The Life Of A Teen

Life of a teen - chapter 9

Chapter 9

That night I invited Vicky over to mine, as my parents were out at some work party the company my dad was designing for was having, and so I knew they wouldn’t be back.

We sat on the sofa in our pajamas, some old black and white zombie movie on the TV, while we nattered away about Ryan. It seemed that Vicky, too, was just as excited as I was.

‘It’s exciting, you know, you finally having someone decent paying attention to you. Look at me; I’m still stuck with those creepy guys who come into work on a Friday night!’ It had to be said, Vicky didn’t exactly have the best of luck when it came to guys, but she was the kind of person who could happily just laugh it off and continue with her day.

‘Hey, do you fancy walking to the shop to get some more munch?’ I didn’t really feel like it, bit Vicky was being very adamant about getting her own way, so I agreed. On went a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

I put on some shoes, and opening the door to be greeted by a blinding light. Squinting against it, I couldn’t see a thing, but Vicky pulled me to the side of what turned out to be a car – a limo to be exact. And out the top stood Ryan, rose in his mouth and a cheeky grin playing at his cheeks. I could help but smile. I’d been at school with this guy for years, and although I had noticed him, he had never really been anywhere close to interested in me, but I guess this changed things.

I didn’t even know what to say, I was literally rendered speechless. And there was me not really wanting the date all that much, but why wouldn’t I when this really great guy came with a limo to my house to surprise me?

‘I didn’t know how long you would agree to this for so I thought I’d better hurry things up,’ he explained. I still couldn’t think of what to say, so I just smiled up at him. There was no hiding my excitement though; I was hooked on the idea of Ryan.

He clambered out of the vehicle, somewhat ungracefully, and came to stand in front of me, close enough to reach out and touch him. It was a tempting idea, but I still didn’t trust him – that was something I planned on making him earn.

He reached up and grabbed my hand. I may have wanted to pull away, but there was no way that I was actually going to – this was the first time in a long time that someone had actually held my hand.

‘I know I said we would do the whole generic movie and dinner thing, but I thought maybe you might prefer this?’ and he was right. I wasn’t exactly a fan of being on a date with someone and having people watch your every move.

He led me over to the limo and opened the door for me. He was being such a gentleman, but as nice as it was, I couldn’t help but feel slightly awkward and underdressed; my jeans and t-shirt ensemble wasn’t exactly flattering.

I had some time while Ryan walked around to the other door, so I spent it checking my reflection in the mirror and smoothing my hair down. He quickly opened the door and jumped in, and we were on our way. To where exactly, I didn’t know, but what did it really matter? The windows were blacked out so I couldn’t see anyway.

‘What about Vicky?’ I asked, suddenly panicked. I hadn’t even thought when we left that she would be left by herself outside my house.

‘She’s fine. In fact, she’s the reason I was able to sort this out tonight.’ I was grateful to Vicky for this, but I still couldn’t help but feel guilty at leaving her behind. If anything did happen with Ryan, I guess I would just have to get used to not having her around as much.

Just thinking about it got my heart thudding. It wasn’t because I really felt anything for Ryan, but he was charming and, let’s face it, easy enough on the eyes. So even though that ‘spark’ wasn’t there, I still couldn’t help but get butterflies in my stomach when he sat next to me, and I hadn’t stopped thinking about him since the night of the dance. So maybe I did like him. What did I know? I wasn’t overly experienced with all of this. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t exactly a nun or anything, but I wasn’t a massive guy magnet either.

We sat silently for a while; I think neither of us really knew what to say. As romantic as it was, the gesture had come from someone who I barely knew, and I did feel slightly uncomfortable in this car with him. Everything seemed overly intimate.

‘So, Erin, how’s school been?’ I could tell that small talk may be on the agenda for a while tonight, if not all night, however long that may be.

‘Good thanks. I think Jessica’s going to be a pain the next few weeks, but I’m sure I can cope.’ Small talk was definitely not my forte.

‘I could have a word with her if you like? I am her right hand man after all,’ he gave me a wink.

And so the night began. The laughing, the fun, the chatting, the drinking – yes, I said drinking. It’s not that I don’t like drinking, or that I’m opposed to it, it’s just that I don’t really know many people who drink other than my parents, and I wasn’t exactly going to drink with them now, was I?

But of course, with my lack of drinking experience, it was affecting me more than I had anticipated. I felt as though my head was heavy and the world was spinning – like I wasn’t really in control of myself anymore.

I looked over to Ryan as he smiled back at me. For some reason everything felt okay. As silly as that sounded, it was true; I felt as though everything was a good idea.

The more I drank, the worse it got, until eventually Ryan decided to cut me off.

‘I think you’ve had enough for one night, missy. I shouldn’t have let you drink that much in the first place.’

I was blindingly aware of the fact that I was far more out of control than Ryan was, and was embarrassed for it. I needed to sober up, but I really didn’t know how.

I sat up straight in the seat, but lost my balance slightly and found that my head had seen fit to lean itself against Ryan’s shoulder.

We both looked into each other’s eyes for a while, not really knowing what to do. OF course, this was the point when Ryan decided to lean down and kiss me. Looking back on this I should have seen it coming, but in my current state I was in no position to be making judgments on any situation.

This time, however, was different from before. The kiss was softer, and less urgent. The way his lips pressed against mine, the way they moved, made it obvious that he knew what he was doing. We were like that for a while, just making out in the backseat.

It didn’t occur to me at the time that this may have been what he wanted all along, and I still didn’t quite understand his motives for wanting to take me out.

After what seemed like a very long time, we both pulled away from each other.

‘Better get you home.’ It seemed Ryan had a knack for thinking up good ideas.

So he took me home, we said goodbye, and then he left. As vague as the night was to me, I sure as hell knew that I had had a good time.

There was always so much for me to tell Vicky, but this topped everything. Still, it all meant that I needed to consider telling Vicky about what happened after the dance, and I didn’t particularly want her knowing.

But for now I was home, and tucked up in bed that was all I cared about.