Josiah Marquez Part 3

"Your friend is quite the charmer, isn’t he?"
"And yours?"
"True! I hope they get along..."
"Will they? She always tells us to 'go fuck ourselves' whenever she can."
"Really?" she laughed, biting her upper lip and looking at me over her eyes. Damn! "She’s a good person..."
"Did you know each other before?"
"No! I met her yesterday, but it feels like we've been friends forever," she said, opening her backpack to get a notebook.
"That’s how it was with Bernardo. I sat next to him in fifth grade, and he stuck to me and never left me alone. He lives at my place, just short of calling Marta 'mom'..."
"Who’s Marta?" she asked, letting something fall from her backpack while pulling out a notebook with fruit patterns on a pink background.
"My mom," I said, bending down to pick up the object.
I held the book between my fingers as she tried to snatch it away quickly. Curious, I lifted it well above my head, seeing her worried little eyes.
"Throne of Glass?" I asked, seeing her face turn completely red.
"It’s just a fantasy..." she murmured, seeming resigned as I read the synopsis.
Just a fantasy book with a badass assassin? No! There had to be something more...
"Why so concerned about a fantasy?" I asked, placing the book on the desk in front of her.
"Isabela lent it to me..." she whispered. "There’s nothing! I told you..."
Then she reached out with her small, perfect fingers toward the book, but something in those eyes intrigued me. I leaned in, pinning her shoulders with mine and grabbing the book. I opened the first page and read the handwritten dedication, watching the girl turn as red as a tomato.
"‘Get ready to cry, smile, and wet your panties with this saga. No love, Isa!’"
"Wet your panties?" I asked, laughing softly as she slammed the book shut, glaring at me.
"I don’t like people snooping through my things!" she warned, closing her face and looking hurt.
"Don’t be mad, Sweetie! It was too tempting."
Ana didn’t respond. She pouted for most of the class, writing the notes with such force that she almost tore the paper.
I watched her furious expression, enjoying how it made her even more beautiful. I slid my arm over the back of her chair, seeing her flinch as I wrapped my fingers around her left shoulder, feeling her warm, soft skin. Her body, which had been completely stiff before, relaxed, and she softened her once furrowed eyebrows. I moved my face close to her ear, absorbing how she blushed with embarrassment. I inhaled the pleasant scent escaping from those shiny waves around her head.
"Let’s go to my place today? We can watch a movie..." I whispered, lightly brushing my lips over the lobe of her ear.
Ana breathed through her mouth, startled, but didn’t pull away from my touch.
"I need to ask my aunt..." she said, clasping her hands tightly and hiding them under the desk.
"Let’s go right after class!" I said, ending the contact and enjoying the way she seemed lost, loving how the girl responded to the slightest touch of my body. "See you on the bus?"
"Yes..." she whispered, looking at me with fascination.


***


I had to watch Ana say goodbye to Isabela from a distance while I stood in front of the school bus. Bernardo had already left with his mom, who came to pick him up by car. The redhead went on her way, but not before giving me the middle finger wrapped in a red band-aid. I shook my head, laughing... That Isabela was quite a character. Was she jealous of her friend?
"I texted my aunt, and she said I could go to your house," Ana said, stopping shyly in front of me.
Ana held the straps of her backpack as I let her board the yellow bus with black stripes first. She was about to sit in the first row, but I walked past her, pulling her by the hand to the back row.
We traveled in silence, while I watched every reaction of her perfect body. She kept blushing, her eyes wide open between deep breaths. So cute!
When we arrived at my house, I looked for my mom in every room, but found a note stuck to the huge stainless steel fridge in the kitchen:
“Went to pick up Lu from college, then we’ll stop by the store. Kisses, Mom!”
I noticed my classmate was observing everything, curiously surveying the surroundings. I guided her through the hallway with light wood doors and white baseboards, leading her to the only black door in the house. Ana seemed very shy as I left her in my room, looking completely uncomfortable.
I rushed to the kitchen, grabbing Cheetos and a few cans of Coke. I was afraid she might bolt at any moment. When I placed the items on the nightstand, I flopped onto the bed, making it bounce. Ana stood frozen on the crocheted hexagon rug in nighttime shades. I patted the bed next to me, inviting her to sit.
Man... I wasn’t trying to be a jerk or anything. But where else would she sit? It would be random to tell her to sit at the desk chair.
Ana took off her shoes before obeying the command, walking in socks to sit next to me on a double bed with a black padded headboard and an orange Dragon Ball Z cover. When she sat at the edge of the bed, timidly, I leaned back on the big pillows and pulled her into my arms, pressing her back against my chest. I turned on the TV with the remote, feeling her body completely rigid against my arms.
"Relax..." I said, running my hand over her belly to hug her. "We’re just going to watch a movie! I don’t want anything more than to spend time with you..."
"I want to take it slow!" she whispered, not looking at me or moving.
"Of course! As I said, I just want to be with you. What do you want to watch?"
"I don’t know, maybe a romantic comedy?"
I gave a small laugh. Predictable?
I chose a movie where a couple had to live together to raise their deceased friends' daughter. Even though the film was funny, right at the beginning, when the couple of friends died, I had the impression I saw Ana cry.
I pulled her into a spooning position and gently stroked the small strands of hair around her forehead, hardly paying attention to anything but her. I would take away her pain if I could because, deep in those huge eyes, there was nothing but sadness.
She swallowed all her reactions, smiles, and eager, interested eyes on the LED screen attached to the wall, her mouth getting messy with the cookie as she licked her fingers, distracted, not even realizing she was teasing me. Why was I so taken by this girl? Ana was beautiful, perfect, but I felt something so deep in my chest that it was incomprehensible.
At one point, she laughed and looked at me, breaking the spooning position, clearly wanting to share the joke she was watching. But when she noticed I was watching her, she became serious. I traced her lips with my eyes, eager to lick all the crumbs around, but I remembered her request. Slowly...
So I slowly leaned in toward her face, seeing her gasp, her honey-colored eyes filled with anxiety as they stared at my lips. I gave a small laugh, defying her expectations and grabbing a can of Coke from next to her head on the nightstand.
Ana sensually licked her lower lip, looking disappointed but taking the situation in stride.