Thirty One

"So, why a date?" I asked as I gave up and walked by his side down the road.

"Well, this is just me working on making my intentions a reality."

"Intentions? What-" His hands grabbed my shoulders suddenly and before I could ask him what he was doing, I was standing by his left, his tallness acting as shade.
Feeling somewhat queasy, I gathered my arms and asked with a low voice, "What was that for?"

He gave a lazy shrug as our walk resumed. "I just wasn't comfortable with you being closer to the road."

" Oh." Gosh, why did that feel so warm to hear?
It was just a gesture and my entire being was already making it a big deal.

"So Ruby Powers..." From nowhere, his arm slung over my shoulders and I was being dug into his side again. "Where would you like to go for our date?"

I scoffed. " You planned a date but you have no venue? Way to go gangster." I gave up trying to get out of his hold. He was effortlessly strong at that moment, I couldn't win against him even if I tried harder.

" Before you go all sassy with me..." Mr. Klaus grinned as his free hand did a little dance in the air. " First, refer to me as ex-gangster. Second, I didn't plan anything because I want this date to be all about you. You choose the venue, you decide what we do, you know."

" No." I shook my head as it suddenly became a chaos from thinking about venues and activities. "I don't know."

*And I can't believe I am actually considering it!*

He chuckled, I felt the vibration, I held onto his hand around my shoulder before I knew it. I became instantly aware and proceeded to remove my hand before he noticed but he beat me to it.

As I glared at him for grabbing my hand, he made a kissing face and I just had to look in another direction.
That sight was too much for my hormones.

My poor, poor hormones.

"So, have you made up your mind about a venue?"

" Uh... I don't know." My eyes landed on the ground and I pondered, trying to see if I would recall any interesting sight.
I did.
My eyes lit up at the thought and as I looked his way, he wore curiosity on his face.

"I think you have something in mind."

Our feet dragged, piercing the quiet street with slight noise. " I do. But you might hate it. But then..."
I smiled grandly. " I don't care."

His brows did a slight lift as the curiosity on his face changed to amusement. "Try me Ruby Powers."

I cranked my neck as though about to fight in some wrestling ring. " Okay, Mr. Klaus. You asked for it.".

He chuckled. "You are stalling."

"No, I am not." My lips scrunched at him and he nodded teasingly before looking towards the other side, eyes wandering no particular place. That made me determined to prove him wrong.
"There is an ice cream shop down the street, I'll like to go there."
His brows did those lift again and I must say they made his eyes look more alluring. The brow lift appeared to lift something in his eyes and... I am not certain if that makes sense.
"What?"
I teased.
"Does gangster Adonis Klaus hate the thought of being seen licking ice cream?"

"Actually, I am looking forward to seeing you *lick* ice cream," he said, the tone of his voice dragging and the side of his lips tugged slightly into a smirk and my mind... my *wonderful* mind went straight to a certain racy video Abby and I watched out of curiosity during one of our sleepovers.

He noticed the change in my expression and let out a loud laugh before he looked towards the other side again.

Silence intruded the space and all that was heard was a random sound here and there from houses around and our feet never stopped making a weird rhythm out of our walking.

That was the situation until after a few minutes when a group of women who appeared to be in their late twenties started walking towards us. I noticed them first and I saw their eyes boring into the hold Mr. Klaus's had on my hand.

I was about to force my hand out of his hold when his head snapped towards me and he asked, "Why?"
I would have responded but there was this new look in his eyes. He must have been thinking about something that could cause him to have a look similar to that of a man whose heart and face wore coldness everywhere.
"Why?" he asked again, all serious, eyes still piercing into my soul.

"I-"

"Oh he is so handsome!" The women were now closer and they were not shy to express their admiration for Mr. Klaus.
He briefly looked their way and caused some distortion that lasted longer than his gaze.

When he looked my way again, I was observing the cemented walk path and thoughts flew in.
A slight graze of my chin with his finger got me angling my head in his direction.
"I like holding your hand, never try to let go of mine. Never."
It sounded like a warning but it wasn't.
Based on what I was seeing in his eyes, it was a plea and that got a crease of worry upon my forehead.

"Um..." The women's chattering interrupted my attempt to respond and before I could realize, his arm around my shoulder relaxed and he swiftly went to grabbing my right hand.

"Let's go," he said and our steps became faster, the women's chattering became distant, I couldn't be more grateful.

Few seconds later, our rapid steps slowed down and with our hands still entwined, we resumed became more relaxed.

"So... Mr. Klaus," I started a question on my mind.

"Adonis." He began to swing our hands as he corrected.

" Mr. Klaus." I insisted. " How did you come about being a gangster?"

" I was wearing a banner that said *gangster* when my mother gave birth to me."
He drew a dramatic breath.
" She knew then that I was destined to kill people and do all those gangster stuff. So, she dedicated me to a gang Lord instantly."
He wore a reminiscing look on his face and I just had to shake my head at his silliness.

How is this goofy man a gangster? He acts like a child. A cute child.

"How come you are not laughing?" he asked.

I shrugged. "It wasn't funny?"

He wore a sneer. "You are so insensitive. But to answer your question..."
He became serious again.
" My story about being in a gang is quite similar to those weird fictions women read."

" Which ones?"

" Those ones where a father owes a loan and gives his only daughter to a gang leader, that's the one."

I frowned. " How is that similar to your situation?"

" My father sold me to a gang leader when he became too indebted to him. And by gang leader, I mean the leader of the Xylem gang."

I am pretty sure I have heard the word *Xylem* in biology and I couldn't help but muse. "You were in a gang called Xylem gang? What did you guys do? Play with around with wood?"

" If that's your attempt at a joke, you are worse at it than I am."
I had to agree. What I said wasn't so funny.

" So, I am pretty sure I hated your father for selling you that way."

" Hmm..." He appeared to be thinking.
" In a way I was angry but I found life in the gang bearable and quite fun so I didn't complain. I became friends with the leader's sons and even though there were ugly days, some days were quite okay."

I watched as the side of his face clenched at certain intervals, his eyes evading mine and I guess he does that a lot when he wants to talk about things that are sensitive.

"Why did you leave?" I asked with a careful voice.
He put a stop to our walking and I feared I asked something I shouldn't.

"We are here," he announced montonously and I knew that question was not to be repeated till another day.

As I turned and look at past the designed glass that gave an opportunity to glimpse into the shop, my face lit up. "They have new flavours. I have to check them out."

I was already racing towards the entrance when he held me back. I had totally forgotten about our hands been attached to each other.

When he had me standing right beside him, he smiled and said, "Let's go in."

"I am quite surprised you are not complaining about being in an ice cream shop," I said as he pushed the door open for us. Surprisingly and in a good way, there were no customers.

" I like ice cream Ruby and I like other things too."

"Really? Like what?"

" You."

Oh my. My heart did that thing again.
It thumped so hard and I became lost for words, I just let him lead the way to the order counter.

"Hello." The woman behind the counter displaying samples of their delicacies greeted and as Mr. Klaus replied in return, her cat like eyes did a little dance.

"Uh... Ruby?"

"Yeah?" I watched as she looked towards me and her eyes lit with slight surprise.

" What flavour would you like to have?"

"Uh..." I skimmed through the list of new flavours they displayed through a large monitor. "Chocolate caramel cookie dough sounds good."

Mr. Klaus's wore a certain look after my request and I frowned at him. "I'll have the whiskey biz flavour please."

"Coming right away, will you be taking it in a bag?"

" Yes please." The lady wore a smile at him showing how comfortable she was around him. "There's a seat outside just behind the building. No one really uses it so we can go there."

" Oh. Alright. And I am not surprised that you chose a flavour that has the name whiskey in it."

He scoffed as he fetched a black card from his wallet. " You are so bent on making me seem like the gangster I used to be."

" A black card," I noted. " Mr. Klaus must be a loaded man, makes me wonder why he is teaching in a weird high school."

" Oh, beats me." He played with the teasing tone I started with, his eyes twinkling. "It surely has to do with this certain girl. I believe her name is Ruby-"

" Here you go," the attendants voice cut through our little silly conversation. "That'll be-"

Mr. Klaus nodded towards the card in his hand and she said nothing more, took the card, deducted whatever needed to be deducted and soon we were on our way to the back of the building, two tubs of ice cream in Mr. Klaus's hold.

True to his word, no one was at the back of the building, the wooden bench was looking as empty and without haste, I got rid of his hold on my hand, grabbed the nylon in his other hand and rushed towards the bench.

With cheer in his eyes, he watched as I took out my love of the moment and without delay, I grabbed the spoon and dug in.

Sitting beside me seconds later, Mr. Klaus did the same but I paid no attention to him. Like I said, my love at the moment was attached to the tub of ice cream.

"Ruby?" His gentle voice interrupted the heavenly feeling I was getting from the new flavour which will definitely be added to my list of favourite things.

"What?" His hand reached out and since it was directed towards my face, I became curious.
"What is it?" I asked again.

" There is something-"

"Don't tell me I have ice cream on my face! " I was about to wipe the width of my lips when his stretched hand stopped me. "Wh- what are you doing?"
He shifted closer, his attention fully on a portion of my lips.

The air became tense for me as he leaned in and his breath tickled me like that time at the party. It made that raciness happened again and I knew I had to put a stop to what he was doing.

"Mr. Klaus, you should stop. I'll-"

His eyes flicked my way in a rather sensual manner and I felt air in my lungs shiver.

"Do you know you make it obvious?"

"Wh- what?" I couldn't evade his stare. Not when it was that close.

"Everytime I speak of kissing you, each time I touch you... " His body shifted closer and I instantly felt weak, I couldn't block his body with my hands.

What is this effect the man is having on me? I should be in more control of this situation.

"Every time you I say certain things, you make it obvious that you are inexperienced."
I frowned. Now, he wants to talk about my virginity? What kind of... nonsense is that?
"It's a good thing though. It is intriguing."

" You-" His line of sight fell onto my lips again. Instantly, I felt certain warmth against the side of my lips and a quick lick that made my insides leap followed.

After a small sound ensued, Mr. Klaus threw his head back a bit and watched my reaction. But I had no certain reaction. I was taken aback, sure. But I couldn't really show the chaos inside me at that moment.

I was already contemplating walking away when his hand found my back, he drew me closer into his chest and before I knew it, those warmth from seconds ago landed on my lips.

My head was already doing some weird calculations when he began a journey. His lips explored mine, they urged mine to go along with the rhythm as did his hold on my waist.
But I had no idea what to do.

But one thing was certain, I was not willing to pull away. I can't believe that I admit that but that's the truth.

Instinctively, my still hands went around his neck and my fingers found the softness of his hair in the process and he responded by intensifying the kiss which was making everything within me fly without limits.

I was already admonishing myself to follow his actions when Jake's voice almost screamed my name.

Certain I was not in dream land, I broke the lip lock and met an intensely shocked pair of eyes that caused me to spring out of my seat. "Jake. I-"

"Come with me." He grabbed my hand and began to drag me to God knows where.

But as realization settled in, the only thing that stayed on my mind was; *I just kissed my teacher*.

That's not a terrible thing right?

I think it is.