Monstrous

13

Autumn Marie Tyler

"You should've been there! The party was absolutely insane, like the back to back parties were thrilling" Roxy exclaimed, we were sitting in a noisy lunchroom, with our lunch trays in front of us. Bella and Roxy were sitting across from me, indulging me on the details of Nile's birthday party. Little did they know, I didn't care at all for the party, I had the best time alone with the birthday boy himself. From across the lunchroom, there he sat. Sitting in the mix of the football and cheerleading teams, Nile was laughing along with whatever Adam had to say while eating up a sandwich. He had on a navy blue long sleeve, black jeans and black army boots. I couldn't help but admire his features, his smile, the way his eyes widened and glistened whenever he laughed. Seeing like this in a different light turned my stomach into knots, I loved it. Before Nile or anyone else could catch me staring at him I focused on my two friends in front of me.

"Bella, how did you like the party? Make a move on Adam yet??" I asked in a playful tone, I was still trying to clear the tension between us. She was still mad at me for what I did with Adam which was completely reasonable, the only reason why she put up with me is because of Roxy.

"You beat me to it" Bella responded softly poking around her salad with a fork. She couldn't even look at me. I opened my mouth to respond but Roxy shook her head warning me not to. I bit my tongue and picked apart my burrito wrap. The remainder of our lunch break went without conversation. Once the bell rang, Roxy said her goodbyes and walked off with Bella who left without saying a word to me. I couldn't go on like this much longer, I knew that I betrayed her and hurt her, but she needed to know that wasn't my intention. As I left the lunch room I set myself on a road to recovery to fix the damage I had done.

"You should ask Bella out on a date…" I said with a smile leaning against the lockers next to him. After leaving the lunchroom I darted towards the one person who could probably fix things between me and Bella. The bell had already rung and I didn't mind being late to my next class. Adam slammed his locker shut and crossed his arms over his chest smirking at me.

"You're taking a sudden interest in my life since things between you and Nile didn't work out huh?" Adam asked in full confidence, if only this i***t knew about the blissful weekend I had with Nile. My eyes rolled and shook my head.

"No, Bella is still mad about us kissing. So I thought that maybe if you asked her on a date that she would forget about the kiss and know for sure that you have feelings for her" I inched closer to him ready to lay out a plan but he scoffed at my words and chuckled lightly.

"I don't have feelings for Bella. The kiss we shared was innocent and I don't know how it involved Bella, don't know why she was angry in the first place when it was honestly none of her business, that's on her for being a peeping tom.." Adam responded, I almost gagged at his words. I don't understand how Bella could have feelings for this guy, I don't understand how I could kiss him. He pushed himself off the lockers but before he could turn away from me I grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him.

"Bella told me she had feelings for you before we kissed. That's why she was upset.." Adam's face completely changed, his green eyes widened and his face softened at the revelation. I had no knowledge of the situation between Adam and Bella, but the two were involved in a huge mess of unconfronted feelings. Adam looked confused, he was at a loss of words. I wanted to know what he was think but before I could, a familiar face interrupted our private conversation by wrapping his arm around Adam's shoulder.

"I was looking for you.." Nile spat, immediately I dropped my hand from Adam's wrist, unfortunately Nile caught wind of that. This wasn't a good look at all. I pressed my lips firmly together and caught Nile's eye, I couldn't read his emotion or what he could possibly be thinking but his stone expression wasn't good news. At the unexpected arrival of Nile, Adam had snapped back into reality and looked at Nile with a clenched jaw.

"Stay the f**k out of my love life freak, got it?" He grunted with an ice cold glare, I flinched at the horrid nickname and looked towards Nile, who completely avoided looking at me. I took a step back opening my mouth to defend myself but I couldn't do that without shedding a few tears. Without giving either one of them a glance, I turned around and marched away. I shouldn't have ever approached him, and who am I to think that Nile would defend me? I was more upset at him than I was at Adam.

Nile Cale

I watched Autumn storm down the hall until she turned a corner and disappeared. It took great strength for me not to shove Adam into the lockers and tell him not to talk to Autumn like that. I bit so hard on my tongue, it began to bleed. Although I didn't want to be jealous of what I saw, I was, and it f*****g hurt like hell seeing Autumn and Adam like that having a hushed conversation with smirks being exchanged, I tried to ignore it and go on my way but I couldn't. Adam nudged me off of him and turned in the opposite direction Autumn had gone in.

"What was that all about?" I desperately wanted to know what was said between them and what prompted him to insult my girlfriend. s**t, did I really just? Autumn is my girlfriend, and the feeling was so surreal. I gently smirked to myself at the thought of having Autumn all to myself.

"She is just being annoying, blaming me for the issues she has in her friend group, she is a f*****g i***t if she think she has any clue for what goes on in my life" Adam responded furiously. My jaw tightened and my eye twitched hearing him talk about Autumn like that.

"Chill the f**k out alright?" I hissed, I kept my eyes ahead of me, I let out more aggravation than I intended. I couldn't just stay silent, I tried but it was killing me. Before Adam could pick up on anything. I took a deep breath and sighed deeply.

"Just ignore her, don't let her get to you.." I had so much to say, but I could only manage a few simple words in order to contain my emotions. I don't know how long I'll be able to hide my relationship with Autumn.

After my last class of the day, I tried to catch up with Autumn but I noticed she was going out of her way to avoid me, she was upset. I didn't know if it was with me or Adam but either way I felt like s**t. I decided to give her space.

Throughout football practice I couldn't get my mind off of Autumn, we just started dating and the last thing I wanted was for her to be upset with me. This was the first time I felt this way about a girl and I wanted it to last, especially with Autumn. So after practice, I drove right to her house, I was cautious and parked down the street to avoid her mother possibly seeing me. I then pulled out my phone and sent her a text that I was down the street. I tossed my phone into the cup holder once I saw she read it. The time ticked slowly by, and after waiting for forty five minutes, I was convinced that she wasn't coming. I hoped that our movie date was still on. I turned on the engine but before I could drive away. She appeared in my view. She jogged down her lawn and made it onto the sidewalk. My heart began to race at the sight of her, I didn't know why I got so nervous seeing her but I opened my door and stepped out to look at her. Autumn wore this cute short white dress with small pink flowers littered all over it, an oversized white cardigan that ran past her finger tips, and all white low top converse. She had her hair pinned up in a tight bun, a small bag dangled from her shoulder, and as she came in closer I could see that her face was dolled up in a bit of makeup.

As she approached the car, I walked around it onto the sidewalk to lean against the passenger's side door. The increasing cold weather didn't discourage her from exposing her legs and the sight of her drove me mad. Her well tailored appearance made me look down at mine, I realized that I was completely underdressed wearing sweatpants and a hoodie with the school's mascot on it and my Jersey number. At least I took a shower right after practice.

"Hey gorgeous.." I smirked as she walked up to me. The close proximity of her body made me smell the vanilla scent she sprayed onto her body. Even though she responded to my text, I could see the animosity in her eyes.

"Hi.." She faintly responded reaching for the door handle, swiftly I slid my body over and blocked the passenger entrance to the car. Her slight frustration forced her to look at me.

"You're upset with me.." I concluded, Autumn sighed deeply and c****d her head to the side. She remained silent after that and just stared at me.

"Autumn, you were the one who told me to tell Adam some elaborate lie so he wouldn't suspect us. Now what, you get mad at me for not defending you? You have no idea how hard it was for me to stay silent" Autumn rolled her eyes at my response and looked away from me shaking her head. My tolerance level was quickly diminishing.

"Maybe if you weren't so concerned about the kiss you and Adam shared there wouldn't have been an issue.." I hissed pushing myself off the car, I turned around immediately regretting my words but there was nothing more I could say that would better the situation. So I opened the passenger door up and it didn't take long for Autumn to sit herself down into the car.

The movie theater was only a fifteen minute drive, but it felt like a lifetime away with me and Autumn not speaking to each other. My comment was fueled with pure jealousy and it only made matters worse. I couldn't even glance over at her, knowing how mad she could be.

The movie theater smelled of popcorn and sweet treats. It was lively and I could pin point individuals who went to our school. For the first time since we left, I looked at Autumn who looked like this was the last place she wanted to be. With her arms crossed over her chest, stern expression on her face, and kicking around the few grains of popcorn disregarded on the floor, she was completely out of it.

"I'll get the tickets and meet you over the snack bar?" I said, Autumn looked up from the ground and cleared her throat.

"What movie do you want to see?" I was desperate to salvage our date but Autumn wasn't having it. She already began making her way towards the snack bar.

"Doesn't matter" I heard her say before she got too far away from me. I watched her walk away before getting in line contemplating on what kind of movie she would be interested in.

Autumn Marie Tyler

Who the f**k was he to say that I was concerned about the kiss Adam and I shared? That kiss happened way before we got involved with each other and he has the audacity to make such a crude comment when he has hooked up with Bella on numerous occasions. Hell maybe I should be mad at him for that!

"Two large popcorns, with two large Dr.Pepper sodas-" The cashier interrupted my thoughts. Along with the popcorn and soda, I got a bit of candy which I shoved in my purse after I paid for them. The cashier slid over my order and I thanked him with a small smile. I didn't know how I would carry it by myself.

"Hey, I know that this is super unprofessional but you are absolutely stunning, is there any chance I could get your number?" The guy who took my order looked at me with a smirk. At first I looked around to see if he was talking to me, and with no one else around I would have to deal with the fact that he was hitting on me. Of course I was flattered, seeming that this doesn't happen to me on a daily basis but I wasn't in the mood to entertain his flirtations.

"Um no, I have a-" I began to reach for one of the sodas and once I had one securely in my hands I reached for the other, I was trying to juggle everything in my arms.

"She has a boyfriend," Nile interrupted. It was almost uncanny how he appeared from nowhere. Completely shocked I looked around to see where he could've possibly came from that I didn't see him earlier. Nile stepped in front of me, making the cashier guy step away from the counter completely afraid. Nile was able to carry the two large buckets of popcorn in one arm. He then turned around placing his hand on my lower back leading me away from the scene. I didn't know if his jealousy trait was cute or toxic, but seeing the irritance on his face brought me slight joy, it was payback for making that slick comment earlier.

Nile booked us tickets to see a dystopian romance movie, a movie I've been dying to see but I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of picking the right movie for us. Our seats were all the way in the back right new the entrances, once we got settled in, we placed our drinks in the cup holders and the popcorn on the floor. The movie wouldn't start for another twenty minutes, the lighting in the theater was still a bit bright. Nile and I sat in silence, he was slumped in his seat with a hoodie over his head and I was playing with the ends of my sleeves. I was hurt by what he said but also how he didn't even look at me when Adam insulted me. I know that we came to a final conclusion that we were keeping our relationship a secret but it simply takes a decent human being to defend another person, no matter the relation.

While in my thoughts, Nile snaked his hand in between mine. As if it missed him, my hand emerged itself from my sleeve and interlocked my fingers with his. The feeling eased my erratic heart and gave me the courage to look at him. He straightened himself out in the chair and looked at me with reassurance in his eyes.

"I should've said something to Adam right then and there and I'm sorry, but you have to know that I will always protect you.." The terms of our relationship was complicated, but I wanted to think we would be able to get a grasp of it. Nile squeezed onto my hand and sighed deeply.

"And that comment about you and Adam kissing, was out of line. I let my jealousy get the best of me and I'm sorry. I can't guarantee that it won't happen again, all because I don't want to lose you, especially not to a guy that smells like burnt popcorn.." I couldn't hold in my laughter, Nile also picked up on how ridiculous he sounded and shook his head fighting off a smile. He brought my hand up to his lips and planted a small kiss on the back of it. If he wasn't so flattering I would've ditched him. The moment of silence we shared where we just stared into each other's eyes.

"You know it's cute that you still decided to dress up for our date even though you were mad at me-" The cocky grin I hated so much spread across his lips, my eyes rolled and I pulled my hand away from his.

"There you go again ruining an intimate moment" I thought back to when I was running around my room trying to find something to wear, and took numerous tries applying makeup. Nile laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

The twenty minutes went by quickly especially with me and Nile deep in conversation. When the lights dimmed until they reached darkness, I had to remind Nile no funny business allowed, especially when I saw his hand in my lap, tracing small circles on my thigh. I brought our popcorn up from the ground and occupied his hands with that. Trailers from new movies began to play and I fully invested my attention on that, I absolutely loved watching the advertisements before a film started. In my opinion it was better than watching the actual movie. Although Nile kept on trying to distract me by whispering sweet nothings into my ear, by the time the movie actually started to play he realized that I wasn't budging, so he focused on the movie.

Nile and I were fully invested in the movie only twenty minutes into it. There was a bit of action that kept his attention. Me on the other hand, was so intrigued by the chemistry the two main characters had. Every now and then me and Nile would engage in a small conversations trying to guess where the movie would take us. We laughed along with the minor comedy throughout the film, shared movie snacks, and discussed sneaking into other movies. Everything about this moment was perfect before it was invaded by two unexpected guests.

"We are so late.." I could recognize the voice from anywhere, luckily Bella strolled right passed me and Nile not being able to identify our faces in the dark.

"First thirty minutes of a movie is boring anyway" Adam responded with a small whisper matching Bella's tone. Completely caught off guard both me and Nile held up our popcorn buckets up to our faces concealing them. We watched as Bella and Adam made their way down the steps a few rows ahead of us where they took their seats. Nile looked at me with wide eyes.

"What???" He mouthed as surprised as me. Once the bewilderment subsided, I was filled with irritation. Keeping my popcorn bucket to the side, I looked past it slowly to eye Adam and Bella.

"I'm glad we are doing this.." I heard Adam whisper. Bella looked over at him and smiled nodding her head. So in the end that bastard ended up taking my advice, he had some nerve to insult me. My blood began to boil but Nile didn't seem to care for all that.

"Let's get out of here.." He whispered in my ear. Gently, Nile grabbed my hand and together we slowly rose from our seats, we grabbed our drinks without causing much commotion. For some reason I couldn't get my attention off the two of them, yes I'm happy that Adam took Bella on a date, and maybe she'll forgive me but Adam responded in the worst way to me when all I wanted to do was help, and for that, I needed vengeance.

"Your f*****g welcome…" I hissed, taking all the strength I had in my left arm, I chucked my popcorn bucket into the air aiming for Adam, I took a sick pleasure in watching the popcorn fly in the arm inching closer and closer to Adam but before I could see the final touches, Nile yanked me out of the theater barely able to hold back his chuckle.

So there we were, running through the theater with whatever snacks we had in our hands as we experienced an overdose of pure serotonin. Our first date wasn't what we pictured, running for our lives hoping we wouldn't get caught while leaving behind a trail of popcorn, but it was perfect and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Another-" Nile opened his mouth wide, picking out a piece of popcorn from the bucket, I leaned over and placed it in his mouth, he chewed with satisfaction while racing down the road with no particular destination in mind. After we left the theater, he drove while I fed him our movie snacks.

"Now that I'm thinking about it, I've never been to your place.." I said, popping a jellybean into my mouth. It felt like Nile had been to my house millions of times, more so when we hated each other. Nile's jaw tightened at the mention of his home.

"I live in a dump, in a bad neighborhood, I don't want you around that, especially not around my father" Nile shot me down with a serious glance before turning his attention back onto the road. The subject was a sensitive one and I didn't want to ruin our night with it.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up, I envisioned ending the night, cuddled up in your bed, you know?" It was absolutely insane how Nile made me feel and the things I wanted to do with him, to him. The sound of Nile clenching the leather steering wheel filled the air, I could completely understand his frustrations and how he could be hesitant about bringing me around that environment, but it was a part of him, and I didn't want him to be embarrassed or hesitant to share that with me.

"Fine.." Nile growled, I opened my mouth to let him know that he shouldn't do anything that he isn't comfortable with but he had already made a sudden left. He wasn't mad, it seemed like he was more afraid of what he was showing me.