She responds with a smile, “How many more times will we go out together before you stop calling it a date?”
We hold hands, walking out the door of the classroom and into the busy halls of UBC’s Biological Sciences Buil ding.
“Every outing with you is a date,” I say while we continue towards Scarlette’s next c lass.
We stop in front of the classroom door. “Every date with you is better than the last,” I say. “It’s epic!”
She takes a step into the room but turns towards me, and her eyes look into mine.
“Epic?” she says with a gi ggle.
“Yes, epic. Every one of them,” I say as I take backward steps towards my own class, still watching her and reluctant to turn away.
I find a seat at the very back of my next class, hoping the time will go quickly. But it’s not, and every glance at my phone suggests that time is barely mo ving.
Eventually, the class is over, and I feel like I died in there and just came back to life. I grab my bag off the ground and hurry down the halls full of students. Reaching my car, I open the driver’s door and throw my bag in. I notice Scarlette’s Rio is still there, and I look around the parking lot to find her.
Then I spot her, walking out of the building with Zack.
He annoy s me.
I don’t like how he hovers over Scarlette all the time. Neither of them sees me standing here, and I watch as they walk over to her car. I’m getting irritated just seeing them walk side by side. My eyes don’t leave them for one second. They finally get to the Rio when Scarlette stops, reaching in her bag to find her keys. The bag falls off her arms, onto the ground, and she drops to her knees to gather her things. Zack crouches down to the same position, helping her. He moves in close to her, very close, too close. Her hair falls over her face, and she tries to move it off with her shoulders when Zack reaches his arm around her, moving her hair out of her face, along to the right side of her neck.
His eyes linger on her. I can see her scar through his own vision. This really bug s me.
He knows the story behind that scar, and I d on’t.
He holds her hair in his hand while she refills her bag. What does he think he’s doing? That’s too close, Zack! I can’t stand seeing his hands on her. She’s too tender to be touched by an yone.
I slam my car door closed as my feet move faster than I can think. It’s time I put him in his place! I reach them both while they’re still on the ground, picking up the last few items and my arms fly out to grip Zack’s shoulders. I lift him off the ground, pinning him against the car.
“Don’t do that again!” I say through clenched teeth, staring down at his fearful, dark -b rown eyes.
“Whoa!” Zack shouts, raising his arms above his head. “What’s your problem? Do what again?” he asks sha kily.
“Don’t touch her like that a gain.”
“ELVIS!” Scarlette yells. “Are you out of your mind? Let go of him.”
I let go of Zack even though I’m not ready to. I still want to hurt him, but the sound of Scarlette’s voice brings me back down to earth. I can feel her hand gripping my arm gently but attempting to be firm. I release my hands from Zack to let him breathe normally again, and I take Scarlette’s hand, looking into her eyes. Hers have fear in them, too. I don’t want her thinking I’m a monster, but she’s too innocent to realize when a guy sees
her as more than a friend and takes advantage. She releases her hand from mine, and my heart d rops.
“Zack, just go,” she says. “I’ll call you later.” She looks angry with her arms crossed in front of her.
Zack shakes his head and walks off to his car a few rows down.
“What is the matter with you?” she asks, and her lips form a hard line.
I become speechless, and a little breathless. I didn’t mean to upset her, and I don’t want her to be upset with me. I just didn’t think clearly when I saw him touch her. How do I explain this to Scarlette without scaring her away?
“Zack is my friend,” she says. “It’s time you accepted that.”
I don’t get to say another word as Scarlette steps away from me and gets into the driver’s seat of her car. She doesn’t look at me again as she shuts her door and drives away. I take a deep br eath.
Crap !
I start to walk back to my car when I see Liam and Philip standing outside the doors of the building, both eyeballing me. I don’t give them a second look. They know not to even try to approach me right now.
Driving out of the parking lot, I grab my phone with one hand and dial the first person that comes to mind.
“Hello?” her voice sounds through my speakers as I press harder on the gas p edal.
“Allison! Meet me at Stanley Park,” I de mand.
“Elvis? Are you all right?” she asks anxio usly.
“I lost my temper in front of Scarlette,” I exp lain.
Through my car’s surround sound, I hear Allison take a deep breath then ex hale.
“I need a walk. Please, Alli, meet me t here?”
“Okay, I’m just about to leave Logan’s. I’m on my way. Where do you want to meet?”
“How about Prospect P oint?”
“Okay, I’ll meet you t here.”
I end the call and turn up the music as I head east through Pacific Spirit Regional Park on my way downtown, remembering how much Allison and I would love it when our parents took us to Stanley Park for the day when we were growing up. We have so many memories there by the w ater.
When I pull into the lot at Prospect Point, I can see people enjoying the outdoor weather now that the season is slowly approaching spring. I stay sitting in my car for a little longer, remembering the expression on Scarlette’s face, the disappointed tone of her voice. I can still feel the grip of her hand squeezing my arm—although her grip was soft and kinda cute. I chuckle to myself, but I still feel terrible. I can’t stand the thought of Scarlette being mad a t me.
There is a tap on my window that makes me jump. I jerk my head to the side; Allison is standing there, gesturing for me to come out. I step out of the car and we both start walking down the path. Allison stays silent at first because she knows how to handle me in these moments. We stop in front of a wooden bench, and I can see out of the corner of my eye that she’s waiting, but I keep my eyes looking straight ahead at the Strait of Georgia’s crystal blue w ater.
“I almost hurt her best friend, Alli. What is wrong with me? Just because he was too close to her,” I say. “I know he likes her as more than a fr iend”.
“How do you know?” she asks.
I shrug, thinking back to the parking lot.
“She was picking things off the ground and he fixed her hair, touching her neck,” I say, recalling how much that irritate d me.
“You’re jealous, Elvis. You don’t want anyone else to go near Scarlette or take her attention away from you.”
She’s right, I know.
“You’re falling in love,” she tells me fra nkly.
What the crap? As soon as I hear Allison say the L -w ord , it freaks me out, but at the same time, my heart skips a beat.
“Falling in love? No. No, don’t say that. It’s too soon for me to be in love anyway, Allison,” I say as if I know all about this love thing and how it w orks.