The Art of Life (59 page)

               
He winks, “Love you too baby.”
 
Turning to me, he says, “See
ya
later Izzy.”

               
“Bye,” I reply, giving a slight
wave.

               
When he is
gone, Cassandra smiles.
 
“He is
great.”

               
“He really is,” I agree.
 
“All three of the guys seem like good
people.”

               
“They are,” she responds.
 
“Now, tell me more about your high school
life.”
 
With a groan, I tell her.

               
We eat lunch and it is SO
good.
 
Cassandra demands I try some of
her salad and I definitely see why she orders it.
 
Before we leave, Kent comes back to say good
bye.
 
He says, we don’t have to pay for
anything and Cassandra counters that she knows.

               
I don’t remember where Rick’s
is, but Cassandra does.
 
We pull up and
one of the garage doors is open.
 
I don’t
see Jeremy though.
 
“You go in there,” I
whisper.

               
“Why would I go in there?” She
replies, “He is your roommate.”

               
Looking at her, I plead,
“Please?”

               
“No,” Cassandra laughs.
 
“
Go,
remember he
wants to give you a kiss.”

               
Now, I glare at her.
 
“Traitor.”
 
She just smirks.
 
“Fine,” I growl.
 
“I am going.”
 
I get out of the car and kind of stand there for a minute.
 
Finally, I take a deep breath and walk into
the building.
 

               
There are some guys working on a
car, right in front of me.
 
One of them
looks up.
 
“Can we help you?”

               
Shifting my feet awkwardly, I
say, “I am looking for Jeremy.”

               
That same guy stands up and
shouts, “JEREMY!”

               
“WHAT!?”
I hear in reply.

               
“There is someone of the female
persuasion here to see you,” the guy states.

               
A few seconds later, Jeremy
comes around the corner.
 
He instantly
smiles.
 
“Hey toots.”

               
“Hi,” I mumble, walking over to
him.
 
“I came to get the key.”

               
“Sure,” Jeremy says, reaching
into his pocket.
 
He pulls out a key ring
and states, “Here it is.”

               
I stick my hand out, “Thanks.”

               
He suddenly holds them
back.
 
“
Nuh
uh,
there is a price.”

               
“What?” I ask bewildered.

               
“I told you I wanted a
kiss.
 
Either you kiss me or I keep the
keys.”

               
My eyes narrow.
 
“I am not kissing you,” I hiss quietly.

               
“Then you have to wait for me on
the steps, because you are not getting into the apartment without the key,” he
states, wiggling his eyebrows.

               
“Why do you do this to me?” I
whine.

               
Jeremy steps forward.
 
“Because I love seeing you blush.
 
Plus, yet again, I have not filled my kissing
quota.”

               
“You do not have a kissing
quota!”

               
Smirking, he replies, “Yes, I do
and I have not filled it.”

               
“You are terrible!
 
There are other people here,” I moan.

               
“Yeah, I
know,
a bunch of guys.
 
Does that make it more
awkward?”
 
Jeremy laughs.

               
I frown.
 
“This is not funny!”

               
“Just kiss me,” he replies,
stepping closer.
 
“What’s so wrong with
that?”

               
“I hate you,” I grumble.

               
The keys just jingle in the air,
as he holds them there.
 
“Come on
Isabelle.
 
Just one
kiss.”

               
I sigh and go up on my
toes.
 
Our lips meet.
 
He instantly wraps his arms around me and
pulls me against him.
 
It makes my chest
tighten.
 
When we pull away, there is
sudden whistling from behind us.
 
I glare
at Jeremy and stomp on his foot.
 
He
drops the keys, as he yells.
 
I bend over
and pick them up.
 
“Thanks for the keys
and the kiss.”

               
He looks at me with a
mischievous look in his eyes.
 
“Oh, it’s
on.”

               
“Bring it,” I state, staring him
down.

               
“You are going to get revenge so
bad
..bad…
bad…bad,” Jeremy snarls playfully.

               
My smile disappears and I say,
“Be nice!”

               
“Nope,” he replies.
 
“You will think I have been nice up until
now.”

               
“Jeremy,” I chastise nervously.

               
With a grin, he mocks,
“Isabelle.”
 
Winking at me, Jeremy says,
“Go home.
 
I will see you in two
hours.
 
The movers are coming with your
stuff.”

               
“What are you doing to do to
me?” I ask, slightly unnerved.

               
“I don’t know yet, but it will
be SPECTACULAR!”

               
Sighing, I moan, “Great.”

               
Jeremy steps forward and kisses
me on the forehead.
 
“I promise it won’t
be today.
 
Go home.
 
I have stuff I need to finish.”

               
“Okay, bye,” I say, turning
around.
 
As I walk away, I feel a crack
of something on my butt.
 
I turn around
and Jeremy has a towel in his hand.
 
“You
said it wouldn’t be today!”

               
“That!?
 
That was not revenge.
 
It is going to be HUGE.
 
HUGE!”

               
Mumbling, I say, “Great.”

               
“Go home babe.
 
I will be there soon,” he smirks.
 
I watch him turn and walk away.
 
My head tilts as I think to myself that he
looks really good in his uniform.
 
The
sudden realization of that makes me blush.
 
I quickly dart out of the building.

               
Cassandra of course asks what
happened, and all I reply is, “Nothing.”
 
We drive back to the apartment listening to music.
 
My mind races, as I dread the thought of what
he is going to do for revenge.
 
When we
get back to the apartment, I turn the heat up because it is a little cool.
 
Cassandra and I make tea and we sit to talk.

               
An hour and a half later, I hear
the door open.
 
We turn to see Jeremy
walk in.
 
He is carrying flowers.
 
Of course, the first batch is stargazer
lilies, but the other ones are roses, purples ones.
 
I look at him quizzically.

               
He walks forward and thrusts the
roses at me.
 
“These are for you my
dear.”

               
“What is this for?” I ask,
smelling them.

               
“Oh, I love buying flowers, so
you will probably be getting them a lot,” Jeremy quips.
 
He bends over and kisses me on the head.
 
“You have to tell me which flowers are your
favorite.”

               
I answer, “Tulips.”

               
“Pretty,” he states.
 
“Can you put the flowers in vases?
 
They are above the sink. I am going to take a
shower.”

               
“Yeah.”
 
I watch him walk down the hallway and out of
sight.
 
My eyes drift back to Cassandra
and she cocks her eyebrow.
 
“What?” I
hiss.

               
“Nothing, absolutely nothing,”
she replies.

               
Cassandra stays for a
while.
 
When the movers get there, she
helps me decide where everything goes.
 
Jeremy leans against the wall and laughs at us.
 
I stick my tongue out at him.
 
He gives me that wonderful smile of his and
it makes me blush for some reason.
                                       

               
I spend the evening organizing
my room, finally.
 
Jeremy lies on my bed
the whole time, talking to me.
 
He makes
more back handed comments about my underwear when I put it away.
 
I glare at him and he grins.

               
Later we are on the couch
watching a horribly realistic movie about a demon haunting.
 
Jeremy demanded I watch in complete
darkness.
 
I am reminding myself to kill
him later.
 
During the second half of the
movie, I spend most of the time burying my face into Jeremy.
 
“You have to watch!” He exclaims.

               
“I am,” I mumble into his chest.

               
“The TV is not in my shirt,” he
laughs.
 
“WATCH the movie.”

               
Begrudgingly, I do.
 
Jeremy holds my hand and I squeeze it as hard
as I can.
 
When the movie is over, I kind
of just sit there.
 
He looks at me and
smiles.
 
“So, what did you think?”

               
“I am sleeping in your bed
tonight,” I state, just staring at him.

               
“But why?”
He draws out.

               
Rolling my eyes, I say, “Because
I won’t be able to sleep by myself!
 
Thank you very much!”

               
“Sissy.”

               
My hand smacks him on the
arm.
 
“Fine, I will sleep by myself.”

               
Jeremy just laughs harder.
 
“I give you a half an hour before you are in
my room.”

               
“Well, you are the one who made
me watch that ridiculous movie!”

               
“It’s not real,” he dramatically
retorts.

               
Scowling, I snap, “Yeah, well I
believe in hauntings and all that jazz.
 
So, it IS scary to me.”

               
“Okay, it’s midnight.
 
Let’s get ready for bed.
 
You can sleep in my room.
 
I GUESS,” he sarcastically groans.

               
I push him away.
 
“Whatever.
 
I am going to put my pajamas on.”
 
Going into my room, I make sure to turn the overhead light on.
 
It’s really bright.
 
No shadows in the room.
 
I put on a pair of warm pajamas.
 
It’s cooler tonight.
 
Plus, they are really comfortable.

               
Walking out of my room, I find
Jeremy brushing his teeth.
 
He is in
pajama pants, with no shirt on.
 
Spitting
out the toothpaste, Jeremy looks at me.
 
“Cute pajamas.”