7. Dalliance

Things get a little hot and heavy in this one...

"The guy is a delusional a*s hat." Kit said, after I finished telling him everything that Teo had told me. I told Kit everything, finally unable to keep it all in anymore. I should have told him from the start. He might have stopped me from falling into the trap. I felt so stupid and gullible. People had always been cruel to me but this was a whole new level of awful. I'm sure one of the cheerleaders had put them up to it.
We were sitting in the pizza place, Kit stuffing his face between sentences, my pizza sat there, untouched.
"I feel so stupid." I muttered, pushing my plate to the side.
"Don't worry about it, Cori." He put his pizza down and wiped his hands on his napkin. He grabbed my hand and held it, looking me in the eyes. "You're so much better than they are."
"I just really had my hopes up on finding my family." I looked back down at the table, letting go of his hand.
"We'll be out of this place one day and we'll look back and laugh about it." He tried getting me to look at him again and I did.
"Promise?" I asked, giving him half a smile.
"Promise." He gave me a sincere smile.
We broke off of the topic of Teo and Damon and talked about school and our plans after we get out. Before I knew it an hour had passed. Kit took me home and dropped me off, giving me a huge bear hug and a kiss on the top of the head before leaving.
When I walked inside the house was dark and quiet. I called out but received no answer. I walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water and found a note on the fridge from Meghan saying they had taken all the kids out for a movie and dinner. I was disappointed in myself for lying to them about where I'd gone and even more sad that I didn't get to go out with them. I wasted a night with the closest thing I had to family to give some jerk a chance to laugh at me. I'm sure him, Damon and half the squad were together having that laugh right now.


I walked into first period expecting everyone to be snickering in my direction. My eyes scanned the room before I made my way to my desk but to my surprise no one even noticed me. No one was pointing and laughing. No whispers. Not even a glance in my direction. Well... there was one pair of eyes following me.
Teo watched me walk all the way to my desk. Instead of looking triumphant at making me look like a total loser he looked upset. He looked legitimately sorry. Maybe he felt so bad about it that he didn't tell anyone I fell for his stupid story. Good. He deserved to feel like crap.
I gave him one good glare and then refused to make eye contact for the rest of class. He gave up looking at me after ten minutes but still glanced my way every now and then. I was just glad the rest of the school wasn't laughing at me.
When the bell rang I got my stuff and quickly made my way out. Teo raced after me and caught up to me in the hallway. I felt his cold fingers grab my elbow but I quickly jerked away and turned on him. This time he did run into. Our bodies colliding. I felt myself losing my balance and falling backwards but his arms wrapped around me and pulled me to him until I regained my balance. I stood in his arms a moment too long, stunned by how good it felt and how good he smelled but quickly snapped out of it and shoved him away.
"Cori," He started but I cut him off.
"No. You don't get to speak to me." I started to turn away but he walked around to stand in front of me.
"Please just listen. You could be in danger." He grabbed my arms and looked me dead in the eyes with all seriousness.
"You're really going to keep playing at this?" I asked, my temper rising with my voice. I quickly quieted down as a few other students started to watch the confrontation. "Look, I'm glad you didn't go around telling everyone what an idiot I am but please just stop and leave me alone."
"I'm just asking that you don't go anywhere alone with Damon. I was worried enough last night since your foster parents were gone...." He stopped talking, seeming to catch himself but he'd already said too much.
"You were at my house?" I said through clenched teeth. "Are you insane?" I pushed him again and started walking away as fast as I could. Some of the kids were watching and whispering. Great. This guy was unbelievable.
For the first time in my life, I left school. I had never skipped before but I couldn't stay there any longer. I didn't know where I was going, I just started walking and kept walking. I could feel hot tears stinging my eyes and I didn't even know why. More out of anger than sadness.
I walked for 20 minutes, so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't even realize I had walked into a neighborhood I'd never been in before. The road was practically empty. Only three houses were on it and they were spaced far apart with thick woods in between them. The houses were beautifully restored Victorian homes. There was one on the left that was white with dark blue shutters and a small porch with a porch swing slowly swaying with the light breeze. The one on the right was baby powder blue with no porch. Just stone steps leading up to the door.
I looked at the road sign next to me. 'Withers drive'.
I looked down at my hand. The words were almost washed off but there it was. Still visible. 210 Withers drive. I looked in every direction around me but I couldn't for the life of me figure out which way I had come from. I was standing at a 4 way intersection and all around me were woods. How did I just happen to stumble upon Damon's road? I looked at the numbers on the mail boxes. 208 and 209. That meant the one way at the end of the road had to be Damon's. It was the largest one of the three. It was painted a dark gray with a large wrap around porch. It looked nice but also kind of ominous. I looked around one more time trying to figure out my way back in my mind but for some reason I couldn't remember. I wondered if Damon was even home and if he would be mad if I just showed up several hours early. I decided it was better than going back to school or home.
I walked up to the house, checking the mailbox for the 210 and sure enough this was it. I walked up the stairs and approached the door slowly, checking behind me one more time. It was so quiet here. No cars in any of the driveways. Not even a sign that anyone really lived in these places. The wind gave me a chill so I turned around and knocked on the door.
When I didn't get an answer I knocked again harder. This time the door creaked open slowly and a shaggy haired, shirtless, squinty eyed Damon poked his head out.
"Uh.. Hi" I said with wide eyes, feeling awkward.
"Cori?" He squinted at me in confusion.
"Um.. Yeah. I'm sorry I can go." I turned to leave and quickly pivoted back in place. "Actually I'm lost."
"Can you just give me a minute?" He said, looking like he felt just as awkward as I did.
I nodded and he closed the door. I put my face in my hands, feeling the heat there, feeling so foolish for the millionth time this week. He had clearly been sleeping. What was I thinking coming here? I wasn't because I didn't even mean to come here. I pulled my hands away from my face when I heard the door open again. This time Damon was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, having obviously smoothed his hair down a little, too.
"I am so sorry." I said, giving him a weak smile.
"Do you want to come in?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"If it's not a bad time..."
He stood back and held a hand out, gesturing for me to enter.
I walked in and glanced around at the living area. It was very nice and tidy. It looked like it was a model home more than an actual lived in house. Everything was so clean. The wood floors were polished and smooth. The furniture even looked untouched. I felt like I was in a doll house. I expected to see moving boxes and at least some kind of clutter since he had only recently moved here but it looked like they hadn't really lived here at all.
"Your parents must be neat freaks." I said, before realizing that might be rude.
Damon laughed as he gently shut the door.
"They aren't really around much. I'm more of the neat freak." He smiled and crossed his arms.
"Where are they?" I asked as I continued looking at anything but him.
"They travel a lot." He shrugged, not offering any more detail than that.
I stood there for another awkward minute before realizing he was probably waiting for me to explain why I was here.
"I know, I'm early." I shrugged and gave him half a smile.
He shook his head and smiled.
"Over acheiver huh?" He smirked at me, making me blush. "Want anything to drink?"
"Some water maybe?" I said, feeling insecure.
"Sure thing." He gave me a cute smile and gestured to the living room for me to take a seat.
I sat on the large sectional sofa and looked around for pictures or anything that might have given me some insight into Damon's life. I felt like I hit the jackpot when I spotted one sitting on a small corner table across the room. I walked over and picked it up. It was an old photograph. Like really old. The kind where the paper is yellowing and the person in it isn't smiling. I held the picture close to my face studying the blurry face of a young man in a white shirt with suspenders. He was handsome and had an uncanny resemblance to Damon. They could almost be twins.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Damon enter with a bottle of water and a cup of what I guessed was coffee.
"Is this a family member?" I asked.
He walked over and handed me my water and looked down at the photograph I was holding. He looked at me and smiled. He stood close as he grabbed the picture from my hand and sat it back down on the table.
"Just some old, dead guy." He replied as he walked over, sat on the couch and took a sip from his cup.
I opened the bottle and took a sip before walking over and sitting on the opposite end of the couch.
"Why aren't you at school?" He asked, eyeing me curiously.
"Just felt like getting some fresh air. I honestly don't know how I ended up here." I said, nervously.
"Well I'm glad you did." He gave me a genuine smile and I thought about what Teo had said about him. Damon really did seem nice. A little full of himself sometimes but a guy that looks that good had a right to be in my opinion.
"I just figured we could get a head start on the project." I told him.
He sat his cup on the table. He must have liked black coffee. It was really dark.
"I suppose we could. I didn't have any other plans anyways." He leaned back putting his hands behind his head.
"Why aren't you in school?" I asked.
"My parents got me excused. Some family stuff but they needed someone to watch the house." He shrugged.
"So, how should we start?" I asked.
"My computer is up in my room." He said. "We could start with some research."
"Lead the way."
I followed him up the stairs to his room. Like the rest of the house it looked so un-personal. Wood floors, gray walls and one big window with a black out curtain covering it. A basic queen bed with black comforter and pillows sat under the window. There was a desk with a computer and chair and to my relief two black bean bag seats at the end of his bed.
"Have a seat." He said, swiveling the computer desk chair around and offering it to me.
I sat down and he swivelled it back around to face the computer. I sat my water down on the desk as he turned on the monitor and the screen came on to reveal a wallpaper with a fire breathing dragon on it.
"Really?" I asked, letting my humor leak through my voice. "A dragon?"
"Hey, don't hate on my fire breathing lizard." He smiled and leaned over me to put his hand on the mouse.
He pulled up google on the browser and leaned closer to reach the keyboard. I could feel his chest touching my shoulders and neck making my heart beat skip a beat so I leaned forward slightly to minimize the contact. I wasn't going to give this guy the chance to make me forget why I was here. I wouldn't let him effect me that way. I was just here to do homework.
"I'm going to just print off a few pages and we can pick what we want to put in the report. Easy enough, right?" He said as more of a statement than a question but I nodded anyways, not trusting my voice to not give away how his close contact made me feel.
He finished printing and gathered the pages making me feel a cool tingle on my neck where his presence no longer was. He picked up a notebook and a couple of pencils and dropped them on the floor in front of the bean bag chairs and gestured for me to come over. I got up from the desk chair and plopped down in one of the bean bag chairs, which shifted under my weight making me sink awkwardly.
"Here," He handed me a stack of papers about Poe and a pencil. "Circle what you think is interesting and we'll put them together when we both finish."
I took the papers and after watching him from the corner of my eye for a few minutes, I got to work.

An hour later my hand was cramping and I wasn't even sure if any of this stuff was useful. I could barely concentrate on half of what I was reading. I just kept thinking about Teo's warning to stay away from Damon. But I'd been here all morning, hell it was almost noon, and the guy hadn't tried anything. In fact, he'd been nothing but polite. I watched him again as he circled something on the paper and then stuck the end of the pencil in his mouth in thought. I nearly jumped out of my seat when his eyes quickly shot up at me.
"Am I amusing?" He chuckled.
"I'm sorry," I quickly racked my brain for a subject change. "Just hungry is all..." Nice Cori. Not lame at all.
"Good call." He sat his pencil down and checked his phone. "It's already noon."
He sat there in thought for a few seconds and then put his chin in his hand and gave me a pouty lip look that made my breath hitch because it was just so innocent and adorable.
"Do you like Chinese? We could order take out?" He asked.
"You know the way to my heart already." I said without thinking. It was something I would have said to Kit. Someone I was comfortable with. But I felt stupid having said it to him.
He laughed and shook his head.
"I'll grab a menu." He said, giving me one last long look before leaving the room.
I was kidding.. not flirting.. right? Kit would have thought nothing of it. I mentally shook myself and went back to looking through my pages.
Damon came back with a menu and we ordered Chinese food. We went back to work as we waited for it and finally both surrendered with cramped hands just before we heard a knock from downstairs.
"Would you mind grabbing that? I gotta use the rest room real quick. Here's the cash." He said as he handed me a fifty dollar bill.
"No change." He said as he quickly left the room.
I walked down stairs and took the bags from the guy and handed him the money, which he thanked me about nine times for, then headed back to the bedroom. Damon was already sitting back down and had the papers moved aside.
I sat the bags down and Damon started pulling stuff out and setting it neatly in front of us.
"So, " Damon said as he opened one of the cartons of rice. "What's your favorite food?"
"Actually this is it." I said, opening my own container of lemon chicken.
"Good choice." He commented.
"You?" I asked before taking a small bite of my food, slightly burning my mouth but so worth it. I hadn't realized how hungry I was.
"Nothing beats a big, rare steak." He said and gave me a half smirk.
"Very manly." I commented.
We finished our meals while we talked about other kinds of food we did and didn't like. Damon was very much a carnivore.
After we finished we started to put together the parts of the papers we'd each found interesting and another four hours later we were almost finished. We just had to put our names on it and print and we'd be done!
"Did you see where my water went?" I asked, feeling thirsty. I hadn't seen it since this morning.
"It's right behind you, where you put it." He said.
I looked over my shoulder and sure enough it was there behind my bean bag seat. I didn't remember moving it from the desk but we had been working our brains all day on this project.
"Thanks." I said and took a sip from it. It had a weird taste to it but I figured it was just my dry mouth. I took another small sip and sat it down.
Damon printed out the report and handed it to me to look over. It actually turned out pretty good. I was proud of us. I smiled up at him and felt a little dizzy. I stood up and swayed on my feet. Damon grabbed my arm to steady me and I let him.
"You okay?" He asked lifting my eyes to meet his. Then without warning he was kissing me.
My head felt fuzzy and everything kind of swam around me. I closed my eyes and leaned into him feeling giggly and strange but good. A part of me was telling me to stop and push him away. That something wasn't right about this. But I couldn't and I didn't want to. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me. He tightened his hold on me and started kissing me more urgently. I felt him walking me backwards but I felt like I was floating. I felt the world around me swim more as I fell back against the bed with him on top of me, our kisses deepening. His tongue exploring my mouth. Mine exploring his. He tasted so sweet and felt so amazing against me. I felt a cold hand slip under my shirt and run up the side of my body leaving a trail of cool tingles in its wake. I let my fingers lead the way as they slipped under his shirt to touch his cool skin beneath and they traced their way up his firm, smooth back.
His mouth left mine as he trailed kisses down my jaw to my neck. Under all of the feelings of pleasure there was a sharp piercing white hot pain in my neck. It was so intense I screamed. It pushed away the drug induced state leaving me feeling completely sober and I started to push away at Damon but he held me tighter. Then just as fast the pain disappeared and even stronger feelings of pleasure took its place. Instead of pushing him away, I was now holding on to him as tightly as I could. His mouth still on my neck. I felt like I was falling through a wonderful dream. It was so beautiful. I let go and let the feeling take me.