22. DEAD MEAT




“Skylar, we are home time to wake up.” Eric whispered in my ear. He bent over and kissed me on the lips which made me more alert. I opened my eyes to him standing over me with my side of the door open, the cold air rushing in. I hugged my jacket tighter to my chest before unbuckling my seat belt and I slowly stepped out of the car a bit drowsily. Eric looped his arm around my waist and let me put most of my weight on him as we walked up the steps to the front door. I opened the door and quietly stepped in the house not knowing what time it was or if my mom or anyone was home yet. “Skylar.” my mom said in an angry tone which made me jump. I walked all the way in the house knowing I was dead meat for sure, that there was no way out of this one. “Where have you two been? I almost sent a search party out for you two; you had me thinking that you were kidnapped by that guy John.” I flinched at the memory.

“We uh…” I hesitated knowing that my mom wouldn’t be happy with the answer I was about to give her.

“Well..” she said putting her hands on her hips.

“We went to the fair.” I said letting it all fall out knowing that she was going to find out sooner or later.

“You got me so worried about you two and all this time you were at the fair?” my mom yelled. I knew she didn’t want me to answer just listen.

“You are grounded, both of you now you will eat dinner and go straight to your room.” she ordered. I nodded really mad at her for punishing me that way, in such a haste not even bothering to hear my side of the story, not that I had much to say that could stop her from grounding me. Eric and I followed her into the dining room where everyone had already started to eat, there were two more plates set at the table; one for me and one for Eric. We sat down and I got a look of disapproval from my dad. We ate dinner in silence and I took out my madness by stabbing at the pieces of chicken that were on my plate with a fork. Eric noticed and put his hand on my arm the one that wasn’t busy stabbing the chicken. I looked at him and sighed knowing that I shouldn’t be angry for what my mom did; that I should know that the only reason she was punishing us was because she loves me and always will no matter what. Somehow Eric can grasp that concept more than I can even though his parents don’t live with him. Once dinner was over I grabbed my plate only, washed it, put it away and headed to my room. I was surprised not to see Eric following behind me but I went up the stairs and into my bedroom anyways. I shut the door, flopped on my bed and stared up at the ceiling wishing I was outside surrounded by the trees. Five minutes later Eric opened the door he walked in and he went over to his bed by the window. He plopped down on his bed before he propped himself up on his elbow and looked at me. I sat up and combed my fingers through my hair which reminded me that I really needed to take a shower. “What?” I asked Eric who was continuing to stare at me.

“Nothing, you are just so beautiful I could stare at you all day.” he said, his voice as soft as silk. I could feel the heat rise from my neck to my cheeks and I looked down. I got out of my bed and turned to Eric. “I have to take a shower.” I told him, took my pajamas with me and walked out of the room. I walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I grabbed a bright white towel off of the hanger and turned on the hot water. Once I got in and let the hot water run over my head I didn’t want to get out. I stayed in for a while taking as much time as I could in the warm shower that was filled with the scent of my sweet smelling shampoo. I finally got myself to turn off the pleasantly hot water and get out of the shower. I dried myself from head to toe and slipped my pajama’s over my damp legs and arms. My soaking wet hair hung in strands over my back and I combed through it with my comb. When I was done it still looked like a mess so I decided to dry it with my hair dryer. After my hair was dry and looking much better I walked into my room feeling refreshed. I spread myself on my bed and put my head on the edge to see what Eric was doing; to my surprise he was ready the end of Romeo and Juliet. “You have read that before right?” I asked making him look up at me and stop in the middle of reading.

“Yes I have it is one of my favorites.” he said making my heart melt with his killer smile.

“Good otherwise I would have to hit you. I would hit anyone who skipped to the back of their book before finishing it. I hate it when people do that it ruins the story.” I told him resting my chin in both of my hands.

“Yeah that’s also one of my pet peeves.” he said moving to the end of his bed and sitting there, closer to me. I crossed my arms and rested them on the side of the bed before putting my head there. I was still looking at Eric who was now inches from my face. “So why were you rereading the end?” I asked interested.

“I was reading it again because I can relate to Romeo; I think that he is very brave to kill himself and I understand why he did.” he answered.

“And why is that?” I asked even more curious.

“He killed himself because he loved her and he realized that once she was dead that he could never live without her; so he chose to follow her to death and to meet her in heaven.” Eric responded.

“Well when you put it like that I understand, I mean I personally would take a bullet for someone I was truly in love with….” I looked up at Eric and smiled. He smiled back and as he grew closer to me his smile got wider and wider. He picked me up and held me in his arms before spinning me in a bunch of circles; a laugh bubbled up out of me and I clutched onto the neck of his tee. I let my head fall back and my hair flowed down trying to reach the ground. I closed my eyes smiling so much that I was afraid my face would break I could just feel the glow of happiness radiating around me. I lifted me head and opened my eyes to be inches from Eric’s perfect face; I put both arms around his neck and he put one of his hands in the small of my back pressing me close to him. I closed my eyes and kissed him, I kissed him long and hard. I rapped my legs around his waist kissing him, I never wanted to stop; I held him closer to me as he spun me around some more. My heart thrummed fast in my chest as the exhilaration rose inside of me. Once he stopped spinning me I opened my eyes and realized that he was standing up against the wall. His lips brushed mine and then he went on kissing my cheek and neck feverishly. Another giggled burst out of me and I felt his lips curve up into a smile, he picked his head up and I pecked him on the cheek feeling a little giddy. Another small giggle burst through me and I couldn’t stop my smile from spreading across my face. “You know you are very cute when you laugh.” Eric said smiling back at me. I put my hand to my mouth and pressed my fingers to my upper lip. Just then I heard multiple footsteps coming from outside my room. I immediately untangled my legs from around Eric’s waist and slid my arms out from around his neck. “Skylar?” I heard my mom’s voice coming from outside the door. I looked at Eric to see his head bent down and his cheeks the same color as mine, flushed a vibrant red. I opened the door and a little breathlessly said “Yes?”

“It’s time for all of us to go to sleep, goodnight. We will talk about your little stunt some more tomorrow. I love you.” my mom told me seriously. She took a step closer to hug me goodnight but I turned away, I was angry with her and I wouldn’t give in, not yet. “Goodnight.” I said harshly closing the door without looking her in the eyes. I heard her walk down the hall and close her bedroom door then I heard another set of footsteps, most likely my dad’s, following shortly behind my mom. I closed the door and turned the lights off not wanting to make my mom angrier; besides now that the lights are turned off she will think I am going to sleep, even though I am really not going to go to bed right this minute. With a heavy sigh I leaned my back against the door and closed my eyes frustrated with my mother, actually both my parents, they never understand, never. Suddenly Eric’s warm but rough hand was caressing my cheek; I kept my eyes closed feeling calmed and leaned into his hand. “So, where were we?” he asked me putting both of his hands on the door and on either side of my head. Before I had time to giggle and answer his question Eric leaned in to kiss me which made my breath catch in my throat and my stomach fill up with butterflies. Once my lips touched his, my heart rate accelerated and passion erupted from inside of me with the heat and power of a forest fire, I needed Eric, needed his touch, needed skin to skin contact. His lips left mine too soon and all I wanted was more, I kissed him fervently until my steady breathing came in short gasps; Eric placed his tender hands on the small of my back pressing me closer to him. My hands ran through Eric’s soft scruffy hair, but then his hands were abruptly on my cheeks slowly pulling me back from him. Once Eric delicately pulled my face back from his I flushed, thinking that I was a little too needy, that I needed to calm down just a bit. Once I finally got the courage to look up at him he gave me a solicitous look; I could see distress in his deep blue eyes and it startled me a little. “Skylar I, I umm-” Eric started, I was anxious to hear what he had to say, I was concerned; maybe I had done something wrong. He ran his fingers through his hair and started passing; he looked like he was deep in thought but I was starting to desperately want know what he was thinking, I couldn’t wait any longer. “Eric?” I asked standing still not knowing if I should go to him. He stopped and turned to me, he took a deep breath before walking toward me his arms extended. He was arms length apart from me and he didn’t take the last step to close the distance between us. I noticed this, it made me feel like he wanted it to be this way, having space between us, and this scared me. “Skylar I can’t, I can’t do this with you.” he said looking me up and down which made me flush violently. He clenched and unclenched his jaw before going on, “It’s not that I don’t desperately want to…” he trailed off staring at me, he quickly reran his fingers through his golden hair. “Ever since John, I haven’t been the same. I feel like whenever I get close to you I am putting you in more danger, like you will disappear and I won’t be able to stop it. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if you disappeared and it was my fault. If John ever hurts you, if he ever lays a hand on you I swear to god I am going to kill him.” he finished and I could see the anger and the fear in his eyes. I pressed the heart if my palm to the rough skin on his chin worried about him; about John. I then closed the space between us and I held him close to me. “I promise you, I am not going anywhere. Not without taking you with me, and you can count on that.” I said trying to comfort him. I could feel the muscles in his arm flex and the heat radiate off his chest as we both held each other tightly.