Page 158 of One More Kiss

We stared at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. The scene was intense, and I wasn’t sure how her dad would react to me being here. But she needed to know that I wasn’t leaving until I got my answer, even if it was a resounding no. I wouldn’t be happy and knew she’d be lying, but I would respect her decision.

“I’ll leave as soon as I get the answer from you,” I said, “would you go to Homecoming with me? And if you choose to say no, remember there are other dances being held in the school before it ends. So, I’ll probably just ask you to one of those.”

Tori sighed, “You won’t leave me alone if I say no, huh?”

“That’s a definite no,” I assured, “But, I won’t pressure you to go with me this time.”

She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed on it for a moment. My insides turned to mush as I thought about kissing those luscious lips. Even thinking about kissing her, I was still nervous concerning her response. I didn’t want to go with anyone else to the dance. My heart was set on her, and her alone.

“When is the dance?” Tori questioned.

“I believe in a few weeks,” I responded, “We could hang out beforehand if you’re uneasy about spending that one night with me.”

This would give me the chance to get to know her more. Even though I feel like I’ve known Tori forever.

She thought for a few more moments, and said, “Okay. I’ll go, but on one condition.”

I couldn’t show her how giddy I was, my body was bursting with happiness. “What’s the condition?”

“You don’t ignore me, and you don’t leave me hanging,” Tori said, “I don’t want to be left alone at the dance and have to call my parents to pick me up. That’s just embarrassing.”

Did that ever happen to her before? Because if so, that was truly embarrassing, and most definitely a hit to her self-esteem. No wonder why she didn’t trust easily. It was like slamming through bricks just to get her to agree to go to a simple dance with me. Well, to some people it’s a simple dance, but to me, it would be the highlight of our relationship. We’ll be going as boyfriend and girlfriend. She just didn’t know it yet.

I had a mission, and it involved getting Tori to see that she’s worth every flash of my time. Now that I knew where she lived, I was going to make plans to be with her. I was also going to go above and beyond to get her parents to like me. It seemed her dad wasn’t too fond of me yet, but that would change. I had a few months to go before boot camp and I wanted to spend it with Tori. She was worth all of my time.

“I promise I’ll be by your side the entire night long,” I said, holding my palm up as if indicating my promise was true. “You’ll be truly sick of me by the time the night is through.”

“I doubt that,” she whispered, smiling.

“What’s that?” I asked because I just barely heard what she said. I heard the words, but I wanted her to repeat them.

“Nothing,” Tori quickly responded. “Well, I have to go in before my parents get upset. I’m usually completing my homework at about this time. They’re pretty strict about our schooling.”

I didn’t want to let her go, but knew it was for the best. It was one step toward having her parents like me, even if it meant losing time with Tori.

“Okay. How about I visit tomorrow after school?” I offered, hoping she would say yes.

She hesitated, which made me feel as if that wasn’t a good sign. “I don’t know if my parents will let you but let me ask and I’ll tell you at school tomorrow.”

I couldn’t ask for anything else other than her promise to tell me at school. “Okay. I’ll leave. I’m looking forward to seeing you again!”

Tori blushed as if she couldn’t believe I wanted to see her again. Oh, and would she be seeing more of me. I loved her blushes, I hoped to keep her face that way by surprising her more often.

As I backed away from Tori, I wanted badly to touch her or grab her hand but knew her parents, if not George, were watching. I figured they wouldn’t want me to touch Tori again, so I kept control of myself and waved instead. She kept standing in the spot I left her and waved back. I wanted to spend more time with her but didn’t want to make matters worse by pissing off her dad.

I hopped into my Bronco, started the engine, and pulled out of the driveway. Looking in my review mirror I noticed how run-down Tori’s home was. How did I not notice the place when I pulled up earlier? My mind must’ve been only on Tori and not my surroundings at the time.

From the outside, the house was tiny, which looked like there might’ve been two bedrooms at the most. The siding was stained green and brown and was probably supposed to be white. Most of the siding seemed to be falling off showing rotted wood. The roof was in poor shape if you wanted it call it a roof at all. There were barely any shingles left to cover the house. If I had to guess, when it rained, it probably leaked inside the house.

The only good thing was the large swing on the front porch. The wood was in perfect condition making me believe it was newly built. How the swing didn’t fall from the patio’s roof yet, I had no clue. I wouldn’t trust the house to hold the swing and me up whatsoever.

I couldn’t help but wonder if the outside was in this poor of a condition, then what would the inside look like. It was probably much worse. My family wasn’t wealthy, but we weren’t at the bottom of the barrel either. Tori’s family was clearly financially struggling. The knight in shining armor complex was making its appearance. I wanted to save her from this struggle. I wanted to show her she deserved all the riches in the world, not just monetary but love-wise as well.

A few minutes later, I made it to my house, realizing I was only fifteen minutes away from Tori. How we’d never met before was beyond me, considering we lived close by. I spent the rest of the day on my computer, listening to music and conversing on video game sites. I was a typical male and loved playing video games.

Finally, it was about that time. I knew in a few hours; I would be seeing Tori again and couldn’t wait. Before long, I seemed to be shutting my eyes and then opening them, tossing, and turning all night. I cleaned up, hoping to smell good for Tori and left the house. It was Friday and I hoped that if Tori’s parents agreed for me to visit, I would be able to see her more than one day this weekend.

As soon as I walked inside the school’s building, I spotted Tori. She looked the same as every other day when wearing her uniform. It was always baggy and didn’t accentuate her curves. I’ve started to recognize her in the horrendous uniforms, and that helped her not to think I wasn’t interested. Outside of her uniform she was tiny, possibly in the lower hundred pounds.

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