Unexpected Connection

CHAPTER 3

    "Ian?" 

    "Hi" he greets smirking.

    "What are you doing here?" I ask surprised.

    "I did tell you I was having steak for dinner" he says still smirking.

    "But you didn't say it was here" I state crossing my arms.

    "Welcome to our home, Ian" my dad says from behind me.

    "Thank you for having me" Ian says shaking my dad. 

    "Is this who you were expecting, dad" I ask my dad.

    "Yes, do you know him?" my dad asks.

    "Yes, we go to the same school" Ian answers.

    "That is true, I forgot about that. Please come in" my dad says allowing Ian in. Wait, hold up, are they telling me Ian Carter, my class mate is the owner of Carter Games? 

    "Dad, you didn't say it is the guy next door you were expecting" I tell my dad staring at Ian.

    "Well, we did say he just moved into the neighborhood" 

    "Yes but you could have explained further" I say as we join the others in the dining.

    "Guess who is here" I tell Asher. He looks up.

    "Ian" he says seeing Ian.

    "I am so glad you could join us" mum says hugging him.

    "Why didn't you say the guy we were waiting for lives next door" Asher asks.

    "I asked the same thing" I say. 

    "Nice" he says and we high five.

    "You know Ian?" mum asks.

    "Apparently, he goes to their school" Dad says sitting down on the dining.

    "Did you buy the house next door by chance or what?" Asher asks and I look at Ian.

    "Actually, your dad told me there is a house next to his for sale and assisted me with the purchase" Ian says.

    "Lils, I cannot find my shirt in your room" Eli calls from upstairs.

    "It must be in the laundry basket then, wear Asher's" I shout back.

    "Hurry, mum and dad's guest is here" Asher shouts.

    "I'd be there in a minute" Eli answers.

    "What happened to Eli's shirt?" I ask.

    "He spilled on it when you went to get the door" Asher answers.

    "He has clothes in your room?" Ian asks.

    "Just like I have some in his house" I answer. He doesn't seem to get it but he doesn't say anything.

We all sit down to eat but we are waiting for Eli to get down here. How long does it take to change a shirt.

    "Ian?" Eli says from behind. 

    "Owner of the game company" Asher says. Eli moves to sit beside me.

    "Come seat with me dear, Ian sit with Lily" mum says. 

    "Thank you for having me again" Ian says and sits with me.

We bless our meal and start digging. We talk about everything and nothing but Ian seems to be reserved. Nobody says anything about it, he would tell us about himself when he feels free with us. Asher, Eli and I talk about our classes and school. Reacting to what Asher is saying, I mistakenly spill a drink on Ian.

    "Oh no, I am sorry" I say dabbing the napkin on him. 

    "It is fine" Ian says taking the cloth from me.

    "Come, let me help you clean up" I say standing up.

    "Yes, you can wear one of my shirts" Asher says. 

    "Okay" Ian says getting up.

    "I can go with him" Eli says looking at Ian with his jaw clenched.

    "I've got it, besides I am done eating so is Ian but you are not done yet" I say.

    "She's right, let her do it" my dad says. Eli sits back down.

I take Ian through the elevator and up to my room. I pull his shirt up for him.

    "I've got it" he says smiling. I blush.

    "Nice room, I like it" Ian says.

    "Thanks"

I go into my walk in closet and bring out one of Asher's t-shirt. I go back to the room and see Ian standing shirtless in my room. Wow, that is a body, his abs were all up in my face. I do not feel bad about staring at him.

    "See something you like?" Ian says smirking.

    "Maybe" I answer and he looks surprised. "Nice" I say gesturing to his torso, "I almost do not want to give you a shirt" I add and he laughs. I throw the shirt at him and he puts it on. His muscles moving with the motion, I almost drool. 

     "So this is where you stalk my house from" Ian says walking to the balcony.

    "Yes" I answer standing beside him outside. The breeze out here is heavenly. "See that small tiny pathway in the woods, almost like a hole" I say pointing in the direction I am talking about. The woods is just after the beautiful garden. Mum loves flowers.

    "I see it" Ian says pointing in the same direction.

    "Leads to your house" I say laughing.

    "So if I want to sneak to your house, I can come that way?" he asks smirking at me.

    "Anytime, I have ladder over there next to my slide" I tell him pointing to the corner of the balcony. 

Ian goes down the slide and climbs back up with the ladder.

    "What was that for?" I ask as he comes up.

    "Wanted to know if it would hold me up" he says smiling.

    "Haven't unpacked yet, huh?" I say to him. I remember him mentioning earlier that he hadn't. He nods.

    "You can always ask for help if you need it, I love unpacking" I tell him.

    "I would take that under advisement and get back to you" he says with a smile.

We go to back down and join the g**g. Mum and Dad say goodnight to Ian, telling him he is welcome to stay and hang with us. 

    "You do not have to if you do not want to" Eli tells Ian as we gather in the cinema.

    "I want to stay" Ian says looking at me

Asher sets up the movie and we sit to watch. Ian sits beside me while Asher sits on my other side. Eli beside Asher. Eli frowns at Ian as he sits beside Asher, Ian just ignores you. I know Eli always sits beside me but Ian is a guest and to be candid with you, I want to sit with Ian. We all have our popcorn and blankets set, Ian said he didn't need a blanket but then shares mine when he movie starts.

    "I suddenly got cold" he whispers when he sits so close to me.

    "I can get you another" I tell him.

    "No need, I am good" Ian says smiling. I do not mind him being so close so I do not argue with him. He even shares my pop corn with me, our hands brush a few times.  

***

Ring! Ring!! Ring!!! 

'Shut it' 

I hit the snooze button. Alarms can be so annoying especially when you don't want to wake up because you feel so tired even though you just woke up. I rolled myself out of bed and unto the floor. Can't a girl just stay in bed all day, is that to much to ask for. I crawl to the bathroom standing up by the mirror.

'Wow Liliana, you look like roadkill'

Why did I have to stay up all night? There is nothing like splashing yourself with cold water to wake you up in the morning. Lots of freezing water later and I am fully awake. I make my way to my closet and change into a white cardigan and short black skirt with a black knee length boot.

    "Morning" Asher says coming into my room also looking like roadkill.

    "Morning" I greeted with low energy.

    "You two come down now!" mum shouts from downstairs.

    "We're coming!" we shout back, I  put my phone in my backpack and running downstairs, Asher behind me.

    "Morning" mum says when we got down.

    "Morning" Asher and I say together.

    "I have to leave early. Your dad already left" mum says and goes out the door. Asher and I look at each other and smiled.

Just then our phone signals a text.

I am going to know if you didn't go to school - Mom

Asher and I grumble and carry our butts to school. At school, I see Ian standing by his bike on his phone probably texting.

    "Wanna go say hi?" Asher asks me pointing at Ian.

    "Should I?" I ask and he nods. We get out of the car and like always, Asher gets surrounded. I walk up to Ian.

    "Hey" he says when he sees me.

    "Hi" I say and we walk into the school together. Everyone is looking at us but I do not mind and it doesn't seem like Ian minds as well. We drop all the necessary things in our lockers and go to class. It's so weird that we have all our classes together. 

    "What you doing after school?" Ian asks as we walk to class, we have Managerial Accounting.

    "Nothing, probably assignment" I answer. "Why?" I ask.

    "I was wondering if you'd want to hang out" he says. "Might take you up on the help unpacking. It is a lot to do alone" he adds. So he does live alone.

    "Sure, I would like that" I tell him smiling.

    "Cool".

I ask what time and he says he would text me. We are walking to class slowly since we are still early when someone calls me from behind. I stop dead in my track because I recognize that voice. It's Brad, the jerk ex boyfriend.

    "Lils" he calls. I ignore him and keep walking. He calls again and I turn back to look at him. He walks up to Ian and I.

    "I like the new look" he says clearly talking about my hair.

    "What do you want, Brad" I ask not interested in what he likes.

    "I've been trying to get in touch with you but you haven't been answering and I asked Hailey, she says you have been ignoring her too" Brad says. Hearing Hailey's name from his mouth causes me to ball my hands into a fist.

    "How don't you understand this, Brad, I don't want to talk to either you or Hailey" I say through my teeth.

    "We are worried about you" he says. So they are a 'we' now. I can feel the anger boiling inside me, my nails which are digging into my palm hurt but I am not thinking about that.

    "Why do you care now, you didn't seem to care when you were dating my so called witch of a best friend behind me" I shout. He takes a step forward 

    "If you come any closer, I'm going to hit you" I tell him.

    "When did you become so aggressive?" Brad asks looking at me with disgust like I am the problem. "Hailey is right, you are not willing to listen to reason" he adds.

    "Say her name one more time, I dare you" I spit with venom taking a step towards him.

    "If she doesn't punch you, I will" Asher says from behind Brad.

    "I think we should leave" Ian says placing his hand on my shoulder. My eyes are still on Brad begging he would take one step towards me or says the witch's name.

    "And who are you?" Brad asks Ian.

    "Not your business" Ian answers.

    "Neither is this" Brad says gesturing between himself and I.

    "It's obvious she doesn't want to talk to you. Take a hint" Asher says standing beside me.

    "Brad, there's a reason I changed my number. I don't want to talk to you again if possible do not let me see you again. You said we are over, let's be over. Leave" I say.

    "We can still talk things through.... " he begins but I walk away from him.

    "Who is that guy?" Ian asks beside me. I just keep walking to class not answering. I am not in mood to talk or to explain. 

    "Her ex" Asher answers Ian and I groan. We finally get to class but we are late and remember what I said about being late in my school.

    "Clean the classroom after school for a week" the teacher, Mr Sam says to us. "Where is Asher?" he asks, I look back to see Asher did not enter the class with us. I am going to kill him.

    "He's sick, food poisoning" I lie.

    "Leave my class, I do not condone tardiness, cleanup after school" Mr. Sam says. I walk out after Ian and shut the door behind me.

    "I am going to kill Asher" I tell Ian. "Follow me" I hold his hands.

    "Where are we going?" he asks.

    "I know the perfect place to stay. It's one of my favorite places on campus" I tell him and run to the back of the school, we turn a corner which leads to a back door of the school, I open the door quietly. We walk on the green grass to my favorite tree. The view from here is amazing, it's like the whole city was underneath. The door is usually locked because the ground here is sloppy making the school look like it's on a mountain so to avoid accidents, they lock it up. I picked the lock once and it's been open since, I don't think the school even knows it is open.

    "Wow" Matt says looking at the view, "I see why you like it".

    "I know right" I say sitting on the grass under the tree, I dropped my bag on the floor.

    "You can never bring anyone out here, you're the only one who knows about this place and also the gardener" I tell him.

    "The gardener?" he asks.

    "Yes, who do you think keeps the grass so green. The gardener knows that I come here".

    "Even Brad doesn't know about this place?" Ian asks and I nod.

    "I promise not to bring anyone here" he says. I take promises really serious and I hope he does too.

Ian walks around taking it all in, I bring my camera out of my bag and begin taking pictures of the city. I am always taking pictures of everything to practice and get better, the city looks different every time in the pictures I take. I look over at Ian through the camera lens and take pictures of him. We sit down in comfortable silence just enjoying the scene around us.

    "I am going to kill you" I tell Asher at lunch.

    "Thanks for covering for me. Food poisoning" he says laughing.

    "So you were outside and you couldn't come in?" I ask.

    "If I did, that would make you a liar and that is not good" Asher says like he is doing me a favor.

    "I hope you actually get food poisoning" I tell him.

    "Hey Lily" I hear someone greet, I don't have to look up to know who it is, Hailey.

    "What do you want?" I ask not looking up.

    "Just want to say hello and ask how your summer was" she says shifting from one leg to another. I glare at her. 

    "Is she your friend?" I hear Heather ask Hailey. It is Ian's turn to glare.

    "Hi Ian. Why don't you have lunch with me instead of this wallpaper" Heather says looking at me.

That came out of nowhere

     "What a witch" I cough out and Asher laughs. Heather pours my drink on me.

    "Oh no she did not" Eli says.

    "Liliana" Asher calls me trying to calm me down. 

I take my handkerchief and clean my face. I stand up and walk up to Heather, you can see the slight change in demeanor that she is scared but she tries to hide it.

    "You messed with the wrong wallpaper" I tell her through closed teeth. I take Asher's food and pour it down her top, I then take Ian's food and squish it on her hair. 

    "My tray" I say stretching one hand to the back. Someone drew it close to me,  take the pasta in it and smear it in her face and hair and for good measure, I pour Ian's drink on Hailey.

    "I feel like it is because I have been quiet that is why you all think you can play with me. I was the queen bee before you, ask anybody, you are nowhere near me. Do not mess with me" I say to Heather and Hailey and walk away.

    "What just happened?" I hear Ian ask Asher and Eli.

    "A glimpse of the Lily we know and love" Eli says.

The rest of the day goes by without a hitch, I washed my hair in the school shower. I make my way back to class after putting my things in my locker when school is over,

    "Where's your partner?" the teacher in charge asks. I shrug. I haven't spoken to Ian since lunch. 

    "Sorry I'm late" Ian says walking into class.

We take the cleaning equipment and start cleaning the classroom, sweeping and dusting.

    "We still up for hanging out after school today?" Ian asks and I nod.

The cleaning is so tiring, new respect for janitors, we have been cleaning for thirty minutes now. When we are done, instead of waking the teacher assigned to us, we do the next best thing, we draw on his face. I walk up to the sleeping man, taking a marker from the shelf in the class, I draw a Hitler mustache on his face and a goatee in the middle of his chin. Ian laughs quietly when he sees what I am doing and joins me. He paints in between his eyebrows so it looks like a unibrow, he also gives him a ugly side burn. When we were done, we return the marker, took pictures before waking him up.

    "You guys did so well" the teacher says. Ian and I try not to laugh, he looks so funny. "You guys can leave, you have been good" he adds. If only he knows what is on his face right now. We carry our bags and leave.

    "Asher!" I shout entering the house.

    "Sitting room!" he shouts back.

    "Where's mum and dad?" I ask entering the sitting room. He is playing video game.

    "Not back yet" he says, "They both called and said they would be late".

    "Thank goodness, I didn't want to have to explain to them why I'm late" I say flopping on the couch.

    "I'm also glad I don't have to lie, there's pizza for you in the fridge" he says.

    "Yes!" I shout and I run to the kitchen. Food is the best thing ever. I go back to the sitting room and play with him in the game. Mum and dad didn't come back until much later. They say they had to work on some projects.

After take out dinner, I leave for my room. I am pinning the picture of Matt from today on my picture wall. I don't have anything else to do so I decide to sleep after checking my social media that is. The last thing I think about before sleeping is that I didn't get to hang out with Ian. I haven't slept for long when I hear someone on my balcony. I switch on the bedside lamp, it's past 11. I walk to my balcony holding a bat expecting a thief instead I see Ian. I almost whack him.

    "It's me" he says dodging.

    "I know" I tell him and he laughs. "What are you doing here?"

    "I said we are hanging out today, didn't I?" he says walking into my room.

    "Yeah but it's late" I tell him watching him bounce on my bed like he belongs here.

    "We are hanging out, get dressed" he says standing up.

    "Let me change". I don't know why I'm not arguing with him, maybe I am curious. I know, I know, curiosity killed the cat.

I go to my closet and change into a black t-shirt and joggers with my big black jackets and sneakers, it's a cold night. I go back to the room and see he is standing by the picture I took of him today.

    "You took that today" he says pointing at his picture.

    "Yes" I answer walking to him.

    "I like it" he says and unpins a picture of me pocketing it.

    "Why you taking that?" I asked.

    "It's only fair that I have a picture of you I'd you have one of mine. From one creep to another" he says.

    "Okay, you make a solid point".

I follow him out my balcony and watch him go down the slide. I run back inside to take my phone and I shoot Asher a text.

I'm out with Ian, cover for me - L.

"Hurry" Ian calls quietly. I keep my phone in my pocket and go down the slide. Ian takes my hand and we run towards the path I showed him earlier towards his house.