stands up with a BlackRock shirt and takes off the shirt he's wearing.

My eyes get stuck staring at him. He is hot and has a lot of muscles. Not that it matters, but my eyes must think it does.

"Like what you see?" He steps against me, and his lips touch mine.

I don't even know what to do. He takes control and gives me a real kiss. I've never felt anything like it. It's warm and relaxing. His mouth against mine. Feeling his breath. His skin on my fingers. Being wrapped in his arms. I love everything about this.

He steps back and puts the new tee-shirt on. "Speak."

"I thought it was some weird joke. I barely spoke to you this week."

"I like you. But you had to make the decision about where to go to school without my interference. It wouldn't have been fair if I told you my opinion."

"What was your opinion?"

"I would have liked it if you picked Maple. But you would have been miserable. I knew that was out. Then I wanted you to pick something at least closer. But it wouldn't have mattered, no matter where you picked, it would have put a lot of distance between us. I'm glad you picked the school you wanted. I like seeing you happy." He pulls me against him and gives me another kiss.

I melt even more into this one. I feel like his arms are made for me.

The door crashes open.

We don't move away from each other. We turn and look at dad.

"I heard you got accepted to BlackRock. Congratulations."

"Thank you. How did you hear?"

"Jerry told me."

"Who is Jerry?"

Everett laughs and dad shakes his head as he walks out.

I get a kiss on the head. "Jerry is my dad. My mom must have called him. Where were we?" His lips touch mine.

I don't hesitate at all. I want this kiss. Then I have to stop. "But why would we do this? We're never going to see each other again after 7 months."

"Says who? Planes exist. Holidays. Weekends. Phones. We are the only people who get to decide what happens between us. If you want to just be friends, I understand. I'm not going to put pressure on you. But I like you, and I'm not going to stop that. I like seeing you. I like spending time with you."

I press my lips against his and nibble his lip. "I like kissing you."

"That was a given." His arms hold me tighter, and he leans me back a little bit as he kisses me.

"I need to think."

"I know." He hugs me and closes his eyes. "Please talk to me about it. Don't leave me in the dark. I'll understand whatever you want to do. I just don't want to be blindsided."

"We can talk through our options. That's not a bad idea."

"That works for me. We can sort it out."

I hear the assholes laughing. "He's already here. I'm going to go to the cemetery for a while."

He holds me back. "Is that the guy that..." His voice trails off.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Maybe it's better if I don't."

We get to the living room and my dad is signing papers. Everett's dad is going through other papers.

"What is happening?"

Dad signs a paper with force. "You're going to the islands."

"WHAT?"

He nods. "Try not to drown."

I glare at Everett. "DID YOU KNOW?"

He won't look at me. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this."

"ME AND YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A SERIOUS TALK."

"YOU'LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO TALK TO HIM ON THE ISLANDS."

"I DON'T EVEN OWN A SWIMSUIT."

"GO NAKED." Dad hands the signed papers off to Jerry and goes to the kitchen.

"AHHHH" I scream at the top of my lungs.

He comes back with a beer.

I can't do this right now. I run outside and slam the door so hard it cracks. Then I take off for the cemetery.

I sit by mom and hug my knees. I'm too pissed off to even talk. They can't make me get on the plane though. Nobody can make me do this.

Everett shows up after a while. "I'm sorry it happened like that."

"You'll never get me on the plane."

"Don't be like this, please. Nothing went to plan. My dad's brother, the one whose house we're going to stay at, went to BlackRock. My dad thought it would be good for you to meet an alumnus from there. When my mom called him and told him you picked BlackRock, he called your dad simply to ask about taking you to meet his brother for the holiday. Your father said yes come over and I'll sign the papers. That's exactly what my dad did. I was planning to ask you to come with us. I had no idea my dad was there or what was happening. I didn't even get a chance to talk to you about it yet. I'm sorry."

"Why would you ask my dad before me?"

"There were some disagreements about that. If he couldn't get your dad's permission, there was no point in asking you. My dad was worried about you getting excited and your dad crushing your dreams. I tried to tell him, I'll just hand your dad the papers when he's drunk and tell him it's a contract for something, but my dad wouldn't go for that. I still would have done it if you were excited. I wanted to tell you first though. You were so shocked at dinner that day, I didn't want to make that worse. I didn't realize how fast my parents would act to get permission."

"Ok."

"You'll go?"

"No. I'm just not mad anymore. It felt like you were hiding stuff from me and not giving me options."

"I'll never take your choices away. But I would like it if you came with us. And we would have plenty of time to talk. Your dad was right about that part."

"Naked apparently too."

He smirks. "That would be amazing."

I smack at him. "Seriously."

"I'm very serious."

"I can't go. I don't have any money and that would cost a lot. The plane ticket. Food. Room. Swimsuit. Transportation. I can't take that much from anyone."

"Well, the room is free. It's at my uncle's house. He doesn't charge us. I think that's why we go there. The food is mostly free for us. My parents try to donate to the food fund, but they won't take our money. Transportation, we don't go anywhere. We walk to the beaches. If it makes you feel better, I can pay for the plane ticket, and I will buy you a swimsuit."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"You can pay me back after you get out of college."

"I wonder if I could get a job while I go to college."

"Maybe. It is a college town. There's bound to be something close." He nudges me with his elbow. "You could talk to my uncle about it. He's already called me three times asking about you. He's more excited to see you than he is to see us."

"No. He's not."

"You're so cute when you blush." He tilts my chin up with his thumb and gives me a kiss. "Please come. I do want time with you. My uncle can give you a lot of information. You'll get to see some of the islands. There's really no bad side."

"Will I share a room with you?" I'm afraid of this answer.

"No. You'll have your own room. You won't be sharing with anyone."

"Fine. But keep the receipts and I will pay you back."

"Thank you." He gives me another kiss. "And I couldn't care less if you pay me back. That's your choice."