Chapter 13: Dating Advice From An Older Woman
"Guys, Else is cute but she's more like a sister to me than anything, and Billy it's got nothing to do with her being Veronica's older sister. Ever since she's been back from college me and Abby have been really hitting it off. We have good chemistry and she's fun to talk to." This should've been it, I had said my piece and they should've taken my words at face value. If only it was that simple though.
"So you're hung up about her being like a little sister even though you touched her tits?" Ricky asked with a smirk, my eyes narrowing at the bastard.
"You did that." I ground out behind gritted teeth as he continued to give me that shit eating grin he always had when he knew he'd won.
"Yeah, the first turn, but after that the both of you were feeling each other up on every little bump in the road. You can't say it was an accident when you both kept reaching for the same spots like greedy little kids." He snickered as he pushed past me, his blue eyes meeting his reflection in the mirror with a mischievous grin. I watched on as he stumbled, an exaggerated nervous look crossing his face. His hands pressed up against the glass, a bashful look overtaking his mug before he began tracing circles with his fingers across the smooth surface.
"I love you—m-me too, mwah, mwah, mwah!" He imitated me and Elsie's voice in the most mocking tone he could, and for some reason, we had French accents on top of it. His little act was stopped when my arm wrapped around his neck and he gagged.
"I get it, Ricky!" I pushed him in the back as his midsection slammed into one of the white porcelain sinks. All I got in response was his annoying laughter, my attack was too soft to stop him from ribbing me.
"So we've established sexual attraction, but what do you think about her personality?" Billy finally chimed in from his position leaning up against the door. His emerald eyes lacked any of the mischievousness Ricky had, the big guy was genuinely curious about my opinion of Else.
"I…I think she's nice. Clar always used tough love on me, but Else was always incredibly sweet about everything. She's caring, my first-ever Valentine came from her wanting to make sure I didn't go without one. It wasn't like I didn't receive others but she was the first, and I think it stuck with me the most." I felt warmth in my chest like a small fire had been lit inside of me. The heat rose to my cheeks as I made sure to turn around so the boys couldn't see it, their teasing would be unending if they saw me blushing.
"Anything else…?" Billy asked, his tone sounding amused as he looked at my back.
"She's smart—like really smart. The girl has spent time tutoring me even though she's a sophomore. It's really cute how she sticks out her tongue when concentrating." I finally had my blush under control as I turned back to look at them, the boys shooting glances back and forth at each other.
"…"
"…"
"Why're you guys bein' so quiet?"
"Bro—when's the wedding?" Ricky said and Billy nodded at his words, a vein throbbing in my forehead at their dead serious looks.
"There ain't no weddin' but I do have a movie night planned with her and Clar," I muttered as I decided to toss them a bone.
"Ooh, Netflix and chill eh?" Ricky wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke, a stupid grin spread across his lips.
"You idiot he just said his sister was going to be there too!" Billy groaned at our short friend, sometimes Ricky's stupidity was just too much for even us to wrap our heads around.
"Oh, it's also going to be at Abby's apartment, she's got a whole home theater setup she said we can use." Now both of them looked at me strangely, their eyes seemingly saying 'What the hell!'.
"So a girl you asked out on a date is letting you invite a girl who is openly crushing on you into her home to have a movie night?" Billy repeated what I said like he was tasting it to make sure it sounded right.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Ethan, where are you taking her on your date?"Billy asked and I felt hesitant, to tell the truth.
"Uh—it's nothin' romantic or anything but she's going to be going to Dylan's party on Saturday and she promised she'd hang out with me." I winced at their looks, the realization that I may have over-hyped my romance with Abby felt like a particularly brutal gut punch.
"…Bro are you even dating?" Ricky asked as he gave me a worried look, it was a rare sight to see him so caring.
"I hope so." That is all I could mutter. This talk was not helping my confidence one bit, and the boys could tell as we scurried out of the bathroom. Though that wasn't before me and Ricky filled the entire place full of smoke as we went through nearly a whole pack between the two of us.
***
I walked outside of the glass door at the end of the hall, the afternoon sun glaring down on me as I stepped across the concrete sidewalk. The crunch of the gravel covering the flowerbeds wrapping around the school filled my ears. My eyes took in the sight of Camilla leaning up against the jagged limestone walls of the school, a shadow cast across her beautiful body.
"Hey, Camilla." I rubbed the back of my neck as my other hand waved my lighter in front of me, a sheepish grin growing across my lips. The redhead sighed, her massive chest heaving against her grey cardigan as a smirk played on her plump red lips.
"Hey, yourself Ethan." She pulled out her pack of cigs, and this time they weren't drowned in it sweat. I found it really difficult to determine whether or not I was happy about the lack of her scent on the cigarette as I placed it in between my lips.
"So what do you want to talk about today?" I asked as she lit her cigarette with her own lighter, my stupid display of waving mine in front of her replaying in my head brought a blush across my cheeks. Quickly striking up I took a long drag before closing my eyes and sighing, smoke leaving my mouth like a waterfall.
"…Can I vent to you about my shitty day?" Her words caused me to crack open my right eye and glance over at her, the woman held her cigarette between her thumb and index finger, the length of the cigarette covered by her palm as she took a discrete hit of it. Smoke rolled off her lips like a gentle wave, my eye watching the woman's face relax. She was too pretty.
"Sure, vent away." I leaned up against the coarse stone of the wall, the cool sensation sending a pleasant tingle down my spine.
"My car broke down."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really, and that sleazeball Mr. Mathews was the only one who lived close by to pick me up. The fuckin' prick wouldn't stop staring at my tits." She groaned, smoke billowing from her like the breath of an angry dragon.
"Yeesh, I always hated that guy but I didn't know about how pervy he was." The fucker threw a marker at my head for talking in his class, I'm so glad he only taught Algebra-1. If I had to put up with him any more than that I'm sure I would've dropped out by now.
"Oh it gets worse, apparently the mechanic said it's going to take him at least two weeks to get my car fixed so in the meantime I'm stuck riding with that creep." She shuddered at the thought and I didn't really blame her. The man was fat, like mobility scooter rider at Walmart levels of fat.
This wouldn't really be much of an issue if not for the fact he drove a tiny little car, the man sitting in it like a clown at the circus. Poor Camilla would be crammed right next to his sweaty pits and greasy skin, and no matter how much cheap cologne he drowned himself in Mr. Mathews smelt like shit at the end of the day. Cramped car + shitty smell = unfun time.
"Uh, you could always bum a ride off of me, it's just me and my sis in the mornings and occasionally her friend." I tried to hide how nervous I sounded when proposing that to her. The woman noticed despite my best effort as I was given a mischievous grin in response. She leaned in close, and underneath her open cardigan was a black t-shirt for a band I'd never heard of. Her massive chest strained across the bold red text spelling out the words 'Needed Nasty', a picture of a woman wearing a goat's head and bikini was just below. So that's why she had her cardigan wrapped tight around her this morning.
"Are you sure you're not offering to chauffeur me around because you got a new car?" I looked away as my eyes took in the sight of the drying stalks of corn swaying in the breeze. My refusal to answer brought a grin across her face, her grey eyes gleaming as they squinted in amusement.
"I guess you don't mind riding with Mr. Mathews after all." Now it was my turn to grin as the woman grimaced at my words, her eyes sending me a quick glare before a huff left her lips. The sound was followed by a rolling cloud of hazy smoke, my eyes watching as it slinked across the shadows where it faded once under the light.
"I wasn't saying no kid, gosh you can't tease anyone these days." For some reason being called kid stung, the casual way she said it made me realize that she was comfortable using it to describe me. That meant she saw me like that by default, a snot nose kid she humored.
"That's good, 'cause I'm not sure how long I'm going to be able to use Dad's car. This might be one of the few times you get to experience the joy of riding in Betty." I couldn't help but think about Ricky's question. Was I really dating Abby or were we just playin' around? I guess Saturday night I'd find out for sure, but it did little to stop the knots twisting in my stomach right now.
"Why, is there something wrong with it?" She looked at me with a sympathetic look, I guess the plight of car trouble was something she could understand. I shook my head however as I scratched at the back of my neck. A stream of smoke leaked from my mouth as I began to speak.
"Nah, Dad, has a rule that I can only use the car so long as I have a girlfriend." She paused, her mind mulling over the weird statement before she seemed to get what I implied.
"Relationship on the rocks already?" I winced at that, my mind playing over and over how embarrassing it would be to drive back to school next Monday in Old Red instead of Betty.
"…Camilla, how do you know someone likes you?" I felt dumb asking her, but who else was I going to ask?
"Uh, that's kind of a tough question…" She muttered as she cast a glance over at me, her grey eyes flicking away quickly from mine when we made contact.
"Please, I don't have anybody who can give me advice," I begged as I clasped my hands together in prayer.
"Ugh fine, but first tell me everything." I did, from the moment me and Abby almost kissed in the break room before Persimmon so rudely interrupted us, to the moment when Abby agreed to hang out with me at the party on Saturday. Not a single detail was left out and I made sure I remained as unbiased as I could.
"…So?"
"She's into you—badly. Girls won't let a guy get away with trying to kiss them twice if they don't like it. Hell, she even let you pull her in by the waist and hug her. As far as I'm concerned as long as you play your cards right you should be able to drive your Dad's car for a long time." I smiled at her words, a relieved sigh leaking from my lips.
"How should I play it on our date?"
"Like you've been doing this entire time, she's practically putty in your hands." I smiled at that, the confidence boost she gave me easily surpassed the boy's more pessimistic attitude.
"Thanks, Camilla, are you ready?" I asked as I snuffed out my cigarette, the thing was practically only a butt at this point.
"Yeah, let's go see this new ride of yours, the boys in class seemed impressed with it. They would not shut up about the sick muscle car sitting in the parking lot." She grinned as she pushed off the stone wall, her feet stepping across the gravel as she hopped on the sidewalk. I followed behind her as we walked along the sidewalk to the student parking zone, a cool autumn breeze blowing over us. Camilla's crimson hair fluttered in the wind, my eyes taking in the pretty sight before I caught up and walked side by side with her.