WestFiction- "Untitled" by Mary

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UNTITLED

by Mary

Bryan looked around the parking lot then checked his watch. 30 seconds passed since he last checked it, it felt more like an hour.

“Come on” he muttered impatiently. Children’s laughter broke out from the building few yards in front of him.

“All right, I’m here.” Bryan turned around to face Susan. She had her left hand on her hip and looked at him indignantly. “What was so important that I, quote have to drop whatever I was doing and come to St Stephen’s Primary in five minutes. It is a matter of life or death, unquote.”

“I need you to go in and get Chelle away from her classroom for like 5 minutes so I can pass these,” motioning to two dozen roses in his hands, “to her students to give them to her.”

“BRYAN!” Susan exclaimed, “I don’t believe you!”

“What?” asked Bryan with a frown.

“I left rehearsals and drove across the town in blinding speed just so you can give your crush a bunch of flowers?! FYI Bryan, some people do have other better things to do.” She turned and began walking away.

“Susan I’m sorry, but I really would like to surprise her,” Bryan pleaded catching up with her, “Please?”

“Why don’t you just give them to her after school. She’ll be just as surprised seeing you.”

“That’s overdone,” he said with a dismissive expression with his hands, “I want it to be extra special. So she’ll never forget it. Aren’t you gals always complaining that we men are never imaginative when it comes to being romantic. Well, I’m trying to be imaginative here. So do this for me? Please?”

“Oh all right. The things I do for you,” Susan grumbled, “You owe me one, buddy.”

“You are the best sister anyone could ask for,” Bryan gave her a quick hug, “Now go,” he said as he guided her towards the school building, “school would be over in 50 minutes.”

“Alright, alright, stop pushing me.” Bryan gave a small skip as they reached the entrance. Susan shook her head in disbelief and laughed at Bryan’s antics.

“Okay, follow me,” Bryan he instructed. They walked down the hallway in silence, then Bryan stopped, “Okay, her classroom is A12, 3 doors down. Just do something so I can have 5 minutes with her kids.”

Susan narrowed her eyes and asked, “How do you know your way around here? How do you know her classroom?”

“I have my ways,” Bryan replied rolling his eyes, then on a kinder tone, “can you please…”

Bryan stayed at the end of the hallway as Susan put the plan into action. He heard Chelle’s faint voice and felt like he would melt against the wall any second. He peeked from the hallway when their footsteps faded away. Bryan briskly made his way to her classroom and was greeted by a noisy class of 20. The kids were running around, talking at the top of their voices. The smell of crayons filled his nostrils.

“Excuse me,” he said, but they ignored him.

“Hey,” he tried getting a boy’s attention who was running around his legs imitating an airplane. The boy eventually ran towards the back of the class.

“Hellooo,” he tried again, this time a paper airplane hit his head. He raked his brain for a way to get their attention.

“Hey Mister,” a boy tugged his pants. Mike! Bryan would recognize that voice anywhere. He looked down in dread. Every time Mike was around Bryan, something happens, usually something bad. Mike continued with a grin, “so you came to see Miss. Michelle? Wait here while I go get her.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Bryan grabbed Mike’s arm before he could run off. He didn’t need an eight-year-old brat ruining his plan.

“Hey KIDS,” Bryan turned up a notch as he struggled to hold Mike in place.

“Let go of me,” Mike squirmed from his grip.

He kneeled to Mike’s eye level, “I’ll let you go if you do me a favor.”

“What kind of favor.”

“Get your friends to shut up for a minute.”

“Why?”

“So that all of you can give these lovely roses to Miss Michelle.”

“You mean give them to her for you.”

“Exactly.” The boy caught on quick.

“Why?”

Bryan groaned, “Can you help me out here or not?”

Mike gave him a devilish smile, “And what’s in it for me?”

Devious boy. Luckily Bryan came prepared, “How about,” Bryan replied as he dug inside his jacket pocket and produced a packet of sweets, “candy!” Bryan dangled it in front of Mike for effect. Mike’s eyes bulged from the sockets eyeing the wide variety of sweets and lollipops. Mike tried to grab the candy but Bryan held them away from his reach.

Mike turned towards the class, put his index fingers in his mouth and gave a piercing whistle. Immediately the class turned to look at Mike in silence. Bryan was impressed, Mike sure does command respect.

“Guys, no questions now, this is what we do,” Mike instructed as he grabbed both the candy and flowers from Bryan, then placing a rose together with a few sweets on each table, “Now keep it in your desks. When Miss Michelle comes in, we are gonna give her those flowers when she takes our attendance alright?”

The rest of the kids nodded even though they had the confused look in their faces. Suddenly the door knob turned, but the door remained closed. Susan’s eyes widened when she saw Bryan still in the room. Bryan looked around for other means on escape but there was only one exit.

“The window!” Mike whispered furiously. Bryan clambered through the window and fell to the ground. Thank God Chelle’s class was on the ground floor! Bryan watched Michelle enter the room. He felt his knees go weak, in his eyes, she was beautiful. He peeked from the window as she took her seat at her desk, “Class, would you please settle down.” In time the kids tried to calm down but there was a grin in each of their faces.

Michelle pulled a sheet of paper from a file and began reading out names, “Mike Adder.” Mike walked over to her desk and handed two stems of roses, “For you.” Michelle looked at Mike in surprise and took them, “Thank you Mike, it’s very nice of you.” The other students followed Mike’s lead when their names were called out. Michelle was practically speechless when the last student handed her a flower.

Michelle’s eyes narrowed and asked her kids, “Okay what did you do this time and how much trouble are you in?”

“Can’t we give the best teacher in the world a bunch of flowers for no reason just to show how thankful we are that she comes in here every day imparting her knowledge to us so that we can be a better individual, even though we are such a pain in the neck?” Mike replied in a breath. Bryan slapped his forehead, Mike overdone it.

“Uh-huh” said Michelle as she crossed her arms and waited expectantly for Mike to continue. Mike stammered under Michelle’s scrutinizing gaze, “It’s—it’s from a- secret admirer” Bryan held his breath as he watched Michelle gaze at the flowers with a fond expression.

“Okay class, what do you want to do today?” as she set the flowers down.

“Tell us a story.”

“Sing songs.”

“Paint!”

Then Mike shouted out, “All of them!” Michelle laughed, “No, not all. Story it is!” She settled in a chair in front of her kids and began reading from a book. The class listened to her attentively. He closed her eyes and leaned against the wall as she read out one of Enid Blyton’s stories. Bryan let her calm, soothing voice envelope him. To hear her voice over the phone cheered him up immensely. To hear it in such close range brought him pure happiness. He sighed contently and remembered the day they met a little more than a year ago……

“Damn it,” Bryan muttered. Any other day he would have taken in Dublin’s beautiful scenery and be thankful that he was home for two days. But not today. And he was far from being thankful.

He was supposed to be at Nicky’s an hour ago. The day seemed to get worse by the minute. First he overslept a good two hours. In the shower he discovered the water heater malfunctioned. His electric shaver decided to play hide and seek. And he had no time to iron out his shirt. And to top it off his hair had a mind of it’s own today.

And the worst of it all, his car refused to start. Bryan pulled down his cap and hastened his pace. He knew he should have security following him now after much insistence from Ronan, but he hadn’t the time to call them up. And now he was making his way to Nicky’s as fast as he could. Bryan decided to cut across the playground rather than walk around it. He glanced around for a second and saw a few children playing about happily.

“HEY MISTER WATCH OUT!” Bryan turned in that split second he saw a boy running towards him and from a corner he saw something fly to his direction. Before he could react, he felt something hit his head and everything went black.

Bryan tried opening his eyes, but his eyelids felt heavy. And his throbbing head didn’t help either. Everything looked blur. In time he focused on the ceiling fan slowly spinning.

“SNAP! YES I win!” Bryan groaned at that sound. It seemed to echo through his head.

“Oh you’re awake,” said a soft voice. He focused at the clear pale green eyes that was hovering over him, and he was amazed by them. That eyes held concern, a tinge of fear and there was a sparkle of innocence. He wanted to drown into the depth of her eyes. Am I in heaven?

Then he saw puzzlement in those eyes. “No you’re not in heaven.” It took a moment before he realized he said it out loud. Then he saw a glint of playfulness in those eyes, “What makes you think you’re not in hell?” He replied without thinking, ”Those eyes could only belong to an angel.” He could smack himself when he heard what he said. Surprise was clearly written in the eyes. And there was something else in those eyes he couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“Hello,” broke out a voice, “I’m right here in case anyone’s wondering.” Bryan heard that at the back of his mind but couldn’t bring himself to address whoever it was demanding attention.

She broke the gaze and immediately felt like he lost something precious. He wanted her to look his way again. “Mike, go get more ice,” turning back to him, she touched his forehead, “that’s quite a bruise there.” Bryan shrank back, from the pain of the bruise or that gentle touch of her thumb grazing his cheek he wasn’t sure.

“I’m sorry,” she said, recoiling her hand. The boy brought a pack ice. Bryan flinched when ice hit right above his left eye.

“It couldn’t hurt that bad,” she rolled her eyes. Pain? He couldn’t feel pain. He only felt her fingers on his right cheek. “Do you remember what happened?” she asked. I can’t even remember my name! Bryan made an effort and thought hard, “I remember that I was on my way to my friend’s. I know I was taking a shorter route across the field and…” Bryan frowned, “and that’s all I remember.”

“Well, you got hit by a foot ball,” Bryan turned to face a seven year old boy, “a football which she kicked.” The boy pointed towards the green-eyed girl. She blushed, “erm…I’m sorry about that.”

“Not much of a kicker?” Bryan asked.

“Well…” she began.

“Not much? HA!” interrupted another boy emerged at his right, “Not at ALL a kicker!”

Bryan glanced at her, her blush was in a deeper shade of red. His back felt sore and he struggled to sit up. That headache played up again.

“Maybe you should lie down,” she advised.

“No…I’m fine,” he leaned back against the couch, then took the ice pack from her and held it himself. Then he noticed a bunch of kids surrounding him.

He looked back at the girl in front of him and studied her. To him she looked plain. Brown hair, all pulled up into a ponytail. But she had a set of overpowering eyes. He mentally shook his head, “What’s your name?”

“Michelle” she replied, “Yours?”

“Bryan,” he replied absentmindedly. Again he mentally shook his head, “Are they your brothers and sisters?”

“Oh no, they are my kids.”

“Aren’t you too young to have these many kids?” he asked before he could stop himself. He blushed in embarrassment. Note to self: Think before opening that big fat mouth of yours before it lands you in trouble one fine day. She just laughed, “I meant as in my students. This is Mike,” she introduced to the boy beside her, and then to the rest, “that’s Kevin, and John, and Jenny, and Noel, and Tom.”

“So you’re a teacher,” Bryan digested the information, “Were you teaching them to play ball?” There was that blush again.

“Actually Mister,” Mike interrupted, “we were teaching her to play ball.”

“That was only the good kick she gave,” Kevin exaggerated, “since morning.”

“What can I say,” Michelle shrugged, “I have two left feet when it comes to soccer,” she went on to change the subject, “Would you like some tea?”

“No, I better be going,” Bryan said, as he glanced at his watch, and gasped, “Is it really past two?”

“Yes,” Michelle replied, “you were knocked out for three hours.”

“That must be a hell of a kick,” he commented. He got up and tried to steady himself. When he gained his balance and took few steps, the kids broke out in giggles. Bryan looked at them in confusion.

“Kids, come on. It’s not nice to laugh,” she said seriously, but Bryan caught her lips twitching. He dismissed it. And he noticed that Michelle was a little…short. She barely reached his shoulder.

“Thank you,” he said extending his hand, “for…for the ice pack and not leaving me on the field.”

“I’m sorry for hitting you with the ball.” There was that twitch again. Bryan was about to turn to leave when he caught his reflection in a mirror. His jaw dropped in horror. “That can’t be me,” looking at Michelle, “tell me that’s one of those trick mirrors.” Michelle just collapsed on the couch with laughter.

“Can I—erm can I use your bathroom?” he asked nervously. Michelle pointed towards a door and Bryan hastily left her presence. No wonder they were laughing their heads out! What a sight! The laughter died down outside. He had a huge purple bump above his left eye. There were bags beneath his eyes due to lack of sleep. Stubs of hair are more noticeable at his chin and cheeks and his hair was sticking out in every possible direction. On the other hand, it was a good thing, he didn’t recognize himself.

He splashed some water on his face then raked his hair with his fingers. After making himself as presentable as he could, he stepped out of the bathroom. He spotted his cap on the coffee table and put it on. Bryan looked around for Michelle to thank her again. He found Michelle and her students in her backyard painting on a huge piece of paper. And they seemed to enjoy it. Michelle was laughing at something and Bryan did a double take. Her whole face lit up and brightened the surroundings. She was flushed and her eyes danced when she laughed. He never saw a person’s expression transform so drastically just by laughing. When she introduced ‘her kids’ he noticed something lit up in her. And he sensed she was proud of each one of them. There was one word to describe her at the moment: Beautiful.

“Hey Mister,” Mike called out, “wanna join us?”

“What are you doing?” Bryan asked walking up to them. Michelle dipped her fingers in paint and started drawing out something. Finger painting.

“We’re making a banner for our school’s annual talent time,” replied Michelle. Bryan caught it immediately, she didn’t say the school’s.

“Here,” said Kevin handing him a paintbrush, “you can paint those words, if you want.”

He could do that. Bryan dipped the brush into the red paint and concentrated on painting it in the lines. After awhile he noticed he was the only one using a brush. The rest were using their fingers.

“It doesn’t have to be prefect.”

“Huh?”

“I said,” Michelle repeated pointing to the letter E he coloured, “It doesn’t have to be perfect…we’re doing this for fun. You can paint them over the lines.” Bryan didn’t know to respond to that. Instead he dipped his fingers in blue paint and coloured the letter N. This was definitely fun, Bryan concluded after awhile. He glanced at Michelle and understood why she loved this. His fingers dipped in nine different colours laughing at the jokes the kids were telling. It does allow you to be a kid for awhile. Michelle looked up and Bryan realized he was staring at her.

By the time they were done, they told jokes, stumped each other with riddles, had a paint fight and played a quick game of catch. After cleaning up for the second time that day he sat in Michelle’s kitchen having a cup of tea with her.

“Were you trying to get me arrested?” Bryan quizzed her.

“Excuse me?”

“By letting me walk out that door in a hideous sight.” Michelle giggled, “That won’t get you arrested. This will.” Bryan glanced down at his shirt. It had all the colours of the rainbow and not even a hint of the original black can be seen. Bryan distinctively remembered Michelle pouring blue paint on his hair.

“You don’t look to hot yourself,” Bryan joked. This time didn’t get a response. He looked up and caught her staring at him. There was surprise and something sad in her eyes. She abruptly got up and washed her cup.

“Would you like more tea?” she asked quietly.

“No thanks,” Bryan was more confused with her reaction. Almost like she was on her guard.

“More cookies?” she inquired.

“No thanks,” then he complimented, “This is the best chocolate cookies I’ve tasted.”

“Thanks.”

He sighed, “Did I say something wrong?”

“No.”

“Did I do something to offend you?”

“No.”

Maybe he overstayed his welcome. He finished his tea and got up, “I think I’ll be going now.” She walked him to the door. He turned to her, “Thank you, for all that you did.”

“You’re welcomed.”

“It’s—it’s nice meeting you Michelle. Do you—“ and she cut him off, “It’s nice meeting you too, Mr. McFadden.” It broke that magical spell. Bryan’s blood turned cold and his heart plumped immediately. Being in Westlife, he met a lot of people. There were the type where people sucked up to them. And there was the type that were polite to them because of who they are. But few, very few were sincere people. Bryan was hoped that Michelle was one of the sincere ones. He was wrong. He just gave a smile and walked home.

When he reached home, he leaned behind the door and cursed.

“Bryan? Is that really you?” Susan gapped at him, “What happened?”

“Not now Susan,” he said as he climbed up the stairs to his room, “Not now.”

Later that evening…

“Can you please smile?” Susan asked, “You’re going to scare everyone with that look.”

“I don’t feel like smiling,” grumbled Bryan. They were at a party in his friend, Ian’s, place. Everyone was having the time of their lives. At the rate things were going for him, the rest of the night might prove to be disastrous. Bryan just wanted to go back to bed and never wake up.

“Hey McFadden,” Nicky walked up to him, “Are you still jet lagged? Cause we were meeting at ten A.M. And it’s now ten P.M. You know, A.M means MORNING and—“

“Shut up, Byrne,” Bryan cut him off.

“Don’t bother, Nicky,” Susan rolled her eyes, “he’s been in that mood the whole day.”

“Michelle! You made it!” Bryan’s head immediately shot up. Could it be her? He scanned the direction that comment was made. Then he spotted her. Bryan could almost feel the warmth of her smile on his skin. She caught his gaze and the smile faded into a small one.

He felt a headache forming. He needed some quite and some air and he made his way outside, he sat on a long chair and watched the stars twinkle.

“Hey.”

Bryan turned and found Michelle standing at the door, “Hi.”

“How are doing?” she asked walking up to him.

“Fine,” he replied shortly.

“Did you see a doctor for that?” she asked.

“No.” he replied shortly. He was trying to appear as uninterested as he could. She must have gotten the message since she moved away a little from him, “Well, umm…I think I’ll just leave you alone.” With that she walked away.

“You were very much at ease this afternoon before you turned all formal on me. Why?” he asked suddenly. Applying some tact is a good thing, McFadden.

“You’re Bryan McFadden,” she stated the obvious.

“I always was,” he replied coolly.

“You’re Lifer Bryan McFadden,” she stated.

“Does that matter? I’m just as human as you are,”

“Look,” she said taking a deep breath, “I’m sorry I insulted you. I wouldn’t have dumped paint on you had I known who you were.”

“And if you had known?”

“I would have called a taxi or something to take you home immediately after you came to.”

“Then I would have missed out on the fun!”

“Fun?” she looked at him in disbelief. “Yeah. Hanging out with your kids…I haven’t had that much fun for a long time.

“You found that fun?” she repeated. And for the first time, he wondered what did Michelle actually think of him. A snob?

“Don’t you think I would have thrown a fit for ruining my clothes if I minded it? Don’t you think I would have taken upon myself to call a cab so I could leave?”

“Erm…” she was obviously speechless at this, “well, I didn’t look at it that way.”

“And you know what the worst part of the whole thing is?” he asked without waiting for an answer, “I liked you. For that short time I spent, I found out that I liked you.” he said frankly then bitterly added, “But you. You judged me without giving me a chance,” and he turned away from her and stared into the distance. He could feel she was there, right behind him staring at the back of his head.

“I sense that you’re angry because you don’t have much normalcy left,” she started, “had I known that you liked the better part of the evening, then I wouldn’t have acted the way I did. In fact, I would have gladly sprayed you with water next, when I cleaned up my backyard.”

Bryan froze in shock. No one, NO ONE, had managed to gauge anything running through his mind. And here she was, reading him like a book.

“I’m a school teacher,” she went on, “I live a simple life. I certainly don’t go mixing with any celebs. So it was shock to me when I discovered who you were. It was like I broke some protocol or a rule on how to treat stars.” After a short pause she added softly, “I hope you are one of those people who believes in giving second chances. Cause I sure do need one now.”

Bryan mentally shook himself. She managed to piss him off and then calm him down all within a few hours. Now he felt like a jerk for going off on her. He heard her walk away from him.

“Michelle, wait,” he said. She stopped at the doorway and turned to face him, “I didn’t mean—I’m sorry, I just—“ he stopped himself from blabbering. Taking a deep breath, “Do you think you could, you know, sit here and talk…with me?” She looked at him for awhile before nodding. When they were sitting across each other, Bryan held out his hand in an attempt to start over, “Hi. I’m Bryan.”

Shaking his hand, “Nice to meet you Bryan. I’m Michelle,” she said and gave his a smile. Bryan couldn’t help but smile back. With that, something sparked between them.

By the end of the night, or rather early morning, he knew so much more about her. What she liked. What she detest. Why she taught. Why she referred to her students as ‘My kids’. Just listening to her talk, felt like he was nourishing his almost empty soul. Her voice was the best sound on earth, he decided then and there.

There was something he noticed yet again about her. Whenever she talked about her students, she lit up bright. She loves each of them for different reasons. And Bryan sensed that Mike was the closest to her.

After that day, they kept in touch as much as they could. On the road, or rather as Kian put it, on the air often, he’ll call her up. Sometimes waiting till the wee hours of the morning so it would be 8 AM in Ireland so he could ring her. But there were times and he wished he could be right beside her. He spent time as much as he could with her whenever he was home. She even convinced him to go to camping with her and a few of her students for one weekend.

He told her about his life in Westlife, how hard it can get at times, his fears, his dreams and she listened attentively. He felt he could talk anything with her and sometimes he didn’t need to talk at all, cause she just understood. And for that reason leaving Ireland each time was harder.

The bell rang and made Bryan jump. He couldn’t believe he spent 40 minutes daydreaming. He shook his head, Shane’s behavior is beginning to rub off on him. From the window he watched the students pour out the room. Mike gave him a thumbs up sign before leaving. Bryan winked back.

He made his way to the entrance again before creeping into her classroom to surprise her. Her back was to him and she was cleaning the whiteboard.

“When did you fly in Bryan?” Bryan froze. Great!

“How did you know it was me?” he asked dejected.

“I’m trained to smell out what mischief others are up to and nip it in the bud.”

“Oh.” He replied in disappointment.

Facing him, “Only one person knows which flowers I like the most.”

Bryan perched on her desk and watched the way she moved effortlessly in the room filing some books in the bookrack. “Need help?”

“No,” she replied, facing him she informed, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You had a question?” She giggled at that and repeated, “When did you fly in?”

“Last night,” he replied, after a long pause, “So, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, “You?”

“Better, now that I’m here.” She sat on a students desk in front of him. It was as if she grown more beautiful since he last saw her. Bryan knew he was making her nervous. But he still couldn’t gauge whether or not she was happy to see him. After all, he saw her last four months ago. A lot of things can happen in that time. A lot of things Bryan dreaded.

“Earth to Bryan,” she said snapping her fingers in front of him, “Bryan did you come down here for something? A history lesson perhaps?”

By instinct he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. His hand slid around her waist, to keep her close. He studied every inch of her face. Satisfied, he commented softly, “You’ve lost weight.”

“Did I really?” she asked just as softly. “Mm-hmm.” His lips slid over hers and when she responded to it, Bryan wondered how he managed to survive that long time without her. Bryan was in heaven, until he heard someone cleared his throat.

They both turned to find Mike grinning from ear to ear. Michelle pulled away from him.

“I forgot my book,” Mike said as he walked towards his desk. Bryan’s eyes narrowed. On purpose, I’ll bet. Mike continued, “I’ll just grab it and let you both continue what you were..erm, doing. The cheek of the boy! With that Mike left.

Turning his attention to Michelle, “You were saying?”

“What was I saying?” he looked at him in confusion.

“You asked me something just now,” he said, then added cheekily, “right before I interrupted you.” With that comment, she blushed. The thought he had a little effect on her pleased him.

“I wanted to know what brought you here,” she asked. You mean, besides you? “I wanted to ask you out to dinner with me. Are you free tonight?”

“I think I’m free,” she nodded, “Where to?”

“Now, if I tell you, it wouldn’t be a surprise would it?”

“I hate surprises,” she stated.

“You’ll love this one,” Bryan replied confidently.

“Okay then, where should I meet you?” Bryan was about to answer that when he realized it was her attempt to find out where they were going, “You’re good. But not good enough,” he paused before continuing, “I’ll pick you up. Around, say, six?”

“That early?”

“Long drive,” Bryan answered.

“A girl got to know what to wear,” she said.

“Hmm…tough question…What to wear, eh?” he frowned deep in thought.

“Bryan Nicholas McFadden!!! You are utterly hopeless,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Jeans,” Bryan replied, “Good, comfortable running shoes. And a thick sweater to keep you warm. Okay?”

“Alright,” she replied with a smile. Taking her hand, he kissed the back of it, “Till then.” With that he left.

It was almost midnight. Bryan drove her back after the pleasant evening they had. There was a forest an hour away, which had a nice spot to have a picnic. Plus it was quite secluded, so he didn’t have security tag along. And true enough, Michelle loved the idea. He couldn’t decide what to bring for food, so he bought a few pastas and sandwiches from a café and cheesecakes for desert. They built a fire after many failed attempts. And they talked. The night flew by too quickly in Bryan’s opinion.

When he pulled up her driveway, she asked, pointing to a bench in the park in front of her house, “Do you want to sit there for awhile?”

“Sure,” Bryan was nervous all of the sudden. There’s something he’d been meaning to ask her all night.

“I had a really had a nice time tonight,” she said as they walked towards the bench, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replied gallantly, “I enjoyed your company too.” She smiled when she heard that. They sat there quietly, listening to the sounds of the night.

“Chelle? Can I ask you something?” She pulled back a little so she could face him.

“You know,” Bryan began, “I think a lot about you when I’m away…and I was wondering that you and I…What I’m trying to say is, with the short time I’ve spent with you I erm I like you. I like you a lot and I—and I…,” he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, “Let me try this again,” He was about to say something when he heard someone giggle. He looked around in confusion, there was no one around except for the both of them.

Suddenly two heads popped up from bush behind the bench, “Let me help you out Mister,” turning to Michelle, Mike said, “what he’s trying to say is that he loves you and he wants you to be his girlfriend.” Bryan gasped. At the moment he wanted nothing more that squeeze the living daylights out of Mike.

“Mike and Kevin!” admonished Michelle, “What are you doing up at this hour? Forget that, what are you doing out at this hour? Go home right now. You’d better be there when I call your homes in ten minutes.

“Awww…” Kevin pouted dejectedly, “I’m going to get grounded now.”

“Off you go.” After Mike and Kevin cycled off, Michelle apologized, “I’m so so sorry. I don’t know where they get these ideas.”

“Well, umm Mike just about covered what I wanted to say,” Bryan said, “Erm..yeah, I love you,” and waited expectantly at her reaction. When Michelle just stared at him he quickly said, “You know what, this was just a bad idea. Let’s forget about it okay? I mean I didn’t expect you to wait around anything with me being away all the time. I just—Did you—did you just say you love me?” Michelle nodded and repeated, “I love you too.”

“Wow. I erm…” he gave a small laugh. Suddenly a new set of nervousness hit. But a part of him was jumping and screaming with joy.

“Well, I have school tomorrow,” she said with a shy smile, “I think I better…go.”

“Yeah, school, of course,” he said walking her towards her house. At her front door, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” she agreed. He wanted to kiss her. He kissed her in the past, but this time it’s going to be different. Different because this time it meant more. Hesitantly, he leaned forward but when their lips made contact he kissed her without holding back. When Bryan pulled back to catch his breath he whispered, “I think I’d better leave now.”

“I think you should too,” she said breathing just as heavily.

When his breath turned back to normal, “Goodnight.”

“Nite.” Bryan waited till was safely indoors before walking towards his car. He had to contain himself from doing a silly dance in the middle of a deserted street. Instead he grinned to himself. It has been a long time since he felt on top of the world.

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