All About You

Chapter Thirteen

Past

Christian was throwing a party to celebrate his scholarship. He was moving faster through high school than anyone else and in a couple of months' time he would be leaving Gargle to go to university. People were talking about how promising his career was going to look in a couple of years. As far back as I could remember, he always wanted to play rugby and he was lucky that someone saw how talented he really was.

Christian had told me enough about his wounded family and the fact that he resented his mother for her illness. I had no idea how he managed to convince his mother to let him have a party, but their relationship always surprised me. Mrs. Morgan went out of town, to visit some distant family, and his father as usual was absent. Oliver was right to some extent: Mrs. Morgan favoured Christian. If Christian wanted something, he got it straight away. I hated seeing Oliver hurt and portrayed as the unimportant son who could never do anything right.

I discovered the reason when I once overheard Mrs. Morgan talking to herself in the kitchen. She saw her own husband in Oliver. She saw a weak man, who never really loved her or took care of her. The man that she had to marry to please her own parents. I never told Oliver that I heard that, but I understood why he kept away from others.

I wasn't looking forward to Christian's party. I was scared of him after the incident in my bedroom. I told my mum that I fell over. In a matter of weeks, he'd changed, and I didn't recognise him anymore. He talked about sex all the time. He kept coming around when he wasn't expected. I knew that he was planning something, and I was scared. I didn't bring up his outburst in the bedroom, and he pretended like nothing had happened. But I was determined to break up with him. I was ready to get rid of him. He was planning to leave anyway, and I still had two years of high school to go through. Long distance relationships didn't work, and I finally wanted to gain my freedom.

I showed up at the Morgans' house on Thursday evening with decorations for his party. He was in training until eight and was planning to come home straight after that, so we could spend some time together.

Reluctantly, I knocked on his door and then let myself in. Christian had made an extra key for me and his mother mentioned that I could just come in if there was no one at home. I put the box with decorations in their pristine kitchen. I dialled Christian's number, but he didn't pick up, so I left him a voicemail. The Morgans' house was beautiful with a wide, open-plan kitchen and living room. Mr. Morgan worked as a software engineer, and he made a significant living because he was willing to be away from home.

I started unpacking the decorations, wondering if I should just go home instead of waiting for Christian. My mind raced when I thought about his mood swings.

I went upstairs and used the bathroom, and when I came out every tiny hair on the back of my neck rose. Oliver stood in the hallway looking at me. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his long black hair hung around his bare shoulders and chest. My breath came short and I stood there staring at him, wondering if I should just leave. Being alone in the house with him was torture.

In the past few weeks, I'd found it difficult to be in the same room with him. Whenever I saw him my pulse started racing, and my mouth went dry in an instant. I couldn't take this anymore. I wanted to tell him the truth about how I felt about him

"Oh hey, I wasn't sure if anyone was at home," I said, sounding oddly rough like I had a sore throat. My body tensed and I waited for him to say something, but he just stood there looking at me, studying me. His blue eyes looked right through me, watching as I struggled to breathe.

Oliver slowly approached me. He never worked out, but he was well built, and I couldn't draw my eyes away from his naked chest.

"I think we should take advantage of the fact that we're alone," he said standing in front of me. A couple of times Oliver let me know that I affected him the same way he affected me, but since that kiss in the cinema he hadn't tried to touch me at all. "Come on, I've got something to show you in my room."