Author: A. N. Senerella
Category: Young Adult
Go to read content：https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/a-n-senerella/page,9,76697-mine.html
The music grew slower and began to build up, something I knew meant a scare was coming. I placed my hand strategically on the armrest we shared and, when the scare happened, her hand flew to mine and grasped it tightly as she jumped.
She didn’t seem to notice, or rather she didn’t mind, but either way, her hand didn’t leave mine for the rest of the movie. My skin was warm where she was touching it, sending warm shivers of pleasure through my body. I hadn’t thought it possible to be this happy from someone touching me just a tiny bit, but it was. Because it was her.
At the end of the movie, her hand slipped from mine and I pouted internally. Anika grinned up at me as we made our way out of the theater. “That was such a good movie! I didn’t see half of the jump scares coming, and when they did, the effects were so detailed I would have thought it was real!” The enthusiasm in her voice brought a smile to my face. Her eyes glittered with excitement as she spoke, and she was gesturing with her hands. “I mean, seriously, when she got that acid dumped on her, I legitimately thought they’d dumped acid on the actor from the way the effects worked and how she reacted! The fact that there was no romantic subplot made it a lot better for me, too. I hate it when two people survive just because they served as a subplot.”
I nodded. There was really no need to reply. She was too excited to notice my silence; not that I minded.
“That might be my new favorite movie of all time,” she decided. Finally, once we had reached my car and I’d opened her door for her, she looked up at me and into my eyes. We’d hardly ever made eye contact, and when we did, I felt electricity coursing through me. “Thanks for the movie, Foster. I’m sorry I thought this wasn’t going to be fun.”
My chest fluttered a little bit and I smiled down at her. “Anytime, Anika.”
She smiled at me again and sat down in the car. I closed the door behind her and worked my way around to the driver’s side. This was perfect. This was how it was meant to be. Me, her, and happiness. I never wanted the day to end.
Anika talked nonstop about the movie on the way to the restaurant, and I listened closely. When she spoke, I couldn’t do anything other than soak up every word of it. She finally looked out of the window and blinked a few times in surprise. “Italian?”
“Yes.”
“You’re probably the most accurate guesser I’ve ever met.”
Well… sure. It could be considered that. “I do my best.” I smiled at her and we got out of the car. When we got inside, I let Anika pick the table, and she slid into the booth quickly.
Her eyes were so alight it was mesmerizing. How could one person be this perfect? I hardly noticed the waitress when she came over, giving her my order and keeping my eyes on Anika. “She’s very pretty,” Anika noted suddenly, sipping her soda.
I raised an eyebrow, completely unsure of what the context was, despite the fact that I was paying attention, or so I thought. “Who?”
“The waitress.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” I dismissed easily.
Anika snorted. “She definitely noticed you.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
She laughed. “Meaning she was trying to flirt with you. She looked pretty upset that you weren’t taking notice of it, too. Does that happen to you a lot when you go out?”
“I would imagine so, I guess. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Maybe if you weren’t so attractive you’d appreciate it a little more.”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “You find me attractive?”
“Yes,” she said slowly, picking her words carefully. “You’re definitely attractive. But me saying you’re attractive doesn’t mean I want to have sex with you or anything; it just means that I can appreciate the fact that you’re kinda hot. I’m not saying that to suggest I don’t like Brady, either.”
“That makes sense.” I smiled at her. The fact that she mentioned Brady bothered me a little, but it wasn’t her fault. It was Brady’s. He’d been so paranoid about today—rightfully so, I imagine—that he’d probably drilled it into her head to not give me any more attention than she needed to. Anika began sipping on her soda again, and I put the straw to my lips without much interest. The only thing that could even come close to having my attention was her.
The waitress came with our food after a while, and Anika’s eyes lit up a little when hers was set down.
I chuckled quietly. Despite the stereotype that girls hated food and avoided it, I knew very well that there were girls that loved food and eating in general. Personally, I’d never really liked girls who refused to eat in front of me. Girls who were willing to eat and just be natural with me were so much more appealing. Anika started in on her pasta, and we ate in silence for a while. Once more, it was a comfortable silence. No words really needed to be spoken between two people who were comfortable with each other, and that was a fact of life I truly enjoyed.
After a while, Anika looked up at me with a questioning look in her eyes.
“What is it?”
“Why are you so interested in me? I’m really not that special.”
Hearing her say that made me irritable. If she truly thought that, it meant someone had influenced her to think that way, and it made my stomach churn to know that she didn’t see herself the way I did. Then again, the days we had known each other had obviously left little to no impression on her; that much had been made clear on the first day. “Well,” I said slowly, thinking through what I wanted to say, “you’re… incredible. I watched you and Brady the first day I got there, and the way you just completely blew me off fascinated me. Then in class, when every girl had her eyes locked onto me, you had acted as if I was just another person. I don’t get treated like that often, and it was nice to experience. You say things sometimes that keep me thinking for a long time after you’ve said them, and you’re just overall interesting.” A smile slipped onto my face as I mentioned not being treated like that often; it was true. With my father’s status, it was hard to be treated like a normal person if they recognized my last name before I spoke to them. “I just can’t not be this interested.”
Light pink tinged her cheeks, sending satisfaction through my entire body. She smiled a little and looked down at her food again.
If it wasn’t for Anika, I probably wouldn’t have ever grown a spine. She was one of the first people in my life to treat me like I was someone worth protecting instead of just a trophy my father had to prove his legacy would continue. It wasn’t that I was obsessed with her; it was what she had done for me that had caught my attention. Perhaps initially when I came to visit, I had been in love with the idea of her rather than actually in love with her, but she’d changed that in the past months.
She’d probably be changing a lot more than that if she let me stay in her life.
Chapter 14
Anika
My eyes were closed and I was listening to Foster talk. He was just talking about music, but it was kind of nice to listen to him, even if I wasn’t listening to the actual words. His voice was surprisingly nice; I hadn’t realized that before. It was smooth and warm like chocolate, and its deep tone was relaxing. When he wasn’t being a total weirdo, he was actually fun to be around. I’d almost fallen asleep during the ride because of how soothing his voice was.
The car stopped and I could feel Foster looking at me.
Instead of making him decide whether to touch me or not to see if I was awake, I lifted my head and looked around.
He smiled at me. “We’re here.”
I stared. This… was his house? The ‘house’ in front of me was roughly twice the size of mine, and I had a nice house. “How many siblings do you have that you need this many rooms?”
“Hm? Oh, I only have the one brother, but he’s twenty and living on his own now.”
“Right.” I stared at the house.
He smiled at me and got out of the car. Foster made his way to my side and opened the door for me,
gesturing for me to step out. When I did, he smiled at me again then made a noise that sounded kind of nervous. “Ah… you aren’t… intimidated or anything, are you?” he asked slowly. “You look kind of overwhelmed. The house is just a show-off piece that my father wanted if that helps anything. I’m not materialistic.”
“What? No, I was just surprised, that’s all.”
He sighed and touched my waist lightly, nudging me toward the house. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
“What do your parents do?” I blurted randomly. Immediately, I wanted to retract the question.
“My father’s a major stockholder in a technology business; he builds computers and phones and designs apps. My mother walked out a long time ago, probably five or six years ago.” Five or six? He would have been eleven or twelve when she’d left, then. “I do remember that she was a biologist, though.” Jeez, his entire family was full of geniuses. “Now my older brother works in security; he designs security systems and helps track down hackers. Personally, I’m not all that interested in electronics, though I do seem to have a knack for playing around on them, as I’ve discovered recently.”
The tone in his last sentence made me a little suspicious, but I didn’t ask anything else. That explained the class he had with Mitchell, then.
Foster opened the door and let us in. “My father’s out for the day.”
“Do you have maids or something? There’s no way you maintain all of this on your own.” Jesus. Why did I keep asking questions?
He laughed, not visibly offended by my question. “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re comfortable with this. No, I don’t have maids. And as for your comment earlier, we only have five bedrooms in the house. Most of it is wasted space, honestly. I keep up on maintaining it for the most part. It would be nice to have someone else in the house, though.” I felt his eyes wander to me but I was too busy looking around the living room. Though it was bigger, it wasn’t any more elaborate than mine was. Foster touched my lower back to get my attention and I jumped a little. Disappointment tinged his eyes. “You don’t like it here?”
“What? That’s not it. I’m just surprised is all.”
His eyes shifted around the room. “Like I said, I’m the only one in the house most of the time. I don’t like extravagant luxuries or any of that; they don’t make people happier. Really, when I move out of here, I plan to move into a house more closely resembling yours, granted that the person I live with during that time agrees.”
I nodded. Something was bothering me about this, though; had he invited me to his house just to show me he had money? He owned an average car and never wore flashy clothing, so there was really no way for me to have guessed it on my own. Why had he asked me to come here?
Foster’s hand slipped down to hold mine.
I raised an eyebrow at him. What was he doing?
His eyes settled on the ground, and he shifted a little on his feet. Was he nervous? “I was homeschooled for most of my life, and because of that, along with the straight-out neglect from my parents, I’m socially… strange. I know you find me creepy, but in all honesty, I don’t know any other way to interact with someone or show my affection.” He took a deep breath before looking at me again, and his eyes were hesitant. “I’m not really the best at anything involving other people, and I’m not great with celebrating things, but I tried to make something. It’s not something I think you’ll really love, and I struggled a little making what I did make, so…” His voice trailed off.
What was he talking about?
Foster led me to his kitchen and I was surprised to see a small cake on the table. “Like I said… it’s not… great or anything, but…”
I hugged him.
He stiffened in surprise at my sudden action, but his arms wrapped around me a moment later.
“That’s really sweet of you, Foster. I love it. Thank you.” I’d never really celebrated my birthday like this. No one had made me a cake before, not a handmade one anyway, so for him to have made one for me when he seemed so unsure of his cooking abilities meant a lot to me. Because of his height compared to mine, I could hear his heartbeat, and it was rather fast. He seriously had been nervous that I wouldn’t like it. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek gently, trying to be friendly and show my appreciation of the cake and his efforts toward making it. “That was really thoughtful of you, and no one has ever baked me anything. Thank you.”
Foster’s face was tinged slightly pink but he was grinning at me widely, his eyes alight with happiness. “You really like it?”
“Yeah.” I smiled.
We ended up taking the cake into the living room, and it was surprisingly good. For someone who claimed he didn’t know how to cook, he sure as hell could. I was able to eat one and a half pieces of cake before I was full, and Foster had seemed thrilled when I’d asked for a second piece. We were seated on his couch now, and he was watching me. He was always watching me.
“I appreciate you letting me treat you today,” he said eventually.
Seriously? He’d spent the entire day doing things I wanted to do, and he was thanking me? I leaned my head on his shoulder in response and I heard his breath get a little shaky.
“I know you’re dating Brady,” he murmured slowly, “but I want to let you know that kissing you was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Heat swirled in my cheeks a little bit.
“I’d… like to do it again, if I could.”
My heart sped up. This was why he brought me here, I was certain of it now. He wanted me completely alone in a place where there were no other people, and he was going to try to get me to change my mind and be with him. And yet, I didn’t quite feel like it would be a bad thing.
“Not now, of course.” His tone was reflective, and it soothed my nerves. “I’d only kiss you again if you asked me to or if you and Brady were no longer together. But that doesn’t lessen the desire to kiss you in any way, especially when you’re with me like this.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I didn’t say anything.
“If you want to leave after hearing me say that, I’ll understand, Anika. I wouldn’t take it personally.”
Slowly, I nodded, realizing it would probably be better if I left.
Foster stood up and smiled at me, but he couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face, even if it was only in his eyes. “Alright. I’ll drive you home, then.”
The drive back to my house was quiet. This silence was different from the silence earlier. There was more tension in the air this time. Finally, we pulled up to my house, and I could tell Foster wanted to say something. “I… um, got you something. I know you really don’t like receiving things, but I wanted to get you something anyway.”
“You already did so much for me today,” I murmured.
“I don’t feel like it was enough.”
I didn’t say anything. There was no point in arguing with him; I was starting to understand that Foster was the kind of guy who wouldn’t stop doing what he wanted, no matter what anyone said.
Foster pulled out a small box from his pocket and offered it to me. “I was going to get you a hoodie, but I thought that would be a little too obvious.”
I took the box and opened it. Inside was a simple but very pretty necklace. It had a normal silver-colored chain, but on it was a dog tag with the word “penguin” written on it in cursive. I’d forgotten about my conversation with him last week; he’d kept asking me questions, and in my desperation to get him to stop, I’d just listed off random facts, one of them being that my favorite animal was a penguin. There was a little penguin engraved into the dog tag as well next to the word. “It’s beautiful,” I murmured quietly, tracing over the penguin with my finger. “You seriously do listen to everything I say, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
I leaned across the car and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek again. “You’re an amazing friend, Foster. Thank you f
or everything.”
He smiled at me. “Anytime.”
When I walked inside, Brady’s arms went around me immediately. “He didn’t try anything, right?”
I sighed. “He was just friendly.”
Brady let out a sigh of relief. “What’s in the box?”
“A necklace. He got it for me.”
“Can I see?”
Brady pulled out the necklace and his face twisted when he saw it.
“What?”
“It says ‘Foster’ on it, Anika. It has his name on it. Are you seriously going to wear this?”
“What?” I repeated, taking the necklace from him. Sure enough, on the back of the dog tag, the word “Foster” was engraved in beautiful writing. “I didn’t notice that when I took it. On the front it’s just a penguin and the word ‘penguin’.”
Brady’s look didn’t change.
“Yes, I’m going to wear it,” I said finally, realizing what he was waiting for.
“Why? You’re mine. Not his.”
“Because it was a gift, and I accepted it because of the penguin thing. Plus, I lost my actual penguin pendant a couple months ago, and that was really devastating to me, so I need something else to wear.”
Brady went quiet for a moment. “I didn’t know you like penguins.”
He didn’t? Surely I’d mentioned it at one point or another… right? If I’d mentioned it to Foster, I’d definitely mentioned it to Brady. A question that had been bugging me since lunch crept into my mind. “Brady, why do you like me so much?”
“You’re gorgeous, Anika. You make me laugh, and you’re kind, and you’re so different from anyone else. You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, Anika.”