XVIII

End of January 2006
Kings of Leon - Notion




A whole week had passed since that day when I fell and broke my wrist. And no, I hadn't been to any more hockey matches - like that was going to happen. But I had been hanging out with Jordan, doing our homework assignments together and he helped me with geography - benefits all round.


One thing I had noticed since New Year and hanging around with Jordan, was that he was receiving a lot more attention: not just at school but from the national press. Often he appeared in the local paper or Dad was trying to get him to do an interview with someone important.


The attention at school was quite funny - actually I found it hilarious. Overnight, or so it seemed, he was suddenly adored by most girls in school. Either I hadn't noticed it before, or he had developed some superfans.


"You know," I said to Nat as we sat in an empty classroom during a free period, "I don't get when he became such a hottie."


"Are you finally seeing it?" she asked swinging her legs over the edge of the teacher's desk. "You mean you haven't seen it until now."


I considered what she was saying. It wasn't like Jordan wasn't hot, I mean he is hot; I guess it's something I've never thought about too much before. "Maybe because I was so wrapped up in Austin before that I wasn't interested so I never really noticed his hotness."


"And you are now?" Nat grinned. Sometimes she could be so frustrating. She lit a cigarette and lay back on the desk.


"A little more than I was," I laughed.


"Give me a break Al, a little, you were looking pretty happy when he carried you into school like Prince Charming the other day-"


"-Prince Charming doesn't exist."


"No, all I'm saying is that you should give in and finally get together with him. Everyone is waiting for it to happen, and not just him, who by the way, you're torturing." She squinted and tilted her head to the side to make sure I knew where she was coming from.


I nodded. OK, so I guess I was having some fun flirting around with him, but I didn't really know if and where I wanted to take this. It had been four months since I ended things with Austin, and whereas right now I wasn't ready for that intense relationship again; I was happy, however, to have some fun. A lot of fun.


"Might ask if he wants to go see Hostel at the cinema on Friday," I mused, fiddling with the edge of my cast. Right now, my left arm was itchy, and I wanted nothing more than to scratch it.


"Perfect, a horror film. You can get close while you get creeped out together in the dark." Nat flicked the ash from her cigarette into the plant pot on the desk and took another long drag.


We sat in silence for a couple of minutes until the bell went and we made our way out into the corridor, because I had Maths last period.


"Alice! What are your plans for the weekend?" Lizzie said as I took my usual seat at the desk next to hers.
I made a face. Technically I wasn't doing anything, but since I was planning on going to the cinema with Jordan, I told her I was busy. I didn't really want to pass up on a girlie night in town, but I love horror films and now that Nat had sort of set the wheels in motion, I was keen to continue.


"Sorry, I've already made plans," I said quickly, getting out my homework and putting it on my desk. Jordan took the seat behind me and Alice gave me a little look, wondering if my plans concerned him.


Discreetly, I texted Jordan:


Hostel. Friday 8pm?X


He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, his warm breath moving the hair on my neck as a light shiver went down my spine, and I felt myself smiling. "I'll be there."


For the rest of the afternoon I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I texted Nat to let her know of my plans.


__________________________________________________________________________________________



Having told my parents that Jordan and I were headed to the cinema with some friends who we would meet there (which was of course a total lie), we set off. After deliberating in front of the mirror on what to wear to the cinema, because I nearly always get cold inside, I had settled on my skinny jeans, boots and a pretty top with a navy cardigan.


After cracking jokes for the whole ride there, we bought our tickets and went inside. The film was supposed to be pretty gory, which I'm not a huge fan - I prefer the suspense and jumpy scenes, but it's horror and that's right up my street.
"You OK?" Jordan said once we had got some popcorn and found some seats near the back. He took up pretty much the whole of his seat, his form even spreading over the arm rest and into my area - a total space invader. Although he was radiating enough heat to keep me warm, even though we weren't touching.


Every now and then I would pinch a couple of pieces of his salty popcorn and he'd just shrug and then pretend to move it further out of reach. Now I would have had to reach all the way across his lap to reach the popcorn, which I was not going to do.


For me, my favourite part of a film are the trailers. I LOVE them. Whether it's watching the highlights (and best bits) of what you know is going to be a rubbish film, or deciding what you're going to go and see next, the trailers always get me excited. I slouched a little in my seat, curling my feet up underneath me and leaning a little to my left, towards the warm lump.


I was totally engrossed in the film, completely engrossed. I wasn't watching Jordan but I'm not sure from some of his reactions if he was enjoying or maybe tolerating this as much as I was. Maybe he's not the greatest fan of these kind of films. As soon as I saw Josh's achilles tendons being sliced, I winced in pain, burying my head into crack between Jordan's muscular arm and his chest. He put his right arm around me, quietly laughing at my reaction, all the while pulling me closer until the arm rest pressed into my side.


"You can look now," he said into my hair as I dared myself to look at the screen. Sometimes I think I like these films more than I do, I have to remind myself that they're not real, and sometimes they do give me a serious case of the willies, but there's something crazy and psychotic about them. Hopefully that doesn't reflect on my personality too much.


"Jordan!" I screamed as I glanced back at the screen before hiding my face. It was no better. His chest was visibly moving as he tried to laugh quietly. The theatre was practically empty, it wouldn't have mattered if he had laughed loudly, there was no one who was going to take offence.


He stroked my hair lightly with one hand and held me close with his other arm, still annoying laughing. He passed me the popcorn back which I quickly a handful of, before passing it back. Slowly I looked back at the screen, the gruesome scenes unfolding before our eyes, as we both watched horrified.
"I'm not sure how much more of this I can watch," I turned back to Jordan.


He smiled back at me. "Thought it was just me being chicken shit."


"Such a farm boy comment." He quickly pushed my head down into his lap, insinuating exactly what I should be doing down there! As if. Quickly he pulled me back up and pressed his lips to mine, silencing my laughter. His hand moved to the back of my head, scrunching my hair up as he pressed harder against my mouth, willing me to kiss him back.


I gave up and kissed him back, forgetting about everything, even the film and the menacing noises emanating from the screen. His lips were soft and smooth but his kiss was needy, impatient as his tongue swept across mine. Finally he broke it off before searching my eyes, my face for some expression.