27. Too Old For Fun
1861 Words
I take Collin for a long time in the morning. That boy needed it. Then we eat breakfast and snuggle a little.
"Any of them kiss you?"
"No. No kisses."
His muscles relax.
"Maybe they don't like me. You kissed me on our first date."
He laughs. "Yea, but I chickened out of asking you out like 5 times. I was already in our relationship before I actually asked you out."
I laugh and choke on my water. "Why?"
"It's different. Putting yourself out there and asking someone out. Telling them you like them. They might not feel the same. They could laugh at you or be mean. It takes a lot of courage. Girls think it's easy, but it's not."
"I thought guys do it all the time. A way to get to know people."
"No. We usually only ask out girls we like. Then we're scared to death we'll get rejected."
"That makes sense now that I think about it. A couple of boys asked me out and were so damn nervous."
"Scared of being hurt. They were putting themselves out there."
"Now I feel bad. I could have gone out with a few more of them."
"No. It's fine. Rejection is part of life. I'm sure they got over it. Leave them alone."
I laugh so hard.
"At least the boys in the games are older. You won't have to deal with the s**t I put you through. You deserve so much better than me."
"There's nobody better than you, Collin. I think we're figuring out how everything works. We're growing up. You're learning like I am. But the love is real. Mistakes happen but we figure them out."
"Soon, you're going to have your mate. How do you feel about that?"
I lay my head on his shoulder. "I thought I would have at least a few years with you."
"Me too, baby. Do you like any of them?"
"I don't know most of them. Not even their names."
He smirks. "You already know who he is."
"No. It's too early."
"I can tell by your eyes, baby. They lit up."
I shake my head. "He'll leave. They'll all leave. Let's go to school."
Omar and Marcus put Collin in the magic school, but they wouldn't give us any classes together. We're there all morning. Then we eat lunch together. After that, I go to the regular school for swimming class, then the castle for swords. Collin takes 2 more afternoon classes at the magic school. So, we get out at the same time.
I go to my office to study things. I lay my head on my desk, and he picks me up.
"UH HUM." Dipak and Tre are leaning on my desk watching us sleep.
"I need the contracts for the month, so I can check them."
Collin nods and I stretch big.
"That was a hell of a nap. I need you up in my office." Dipak goes out the door.
I yawn and stretch again.
"Making me need a damn nap." Tre follows him.
Collin and I collect ourselves and go up. Romeo is on the visiting side.
Him and Collin glare at each other. Then Collin pulls out the seat beside him and kisses my head when I sit.
Omar smiles. "The teenagers are waking up."
"Yea, they were out." Tre glances at us.
Dipak gets a paper. "Romeo has a ball Saturday, Star."
"Busy. I have a date."
Collin turns to me. "You have a date?"
"He doesn't count." Romeo slams his hand down.
"RED DRESS." Thora throws a pen at Romeo. "It's not Collin. She has a date. One of the men from the games asked her out. You're too late."
"You're dating them?"
I shrug my shoulders. "He asked Evie out. I said yes. I'm going." I glance at Collin. "I think."
Thora shakes her head. "Evie is going. Evie has to get to know them. Collin has no say in what Evie does to get to know the boys. You're going to have a nice dinner and let him tell you how pretty you are."
Collin kisses my head. "I have to work anyway. He can tell you how pretty you are for a couple of hours. I get out at 12 though. I don't need to know how pretty I am. I want to sleep then."
"Fair enough." I nod.
"And no boys in your damn bedroom."
"What?"
Thora throws something at Marcus. "You had to bring that up."
"He wasn't in my bedroom. He was in the closet."
"She was letting him pick the dress. You know nothing was going on."
Collin shakes his head. "No more of that. You can figure out what you're going to wear."
"Ok."
Romeo rubs his eyes. "I claim Sunday."
Thora throws something at him. "You can't claim anything. You have to ask nicely."
"How many pens do you have over there, woman?"
"A lot. This is Frode's spot."
Frode writes something down. "It's fine. I have my good pen here."
Omar sits up. "I'm confused. Can the men from the games date other people?"
"Yes. Of course. And honestly, it seems like I'm dating some 30 people. I don't even know all their names."
Marcus nods. "It's still too many. Let them drop out for another game. Then she can start cutting them."
"Will you go with me on Sunday? There's a festival in my village. We do it every year. Sunday is the start. There will be horse races. A garden party. You will be with me the whole time. It'll take 3 to 4 hours."
"Does she have to dance with princes?"
"No. It's not a ball. There is music, but she doesn't have to dance."
"I think I could do that."
Marcus gets a piece of paper. "I'm taking it that you want her dressed as a princess?"
"Yes."
"She'll need security."
"That's fine."
"I'll go with Kane."
Thora shakes her head. "Not you, Marcus. You and Star never get along at these things."
"She needs a doctor there in case something happens."
Thora stares at Omar. "Yea, ok." She goes back to Romeo. "But they are going to argue the entire time. Keep them apart."
"Keep her away from her security. Got it."
Kane cracks up laughing. "It's Elek and Nadine all over again."
Elek smiles. "Have fun."
"I'll make sure she has fun." He smirks.
"NO." Marcus jumps up. "NO FUN. SHE'S TOO YOUNG FOR FUN."
"I AM NOT TOO YOUNG FOR FUN."
Thora rubs her eyes. "Every time."
"YOU'RE TOO OLD FOR FUN."
"I'm watching you." Marcus glares at Romeo and sits down.
Romeo nods. "I see now."
"I told you. Keep them apart... Especially if you're going to have fun."
Collin squeezes me and whispers. "No fun, baby. It's a first date."
"I want to see the garden party though."
"That kind of fun is ok. Not our kind of fun." He winks at me.
"Ok." I plop my head on his shoulder and giggle.
"WHY IS SHE GIGGLING?"
Collin laughs and looks at Marcus. "She's going to have fun at the garden party."
Dipak smiles at me. "That's perfectly fine. You should have fun there. It's a party."
I smile and nod.
"So does she have to have security on Saturday too? Or is it only my events?"
Thora rolls her eyes. "Oh please. Don't get jealous. He's taking her for dinner. You want her dressed up as a princess for a formal event. There's a big difference."
"Speaking of formal events. There is a ball in 2 weeks. We are going. 2 princes and both kings from the games are going. Evie needs to go."
Romeo rubs his eyes. "We're going to do that too."
"Evie has to be with us."
My hand shoots up. "Can I take Collin?"
"No."
"Can Evie take Collin?"
"No."
"Can Star..."
"You are not taking Collin."
"Can I take Zeke?"
Tye loses it. "Sorry. I did not see that coming."
"Who?" Nadine stares at me. "Oh, I know who he is. You do know you have princes in the games, right? They would probably do better. I doubt if he's ever done anything formal like that."
"They're going to be there already. There are only 3 left. Dipak said 2 were going. Romeo would be 3. 2 kings. They're going to have to sit at their tables. I have to stay with you guys. Zeke wants to go to dinner anyway. I'll tell him it's super fancy."
Thora nods. "Tell him you'll wear a better dress than the red one."
"Good idea. We won't tell him it's a ball. He might not want to go."
Dipak nods. "We'll keep it a secret until he walks in and gets announced with you."
"Perfect."
They crack up laughing.
"He needs fitted for the clothes though."
Nadine shakes her head. "Tell him it's an outfit for the mating games. He'll never know."
Tre looks at me. "If he wants to get to know you more, he'll go. He'll figure it out just to spend some time with you. He'll probably be happy you asked him out of everyone. Be honest with him. You can't surprise him with a whole ball. Would you like it if someone did that to you?"
"No. That would scare me."
"Exactly. You have to be honest about it. Ask him to go with you. If he says no, we'll figure it out. Tell him what to expect. Getting announced. A bunch of speeches. Dinner. Maybe a dance if you feel up to it."
"I can't ask him. Never mind."
"Why?"
"Then he'll know there's something wrong with me. He'll figure it out when I'm too scared to get off the couch."
"She's asking him. I'll work through that with her."
"He's trying to get to know you. It's going to come out, Star."
Thora nods. "We'll give him the light version."
"They're going to ask her to dance."
Nadine shakes her head. "We'll run interference. You can make an appearance. Get introduced. Eat dinner. Sit through some dances then make a quick escape. It'll be alright."
I nod. It's all I can do. My eyes are full of tears, and I'm doing everything I can not to cry. I like him, and he'll never talk to me again.
Collin moves to pick me up and Omar puts his hand up. "Collin, they tested you for the general magic classes today. You have all of them?"
"That's what they said."
"Generally people only have 1." A plant appears in front of us. "Make that grow please." It doubles in size. Then he has him do fire, water, and air. "That's very interesting. He's going to be powerful. I've never heard of someone having 4. He can heal too."
I make the plant grow a vine and play with it.
He moves it over so it tickles me. I crack up laughing and fight it off.
"Is there anything you weren't able to do today?"
"They only tested for those 5."
"Come here tomorrow instead of school. I want to test some more."
"Alright."
- Writer
