When I was sixteen, I met my boyfriend Ryan. My father and mother hated him, insisting Xavier was better for me. We had several fights about the issue, and they were vicious. They went on until Xavier had a ‘talk’ with Ryan that I’ve never quite understood. Our relationship had been rocky since Xavier stepped in, and it became awkward. The fights stopped after the end of my junior year, after we had broken up. Mom and Dad have been pushing me towards Xavier ever sense.

-Flashback-

“Norah, honey, I don’t understand why you won’t date Xavier.” Mom asks, after I’ve brought Ryan home for dinner. We’re in the family room, the ‘serious conversation’ room. I glance at my father, whose face clearly says he agrees with her. Dad’s always thought we had the right to make our own mistakes!

“Because I don’t like Xavier the way I do Ryan, Mom. I know you understand the feeling. It isn’t about who you think I should be with. It’s about who I think I should be with! Xavier might be a nice person, but he isn’t for me.” I argue, crossing my arms in my ‘battle stance’.

I can’t believe we’re having this argument. They’ve always been respectful of my decisions before. Why can’t they just accept Ryan?

“Norah Grace Sullivan, I really think Ryan isn’t the right choice. You’re making a mistake, darling. It might cost you your future.” Dad says, stepping in. My mother’s face is turing red in anger. What does that even mean? Ryan isn’t a criminal or anything, whereas Xavier probably is.

“So you think Xavier has a perfect record, Dad? Have you met him?” I ask, sarcastic.

“I trust Xavier, Norah. I’d trust him with your life! I’ve heard things about this Ryan boy. He’s dangerous, Norah. He had a life before he moved here, sweetheart.” Their hatred for Ryan suddenly makes sense. That doesn’t mean I agree with it, though. Dad’s looked into Ryan’s past? Most likely Dad had someone do it for him.

“He won’t hurt me, Dad! I can take care of myself. I have two big brothers, you know.” I say, furious. I walk out of the room, exusing myself because of homework. We all went to bed angry. They don’t understand why I made the choice. Ryan isn’t Xavier. He doesn’t have the connections with my family Xavier does. The world won’t be turned upside down if we break up.

-End Flashback-

I’ve been thinking about that argument since Xavier left my house last night. The night he asked my father for his permission. It’s early Wednesday morning, and I might be late to school. I don’t want to leave the comfort of my room. I’m sure the news has spread by now. Jessica has probably told Nicolette by now. Nicolette has probably told the cheer leading and dance teams by now. It’s a dirty chain of events that’ll make school impossible for me today. I groan in annoyance when my cell phone rings.

“What?” I ask, snapping at the person. I don’t care who it is, I want to sleep!

“Are you ready?” Xavier’s voice comes through the phone. This confuses me, because I don’t remember making plans with him for today.

“No, I’m not going to school today.” I state, having made up my mind. I don’t want to put up with Xavier.

“Um, yeah, you are.” He argues, and I hear a car honk in the background.

“Nope.”

“You can’t let them think you’re hiding from them, Norah.”

“I’m not hiding.” I defend myself, knowing it sounds weak. He’s nailed the reason why I don’t want to get up. He doesn’t argue with me, and so I end the call. I have two minutes of peaceful sleep, until the door to my room slams open. I turn around in shock, and go back to ‘sleep’ when I see who it is. Xavier.

“Get up, Norah!! Move your ass. Now.” He orders, and he sounds angry. Doesn’t he like to fight with me, though?

“Go away!” I whine, blindly fighting him off with my left hand. My right arm’s under my pillow. He’s standing by the left side of my bed, trying to get me out of it.

“Fine, I’ll just stay here.” He says, walking around to the right side of the bed. He stretches out his legs, and steals a pillow to put behind his head. I smile, not believing he’s given up this easily. We lay there like that for a few minutes, until he decides to talk. He can be such a girl sometimes.

“They won’t be suspicious if we’re both missing today.” He comments, sarcastically. I glare at him, not bothering to remove my head from my pillow.

“I hate you,” I say, annoyed. He grins at me.

“No you don’t, sweetheart. You love me, why else would you be my girlfriend?” He asks, smiling now. I roll my eyes at him, because he knows the reason why.

“Because it’ll get our parents off our backs.” I declare, still half asleep.

“Why did you say yes, Norah? Really?” He asks, suddenly serious. I hate it when he does that. Especially so early in the morning. I pretend to be ‘asleep’, trying to think of an answer.

“Norah, please. If you’re really unhappy about this I’ll tell your parents I... did something so I couldn’t be with you.” He says, willing to take the fall for me. Okay, maybe he can be sweet. Sometimes.

“I don’t know, Xavier. A part of me knew we’d date eventually. I just didn’t want it to be because of our parents. I wanted it to be because you wanted me. That’s why I’ve been fighting it so hard. I felt like you were always around because of our families. I wasn’t convinced you wanted to be around me for me. Then you asked my friends for help.” I say, honestly. I bury my face in my pillow, because I don’t want to look at him. I feel him touch my shoulder, trying to get my face to show. I’m too cowardly.

“Norah, you’re my best friend. No one else has seen the real me. I know it sounds lame, but it’s true. They all have this image of me. You know me, not that image. I’ve always had feelings for you.” His bold statements bring me out of my pillow. I look at him, and I can’t describe the look in his eyes. The look scares me. He leans down, so his face is above mine. I’m suddenly glad I wasn’t in the mood to go to school today, and I’m even happier when he kisses me. His kiss feels spectacular. Like fireworks. It’s perfect.

After a few minutes of some amazing kissing, the door suddenly opens again. I wasn’t aware Xavier had closed it behind him. Xavier and I jump apart, startled by the intruder.

“Norah! Xavier...” Joanna says, clearly shocked. I guess Mom didn’t call her with the good news. Joanna comes by with Makalah every Wednesday morning for mother/daughter/granddaughter time. I notice little Makalah peeking out behind her mother’s legs, scared but curious.

“I.. um..” I can’t finish my thought, because I’m too busy thinking about Xavier’s kisses. He’s successfully distracted me. Ryan’s kisses never had that effect on me.

“Mom sent me up because... she wanted to know if you were sick, Norah.” Joanna explains, sounding terribly awkward. I would be too, if I had walked in on that. It was pretty intense.

“I’m not, I just couldn’t wake up.” I say, knowing it sounds wrong when it comes out of my mouth. Xavier glances at me quickly, as if asking if I knew what I was saying.

“Xavier, did you ... stay the night?” She asks, nervous of the answer. We look at each other, deciding what to tell her. He chooses to decide what to say.

“Part of it,” He answers, not looking at me. That wasn’t what he was supposed to say!

Joanna’s eyes widen.

“Makalah, honey, come to Aunt Norah!” I say, happy to see her. She’ll distract Joanna from Xavier and I. Makalah runs to the side of the bed, and she looks at me as if asking for permission. I lift her up onto the bed, and smile at her.

“Hey, honey. You remember Xavier?” I ask, because I’m positive she’s met him before.

“Nope,” She says, shaking her head. Her thumb’s back in her mouth.

“He’ll be your uncle soon, sweetie, so you can call him Uncle Xavier.” Joanna says, looking at me. That was low. In my books, anyway. She doesn’t know that we did anything wrong, she’s just assuming.

“Hi, Uncle Xavier.” Mak says, with a smile on her face. Xavier doesn’t scare her. While Mak and Xavier talk, Joanna glares at me.

“Can I talk to you for a minute, Norah?” She asks, very seriously. Xavier and I look up at her in surprise. We look at each other, and I decide it’s best to talk to her now. I move towards the door when my mother walks in. She quietly takes in the scene around her, forming questions in her head.

“Good morning, Mom.” I say, smiling at her. Hopefully she won’t jump to the conclusion Joanna did.

“Xavier, Tom and I thought you had left after dinner.” Mom says, not acknowledging me. Maybe she did come to the same conclusion.

“I came up to talk to Norah, and I guess we lost track of time.” He lies, and I glare at him. He avoids the glare, focusing on my mom. Why is he lying like this?

“You were wearing different clothes last night.” She states, confidently. He glances at me, and then back at her. I’m still glaring at him.

“I’ve been keeping clothes in Norah’s room. I changed early this morning, “ he lies, yet again. Next she’ll demand to see this stash of clothes he has hidden. She surprises me though, and urges us to get to school. She turns and walks out of the room, never acknowledging me.

“Come on, Makalah, let’s leave them alone.” Joanna calls from the doorway. Makalah, sensing the tension in the room, quickly goes to her mother’s side. Once the door is shut, I punch Xavier’s arm.

“Why the hell are you lying to my family, Xavier James? They’ll kill me, not you. You’ve been honest with them, I haven’t. You just screwed me over.” He smiles at my outburst, and I glare back. I get up and gather clothes for that day. Once I’m dressed, I stalk out of the room. Xavier follows, waiting by the door.

“Mom, we’re leaving.” I yell, not bothering to find her. I grab my backpack, and we leave. The car ride is silent. We’re a good hour late to school. We’ve missed first and the beginning of second period.

“We have to act like we’re in love, Nor.” He says, once he finds a parking space at school.

“I can’t even stand to look at you.” I’m furious with him, and he knows it. He’s choosing to ignore the mess he just got us in.

“Norah, let me explain. Please.” He begs, grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop. I turn around and glare at him.

“Yes, please do. Explain why you let my mother and sister believe we were having sex. For a while now.” I say, a little too loudly. Luckily school’s already started, and most of the windows near us are closed. Looking in a window, I can easily pick out Caroline. She’s seated by the window, and watching us intently. She has a weird expression on her face.

“Joanna would never believe you agreed to date me that easily, Norah. Nobody would. Not even if we told them what we discussed this morning. This way, she thinks we’ve having sex secretly for a while. We can say I convinced you to make it public. It might even explain why our fighting’s been worse in the past few weeks.” He says, watching my reaction. I turn and walk into the school. He follows closely behind me.

The secretary’s eyes widen when she sees us. She’s heard the rumors by now. I stand back, and let Xavier talk her into giving her a pass.

“Good morning, even though it feels like afternoon. Norah and I’ve been pretty busy. Young love, you know how that is, don’t you?” The secretary is a unmarried middle aged woman. To my surprise, she asks him if he would like a pass to second period.

He grins at her and says, “And one for my girl, too. Please.” I roll my eyes in disgust.

When we walk into our second class, all eyes turn to us. Elizabeth’s eyes widen in surprise.

I give Mr. Mason my pass, and quickly walk to my seat beside Elizabeth. She give me the ‘We’re-Going-To-Discuss-This-Later” look. When the bell rings, I quickly walk out of the room. I swiftly avoid Xavier and Elizabeth.

I cruise through the day until it’s lunch time. I sit at the round table in the ‘senior’ section of the cafeteria. My friends surround me. Elizabeth, Caroline, and Sophia are at my side. They ask questions, and listen to the answers. Xavier’s no where to be found. What a surprise.

Ever since freshmen year, he’s been going under the bleachers for ‘lunch’. A part of me expected him to eat with me, or at least attempt to talk to me. Halfway through the period, I decide to find him.

When I get under the bleachers, his stoner friends laugh at me. They’re obviously high. Xavier’s no where to be found.

“Where’s Xavier?” I ask the one closest to me. His name is Rick, I think. I never bothered to learn their names.

“He left, man. He was all depressed and crap. He wasn’t any fun.” He answers, watching me.

“Was he high?” I ask another one in disgust. Rick wasn’t any help.

“Yeah, dude. Way high.” I’m ignoring the fact that he thinks I’m masculine.

“And you let him drive?” I ask, my voice rising slightly with anger.

“Yeah, totally,” Another one answers. I don’t know his name, either. I turn and run in the direction of the parking lot. Xavier’s still there, in his car. He jumps when I tap on the window.

“Go away, Norah. You’ll just yell at me.” He sounds so pathetic, so unhappy. I feel sorry for him, and walk around to the passenger side. I get in, and he looks at me. He’s crying, and it looks like he has been for a while.

TBC.