Eva

Louis dropped Liam off at his house and I thought he was going to drive me back home when he turned around in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going? I thought you were taking me home?"

Louis squinted, looking to the road than glancing at me quickly. "Change of plans."

His hand came over my thigh as he drove up Santa Monica Blvd. I had an amused look on my face. I had no idea where he was taking me but at the same time it was kind of exciting.

Call me a retard but I liked stuff like this. As boring as my life was before Harry Styles entered my life and fucked with it, I still had massive enthusiasm for thrilling things. I looked at Louis trying to decipher what was going on in his head. I came up blank. It seems like Louis is an unpredictable guy, a bit spontaneous, which is was I like about him.

He pulled into an In-N-Out Burger and I stifled a giggle. This is my favorite place to eat at. How did he know?

"You're precious Louis. Gosh, I haven't been here in forever." He pulled into the drive-through line behind a bunch of shiny SUVs.

"This is all I eat. I thought you might like it too." He smiled, I had an urge to kiss his cheek for doing this but I held back. I guess I was a bit nervous still. Louis is painfully gorgeous, I keep forgetting until I look directly at him. I don't want to be my lame self and scare him off.

I want to take my time with this, least this is the safe way to do it. I think Louis wants the same, I don't think he'd rush anything. I've been waiting for so long for him to say he likes me, now it's finally here. I have him, he's here. I just couldn't believe it.

It's hitting me. Wow.

Tears were forming at the brim of my eyes. I hid them from him.

"Are you OK? You want to go somewhere else?" He asked, his voice trying to get me to look at him.

I had to make sure all of my tears were tucked back before I turned around. Whew, now it's safe.

"No, I don't. Everything is fine." Louis leaned closer to me. We were alone; I shivered at what he might do.

His lips pressed against my cheek, lingering there for a moment. He was so close I felt if I might turn my head and close the gap between us. My eyes watched his movements and he just pulled away slowly, his eyes locked on me.

"You're with me finally. Relax babe. You're taken care of. I'll do my best to keep you smiling. I am quite good at that."

I blushed hard, looking down. He picked my chin up, licking his lips. "And make you turn that beautiful shade of red."

I smiled and sucked in my lip. He was also a pro at making me nervous. Fuck. I need to compose myself, the way he looked at me, it wasn't the same way Harry did. Why was I thinking about Harry again? What was so interesting about Harry Styles when I have Louis right in front of me? I don't get it.

Louis was so wonderful. The way he looked at me now, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and he'd hold me.

"You know how to do that easily." I said, the words flowing of me. I looked into his eyes, he smiled cupping my cheek.

"Only around people I like a lot." A horn behind us beeped and Louis pulled apart from me. He looked ahead in front of him and drove up closer; we were almost at the front.

We ordered our food and Louis started to drive near PCH and I smelled the ocean breeze tickling my nose once again. God I love this date already! As simple as it was I didn't care. It was enough.

He drove to a place where families came for picnics and tourist sightings all around. Anything near Santa Monica is heaven. He drove where some benches were. It was still near the coast and that smell was just intoxicating my senses. I was holding the tray of food but Louis took it, shushing me. I was told to sit still and close my eyes. I was being stubborn but I did what he told me. I heard rustling in the back seat.

I actually kept my eyes closed the entire time. I'm so proud of myself. I started giggling when Louis began to take off my shoes and socks so I could stand on the soft sand. When I stepped out I felt the sand sink me as I struggled to stand up straight. Louis took my hand and helped my out of the car.

"OK love, hold onto me. Keep those beautiful eyes closed." He whispered in my ear.
"I am so gonna smack you if a sea urchin nips my feet."

He moved to my ear so close I thought I felt the tip of his tongue touching my ear. "Never to both. Only the best for you."

A couple more steps and we stopped. "OK, now sit down right…there, yeah OK." I felt something soft, like a beach towel blanket hit my bottom as I sat down getting comfy.

My eyes were still closed damn it. This boy is driving me crazy.

He got close to my ear again, his breath tickling me. "Open them babe."

I opened them finally and my god, this was just gah! I looked at Louis and he actually brought a wicker picnic basket. I grinned from ear to ear and hugged him tightly, so tight I knocked him over.

He laughed and we rolled over sitting on our elbows, looking at each other. "Thank you. You're so sweet." I said softly.

He cleared his throat. "Let's eat." That was the cue I needed as he brought out the tray from inside the basket for us.

As we drove in our food I couldn't help but hide my face. I was a bit uneasy eating in front of him. Maybe he wasn't used to someone who enjoys eating as much as I do. I assumed he wasn't.

I saw he got me a strawberry milk shake and I took a long sip, moaning. I was halfway done with my burger when he threw a French fry at me; it landed right in my cleavage. I fished it out and caught him staring directly at my chest. I pointed the long fry at him like it was a finger.

"Very funny jerk face."

Louis pouted; I rolled my eyes and threw a bunch of my fries on him. I stuffed the last bit of my burger in my mouth. I noticed he had more fries than I did. Oh no. I read his mind quickly.

"You wouldn't fucking dare."

"I may or may not. Or I would." He threw nearly all his fries on my head, getting my hair all greasy.

After I got over the shock I looked at what I could dump over him and grabbed the shake, taking off the top, holding it up like a weapon, my legs trying to trap him.

"Say mercy." I knew it was a good one because his face turned stark white underneath me.

My legs were now straddling him. Oh the power.

"Haha, you like me so much. How could you mess up this face?" He pouted once again but that didn't stop me.

I turned the cup over, dumping the rest of the sticky contents over his face, his hair getting drenched in the pink liquid. He looked at me shocked, unable to speak.

"You actually did that." His jaw dropped. I couldn't tell if he was serious or being funny.

It was so funny when he spoke because part of the sticky liquid came off his lips and sputtered in the air. I moved away fast as he came toward me, wiping at his face to see.

"Yes. I. Did." I said triumphantly, but my body moved when he came to grab me. I was too quick for his hands and hid behind the car.

I took a few breaths and relaxed. I heard a noise and felt a cold, hard stream of water hit my jeans roughly and turned around.

Louis held a super soaker in his hand. My god he planned all this. I had to get away. He fired at me and got me wet every time he shot the trigger. Damn it. He's too fast with that thing. It's like he went to super soaker school or something.

When the gun was nearly out of water he took the jug off the end and faked a move, I went the other way and he finally caught me in his arms. He held me from the behind loosely. I turned my face, wondering what he was going to do next. His lips began slowly moving toward mine; I didn't stop my motions as I closed my eyes. I smelled my strawberry shake on his lips the closer I moved. My breathing slowed, my bottom lips brushed his and suddenly, I felt my entire head freeze from cold water. I barely saw anything when I wiped what I could from the blurriness he caused.

I was so pissed I pushed him hard and he fell right on his butt on the blanket laughing so hard he didn't see my face. I was pretending to be mad of course but I hated to lose. I was so close to winning. I sat down and folded my arms, hoping he'd look at me finally. His laughing slowed down as he sat up, I still turned my back to him, not wanting to crack a smile or anything.

His arms snaked themselves around my waist and he pulled me to him, the same position we were before.

He pulled that goofy face again. Jesus, I can't take it.

I gave in, laughing finally; his face was so serious I had to break my faux anger. But he was actually being serious now. He looked at me in slow motion, smiling and taking my cheek in his palm. My face was completely still. I raised my eyebrow when his lips pressed a thin line. A tell he was serious.

Oh. My. God.

He looked at my lips then in my eyes, moving closer. "Can I kiss you Eva?" His was voice barely above a whisper with his innocence dripping everywhere.

"Yes…" I breathed. His mouth moved closer and closer until I felt the softness of his lips caress mine.

My toes shivered and curled simultaneously as we fell together on the blanket, our lips never pulling away. He moved my damp hair from my face as he rolled his body on top of me, careful not to put all his weight over me. His chest touched mine making me feel his heart hammer erratic beats against mine. I couldn't believe this was happening. I felt like I was having an out of body experience or a dream coming true. He was my dream.

Time didn't matter. My own life didn't matter. Kissing Louis was everything I hoped it would be and more. Who knew behind all those wise cracks, perverted quips and booming theater voice lies a passionate lover begging to be set free. I am proud to say I have. I wanted to keep going, but I felt cold when his lips elevated to my forehead, kissing the corners, down to my temple, feeling his warm breath covering the spots before his lips touched them.

He pulled back, his eyes closed, mine were slightly open and they focused when his eyes finally opened. I reached up, kissing him gently when he smiled against me. I pulled away, moving my nose against his. We lingered for a long moment. His breathing making mine shallow. I took in a sharp breath.

"I waited so long to do that. Wow." His voice was full of raw passion that I just wanted to bathe in it forever.

He moved over and leaned back on his elbow, looking at me. His hair was just as wet as mine; I know I messed it up so I reached over, touching the ends with my fingertips.

I moved some hair that fell in his face so I could see his gorgeous eyes. The ones I longed to stare into since I first saw him.

What a wild memory that was. He looked at me with a familiar gaze and it triggered again, just like it was yesterday.

I made my way through the brand spankin' new halls of John Adams High. It was the first day of school and I didn't want to be late. I was so nervous I kept staring at my schedule of classes like I had a tick. I didn't know anyone here and I was a bit scared to ask for directions. Being a freshman is the pits. My new backpack bunched up behind me tightly. I could feel the sharp spiral notebooks weighing down hard on my back as I tried to focus.

I managed to find my locker, damn it; these administrative fuckers put my itty bitty locker all way in the state of Arizona, just my luck. Everything so far irritated me. I'm still not gonna ask for help though. I'm not a pussy. Yes, girls can be those too. I was incredibly scared of making new friends here. I have an OK personality but this school may not be into that. My middle school was decent. I only wish the friends I had actually stayed in touch, like we wrote in our yearbooks. Whatever, this is a new start, new school, new whatever the fuck else. My Dad said this one was going to be a big step up.

I just want to survive it. Maybe have some fun. Try not to hate homework and smelly teachers so much.

And I don't wanna be distracted by boys, they can mess with your head when you're least expecting it. I've never had a boyfriend or my first kiss before and I'm OK with that. And if it does happen, hopefully the first guy I kiss falls head over heals in love with me in the weirdest of places. I fantasized about guys being like that, just take me by surprise.

Oh well, I may not get kissed in this school, I may not even bag a date for myself, who the hell knows? All I wanna know is where is the cafeteria and how terrible is their food menu? I can only pray its Four Seasons treatment but that would be wishful thinking. Then again, this is suburbia SoCal. But this school doesn't look rich enough to make that happen.

I managed to open my locker up real easily. Thank god. No gum lodged in there to mess with my day. We only had 5 minutes between each period so this vastly helps.

I walked up to the quad and noticed four girls cheering, hugging, sitting all together with their legs crossed. One of them looked right at me. Blond wavy hair, long legs, squinted eyes but I could tell they were a light bluish color. She wore a bright yellow flower dress and held pom-poms in her lap. She was alright, a bit too skinny I guess. If I was a dude I wouldn't hit it. I might break her bones and have to pay insurance or something. She waved at me and gave a thin smile. I was a bit surprised. I didn't think I'd get welcomed on the first day by anyone. Though that barely counted, it was still cool.

I sighed and scanned my schedule with dyslexic eyes. I have a mild case of that so it's hard confessing something like that without people thinking you're a dumbass. In school I have to work harder than most people because of my eyes. I'm getting better with it but it's still creeps up on me sometimes. I'd like to think I'd be a straight-A student if I didn't have it. Probably. Eh, who gives? Point is, I'm not an asshole. That's all I care about.

My paper told me the choir held classes in the theater auditorium. Shit. Since when did that happen? Oh well, I looked at the numbers that said PA 169, least I think it was.

I walked around using the campus map and sighed in relief when I finally came to it. It was like walking through the gates of heaven when I touched the handle. I turned it open and walked inside one step at a time. Holy air-conditioned Batman! It was goddamn freezing in this bitch son! I shivered while I looked around for a teacher or someone to confirm I wasn't completely a retard.

Nobody was here. I saw a spotlight in the center behind all the audience chairs and frowned. Shit. I really didn't know where I was. Fuck, just save yourself further annoyance and start over Evie.

"Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?"A deep British accent asked in a rush behind me as I was turning to leave.

I turned around and attempted to back away but found myself staring and worst of all, stammering. "Sorry, um, I'll go. Didn't mean to—I'm really sorry."

"Wait, hold on a moment." I heard and saw him come closer to me. He was wearing a dark blue long sleeve shirt with matching color skinny jeans. "Can I help you?"

I saw him from the corner of the room. His chocolate moose brown hair was swept over his eyes like a bowl cut. He sported half black-rimmed glasses on his nose. Nerd much? I'd laugh if I wasn't so embarrassed right now. How old was this kid? He looked 6.

I found my voice when he stopped walking to me. I saw his features up close, damn. I'd never seen blue eyes like that in my life. Was I dreaming now?

I scoffed internally. "I guess I'm a bit lost. Do you know where the choir meets? Which classroom I-I mean?" I prayed he wasn't one of those kick them while their down types.

To my surprise he smiled, his cheeks turning pink. Can boys do that? Wow, I just witnessed something new firsthand. He licked his lips, looking down and bit his lip looking up. Whoa.

I lost my footing for a second there and shook my head. "Sorry, what was that?"

He smiled. "I can help you find what you're looking for." Uh, what if I already found it? Focus, no boys.

"Right," I cleared my throat. "I'm trying to look for where exactly Choir 102 meets, do you know?"

He laughed and came closer. I was a little scared, backing away as he did this but he held up his hands. "Uh, can I borrow your schedule a second? I think I know where they meet if I knew the name of your professor love."

Love? Holy shit I just got "loved" by a Brit. That accent sounds awfully strong. Did he just step off the boat of that island? Lawd. Why in the Sam hell didn't we have clones of this guy? Seriously why?

I said nothing as I handed him my paper and he checked the name. "Reyes, yeah, she's in the band room. They changed it. Do you know where that is?"

I wanted to say yes but I felt bad for lying, even to him, someone I didn't know. I shook my head, blushing.

He calmly showed me how to get there through the map I obtained from the main office. I feel like I understood it better.

"Well, thank you."

He looked at me, waving me off.

"Hey come on, let's go now." Another boy with sandy blond hair cut almost identical to the guy in front came from the same place and I was confused. He smiled at me and waved. "Oh hello, let's go man."

The guy who showed me looked back at his friend and sighed. "Sorry alright."He looked back at me. "Gotta go. Everything OK now?"

I didn't wanna bother him so I moved away slowly but he inched closer as I did. Was he following me? "Um, yeah, thanks again..."

"I'm Louis by the way. And you?" He offered his hand, coming closer. I was surprised at the open welcome.

I held his hand; it was warm, soft and friendly. I didn't want to let go. "I'm Eva. OK well you've gotta go. Don't want to keep you if you're busy."I let go as those words left me much to my chagrin.

I started to walk away but he caught up to me, walking beside me. "You sure you're OK about the, um about the directions? I explained a lot. I just wanted you to understand so you won't get lost."

Holy shit, this geek was rambling. Without the glasses he could be quite the hottie. "I'm good. Your friend needs you."

He stopped following next to me and bit his lip, shoving his hands in his pockets. "OK, well see ya around I guess."

I smiled. This was really making me laugh but I didn't want him to think I was laughing at him. "Right. Bye Louis."

I turned around without another word and walked out of the big double doors. I felt eyes on me and turned around. Louis was peeking at me.

OK, now I started to laugh. "What the—"

"Oh sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were going the right way, right then. You are." He disappeared behind the door quickly.

My eyes followed the door as it closed with a loud click.

I shrugged, smiling to myself. Strange guy. But I liked it. I like weirdos. This guy seemed totally random and I don't even know him.

I smiled, turning around again. Aha!

Louis acted like he was doing anything other than glance in my direction by playing with his phone. I narrowed my eyes. I folded my arms across my chest.

"Good game?" I asked, playing along to his game.

Louis didn't look up from it, his thumb moved faster than the speed of light. "The best. I can't stop playing it."

I rolled my eyes; if he's not even going to look at me then I'm leaving. "Good luck with that."I turned around on my heel walking to the opposite direction.

I tried not to whip around but my instincts got the best of me when after a couple of steps I turned around. Louis was suddenly in the corner of the hallway, eyes "glued" to his phone.

"Good listening skills. You are going the right way." His eyes were off his phone in a flash. He looked at me with a sly smirk. "My work here is done."

Then he turned to leave but not without looking in my direction again, a full smile on his face. All I kept thinking for the rest of that day was holy shit. I think I'm gonna like it here after all.

I pulled out of the memory and found him grinning at me, his face still clearly flushed from what just happened between us.

"What were you thinking about love?" He whispered, his blue eyes sparkling as the sun hit the right spot inside them.

I found his hand playing with mine. "The first time we met."

He gave a cheeky grin and laid on his back, looking at me. "The first time I sounded like a daft prig in front of a fit girl? Nice…that was a funny memory. Did you find the choir class?"

I smirked. "Yes, I think all the stalking you did, pretending to be on your phone helped me tremendously. It was just the next building over." I stuck my tongue out.

Louis blushed. "I did stumble over myself there. I should have asked you out then."

He was so right, but it's in the past. "I forgive you. I knew eventually you were gonna come around and do something. It took you 3 years though!"

He held his hands up in protest. "Hey, I know. I'm an idiot. Guys are just dumb. A lot of them are scared of what they're feeling. But I knew since I saw you it was clear. But I didn't know how you felt about me. So I don't know...I wanted to be sure. I felt like now, senior year might be my last chance to finally do something about it. I didn't want to lose that chance or you to someone else. I'm glad I finally told you."

I laced my fingers with his and lay on his shoulder relaxing against his body. I didn't say anything and bit my lip.

Everything about Louis is so perfect I can't make sense of it at all. What he said about guys and their feelings is so true. But what Harry said was also true. If he liked me so much then why didn't it happen sooner? Those familiar harsh, brutally honest words came back to haunt me in this moment.

If someone likes you they don't wait to have something they want, they fucking take it.

Harry's words circled around my head, clouding it with sudden worry. Louis' reasons made sense but then Harry's words were so accurate I'm second guessing everything.

Who is really telling the truth here? The man I am touching, relaxing next to and or the painfully honest man who touched me to the point of excruciating bliss?

"We should get going. The sun is setting and you're all wet babe." Louis' voice woke me up. I reacted, nodding.

He helped me up and we cleaned everything then packed up and went back inside the car. When I sat inside I was met with Louis' lips almost instantly. I reacted but he pulled away.
He looked at me; his finger traced my cheek following my bottom pout. "Plenty of time for that…"

Time, like what Harry said. You waited all this time to tell me you liked me. It's true. Ugh, damn it Harry! Get the fuck out of my head.

Get out of my dreams too.

Notes