Roommates with a Player

Chapter Twenty Nine: Accepting the Acceptance

            “Can we please take a break from studying?” I whined, falling back onto James’ bed to stare up at the ceiling.

            “Not this again,” he chuckled. “Don’t you want to ace your fall exams?”

            “Yeah…but can’t we do something exciting? It is Friday, after all.”

            After my stunt with the boxers, I’d been banished from the rest of the school and put into a small, muggy room underneath the school next to the wrestling gym. It was the “containment room”, as the teachers called; it was where all the juvenile students went to rot. I’d attended all my classes down there and nearly suffocated. All I could do was work, work, work. We didn’t even get lunch! And don’t even get me started about the other kids down there with me.

            Ricky had given me the silent treatment for two whole days, only breaking to tell me to pry off the rest of the tampons from the ceiling. I’d finally caved by waking him up Wednesday morning with a giant breakfast sandwich from Starbucks (his favorite). It’d been hell trying to bribe Henry to drive me at six in the morning. But, it was worth it. Ricky and I were back on speaking terms.

            The week had passed by brutally slow, but the celebratory high-fives and butt slaps were never ending. I couldn’t walk down the hallway without getting a “good job, Hark”. And with the official news that I was the new addition to the Stephens family, I was getting calls from tons of frantic girls trying to get gossip on Ricky. I was just wishing it would end already.

            But, that was the least of my worries. James had been uptight and serious all week. I kept trying to figure out what had got him so anxious, but he wouldn’t spill. He’d persuaded me to come over today and “study”, but I knew it was a hoax. He was going to reveal something big; I just had to find out what it was.

            “Like what?” he asked, a smile on his face.

            “I don’t know. You’re the planner!” I exclaimed. “And I would’ve thought you’d try and put the moves on me since your parents are gone for the weekend.”

            “Are you implying that I’m a pervert?” James gasped jokingly.

            “No! I just thought you might want to do something other than study…” I quickly looked away from James’ face, scared of his reaction.

            It was silent for a bit as James finally got the gist of what my sentence meant. I rolled over, hiding my blushing face. I felt the mattress sink and soon James’ arms were wrapped around me, tugging me to his chest.

            “Emma,” he started. “I love you. I’m in this relationship to be with you. That’s all I want. And for once, I’m not asking for anything else. You mean the world to me and I don’t want to be hasty about this. We’ve only been together for a little over a month, anyways.”

            “I know,” I grumbled.

            “And…” James trailed off, hesitating. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

            James sat up abruptly, pulling me with him. I swiveled around so I could face him. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, but I could see there was a look of sorrow hiding inside them.

            “I-I’ve got some news,” he whispered.

            “What is it?” I asked, itching to finally hear this thing he’d been hiding from me all week.