Ari began walking with me in the hallways at school, always holding my hand. We sat together in the lunchroom and ate dinner together in the evenings. At first, we got all kinds of second glances and curious stares. To the rest of the world, our relationship seemed to have come out of nowhere. Only Ari and I knew that we had really been together almost since the day I started at Dana Point.
I spent most of my evenings in the library, and, after hours, Ari and I usually hung out together in either his room or mine. I always tried to be good and proper and insist that he return to his room at night, but I woke up with nightmares and in every instance, he came right back to talk me to sleep. I had gotten only glimpses of the men that had been sitting at the round table in my dream. Their faces faded in and then right back out of my memory. Each night when I went to bed, I wondered if I would see them again; the thought of what they might have in store for me was scary.
On Sunday night the girls from my hall and I still gathered to watch a movie, but there wasn’t as much actual watching as there had been. Sophie, Viola and Emily kept peppering me with questions about what Ari and I had going. I tried my best to appease them, but I am a private person so I dodged as many of the questions as I could without being kicked out of their little group. I think our whispered conversations upset Skylar and Keri. They shot their icy-cold dagger stares at me every time I opened my mouth.
Ari and I left for his home on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I had agreed to join them for the long weekend. For starters, being at Ari’s sure beat the alternative of being alone on a holiday … and then, too, the idea of spending four days without Ari seemed torturous. I packed up half of my closet even though we were going to be there only four days – no telling what might be called for. Ari and I spent Wednesday evening with his family sitting around eating pizza and watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I had never seen the movie before and when the Alexanders found out, they freaked and insisted that I watch it with them immediately. Ari sat next to me on the couch with his arm wrapped around my shoulder. His sister splayed out on the floor in front of the television and his mom and dad sat together and held hands on the overstuffed chair for two. Rory showed up half way through the movie, flopped down beside Ari and laughed loudly, occasionally slapping his knee.
When the movie finally ended, Ari and I snuck quietly off to his room. He shut the door to his bedroom, then scooped me up in his arms. A quick breath escaped my mouth as Ari lifted me up around him and started kissing me. My back was pressed against the door and Ari’s body was pressed firmly up against mine, keeping me in place. His teeth grazed my ear, sending a flash of heat across my skin. He held me in his arms, slowly made his way to the bed, and softly dropped me down on his fluffy blankets. He settled in next to me and we continued to kiss, his hands exploring the rest of my body until I felt my mind start to fade away and give in to temptation. I nudged him back and he knew it was time to stop.
Once my heartbeat returned to normal, I got up, disappeared into his giant walk-in closet to slip on a camisole and some girly boxers, and then joined him again under the blankets. Ari usually slept in his blue-and-white striped pajama pants and a white undershirt when he was with me, but lately he had been sleeping without the shirt, which was fine by me; I loved to nuzzle my face against his warm chest. The beating of his heart was like a lullaby and his scent was intoxicating. The sound and the scent of him made me pass out with a giddy glee.