It's time for teaser tuesday. Welcome, pull up a chair, snuggle your warm cup of coffee (or tea) and enjoy my writing. Don't mind the mess, disorder is my middle name most days. Rememeber some of my teasers are raw and real and uncut. This teaser is a WIP and anything said can not be used against me in a court of law or a court of circus freaks. Or any other court for that matter. So, as you were.....
Chapter 9
My brain was close to mush. I had been
glued to Sunny’s every word for hours. Pre Calc now made a lot more sense to
me. And having him as a tutor made the subject matter that much easier to
handle.
“That’s right, you got it right.” Sunny
said encouragingly, looking over my handy work on the last problem he had given
me. I watched him full of concentration take in my chicken scratch. He most
likely didn’t realize but he was caressing my throw pillow with his free hand.
And I had to admit it was kind of hot.
“Finally. Maybe now I will get more than
a c on the test and homework in Mr. Fogle’s class. Thanks.” I said with a
smile. I started gathering up all the books and paper that turned into a giant
mess on top of my bed. Pre calc was no joke. It took a lot of effort and paper
to wrangle the bastard.
Sunny snapped his book shut. “Gees it’s
already nine thirty.”
I pursed my lips. Of course it was--we
had been in my bedroom pining away at the sum and difference of cubes for
hours. I was surprised it wasn’t later. And I was also surprised I hadn’t had a
run in with either of my parents or siblings. All was eerily still in the
Dovalani family circle for once. This was the perfect time to get Sunny safely
out of my house without anyone asking any questions.
So I carefully turned to face him. He
was still on my bed in his flannel shirt. The soft browns and reds really
making his eyes pop. He ran a hand through his untidy brown hair. It fell right
back into place. A loose curl or two hanging just above his dark eyebrows. God was he something to look at.
Sunny smiled. Making me wish I had just
opened my mouth and said something by now.
“I could walk you out. Since it’s so
late.” I told him, dodging his Adonis smile. He even had a slight five o’clock
shadow. And a jaw line of those models in my mother’s magazines.
“What? You’re not going to feed me?” he
asked, walking up to my dresser where my iPod sat on its dock. He picked it up
without hesitation, scrolling through my assortment of music. And making me
wish I hadn’t downloaded so many 90’s classics and boy bands. But I was a girl
who liked diversity. How did I know maybe the hottest guy I had ever laid eyes
on was going to be in my bedroom sifting through my music refusing to leave?
I quickly snagged my pajamas off the
floor and tossed them in my hamper.
“I guess we could see what my parents
made for dinner. Or maybe I could make you a sandwich.” I fumbled like an
idiot. God I hoped they hadn’t made anything for dinner. The last time my mom
cooked she made meatloaf and it came out like a brick.
“Nice tunes,” he said, returning the
iPod to its resting place.
I nodded. Wondering if he was being honest
or secretly laughing at my idea of good music. One probably would never know.
“Thanks. I’m rather… open to anything.”
I shook my head. I was such an idiot. Open to anything could mean threesomes or
drugs. I followed him across my room to my windows. He poked at my bench
pillows, lifting up the top of my seated window. How had he known that was
there?
“Same one in my house.” He told me. As
if he had sensed my uncertainty.
“Oh yeah. Sometimes I sit here at night
and look at the stars.” I told him. And it was true. It was my favorite place
in my whole house. At night the twinkle of the stars, joined with the moonlight
made for a brilliant view. A place to let go of all my uncertainties and unwind.
“And what are you thinking about when
you’re staring at the stars?” Sunny asked.
I looked away. “I don’t know. Whatever
comes to mind. How about that sandwich?”
Sunny nodded. It wasn’t that I didn’t
want to go on with the conversation. I knew he was trying to get to know me. I
was just afraid he wouldn’t find me all that remarkable. Or worse, he would
think I was a little too remarkable.
I took the back stairs that lead
straight to the kitchen, this way the likelihood of running into my parents was
a lot slimmer. By around this time Mom thought eating anything was a crime. And
Dad was busy in his office coming up with even better motivational speeches. If
you listened carefully you could hear his strong words thunder through the
halls of the Dovalani household. Dad was a passionate man. He had drive. And
most day I really liked him. But it wasn’t so uncomplicated when it came to who
I chose to hang out with. The passion of my father mixed with the male variety
was not a good thing. Dad had a plan for me. He knew exactly what sort of guy
he wanted for me and my sister Miri. I’ll get back to that later.
I poked my head out from the stairway,
no one was around.
“Okay. So what kind of sandwich did you
want?” I asked, raiding the refrigerator. We had mostly low fat everything.
Sunny took a seat at the barstool, watching me load the island countertop with a
lot of condiments. Some I was sure he possibly never even seen before.
“I’m up for anything,” he said, picking
up the container of bean sprouts. “Except these. What are these?”
“Sprouts.” I pushed my hair from my
shoulder, letting out a sigh. “My mother is really into fitness. The majority
of anything you’ll eat here is good for some part of your body.”
Sunny nodded. “That’s kind of cool. Is
that what keeps you so skinny and whitish?”
I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Was he
poking fun at my gauntly frame and pale skin?
“My mother is Irish. And my father is
Italian. But for some reason myself, my brother and both of my sisters ended up
white as rice.” I shrugged. We couldn’t have everything we wanted in life. I
wanted the body in the Victoria secret magazines and the capability to pick up
small cars—why, I didn’t know. But I never was granted any of those wishes. So
I accepted that I would have a skimpy b
cup and a scrawny body with barely any curves. It was better then what god
decided to gift other people--Beulah for instance.
“So, how many siblings do you have?”
Sunny asked, totally sucked into my eagerness to share.
I pulled up a chair and opened the
turkey. “I have two sisters and two brothers. What about you?”
Sunny untied the bread bag. “One
brother.” He handed over two slices of wheat. I added the turkey.
“Is he older then you or younger?” I
asked. I imagined having only one sibling to worry about most likely was wonderful.
I could handle one person to fight with. Maybe this was the explanation Sunny
was so amazing at everything else, he had time for the more imperative things
in his life.
“He’s younger. He’s fifteen.” Sunny said
with a nod. “Neeko. I’m sure you’ll see him around sometime.”
I knew what it was like to have a
fifteen year old sibling. The difference was Sunny didn’t sound edgy or terrified
when he talked about his.
“I have a fifteen year old sister. Her
name is Ferris. Same mother different fathers,” I said with a sneer.
Sunny nodded, taking me serious, he
really needed to learn when I was joking around or I could foresee a lot of
problems in our potential camaraderie. “Oh really? How did that work out?”
“Satan impregnated my mother one lovely
spring morning. We didn’t have the heart to tell my father.” I smirked, tossing
the bread back into the bread drawer. Sunny gripped the counter top laughing at
me.
“You’re really funny. I almost thought
you were serious.” He smiled. I handed him the sandwich and snagged a slice of
cheese. I wasn’t feeling that hungry around him.
I cleaned up the food and took a seat
across from Sunny at the counter. Just as I had come up with something
brilliant to say I heard creaking coming from the hallway. I froze my eyes large.
“Do you want to take that back
upstairs?” I asked, starting to panic.
Sunny waved his sandwich in front of my
face. “What? This incredible sandwich you made me?”
“Yeah that sandwich. Come on.” I said. I
grabbed his hand. Not because I wanted to touch him but for fear it was too
late.
Sunny didn’t fight me. He even wrapped
his slender fingers around mine and let me show the way. I rounded the corner
and let out a high pitch scream—similar to an injured hyena when you stepped on
it by accident. It was my father. In his silk house robe. Why he wore silk was
beyond me. Maybe he liked how it felt against his skin. I pleaded with him
silently from below not to make a fool out of me.
“Hey cupcake. What’s going on?” he asked
loudly. He was smiling, which indicated he had an excellent cram session on
some new material. I shook Sunny’s hand away from mine and backed up, letting
Dad through.
It didn’t take but a couple seconds for
my dad to zone in on the new guy in our kitchen, standing there looking like
every girls dream.
Sunny put his sandwich on the counter.
And extended his hand to my daddy dearest. Who was now doing a great job at
looking like a super serious Mafioso.
“Sunny Switzer,” Sunny said, introducing
himself like the fine gentleman he seemed to be. At least on the outside. I
wasn’t sure of the inside yet, that was yet to be discovered.
“Jackie Dovaloni,” Dad said. He kept his
eyebrows creased to play off his powerful stare down. He was really good at it.
And I had seen it millions of times in my life. Every time I got in trouble of
any kind or said the wrong thing to my mother. Oh he was great at it. Us kids
had grown used to the look so it really just was a waste of time. But no one
told dad that.
“Sunny is new at school. He offered to
help me out with Pre calc and thanks to him I actually understand the class
now. I wouldn’t say that I was a mastermind but he really made me see the
light.” I rambled. But it only fell on deaf ears because dad was too busy
staring Sunny down to pay attention to what I had to say.
I brought my hands to my hips. “He is
trying to intimidate you. Just back away.”
Sunny laughed ignoring me. “It’s a great
house you have here, sir.”
Dad stroked his jaw. “Is it now?”
I sighed, pulling up a stool. Dad wasn’t
going to let go of his threatening act until he got through the most essential
parts. To him intimidation showed what kind of disposition one had. To me it
was just a legal way to torment people.
I reminded myself that Sunny was a
decent guy. And from all that I knew of him to this point he was absolutely
capable of standing up against my father—or so I hoped.
“Yeah I think so. Better than some of
the places we lived in,” Sunny said with a chuckle.
“What do you mean some of the places?
Are you one of those gypsy kinds?”
Sunny swallowed. “No sir. Parents are
still together. I come from an ordinary kind of family.”
“But not to ordinary, because to ordinary
could mean you’re not used to change. Everyone needs to be able to handle
change. Are you saying you aren’t capable of dealing with change?” Dad’s
comments were doing their best at beating Sunny into surrender.
I smiled. Sunny shrugged. “I moved to
another city. I get up and change my clothes every day. Amongst other things.
Change is fine.”
Dad rounded the table, poking at Sunny’s
neglected sandwich. “What kind of name is Sunny?”
Sunny kept his eyes pinned on dads not
for a second wavering. He didn’t look worried. Some of the guys that I had selected
out of the bunch had always failed at impressing my dad. Most were sweating
bullets or close to running out the door. But Sunny was sweat free and rather
relaxed as he leaned against the counter, his eyes glued to my dad.
“I was named after my great grandfather.
His name was actually Sundance. They called him Sunny for short. So I am proud
of my given name.”
I smiled bigger. “That’s really cool.
Isn’t it dad?”
Dad stepped a little closer. And my dad
was by no means a petite man. He was six foot six on his bad day and all male.
Down to his massive feet that were nearly stepping on top of Sunny’s.
Dad narrowed his eyes. “We named Gianna
after our mothers.”
Sunny nodded. “I heard. Her friend Grace
filled me in on that.”
“So Dad. You see, Sunny is just here to lend
a hand me with some math. And since we were finished with math we decided to
get something to eat.” I explained, jerking my head for him to leave us alone.
He gave a nod.
“Alright, cupcake. As long as the only
thing Sunny was figuring out was your math problems and not how to get you out
of your pants. Nice to meet you, Sunny.”
Sunny gave a wave. “Same to you, sir.”
Dad disappeared. I let out a sigh of reprieve.
But that soon ended.
Dad poked his head back out. “I used to go
to the shooting range. I could blow a man’s head off first shot. I have a set
of nun chucks upstairs. You guys have a good night.” He gave Sunny his renowned
wink.
Sunny started on his sandwich. While I
sat with my face in my palm totally embarrassed, my dad in essence told him he
would murder him. And even more at the new set of circumstances that were about
to unfold all around us. I counted silently to myself. And as I hit five I
heard my mother’s refined laugh of enthusiasm echoing the hall.
“I take it he told someone I was here?”
Sunny asked, around a bite of his turkey sandwich.
I nodded, gritting my teeth. Please let
her be wearing something motherly I pleaded mutely to the gods.
“Do we have visitors?” Mom asked,
popping from the stairway like a jack in the box. Her hair recently brushed and
draped precisely down her shoulders, her robe unfastened for the world to see.
And she was wearing a black negligee. I groaned.
“Sunny my mom, mom Sunny,” I said,
giving a speedy introduction.
Mom eyed the new hunk of masculine meat.
“He’s cute.” She said as if he wasn’t standing there right in front of her.
Sunny lit up. Clearly he was amused at
my mom’s behavior.
“Well thanks,” Sunny said.
“No problem, sweetie. How did my
daughter get so lucky to bring you home?” Mom asked, leaning over the counter,
her cleavage free to say hello to everyone it wanted.
“She’s bad at math. I happen to be
really good. So I offered to help.” Sunny explained, averting his eyes from
mom’s set of lungs.
“I bet you’re good at a lot of things.”
She winked, going into the refrigerator for another bottle of wine. “Well, I
will leave you two alone. I told your dad to be waiting with bells on.” She
jiggled the wine, taking off upstairs.
I looked at Sunny. He had the typical look
everyone I knew had when they were around my mother for longer than five
minutes.
“I’m sure you want to go now. Sorry
about that.” I stood up, heading to the door.
Sunny followed. “I could have hung
around for a few more minutes. Maybe out here where your family isn’t making
you hyperventilate so much?”
Sunny took a seat on one of the patio
chairs on our front porch. I was surprised he didn’t want to leave.
“There not so bad. In fact, I kind of
like them,” Sunny said.
I sat down next to him. “They take some
getting used to.”
“They seem fun.”
“Seem. Just remember that. A lot of
things seem fun until you actually do
them and then you’re wishing you never did.” I said, staring off into the night.
The only lights on were coming from Brent’s house across the street. And the
soft glow of the old streetlights.
“You seem
fun,” Sunny said, giving me a pathetic smile. He let out a sigh. One I wasn’t
sure how to take. Was this nerves? Was perfect Sunny nervous about something
finally? And if he was, that something was me.
“Yeah, like I said.”
Sunny shook his head. “Why are you so
cynical?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Sunny groaned dramatically, pinching the
bridge of his nose in aggravation. “Don’t tell me you’re that girl.”
“And what girl would that be?” I asked, interested.
I could name a bunch of things I was not. But I hadn’t been compared too much.
I was sure I was that girl holding on
for dear life. The girl that pretended nothing bothered her. The one who had
high hopes that something great would happen to her. But in the back of her
mind she knew that more bad happened in life than good. So if I was a cynic, I
was happy to be one. It kept me from regretting a lot in life.
“Never mind, forget I even said it. See
you at school tomorrow, ok?” Sunny said, giving my arm a teasing push before he
stood up.
I stood up too. Walking to the edge of
the porch. He chirped his alarm, staring out into the shadows of my
neighborhood.
“See you tomorrow,” I said, watching him
go down the steps. He turned around.
“See you tomorrow.”
I smiled, giving a ridiculous wave. But there he was staring me down and coming
back up the steps. I assume in some romantic rom com this would have been the
part where the young girl is pulled in for that oh so uncomfortable kiss. Where
her knees went weak and her heart skipped several beats. I was praying for
that.
Our eyes met and I waited patiently for
that moment. Sunny leaned closer, dropping his head down to meet my lips. His
breath warm against my skin, the musky smell of his cologne satisfying my nose.
My heart kicked into gear. I was about to kiss this remarkably handsome guy out
on my porch steps for the world to see.
And the world wanted to ruin my moment.
Techno music resonated through the streets. And that meant only one thing. Just
before I was about to experience what Sunny Switzer’s lips felt like adjacent
to mine, my brother pulled into our driveway like one of the guys in those dreadful
street racing movies.
He fist pumped his way out of his car, alongside
Brent from across the street. Sunny lifted his head, giving me a frustrated
smile. One that spoke volumes. He wanted that kiss just as much as I did. And
there was my stupid brother to spoil it.
Brody broke up our close union pushing
passed the two of us. He stood at the top of the stairs ignoring me and giving
Sunny the “brotherly” once over—which was nothing more than one raised eyebrow
and a slight head nod.
“Well, see you at school tomorrow.” I
said, avoiding the pointless introduction of Sunny to my brother. I could
explain later why Brody deserved none. Sunny nodded, heading down the stairs.
I watched him walk away. Severely annoyed
that I lost the opportunity to experience what Sunny Switzer was working with.
I was sure it was a whole lot. He was good at Calculus, dodge ball and charming
my dad. I was positive his tongue was talented enough to make some incredible
memories.
“Alright, see ya!” Brody yelled in my
ear to Brent. I rolled my eyes. Brent caught my gaze for the first time in my
entire life. The curiosity pulled me forward and I gave a small smile. He gave
me a head nod, his perfect hair not moving in the slightest. I had forgotten
how hot he was. It was easy to do when someone treated you like the plague. He
was like an even more pissed off version of James Dean. Had he just
acknowledged my presence? I shook myself out of it. I probably was seeing
things. Brent I was sure once or twice in my life told me to drop dead or eat
shit. He was probably having a seizure or getting a bug off the bridge of his
nose.
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