Page 38 of Unspoken Words
Placing his hand on his chest, he sang that if he were to give me his heart it would be completely or he’d never give it. He then removed the distance between us and placed his hand on the small of my bare back, the warmth of his fingertips near searing my skin. “You have my heart, Eloise. Always. And forever. It’s the only heart you’ll ever need.”
I believed him in that moment.
Boy, did I believe him.
Chapter Eleven
Connor
It was safe to sayI was a boob-man. It was also safe to say Ellie had the best set around. Apart from her kryptonite eyes and spicy red hair, her boobs were my favourite part of her body. I could stare at them all day every day, and not just stare: the way they bounced into the palms of my hands and how her nipples slipped between my teeth when I—Jesus!Where was a cold fish when you needed one slapped across your face? Where was my good ol’ pal Trevor Trout? I had to stop thinking about last Friday night when Ellie and I nearly made love after watchingSleepless in Seattle, because if I didn’t stop those vivid thoughts from playing havoc with my mind and body, I’d have a rather abrupt boner in the middle of history class, which wasn’t exactly respectable. But fuuuuck me we’d come close to going all the way. The closest we’d come yet. I was ready—nervous as hell, but more than ready.
I loved Ellie as much as I could love a person. She loved me, too, and told me all the time. She’d told me last Friday night and waited for me to say it back to her, but I won’t, no matter how much it breaks me to see her hurt when she doesn’t hear it. I don’t want her to give me her virginity simply because I can say three meaningless words. To me, ‘I love you’ was worthless when spoken because lovewasn’tspoken. It was shown.
“Hey, Connor. Earth to Connor.”
Snapping out of my love-troubled titty trance, I focussed on Lilah who was slowly waving her hand in front of my face, long black fingernails centimeters from gauging the skin on my nose.
“Sorry.” I leaned back into safer territory. “Did you say something?”
“Yeah. I said the answer to question four is Menes. Honestly, this is supposed to be ateamexercise.” She pulled a bug-eyed face. Or maybe she didn’t. Maybe the magnification of her reading glasses lens made it look like she was eye-bugging me. Either way, it was a look of contempt.
“Ah shit! I’m the worst history partner ever.”
“Naaa.” She smiled and nudged my shoulder with hers. “I could do worse.”
“You think?”
“Sure. I could be partnered with Matt.”
We both scanned the classroom until our eyes landed on Matt Duncan. I subdued a laugh and scribbled the word Menes onto my project sheet. “Yeah, fair call.”
“I know, right?”
Matt was snoring like a cartoon character, his head hung back, mouth open and leaking drool. I wasn’t sure how long he’d been like that, but when the bell rang, Mrs Robichaux gave his shoulder a light shake and asked him to stay behind so that they could have a chat about his sleeping habits.
We packed up our supplies and headed out of the classroom.
“So, will I see you tonight at the Eastside High School production?” Lilah asked.
“You’re going?”
“Of course. Tristan has a minor role, so Mum and I will be there.”
“Really? I didn’t know Tristan was into that kind of thing.”
“He isn’t, normally. Let’s just say Mum nearly fell off her seat when he told her.”
I tried to smile at her response, but I couldn’t help wondering why Ellie hadn’t mentioned Tristan’s involvement. The play had been all she’d talked about for the past few months. She had a lead role, not to mention she’d written lyrics to an original song that the cast and school band were going to perform somewhere toward the end of the play. She was so excited and proud, and so was I.
“Anyway,” Lilah said, her voice trailing off. “If I don’t see you tonig—”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
The corners of her mouth lifted, her eyelids fluttering like a moth taking flight. Lilah had an exotic beauty about her: dark eyes, dark hair, ruby red lips, and thick heavy eyebrows, and her chest—like my Ellie’s—was more than ample. It captured the attention of many guys at school because she wore dark-coloured bras under the flimsy see-through material of our senior uniform shirt. The contrast was hard to miss.
Lilah didn’t seem to care nor had she showed interest in any of the guys at school. She wasn’t really interested in anyone apart from the teachers … and me. We were the only people she talked to.
“Connor, is everything all right?” she asked. “You’ve been preoccupied our entire history class.”
