Fire & Snow

Chapter 13

Aydan's POV

There was something about Neva that just pulled me towards her each and every time. I knew I was supposed to stay away from her but I could not bring myself to do that.

"So who is the girl?" Ryan asked as we smoked some cigarettes by the bleachers. "And don't you dare give me that crap about it not being about a girl because I swear I will smack the hell right out of you and I won't even care that you are my friend."

I chuckled because I knew that Ryan would definitely smack the hell out of me. He was the only one that I could ever allow to do that. Not even Liav had the opportunity to ever come close to hitting me and he was my best friend. However, Ryan was like a brother and I actually respected him enough to know when not to cross the boundary with him. 

I raked a hand through my hair and took a smoke from the cigarette. "It is a girl and I think I'm f****d," I said while blowing the smoke out of my mouth. I stared ahead at the setting sun. It was Friday and I had no girl for the weekend, it was both sad and depressing but I just could not get Neva out of my head. "And the funny part is that I haven't even f****d her yet and she is already in my head. Fuck."

"Do you know anything about her? Like what her name is, is she good in bed. You know, that kind of stuff,." Ryan asked. The guy was high as hell but when you looked at him you would not be able to tell unless you knew him well enough. 

"I know her name and what she is majoring. But for the rest of your questions, I do not know the answers to them," I replied. "This whole thing is really f*****g new to me and I can't deal with it. I need a f*****g break from her and her everything." I really did need a break from her but there I was wishing her good luck on her test and even making her even making her rest, f*****g pathetic.

"Now that I think about it, it really is strange considering I know next to nothing about her. This entire thing was so f****d up that it is funny."

Ryan turned to me and blew smoke in my face. "Darn, you are f****d indeed."

I rolled my eyes and stood up only to have Ryan pull me back down.

"Sit your arse down Winters, we are still talking and you can't walk out on me," Ryan said with a serious face. "You can do that to your other friends but you can't do that shite to me. I won't tolerate it, not even from you of all people and you are actually one of few people that I actually like."

I did not know how to respond to that. I hardly ever saw Ryan get all serious and emotional. He was always so high that the only thing he ever wanted to talk about was girls, s*x, and drugs. All of which I could indulge him in. 

"You will listen to everything I have to say and then you can add your input. Which, if you ask me I won't really care about," Ryan went on.

"Okay," I replied.

Ryan stamped his cigarette. "Okay, so what we do know is her name. And what is her name?"

"Neva Summers, first year Computer Science major," I replied with a sigh.

Ryan smirked. "And you even know her surname. This really is going to be a good show to watch unravel," he said, which earned him a glare from him.

Just because I liked Ryan and considered him like a brother did not mean that I was going to sit here and listen to him b***h about me and my shitty life.

"Watch it Ry," I said with narrowed eyes and a clenched fist. I was pissed off with myself, with Ryan for making fun of the entire situation and most of all, I was pissed off at Neva for coming into my life and screwing it over.

"Relax Aydan, I'm just teasing."

"I know and I hate it."

Ryan laughed. "Okay, okay. I am sorry for teasing you but you have to admit that this entire thing is hilarious. I mean, you of all people was the last person I thought would be all hung up on a girl. One you know nothing about and not to talk about the fact that you haven't f****d her yet is just something so rare that I have to make some jokes."

I sighed and took a deep breath. I knew where he was coming from and if I were in his place and the roles were switched, I would have teased and laughed at him as well. "If I did not consider you like a brother, I would have punched you and would not have given a f**k about the entire thing."

"I know."

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he knew me better than I knew myself. It was why we were great friends and pretty much shared everything with each other. We had known each other since we were kids and that just went to show how close we were.

"Anyway, I was saying that you need to give it time. Get to know her and maybe just maybe you will be able to figure out what exactly you are going through and what you want," Ryan was all back to being serious and that bothered me. I hated it when he got serious about something because it always made me think about what he said long after he said it. 

"And you know the funny thing about this entire thing, is that she doesn't even like me nor does she fawn over me like the rest of the female population at this school," I explained and then laughed, which made Ryan laugh as well.

"Maybe the reason why you seem interested in her is the fact that she isn't interested in you or you good looks and that makes her seem like a challenge that you want to conquer," Ryan explained through laughs. "Don't worry too much about it, you will eventually get what you want from her and then you will be bored with her. I know you."

And that was what I was afraid of. If I did that, I was very certain that Faith would not ever talk to me, which would make Liav also not talk to me and I would go back to having to pretend with the football and basketball guys.

                                                                                   **************

I laid on my bed with my phone in my hand while staring at Neva's contact. It was way past midnight yet I was wide awake and contemplating on what to do with my life.

Should I call her? Is she still up by this time and will she pick up my call at such an ungodly hour?

Questions, questions and more questions. The only one who could answer those questions were her, not even me.

Taking a deep breath, I dialled her number and listened as the phone rang. With each passing second, I was more and more certain that she would not pick up and was asleep.

"Hello!" 

I almost fell from my bed. I had not expected her to answer the call. Sure I wanted her to answer but I also did not want her to answer at the same time. I know, confusing but that was how I wanted things to be.

"Hello, Aydan are you there?" Neva asked. her voice sounded so small that I almost felt bad for going behind Faith and Liav's backs and doing exactly what they told me not to.

"Yeah, I'm here," I replied. "How are you?"

"I'm okay and how are you?"

"I'm good."

There was silence after that and man was it frustrating. Never had I been silent while talking to a girl before. This was a first and it was something all right. Think of something to say dammit, you can't call someone at past midnight then go mute on them.

"Why are you still up this late?" I asked.

There was a pause on Neva's end and I thought she had maybe fallen back asleep until I heard the sound of her breathing. 

"I was doing some revisions," Neva finally answered. "And what are you doing up this early yourself?"

I should have seen that one coming. "I was just doing stuff." I know I was vague but telling her the truth was not an option. 

"Okay."

"How was your test by the way?"

"It was actually really easy. Thank you for helping me again, I know you did not have to but thanks," there a smile in her words and that made me smile as well.

"You don't have to thank me. I was doing what I was told."

There was a silence again. f**k, I should not have said that.

"Anyway thanks again," Neva said sounding a bit awkward. 

Okay, this is your chance to get to know some basic things about her, I told myself. You got this. 

"What is your favourite movie?" Better start off with something that won't give the wrong impression or make her start to wonder what I am up to.

"I have three," she said. "I can't really pick one from them but my favourite movies are Divergent, Mortal Instruments and Fallen. What about you?"

I rolled onto my side with the phone still by my ear. "The entire Harry Potter movies. They have to be hands down the best movies I have watched my entire lifetime."

"Have you read the books?" Neva asked. "They are actually really nice and interesting."

"Nope, I don't read novels. They are time consuming and very boring."

"You should give reading a chance. Who knows, maybe you might like it."

I laughed at that. I was never going to like reading no matter how much you tried to force me to. It was just one of those things that was never going to happen no matter what.

"No really, you should," Neva said again.

"Nope, not ever going to happen," came my response.

"Then I will make you read at least one book before you graduate," she said with so much conviction that I did not want to burst her bubble by telling her otherwise, so I just kept my thoughts to myself.... for now.

We spent the next hour just talking about everything. From school to what she did for fun to how nothing was ever certain in life. It was one of the best talks I had ever had with a girl who was not Faith. Not only was Neva smart, but she also had a great sense of humour and even though I did not agree with some of her opinions, I still would talk to her any day over those dumb girls who always throw themselves at me every time.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" There, I asked it and I hoped it would not make me seem as though I was trying too hard because I wasn't.

"Nope, never even dated before," Neva replied.

I was shocked. I sat up on my bed and raked a hand through my hair. This was going to be a hard one to c***k but I was determined to do it and any and all costs. "Why not? Are you a lesbian or something?" That was the only thing that could explain it.

"Nope."

Damn, then I was f*****g in trouble.