You'll Always Be Mine (2 page)

              I eased off the bar stool and walked out of the bar, feeling somewhat satisfied. I began to walk out on the sidewalk when a teenage couple caught my eye.

              The male was an average jock. I could tell by the way his shirt fit tightly around his muscles and the arrogant smirk that seemed to be plastered on his face. The female, however, was beautiful. She had long brunette hair that ended at the midst of her back. Her porcelain skin was complimented with soft enchanting cobalt eyes and a well-rounded, slightly upturned nose. Her full pink lips stretched out into a smile as she looked at her boyfriend.

She was perfect.

              The male planted a kiss on her cheek and ran off while she was left with what I was guessing was her friend. They talked for a bit until said female walked across the street, leaving her friend behind.

              I was too intrigued by her beauty that I decided to follow her, hoping to get a closer look at her. She stopped to take off her shoes then began to walk again. I slowly crept behind, being careful not to get too close.

              She stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder but I hid behind a nearby boulder, not allowing her to see me. She stood like that for a moment before she began to walk again and got inside of her car. She sat inside for quite a while before she actually reversed out of the spot and drove off.

              She was the one.

CHAPTER THREE - LIZA

              I got home just minutes before midnight. Just as I suspected, Jeremy was home with his legs crossed on the coffee table, waiting for me.

              “Where have you been?” he asked.

              I threw my purse on the sofa and walked into the kitchen. “I was out with Sean and Katie,”

              “Where?”

              I sighed, opening the refrigerator, “We went to the movies. I’m not a kid anymore Jer, I don’t need a curfew.” The first thing I saw was an apple so I settled on that and closed the fridge.

              “You’re my little sister, Liza.” he began, “I swore to Mom and Dad that I would take care of you--”

              “When I was eight,” I finished for him while taking a bite of my apple, “I’m seventeen now.”

              He shook his head, “My point remains the same.”

              “Sorry,” I apologized, “But aren’t you supposed to be on your way to Turkey by now?”

              “Change of plans,” he said vaguely, “I’m leaving tomorrow so I’ll leave you some money to last a couple of weeks.”

              “Cool,” I agreed, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV. Ellen’s face immediately filled the screen. “Not this again,” I groaned.

              Jeremy shook his head in disagreement. “That’s exactly why you need a curfew. This could have been you,” he pointed towards the TV, “I would have never been able to live with myself.”

              I smiled, “You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” I stood up from the couch, “I’m going to bed, see you when the sun comes, big bro.”

▪▪▪▪▪

              The news about Ellen had died down the next day but police officers came to the classrooms to give us a brief safety lesson. Apparently, Ellen McHannon’s death was similar to that of Candice Simmons, another teenage girl who was also murdered in her home. I am not familiar with the other murders but they said that it was the same person, which meant he was still out there.

              “It sucks to know that someone actually died here,” Katie said, “It makes me feel unsafe now.”

              “No kidding,”

              Katie ran her fingers through her orange hair and flashed me a toothy smile, “So how are you and Sean?”

              “We’re doing great,” I smiled to myself while wrapping my fingers around my coffee cup, allowing the heat to warm my hands. “I’ve never felt better.”

“That’s good!” she exclaimed, “You deserve him and more.” 

“I’m not so sure about ‘and more’. I’m just trying to survive high school,”

“Aren’t we all?”

I stared at Katie and she stared at me. Almost simultaneously, we broke out in laughter. “We’re so not ready for the real world,” she said in between laughs.

“Not a chance,”

Katie’s phone vibrated inside her pocket. She reached for it and stared blankly at the screen. “My brother is running late. Do you think you can give me a ride home?”

“Of course,” I agreed without hesitation. “I’m supposed to say goodbye to Jeremy before he leaves so let’s hurry.” I grabbed a hold of Katie’s wrist and pulled her towards my car.

▪▪▪▪▪

“I put six hundred dollars into your account and the fridge is stocked up on the necessities like milk and such,” Jeremy swung his backpack over his shoulder, “Don’t forget to always lock the doors and don’t stay out too late. I will be emailing you every day. I expect you to respond to my emails as soon as possible,”

“Got it,” I said impatiently, “I’m a big girl, remember?”

He cupped my face in his hands and kissed the top of my forehead. “I love you, Ellie.”

I felt my cheeks turn red from the remembrance of the childhood nickname I was given. “I love you too, Jer,” I pulled him into a hug and played with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Kill ‘em, tiger.”

He pulled away and grabbed onto the handle of his suitcase. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” he warned me before he finally stepped out of the door.

I smiled peevishly at the closed door and folded my arms across my chest. “You can come out now!”

Sean opened the pantry door with a childish grin on his face. “I’ve come to put you out of your misery.”

I couldn’t hold back a smile. “My knight in shining armor.”

He came up from behind and wrapped his arms around my waist, beginning to trail soft kisses down my neck. “What do you want to do first, love?”

“We could watch a movie,” I said absentmindedly, too distracted by how soft his lips felt on my skin. I turned around quickly so that I was facing him. “Or we could do something else,”

He smirked, “Don’t do anything that your brother wouldn’t do.”

“Oh shut up,” I playfully slapped his cheek, “Letters to Juliet?”

“No,”

“It’s your favorite movie.”

“You’re kidding right?” Sean raised an eyebrow, “That chick flick?”

I placed my hands on my hips. “I remembered that you cried during--”

“I had something in my--”

“You bought the soundtrack,” I placed my hands on my hips.

Sean pressed his lips together, “…it was a good soundtrack…”

“You aren’t fooling anybody.” I said, holding the collar of his shirt and tugging him towards me. “How about we ditch the movie and you can just kiss me?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he smirked before he crashed his lips on mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist.

              Reaching down, I pulled at the bottom of his shirt, intending on getting rid of any barriers. He smiled against my lips as he assisted with taking his shirt off. His lips were back on mine, grazing over my bottom lip before his tongue slid right in my mouth. I didn’t deny him entry and let his tongue massage mine.

              He slid his hands down to the hem of my shirt, slowly beginning to take it off until he had completely slid it right off me. I deepened the kiss, pressing my almost bare chest against his bare one.

              Sean pulled away shortly, staring hungrily into my eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

              “I--” I stared down at the floor. Did I really want to give myself to him? Yeah, I loved him but I didn’t have to rush it. “I’m sorry.” I said, pulling away from him and picking my shirt off the floor. “Maybe another--”

              He placed a chaste kiss on my lips and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Liz.” he leaned down so that his nose rubbed against mine. “Whenever you’re ready.”

              “Thanks,” I said, slipping on my t-shirt over my head. “The Expendables?”

              He nodded, “You know me so well.”

              I rolled my eyes as I searched my DVD collection for the movie and slipped it into the DVD player. I walked over to Sean and sat on his lap, starting to play with his golden blonde locks. “Do you want some popcorn?”

              His gaze moved to my lips then back to my eyes. “I do want some popcorn,” he bit his bottom lip, “but not as much as I want you.”

              “I’m going to get us some popcorn,” I announced, standing up and sauntering over to the kitchen.

              “I like mine with extra butter!” He called out, kicking his feet up on the coffee table in front of him.

              “And you’re going to like it even more when you get your feet off the table,” I snapped, placing the popcorn bag in the microwave. “Seriously,” I said once I saw that he still hadn’t removed his feet.

              He groaned, “Come on Liz,” he whined, “I’ve been here so many times I’m practically family,”

              “And you left out the part where you’re
not
family so,” I glanced over at his long legs crossed on the table, “Off.”

              He raised his hands in defense as he slowly took his legs off the table. “What made you so cranky?”

              I shrugged my shoulders, “Oh you know,” I pondered, “When you have a boyfriend who loves to make himself at home, you get that way.” Several minutes later, the microwave beeped, indicating that the popcorn was ready.

              After spending thirty minutes talking about our lives and other random things while taking occasional glances at the movie, we somehow dozed off. When I woke, I was on top of Sean, my face buried in his chest, which makes me wonder how we ended up in this position.

              Slowly and carefully, I slipped away from his hold and stood up abruptly. I stared down at Sean for a brief moment. His blonde curly hair hung loosely over his forehead while his darling blue eyes were hidden beneath his eyelids. “So cute,” I found myself saying.

              I turned off the TV with the remote and headed into the kitchen, intending on taking out the trash. I really don’t know how I got so lucky to have a wonderful person like Sean in my life. He was a popular jock and I was, well, Liza. I wasn’t part of the in crowd, I liked to move to my own beat and dance to my own drum and apparently Sean liked it too.

              Soon, I was outside on my porch, overlooking my neighborhood. It looked peaceful, as always but something felt off. The wooden floors of the porch were slightly damp from the snow of last week.