Chapter 7 Back In Time

• I went back in time to middle school, when we gave Tyrone a makeover at one of Kelvin's sleepovers. Tyrone never really recovered from that horrific event, and his bedroom door was later locked. Although Taylor was just trying to fit in, acceptability was everything in middle school, so I did try to warn my best buddy about Victoria's antics. At that time, Tyrone was the target of all the sixth-grade ladies' crushes, who claimed to be her best friends to flirt with him at her sleepovers.
• However, every time I stayed over at Taylor's place, he would grin, wagging his eyebrows, or whisper a sweet comment into my ear while his sister was not seeing.
• That was its beginning.
• It seemed as though he had grown tired of playing practical jokes on me and saw how easily I blushed at his corny praises. I wasn't at all interested in Tyrone during middle school because I was too preoccupied with dealing with the guilt I carried around from my father's passing.
• I believed that my youthful infatuation with him had passed, as I had forcedly grown up after realizing the damaging nature of love at the age of ten. I only needed to look at my mother's damaged body to understand the damage that love's opposite can bring to a person. I suppose I simply stopped seeing Tyrone that way, losing sight of the amount of attention he gave me and ignoring his flushed cheeks whenever I gave him a kind gesture.
• I forced my eyes open and took a quick look around the classroom before going back to one of the most excruciating places in my mind. Good, I thought to myself as I saw that all of the sleeping students were the cause of the quiet in the classroom. I closed my eyes, using my arms as a pillow, and found myself pulling out a single, bittersweet recollection. My mind was forced to revisit the recollection of my prior interaction with Tyrone despite my heart's loud protests and tight clenching.
• I had hazy memories of spending the first several weeks of our freshman year staying at Taylor's place. Taylor was busy putting up the movie and had made some snacks. She wanted to take a quick shower before we gathered in her room, so we decided to take a brief break. I was left with no alternative but to knock on Tyrone's bedroom door and ask to use his bathroom to get ready for bed while she went to use her ensuite bathroom.
• He called out from within his room, "Come in!"
• With hesitation, I entered the room and noticed Tyrone playing a violent video game while shirtless and only wearing striped pajamas. This made my cheeks somewhat red.
• He gave me a big smile and said, "Oh hey Sera," stopping his game. "What brings you into my room? Couldn't resist me?"
• He walked over to me, and I rolled my eyes. He leaned over me to see out of his room, and I tilted my head to the left.
• "Is Tay having a shower?"
• I gave a brief nod and attempted to move by him, but I stumbled over his bare feet and my huge glasses fell off my face. I got to my feet as quickly as I could and felt ashamed as I looked for my spectacles. Tyrone may have thought I was unsteady because he grabbed my arms to support me without noticing how near we were.
• His normally sea-green eyes were dominated by blue as they surveyed my face. "Are you okay, baby?" he asked.
• His warm air brushed my cheeks as he let out a low whistle, and the closeness between us startled me.
• I attempted to say, "What?" but all I could manage was a breathless murmur.
• His fingers trembled uncomfortably over his short hair, causing it to fall back into his forehead. "Sorry, it's hard to imagine you without glasses because you wear them all the time," he said.
• I asked, blotting my sweaty fingers on my shorts, "Is that a bad thing?"
• "No, definitely not bad. Just different."
• His gaze lingered on my balanced features. Although I was informed my glasses made my eyes look big, I didn't care that I was blind as a mole and preferred to see plainly.
• I stumbled, feeling self-conscious and stroking my naked face. "What kind of difference?" I asked.
• Whispering, "The pretty kind," he lifted a thumb to stroke my lower lip.
• Breathlessly, I whispered to him, "Really?"
• With a nod, Tyrone cleared his throat. I tried to take my eyes off of his, but I believe he wasn't trusting himself to talk. My basic understanding of breathing was being chased away by the enticing gaze he had on me. I could still hear myself saying out loud, "In and out, breathe, in and out." His ocean-blue eyes glistened with waves of sea green, illuminating them with amusement before they slightly darkened and lost their whimsical quality.
• I ought to have anticipated it. In the months preceding that day, we had shared many memorable experiences, particularly at the Davis family's beach house. My summer was spent with the twins, their parents, and Mark for six weeks, and I could not count on two hands how many times Tyrone and I had come dangerously close to sharing a kiss, only to have his sister break us up.
• However, none of our previous interactions had left me feeling as speechless and out of breath as Tyrone did when he left me in his room that evening.
• With one hand still holding my spectacles and the other tucking a wayward curl behind my ear, he said, "Sera..."
• I wanted to yell at him to stop, to go away, to kiss me fast, and to kiss me carelessly. I had no idea what I desired. I was trying to think of a response, but the feel of his breath on my lips caused my mind to race.
• His unsure gaze lingered on my mouth, "May I?" I attempted to shake my head, but it seemed as heavy as lead, so he raised it and tilted my chin up with his thumb and fingers.
• I was so confused that I said nothing at all, inadvertently giving him the go-ahead to continue.
• A gentle stroke caused a wave of tingles to shoot from my lips to my toes and back again. My chest popped up and then fell back down so hard that I felt it would burst before it expanded once more. I leaned back against the wall as his lips brushed against mine once more. An intense feeling of bliss made my toes curl. Tyrone loomed over me, his lips shakily caressing mine, and it supported all of my weight. I thought I would shatter into a thousand glass pieces at the tenderness of his touch. Removing a mere centimeter, I sensed his grin before hearing it in his tone.
• "You have no idea how long I've waited to do that–"
• Before it sounded much closer, a different voice interrupted him, originating from the next door.
• "Sera! Movie time!"
• Taylor's damp hair appeared and Tyrone leaped away from me faster than the speed of light. When she kicked the door open and wrinkled her delicate nose at me, it hung about her waist like a thick, braided rope.
• "I was just, u-umm, I was..." I stammered, my first kiss had left me a trembling wreck.
• Taylor interrupted me with, "Whoa, were you in here the entire time I was showering?" She narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow, the same ones I had just lost myself in.
• Observing the two youngsters closely, I saw that their eye color was the only feature about them that ever altered continuously, despite their disparity in height. It never ceased to remind me of the ocean, whether it was a serene sea green or a tranquil ocean blue. All that mattered was how they felt.
• "I had to take a dump?" I asked, chuckling nervously as I met Tyrone's big eyes and his stiff shoulders eased. A frightened bark of laughter shot through his raspy voice.
• I hadn't even taken a shower when Taylor grabbed my wrist and yanked me out of the room, saying, "Ew! Too much info Sera!"
• I was unable to focus on anything other than how my lips were aching, throbbing, and craving for more during the movie. Even though Tyrone hadn't French-kissed me, I could feel his velvety lips pressing against mine, making me want much more than just a quick kiss. My cheeks burned as I recalled the dark yearning in his gaze, and I couldn't stop replaying the kiss.
• I glanced at Taylor and felt a wave of remorse that made me freeze. I became frightened. I let him kiss me, but why?
• The door sprang open in the middle of the film, and Tyrone leaped into the room, bouncing off the massive bed with a forceful bounce. While my closest friend was screaming for him to get off, I just gripped the side of the bed and tried not to fall off while trying to quiet my racing heart.
• Curling into his sister's arms, Tyrone begged, "Can I watch the movie with you guys? I'm so bored." But his sister pushed him away.
• His sister gave him a half-hearted frown and yelled, "No! Get out of my room Ty! You're ruining the movie for god's sake!"
• She softened and her determination quickly waned as he pouted, letting his lower lip tremble. "Oh come on Tay-Tay, I won't make a sound, I promise!"
• She pressed her lips together and exhaled slowly.
• "Fine, you can stay, but only if you keep quiet and sit on the floor."
• Tyrone winced and shot a tense look at me before returning his focus to his sister.
• "The floor? Why can't I sleep in the bed with you two?"
• "Because Sera doesn't want you to," Taylor chuckled, giving me a thank-you look before smirking smugly at her brother.
• He threw himself onto the bed and crawled on top of me before I could resist, his warm hands clasping my face.
• His serious eyes belied the anxious smile that almost stopped me in my tracks. "Do you mind if I sleep between you and Tay?" he asked.
• "No?" I stumbled out as I felt his hands heat my cheeks.
• Tyrone squirmed his head at his twin, "See!" and fell on the ground between us, crawling beneath the covers.
• We watched the rest of the movie in silence, my heart banging against my chest so loudly I was afraid they would both hear it. When Tyrone's hand discovered mine under the covers toward the end, I gasped a little. He turned to face me, his cheeks slightly flushed as he smiled, his mouth dimpled and crooked. I sighed happily in response, curling my fingers around his.