Please let me know what you think after reading. I need the encouragement
I hope you enjoy.
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Part 8
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“Hey, Maria, did you notice that a certain tall brunette and a guy friend of ours have been smiling a lot more than usual today,” Liz teased, pretending as if Lonnie wasn’t leaning against the wall just two feet away.
“Yeah, now that you mention it, I had noticed that.” Maria turned from the mirror to send a knowing smile toward Lonnie, who had all of a sudden become extremely interested in her nails.
Both girls stood looking at Lonnie expectantly, but it soon became obvious she wasn’t going to tell them anything with out a fight.
“Well,” Maria said, cocking her head to the side mock impatience. “You know we aren’t going away so, you might as well spill it now… or are we going to have to take drastic measures,” she said ominously. She and Liz shared mischeveous grins.
Lonnie looked up at them, with a hmpf and returned to grooming her nails.
“Okay, you asked for it,” Maria sing songed. “Liz, I was watching The Iron Chef the other night on the food channel and saw this great new recipe for a fish stick frittata. Don’t you think Diane would love it if we came over and showed her the recipe,” she said sweetly.
“Mmm, sounds delish,” Liz nodded, rubbing her stomach and making lip smacking noises. “That has beans in it right?”
“Yeah, and jalapenos all mixed together.” Maria and Liz knew they’d won when they saw the disgusted grimace that crossed Lonnie’s face after that last embellishment.
“Aight, aight!” Lonnie said holding up her hands to keep them from implementing their inhuman torture. “Ya don’t have ta get crazy and all, sheesh.” She shivered in revulsion thinking about the last frittata her mother had experimented with. “Nothin happened, ok.”
“Uh Uh, that’s not what that look on your face last night said,” Liz tattled. “Maria, you should have seen her, she was all dreamy and smiling. Something definitely happened. Spill woman.”
~ ~ ~
Alex ran up to the lunch table frantic. He was glad the girls weren’t there yet, at least now he’d get a chance to ask for help before Lonnie showed up.
“Dudes, does anybody know how to play the drums?” He looked around hopefully but was met with bewildered frowns. Michael was glaring at him with his usual disdain, Kyle and Max both looked amused and worried for him, and Zan just shook his head.
“What are you talking about,” Michael asked from across the bench.
“He’s supposed to be teaching Lonnie how to play the drums,” Max answered for him with a snicker. “But it looks like he can’t even play himself.” Laughing he turned to Alex shaking his head. “Alex, how’d you get into this one?”
“It’s a long story,” he sighed and sank onto the bench as he began.
~ ~ ~
“Ok, ok,” Lonnie sighed. “I went over to Alex’s house after school yesterday.” Seeing their wondering frowns she answered the question she knew they were thinking. “I wanted my picture back,” she shrugged. Maria and Liz gave each other disbelieving looks but said nothing.
“Anyways,” she continued, giving them attitude in return. “So when I walked up, Alex was sittin in his garage, practicin by his self. He was really into his song, so I just watched him and listened. You guys, he can really play,” she said seriously. “I mean he was putting out some funky sounds and was just jammin wit the music,” she said bouncing to the song she was remembering. “I didn’t want to disturb him when he was so into to it.
Maria nudged Liz while they listened to Lonnie tell her story and nodded discretely, to point out how excited the usually cool and intimidating girl seemed. Liz’s eyes widened in agreement, before returning her attention to the intriguing development unfolding before them.
~ ~ ~
“I was practicing in my garage yesterday, when all of a sudden I look up and Lonnie’s standing there watching me. I was caught off guard at first, cause I didn’t know she was there, but I was totally surprised when she started smiling and giving me applause. I thought she’d still be mad about her picture.”
Alex turned and slapped Kyle on the back of his head. “Thanks for that by the way,” he said with a glare.
“Hey, violence solves nothing,” Kyle laughed and rubbed his head.
“So, she’s like ‘You sound good’ and stuff and starts plucking at my guitar strings. I’m telling you I thought it had to be a setup, cause no way was Lonnie standing in my garage, complementing me, Me , on my music,” Alex said still looking disbelieving even now. “Then she asks me to play her a song!” He looked incredulous, like it was just unbelievable.
~ ~ ~
“When he noticed me watchin, he quit playin, but I was enjoyin it, so I asked him to play me a song.” She smiled when she remembered the song Alex played for her. “Yall know what he played,” she asked rolling her eyes with a smile. Liz and Maria shook their heads, totally enjoying Lonnie’s almost giddiness. “Rock Your Body,” she laughed and shook head. “He even started singin it!”
“I was surprised that he picked that song, but then while he was singin, it was like he was trying to tell me somethin. You know what I mean,” she said with raised eyebrows and continued on. “At first I was like, no way is he flirtin with me, but he was! So I was like, ‘Oh ok, two can play that game’, and I started dancing to the music.”
~ ~ ~
“So did you,” Kyle asked, really interested in Alex’s escapade.
“Yeah,” Alex answered shaking his head and staring blankly at the table, still in shock at the memory.
“So… what’d you play,” Max prompted also enjoying the story.
Alex closed his eyes like he was ashamed to even say it. “Justin Timberlake’s Rock Your Body,” he said and braced himself for what he knew he was going to hear.
“Justin Timberlake?!” he heard repeated in disgust from around the table.
“Dude, come on,” Michael shook his shaggy head. He too was getting interested in the tale.
“I know, I know, but it seemed to fit the moment,” Alex defended himself.
“Whadaya mean,” Zan chimed in curious.
“Have you guys ever listened to that song? I mean like listened to it,” he asked with a knowing look. They all nodded their approval when they realized what he meant.
“So what did she say,” Kyle asked.
“Nothing,” Alex shook his head with a sigh.
“Nothin,” Zan repeated incredulously. That didn’t sound like his sister.
“Nope, she didn’t say anything. She just started dancing,” he answered reverting back into his dazed state. “That woman is going to kill me, one way or another,” he said closing his eyes to remember it more clearly.
The guys all just looked at him and laughed. Max and Zan nodded at each other knowingly. Yep that sounded like their sister. Poor Alex.
“So what does all this have to do with you needing to learn how to play the drums,” Michael questioned.
~~~
“No you didn’t,” Maria said, her mouth falling open in shock at her friend’s bad behavior.
“So, what did he do,” Liz asked wanting to squeal with happiness for her friend.
“He messed up a few times and forgot the words when I started runnin my hands all ova and licken my lips,” Lonnie said with a satisfied grin. “I started moving around playin with the other instruments and spinning around in the drummer’s seat. You know, just to tease him a little,” she shrugged. “When he got to the end, I started tappin the cymbals with my nails and we were both jammin and movin… It was cool, yo,” Lonnie finished nodding with a smile.
“So…, then what happened,” Maria prompted.
Lonnie sighed and relaxed back against the wall again. “Nothin happened. That’s it. I tried to tell you. It was no big deal,” she said shaking her head and going back to examining her nails.
“Come on Lonnie. You said he asked you to join The Whits, so something had to happen,” Liz pressed.
~ ~ ~
“Well, see she started playing on the drums with me at the end. We were really sounding good for a minute, ya know. And since Dave broke his arm and quit we need a drummer. And Dude, she looked so hot sitting there.” Alex stopped and turned to Max and Zan, his eyes wide with worry. “No offense guys,” he said afraid to offend Lonnie’s two brothers that would probably break him in half if he mistreated their sister.
“None taken, Alex,” Max said with a roll of his eyes and a smirk.
“Bra, ya need to be more worried about Lonnie than us,” Zan chuckled and just shook his head. Alex nodded dumbly in agreement then continued on with his story.
“So, since she seemed to fit the set so well and we’d been jamming so well together…, I asked her to be the drummer for The Whits,” he finished dropping his head to the table.
“But Lonnie don’t know how to play the drums,” Zan pointed out.
“That’s what she said, and that’s when I said I could teach her,” Alex said banging his head against the table for his stupidity.
“Ohhhh,” was chorused around the table as understanding finally dawned on all of them.
~ ~ ~
“Fine,” Lonnie huffed. She knew they wouldn’t leave her alone until she divulged all the details of what happened.
“He said ‘It was cool jammin wit me’. I said ‘We should do it more often’. He said ‘The Whits need a new drummer and that I should try it’. I said ‘I don’t know how to play the drums’. He said he would teach me. There are you happy now? Ugh! You guys are killin here,” Lonnie rushed out and threw her hands up in frustration.
Liz and Maria tried to stifle their laughs at Lonnie’s exaggerated frustration, but were doing a poor job of it. Liz nudged Maria and nodded at her to get her attention. She turned to Lonnie with a straight face and asked, “Lonnie did you ever get around to asking for your picture back?” She cracked up when Lonnie’s mouth snapped closed and her eyes got wide as she realized she’d totally forgotten the reason she went over there in the first place.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
5Th Period
“Thanks for helping me deal with my twisted life, Ria’,” Liz said as they walked to her locker between classes.
“No problem, babe. What are best friends for,” Maria said with a smile and slung her arm around Liz’s shoulder as they walked. “So, what are you going to do this period? You know with Max being your lab partner,” she asked, as they stopped in front of Liz’s locker.
“I really don’t know,” Liz sighed as she worked the combination. “But I’m not going to let him get to me though,” she said more to convince herself than Maria.
When she opened her locker to grab her biology book, she stopped, surprised. Tucked inside the cover of her book was a long stemmed, red rose with a little card tied to it.
“Aww,” Liz half heard from Maria over her shoulder. She smiled knowing exactly who it was from without having to read the card. She pulled out the rose and smelled its sweet fragrance. When she turned to Maria with a soppy smile and Maria knew that Liz was a goner.
“So, I guess you’re not mad at Max anymore,” she said with a smirk. Maria shook her head, smiling at her two adorable friends. She had to give it to Max; he sure knew how to knock a girl off her feet. “I’ll see you later, babe. And I’ll want to see what’s on that card later too,” she said chuckling to herself as she went off to her class.
Liz wasted no more time and read the card.
Liz, I meant every word I said.
Please come talk to me.
I’m waiting for you in the band room.
Max
Liz was surprised. She hadn’t expected him to ask her to miss their class. She bit the side of her lip as she thought it through. She didn’t think they were doing any experiments today, and she could always borrow someone’s notes. Making her decision she grabbed her book and put the rose back in her locker, then headed off to her class.
When she reached the room sure enough Max wasn’t at their work bench. It was hard to keep the smile off her face, but if she wanted to put on a good show to get out of class, she was going to have to. She took a deep breath and walked over to Mr. Henderson’s desk.
“Mr. Henderson, I’m not feeling too good. I think I need to go to the nurse’s office,” she said holding her stomach and trying to look as sickly as she could.
“Really, Ms. Parker? Your lab partner just said the same thing a few minutes ago. What’s wrong?”
“I got an unexpected visitor,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around her stomach and trying to look embarrassed to say it.
“Oh goodness! Um, go ahead, and I hope you feel better,” he said dismissing her and handing her a hall pass.
“Thanks,” she said and turned back down the hall with a smile. ‘Works every time.’
A few minutes later Liz was standing outside the band room doors with her beautiful rose in hand. But now that she was actually here it was hard not to be nervous. Was she really about to have a secret rendezvous with Max Evans? She thought about what he’d said last night, and all the reasons she shouldn't go inside. Even though she of getting hurt… Liz wanted to be closer to him too.
Hoping that he really was as sincere as he seemed to be, she opened the door and peeked inside. She was glad that at least there wasn’t a class full of people sitting there looking at her like she was crazy. Taking a calming breath, she walked inside, and there was Max, sitting on a desk across the room waiting for her.
Liz was struck by how handsome Max was in his football jersey and jeans.
“I was worried you wouldn’t come,” he said as he stood and came toward her with one hand behind his back.
“You kinda made it hard to resist,” she said, blushing a little and sniffing the flower again. “Thank you, it’s beautiful.”
“Your welcome,” he said feeling a bit bashful himself. “I remembered that you like white roses later so, I got this for you too,” he said pulling a beautiful white rose from behind his back and holding it out to her.
Liz totally melted. “Aww, Max! You are so sweet,” she sighed taking the rose and brushing it against her lips. “Thank you.” Her cheeks darkening even more as she finally looked into his warm eyes.
Max was glad that Liz was smiling at him again. He’d been so worried that she wouldn’t give him a chance to explain what he was trying to tell her last night. Having to hold his feelings in check for so long, he had gotten pretty good at hiding how he really felt about her, but now that he didn’t have too, he wanted to shower her with all the attention he’d given her from afar. He just hadn’t planned on Liz thinking he wasn’t being sincere. He really the reputation that followed him around.
He'd liked Liz from the first time he’d met her, but Zan had liked her too, so they both backed off. But it didn’t really matter, because Liz hadn’t seemed interested in either of them anyway. After a while he had resigned himself to believing that Liz would never see him as anything other than her ‘Good Friend, Max’.
It had been torture watching her go out on dates with other guys and him never getting to be one of them. Liz had even gone out with Kyle a couple of times. He’d been so jealous, but what could he do? He didn’t want to hurt Zan and Liz was free to date who ever she wanted, she just never wanted him. Having basically given up on the idea of ever being with her, he had started dating casually, never really getting serious with anyone.
Somehow, he’d gotten a reputation of being a lady’s man, which bothered him, considering he hadn’t done much to earn it. He’d only had a couple girlfriends, Pam and Tess, but those relationships hadn’t lasted long. He guessed that was how it started.
When he was with them, he never felt the way he always thought being in a relationship was supposed to feel. Instead he’d felt trapped, and things had ended quickly.
And he wasn’t sex crazed like people believed. For some reason even girls expected him to want sex from them all the time. He wanted more out of a relationship than just sex.
He didn’t liked people thinking of him that way, but that didn’t seem to matter. The reputation had grown, and now he was dealing with the repercussions of it. Liz didn’t trust him, and she believed he might try to use her. The reality was that she was the only girl he ever really wanted to be with. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy to convince her of that, but he was going to try.
“Max, I’m sorry about this morning. I didn’t mean for the girls to treat you so badly. They were just trying to look out for me,” Liz said feeling bad for their treatment of him this morning.
“Don’t worry about it Liz. I understand. That’s kind of what I want to talk to you about.”
Max sighed and tried to collect his thoughts and his courage before telling her what he’d been dying to say. Liz looked up at him and noticed how nervous he was. He had his hands in his pockets and couldn’t stand still. He didn’t seem at all like the confident, playful guy she was used to.
“Liz, I…I’ve wanted to be with you for a long time… I just couldn’t ever tell you how I felt. And I really do want to be closer to you, but…” He dropped his eyes and chewed on his lip for a moment, thinking about how she’d reacted after his kiss last night. “I don’t… I don’t think that you really trust me.”
“I’m not the guy that everyone thinks I am. I want to show you,” he said, looking up at her with vulnerable eyes. “Will you give me a chance? I want to show you what you really mean to me?”
“But, I’m not trying to rush you,” he continued before she could answer. “I mean… I want you to take your time, and see for yourself that…” He shrugged. “That I’m not playing games with you.” He finished his heartfelt confession and held his breath, waiting for her answer.
Butterflies were fluttering through her insides and no matter how hard she tried to hold it in, Liz couldn't stop smiling. Max was so impossibly sweet! She wanted to just forget all the things that had her crying last night and believe every honey covered word he said. But she remembered so many times watching him romance girls then get tired of them quickly. It was like he enjoyed the chase, but wasn't satisfide once he'd gotten his prize. She didn't want to be his next conquest. But, God he was hard to resist.
“Max, you’re right... I don’t completely trust that I’m more than just your latest infatuation. I want to trust you, but... I’m afraid to. Thank you for understanding that I need time to think about this.”
She stepped closer and took his hand. “But Max…” she said looking into his beautiful eyes. “I do want to be closer to you.”
His warm hazel eyes softened and he visibly relaxed. The smile that she’d been missing returned and he seemed more himself again.
“You do?” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. Liz nodded, and turned her hand to cup his cheek. He kissed her palm. “I’m glad,” he said, holding her gaze.
Liz sighed, what was it about Max and her fingers? His warm breath felt so good against her skin. Her eyes were drawn to his soft lips. She swallowed and moistened her own. She wanted to kiss him.
Max’s eyes fell to her lips when her tongue peeked out. He wanted to pull her in close and press his lips to hers, but he’d just said he would give her time to see that he wasn’t out to have sex with her and leave. How would it look if a minute later he was trying to shove his tongue down her throat?
“Max, maybe I should go,” Liz said. Her breathing seemed to be faster for some reason. Her lips parted as she tried to catch her breath.
Max nodded, agreeing that it was probably a good idea for her to leave. But he wasn’t ready to let her go.
Somehow the small distance there had been between them was all but gone. He could feel the warmth of her body so close to his. His eyes lifted to hers, and he the corner of his lips lifted in a half smile. Liz looked as effected by him as he was by her. Her eyes were heavy lidded as she leaned in closer. Max gave in to his feelings, and pulled her close, capturing her lips in a burning kiss.
Liz pushed her doubts away. She didn’t want to be afraid right now. Her arms slid around his neck and she surrendered to the feeling of being surrounded by Max’s powerful arms.
Max’s his soft tongue caressed her lips, begging permission to taste the sweet treasures hidden inside. She opened to him and a moan escaped when she felt his velvety explorations. He pulled her closer, leaving no space between them, his hands tightening their hold on her warm skin. Holding her felt so good.
Was this real, because he could very possibly just be dreaming that Liz was now exploring his mouth as he had been hers, and her scantily clad body was responding to his touch in ways that caused him to ache.
His hands moved across her back, caressing the soft, warm skin beneath his fingers, trying to memorize the feel of her. If this was a dream he didn’t want to forget how delicious she tasted, or the soft noises she made when he kissed her. But he especially wanted to remember the feel of her body pressed against his.
Liz’s treasured roses fell to the floor, forgotten when his searching hands began causing the most delicious tingles everywhere he touched. Her fingers slid into his soft hair, and she wriggled against him trying to quell the breathtaking sensations he was causing. She felt like she was on fire.
A groan escaped from deep inside Max when she moved against him. When she began wriggling against his already heated body, he felt like he was going to explode. They had to stop before he started acting on the thoughts that had just jumped into his head. He wanted a lot more than just a kiss now, and he was afraid he’d do something that would make everything he’d just said seem like a lie.
“Liz…” He pulled away from their kiss and closed his eyes, trying to slow his racing pulse and get his unruly flesh to obey. “I think you better go now,” he whispered through gritted teeth.
Liz buried her face in his neck trying to clear her suddenly fuzzy mind. “Yeah… I think that’s a good idea,” she said breathing hard, but noticed he hadn’t relinquished his hold on her. She looked up and saw Max’s eyes pressed shut and his jaw tensed. “Max, are you ok?”
After a moment, he nodded. “Yeah… I’m ok.”
He finally released his hold on her, but she noticed he still had his eyes closed. His hands were now balled into fists at his sides, like he was trying not to grab her again. Liz tried to not to smile, but couldn’t help it, nor the satisfaction she felt having caused such a strong reaction in him. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Liz standing there looking extremely amused.
“What’s so funny,” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Mm… Nothing. Nothing at all,” she evaded. “I’m gonna go now,” she said, backing toward the door.
She gave him a wicked smile as she backed away. Her gaze drifted over him from head to toe, and lingered on the evident bulge in his jeans, and then back up to his now shocked eyes. She was glad the tension that had built between them had gone away, and was feeling playful with him again. She’d missed it. With a not so innocent grin, she turned to leave.
Max was shocked at her bold teasing, but he just smiled and enjoyed it. Just before Liz made it to the door, he noticed the roses he’d given her lying on the floor. Knowing why they were there, he felt his own moment of satisfaction before he picked them up and called out to her.
“Liz!”
“Yeah?” She turned back and saw Max, looking very amused himself now, holding her flowers. Liz flushed with embarrassment.
“You forgot these.” He held them out for her, and smiled at her knowingly. She shook her head and retrieved her roses.
“Thank you,” she said with a rueful smile, biting her lip and feeling happy that he was teasing her again.
“Bye, Max,” she said over her shoulder as she walked away, giving him one last look before she walked out the door.
“Bye, Liz.”
Max sighed as he stood alone thinking about what had just happened. A dazed smile covered his face. Running a hand through his hair, he thought, ‘Wow!’
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TBC…