Chapter 16: A Late Night Kiss

The sun set, and the air outside turned crisp. The tree lights were more vibrant, and the crowd around us got louder as everyone enjoyed the festivities. Emma and Tiff disappeared to get candy from each of the booths. There were a few housing developments nearby that they mentioned they were going to visit to get some really good candy. "Aria, would you like to go for a walk with me?" Chase asked me in a low sweet tone. "I would love to. Let me first add my cat ears!" I bent over to put my ears on to surprise him and maybe get a laugh. It worked. "Where were those all night?" he asked, touching the fuzzy tips. "In my bag. The freaks come out at night, so, naturally, I had to wait." I beamed, proud of my ability to make him laugh again. "Well, I come as myself." He lifted his arms and did a slow turn. "How terrifying! Try not to be so horrifying for the children," I joked. I pulled up my black leggings as I could feel them slowly inch off my waist. We drive back to his house to park his sister's Jeep before we went on our walk. There were kids all over the neighborhood. Halloween wasn't for a few days, but in the past few years, towns in this part celebrated it on nights when it was guaranteed not to rain. As we walked, we saw kids, teens, and adults of all ages walking around in costumes. Fall leaves fluttered across the street only to get trampled on by a kid in a donut costume or a fake monster. "I love Halloween," I said. "Did you dress up a lot in your old town?" he asked. It shocked me because I hadn't thought about my old life since I met him. Life was good here, even on the poor side of town. "I was certainly more comfortable there. Then again, looking back on it, I was never really myself. Not like I was here." "I get what that's like." "But for Halloween, my parents and I would dress up every year and make some kind of Halloween punch and watch scary movies after going out to trick or treat." I slowed down, thinking about when my parents were together. It felt like so long ago. "Do you miss him?" Chase asked, stopping me in my tracks. "I don't want to, but sometimes, yeah. I guess I miss what we were all like together before things became what they are now," I admitted, although I would never say this out loud to my mom. I was sure she felt it too sometimes. As she popped into my mind, I remembered I need to text her to let her know I was all right. I pulled out my phone and shot out the text. Before I could tuck it back in my bag, I got a smiley face and a thumbs up sent back, telling me she was waiting on her phone and could now relax. Hannah ran past us. Emma and her friend Tiff were following behind. "Hey, guys, come on! You've got to see this!" Hannah grabbed my arm, and Chase followed. "What? Let go!" I pulled my arm back. "Luke, Andrew, and a few of the cheerleaders are TP-ing a house!" she shouted. A few people passing us looked at her strangely. "They are? What house?" Chase asked. "I heard another senior say the dean's house," Tiff said. Emma shook her head. "No way, I heard from a junior it was the Patterson's house," she said. "The Patterson's? Isn't that the school librarian?" I asked. Everyone shrugged. "Who cares! Either way, I want to watch," Hannah said. We made it to the street. Finally, we moved a few houses down. My legs started to burn from moving so quickly. I was wearing slide-ons, meaning I had been sliding out of them halfway here. Hannah ran up and joined in the fun. Emma and Tiff stayed back and watch but inched closer by a house to see everything going on. "Hey, Chase!" Luke shouted and jogged over to us. He was wearing a giant diaper and a fake baby face. It was extremely creepy and gave me the chills. "Hey man, you're going to get wrecked when Mrs. Patterson finds out this was all you," Chase said as they did their little handshake. It seemed guys came out of the womb knowing every handshake. "Please, we are all wearing costumes. Plus, you know she's a boozer, so she's probably knocked out already," he said and looked me up and down. "You two want to join in? Chase, I know you're down, but what about goody-two-shoes over here?" he asked. I looked at him, considering roundhouse kicking him in the face, even though I was not that flexible. "I'm going to pass. We have to get going. Keep my sister out of trouble, or I'll hurt you." He pointed from his sister to Luke. Luke threw his hands in the air. "I won't let her anywhere near the toilet paper, man, I promise." Luke backed away and started to run back to the house, throwing a roll of toilet paper he had in his hand. Chase turns to me and said, "They should be fine. Would you like to come over to my house for a bit, at least until all the fun settles, or do you need to get home?" he kindly asked. "I can hang around for a few more hours, but afterward, I am heading home," I said, trying to come off as relaxed but not needy. "Very cool. I can even give you a ride home if you want," he offered, and I shrug. I had yet to decide if I wanted him to do that. I tried to remember that he liked independent girls. I could be that. I mean, I was that, but I needed it to be obvious to him. A few minutes later, we made it back to his house. The walk was a lot nicer without having to jog halfway back. The only car in the driveway was Emma's Jeep we drove back. His motorcycle was in the garage since so many people were out pranking others. I could only imagine what he would do if someone dared mess with him. "Nice house. I never saw the inside during the party." I walked in. The place was lit up. The giant foyer had a table in the middle for keys and whatnot. Two stairways curved up to the top of the second floor. The walls were white, and photos lined every wall. There were a ton of mirrors too. Chase pointed to some of the mirrors. "Try waking up to get a glass of water and being startled by yourself," he said, and I laughed. I would probably pee myself, but I was not going to say that to him. He led me to the stairs by the hand and down the hall, which had a few doors on either side. At the end of the hall, he opened a large white door. "This is my room. Emma's is down the hall, and the bathroom is next door. We have a few of those, but that's the closest," he said and plopped on his bed. I walked around. There were a few trophies on his shelves and lots of photos of him and Emma. I stopped at a photo of four people, two small kids standing next to two adults who looked extremely happy. "That's the last family photo I have where we are all genuinely happy together," he said. After a moment of silence, he got up and pulled my hand over to the bed. "You have a nice bedroom," I said, trying not to shake. "You have nice lips." He pushed forward and kissed me as gently as ever. I could feel the passion building in me. I hoped I didn't start sweating. "Do your romance books feel like this?" He kissed down my neck and backs up to my lips. "This is so much better," I said in between kisses. I could feel him smiling while he kissed me. Every single one felt like electricity. I moved my hand to his leg and moved it up to his thigh slowly, trying to remember every specific detail in my books and piecing them together so I didn't seem like a total virgin. Although, he knew I was one. "You taste so good," he said. I didn't want to pull away. I didn't want this to end. Suddenly, my phone went off. I pulled away. "I'm sorry, I have to go. It's my mom," I said and jumped up. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back down. He wrapped his arm around me. I giggled. This felt so good. I didn't want it to end. My phone went off again, and we both moaned. "I'm sorry, I've got to go." "Damn, okay, well, let me drive you," he said. He drove me home. The entire way home, all I could think about was lying on his bed.