Chapter Eight
Shawn
I moaned in protest at first, hoping that I was imagining things, but when the banging on the door came again, a little more impatient this time, I realized that not only did someone feel their existence here was urgent, but they probably also knew I was home.
“I’m coming!” I yelled as I put my soda can down and stood up. I certainly wasn’t in any hurry and as I made my way toward the door, I made a mental note of all the people I expected to be behind it.
The number one choice was a boyfriend of my mother, who would probably mistake me for another boyfriend and possibly try to knock me out.
That had actually happened before, which was a little awkward.
Granted, my mother didn’t exactly advertise that she has baggage that she herself tries to forget, so I supposed I should give the man the benefit of the doubt.
The second most likely person was going to be Valerie; I knew all too well that she hated confrontation. And with the way things ended earlier, it wouldn’t be too farfetched if she were to show up here and try to make amends, whether I wanted to or not.
Valerie had that effect on people. Well, she had that effect on me, specifically, but right now, even though I wasn’t looking for another fight, I was secretly hoping that she would give me a chance to explain.
Then again, after what I had said and what she had gotten from our argument earlier, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if she decided that she wanted to knock me out too.
After all, I did kind of deserve it and if she got her one good shot in, I was hopeful that it might lead to a speedier resolution, especially if she drew blood.
Valerie couldn’t hurt a fly and so, if her anger caused her to stray from her morals far enough so that when she hit me, it mattered, then she would instantly feel bad and would inevitably cause her to forgive me. That was just the way Valerie worked.
Finally, the third most likely option was, “Dalilah…Hi!” I said pleasantly as I opened the door, even though I was still really looking forward to the whole “being alone” objective.
Well, that ship has sailed, I thought as she pushed past me.
From the look on her face, I wasn’t quite sure if she was here to comfort me, or knock me out for some reason, just like options one and two.
“What happened to you today?” she demanded.
I knew that the confused look on my face didn’t help matters, especially when she was so volatile, but I couldn’t help the dumbfounded expression as I asked her, “What are you talking about?”
She growled loudly and began stomping back and forth. “We were supposed to meet up after school, you were supposed to bring me here, but you tore off just as soon as eighth period let out and you were gone!”
I smacked my head as I just now remembered our plans. “I am so sorry, Dalilah…I do remember now…” I groaned as I looked at her with an apology in my eyes.
“So, where did you go? What was so important that it made you forget your own girlfriend?” She demanded, now moving so close to my face that I felt the need to back up.
“Nowhere…Um…Here…” Then, feeling as though she wouldn’t stop killing me with her eyes until I told her the reason for my distress and stupidity, I added, “I’m sorry. I had a fight with my stepsister about my dad. It ruined the whole rest of my day and so anything after that kind of left me.” I shrugged as she moved closer, eyeing me with a careful, incriminating look. I stayed still and stared right back at her, unwaveringly.
After all, I had nothing to hide.
“I don’t believe you,” she announced suddenly, after a few long moments of contemplation, before she turned around and continued her stomping motion.
“What?” I declared in pure and genuine disbelief. “What do you mean, you don’t believe me? That’s what happened. That’s why I didn’t wait for you. I was distracted…” I sighed and allowed my shoulders to sag. The last thing I needed was this absurd interrogation.
“Is there another woman? Oh God…You are, you’re seeing someone else, aren’t you?” Her glower was somehow worse than Valerie’s but still didn’t hurt as bad, even though she was attacking my character.
I rolled my eyes and sighed. This wasn’t the first time that I had been down this road with Dalilah and I was sure, if she let it go any further, it would be another extremely long and aggravating ordeal. “No,” I answered her solidly. “There is no other woman…” I grasped her hands, pulling them just enough that she stopped and stared at me. When I finally had the full attention of her eyes, I assured in a voice that was both clear and stern, “There is no other woman, Dalilah.” I smiled, hoping that my honesty was proving itself. “I only have eyes for you.”
With that, her posture eased a little and she stared at me intently, as though once again trying to figure out whether or not I was telling the truth. Her lie detector wasn’t very good, since I had never lied to her a day in my life, but she seemed to think it was and tried to convince me that it was almost every time we fought.
It was at that moment I was left to her whim. This was the difficult part to Dalilah, but I supposed like with every relationship, you had to take the good with the bad.
“Okay…”
“And I’m sorry,” I said again. “I promise I will make it up to you.”
“Take me to the movies,” she demanded with just enough sweetness to sugarcoat the fact that this wasn’t a question. “There is a new movie coming out on Friday and I want to be one of the first to see it.”
I shrugged, just happy that I dodged a bullet that would have made for a very unpleasant evening. “That sounds like a plan.”