One of the long teachers tables had been set up off to the side with three candles, which he
’
d just finished lighting, a table cloth covered it and set on top were boxes of candy and a bucket of what looked like popcorn. Across the back wall was a pull down white screen.
The desks had all been cleared away from the room. On the floor was what looked like a couple of foam mats covered with several blankets. Several pillows were thrown on top as well. From the wall with the window we
’
d just slipped through was a projector. It was one of the older ones, definitely owned by the school, and I couldn
’
t help but wonder how he
’
d gotten a hold of it.
How he
’
d managed to set this all up, really.
“
What is all this?
”
I asked, looking around with a small smile on my face.
“
Do you like it?
”
he asked.
I nodded.
“
You set this all up for me?
”
He shrugged his shoulders, his smile almost shy as he scratched at the back of his head.
“
Well, you said you wanted something serious
…
I thought maybe that meant we should start with a first date.
”
Giving a short laugh, I said,
“
You could have just asked instead of doing all of this.
”
“
You didn
’
t seem like you were going to give me a chance,
”
he pointed out. Then he grinned.
“
And if you would have, I still would have done something like this.
”
“
What, do you have a problem with classic theaters or something?
”
I teased, moving to the table that was littered with theater goodies. Red vines, milk duds, M&Ms, and of course popcorn. Even a couple of sodas.
He walked over to the back wall to fiddle with the projector.
“
That
’
s just so ordinary,
”
he explained.
“
Everyone takes someone to the movies on their first date, you know? I wanted this to be special. I knew I
’
d only get one shot and I had to make it count.
”
I frowned slightly, looking over at him.
One shot
. Was that what I was doing? Was I giving him a shot to prove that he was dating material? Was this like an interview and if I didn
’
t think he made the cut, I
’
d never speak to him again?
The thing was, some of that had to be answered with yes. If he wasn
’
t boyfriend material, I couldn
’
t risk dating him. My schooling was important and so was my reputation. I
had
to keep it up. I
’
d made a promise almost four years ago now and I couldn
’
t take that back, no matter what.
Not even if I was starting to really like this crazy boy who was trying so damn hard
…
“
Well, consider me impressed,
”
I told him, grabbing the bucket of popcorn and moving to the blankets to sit down.
He got the projector working and came to sit beside me as the opening credits appeared on the screen.
“
So does that mean there
’
ll be a date two?
”
he asked, grinning.
I couldn
’
t meet his gaze. Would there be a date two? I didn
’
t know. If they were more dates like this
…
which given that it was Logan, they probably were, then I didn
’
t think there could be a second date. I couldn
’
t keep breaking the rules.
I convinced myself that this was a special exception. That somehow, this was okay because I wanted to give him an honest chance so that he wouldn
’
t feel as though he had to keep pursuing me simply because I
’
d said no from the get-go.
No longer a challenge, right?
Of course, I
’
d be lying if I said it wasn
’
t because I craved being near to him and all of me was completely enjoying things so far.
But that didn
’
t mean a second date was possible, did it?
I didn
’
t know, but I didn
’
t want to ruin the mood
—
and until I made a decision, I didn
’
t want to ruin the possibilities. So I said,
“
We
’
ll see. Depends on what movie you picked.
”
Logan laughed at me, and fell back onto the pillows, his arms folded back behind his head.
“
I think you
’
ll really like it.
”
I remained sitting up, feeling a little
…
uncertain about laying down on a makeshift bed with him in the dark, but as the movie started playing I quickly found that sitting up was uncomfortable. When the title appeared on the screen, I lay back beside him, resting my head on the pillows. We weren
’
t touching, but we were close. Very close.
“
Casablanca?
”
I asked, amused.
Logan didn
’
t say anything, just grabbed some popcorn and chewed. I could see a grin though and knew that his choice was to create that old time romantic feel.
It worked.
For nearly twenty minutes, we both just watched the movie and ate popcorn. I couldn
’
t deny that I was aware of him. Completely. I could feel his body heat radiate, wrapping me up in tendrils of warmth. Although it was dark, the candlelight and the light from the movie was enough to make out his expression.
It was calm and content. He was definitely having a good time.
After a while, I got up. He sat up as soon as I did, tense.
“
Where are you going?
”
he asked, and I realized that he was worried that I was going to leave. That I wasn
’
t having a good time.
I smiled at him reassuringly.
“
I
’
m just getting a soda, want one?
”
He let out a sigh of relief and shook his head.
“
I
’
m good.
”
“
You sure?
”
I asked lightly.
“
I won
’
t share mine if you say no.
”
He gave a laugh.
“
No? That
’
s not very nice.
”
Smiling, I gave him a wink.
“
Well, maybe I
’
m not a very nice girl.
”
Holding an unopened coke, I moved back to the blankets, but I underestimated where they were and my foot caught. With a cry of surprise, I slipped, tripping. I dropped the can of soda, letting it roll away from me. I planted my hands out, palms first to catch myself and found that I had landed right on top of Logan
’
s warm body.
I was practically straddling him, one leg between either of his and the other pulled up near his hip. Our faces were inches apart, so close that I could smell the popcorn and what might have been a mint on his breath.
He felt hard, warm, and tense, like he always seemed to whenever I found myself pressed against his body
—
which seemed pretty often lately.
I stared down at him, surprised and his own stormy blue eyes looked up at me, equally as surprised. He looked ready to say something, maybe to ask if I was alright, but before he could I leaned down and pressed my mouth over his.
Last time I
’
d kissed him, it took him a moment before he responded, but this time his reaction was instant. He kissed me back, moving his mouth against mine and letting his tongue slide along my lips until I opened them. We deepened the kiss again, and I pressed closer to him, letting my hands move so that I was braced on my elbows and forearms instead. It meant that my chest was pressed against his and that our hips were touching.
His arms moved and I waited for his hands to caress my body. But they didn
’
t. My eyes opened to see his hands clench tightly into balls, his arms moving so that they were above his head
—
as far away from me as they could get.
Though he was clearly kissing me back and I could feel how much he
wanted
this pressing against my thigh, he wouldn
’
t touch me.
After a moment longer of kissing, I pulled back. He tried to follow me, his lips capturing mine once more. I let him and closed my eyes, enjoying the kiss once more, but I just couldn
’
t forget that his hands weren
’
t touching me.
I broke the kiss again and this time I rolled off of him before he could kiss me again.
“
I
’
m sorry,
”
I said, standing up.
Frowning, Logan sat up.
“
For what?
”
“
I shouldn
’
t have done that.
”
I glanced around. The movie was still going, the candles still burning, but everything suddenly felt strange. What was I doing here?
“
I shouldn
’
t have even come here,
”
I murmur, heading to the door.
When I reached it, I realized it was locked. Of course, I thought, we came through the window. I turned, preparing to head to the window and wondered just how in the hell I was going to get myself up and out of it, when Logan got up.
“
Whoa, whoa,
”
he said, holding up his hands to say that I should slow down and think about this.
“
What do you mean? We were having a good time, weren
’
t we?
”
I couldn
’
t meet his eyes. We
were
having a good time. A really good time. And not just the kissing, though that was good, too. I enjoyed the sneaking in and the makeshift theater with the old romantic movie and the bedding laid out on the floor
…
But that wasn
’
t the point
—
or maybe it was. I shouldn
’
t have been here, I shouldn
’
t have wanted to be here, and I shouldn
’
t have been having fun here. This wasn
’
t who I was supposed to be.
“
I
’
m sorry, I just need to go.
”
I looked around, thinking that I was going to have to figure out how to climb out on my own, when Logan walked over to the window. He knelt down and waited.
Frowning, I asked,
“
What are you doing?
”
He didn
’
t look at me as he answered,
“
You said you wanted to go. So, let
’
s go. This is the only way up, unless we want to break the door or you secretly know how to pick locks.
”
His tone wasn
’
t happy, but he didn
’
t sound angry either. He just sounded disappointed, but despite his disappointment, he was ready to give me a boost up and out the window.
Biting my lip, I nodded. I put one foot in the handle hold he created with his two hands, and braced myself with my hands, one on his shoulder and the other on the wall. He didn
’
t say anything as he boosted me up high enough that I could reach the window. When I
’
d grasped a hold of it, he pushed me up higher so that my feet were on his shoulders. With the extra height, I was able to pull myself up and out onto the lawn outside of Old Main.
When I was fully out, I knelt down and poked my head back through the window. I looked down at Logan.
“
How are you going to get out?
”