Teach Me to Please | Please Me #1 - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Sometimes in life, things hit you by surprised. For example, when I was five, my favourite colour was light green – like bright, neon, Nickelodeon slime, green. I had this T-shirt of the same colour with a large daisy on the front and I used to wear everywhere. Half of the pictures taken of me when I was five had me wearing that freaking shirt. Now, I hated the colour. If five-year-old me were to hear that statement, she'd cry to oblivion at the monster I've become, but you can't help some things in life.
It wasn't like I woke up one morning and decided to despise the colour light green, it happened over time. Like wearing down your favourite pair of shoes, you get older and grow and get new ones. Now I don't know what colour I liked the best now, but the point was, things you thought about yourself prior don't always tend to stick.
And in this case, this applied to the one and only Roman Lawrence.
"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be." Rya slammed another note onto the table and slumped down next to me.
It was safe to say that this whole locker-note thing was driving her insane. Every morning she would walk up to her locker to find a new one in a pink piece of card with her name written beautifully on top with a little heart. However, it was always signed with a question mark.
"Great Expectations." She then declared. "Who the hell keeps doing this?!" yes, this was totally driving her insane.
"Someone who likes you." I chimed and flipped through the pages of my French textbook. "And d'you really want it to stop?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she scoffed.
"I kind of think you like the attention." I could see her face as she opened them and as much as she tried to deny it, I knew she secretly liked it.
"That's crazy. It's creepy!" she argued and shoved the note into her bag. I smiled and went back to work.
My study session with Roman was completely unsexual. In fact, he barely looked my way. I didn't understand it, one minute he was telling me I was great and kissing me like some freaking Romeo, and the next he was pretending I had the plague.
"Have you decided what you're doing for your birthday yet? We still have time to prepare a killer party." Rya interrupted my train of thought.
I sighed and highlighted a few words in my textbook. "My birthday is on Thursday and I don't think I want a party this year."
"What?! But you've always had a party!" that was true. Every year, Rya's parents would let us use their garden and summer house out the back to throw my birthday party ever since I was age eleven. Rya, as you can assume, loved party planning. The girl would spend ages ordering decorations, tasting food, going outfit shopping, even ordering custom-made invitations to make sure everything was perfect. And this was only for my party. I'm sure you can imagine what she was like for her own. If not, think of bridezilla and times it by ten.
"I know, but I don't feel like having one this year." Yeah, not when my ex-boyfriend is canoodling with the basic, girl-next-door and my whole academic life is still shit even with Roman's tutoring, who, by the way, acts like I have thorns for fingernails.
"Besides," I tried to reason. "My parents are coming back from their trip for my birthday and I'm sure they want to spend some time with me."
"That's reminds me." Rya pointed out her finger. "Your dad's car is all fixed, I'll drop it by after school."
I gave her a grateful look and placed my pencil on the table, "Are you sure you don't want to me to pay –"
"Yep." She shook her head, popping the 'p'. "You're going through enough with tutoring and, besides, you totally saved my butt with Principal Cunningham about the whole Leah situation. It's the least I can do."
I nodded, letting my eyes tell her how much it meant to me. "Thank you." I watched her smile contently and pull a croissant out of her bag. I didn't even know where she got that thing from but I didn't care.
Back to this whole Roman fiasco. You would think that after all the sexual things we've done, after I met his parents, after I called him my friend, he'd be a little bit more enthusiastic about everything. Nope. If anything, he's lost all enthusiasm and has skipped straight back into the depths of awkwardness.
I tried to find him in the library, but he wasn't anywhere, even in Mrs Sanders classroom he was nowhere to be seen. It was only when I walked past the music rooms, I found him, listening to the soft echoes of the flute.
"You know, you look like a bit of a stalker." I said as I approached. Roman turned to look my way and stood up straight.
"Sienna." Was all he said.
"I need to talk to you about something." I spoke. The softness of the flute flew into a beautiful, rapid melody that caught my attention. I didn't have to think twice about who was playing. "She's good." I nodded to the door I knew Emily was behind.
Roman blushed red and looked to the ground. "Yeah."
"How long have you been standing out here?" I then asked, crossing my arms. Roman blushed further rubbed the back of his neck.
"Around twenty minutes. It's just.... I don't know, she plays so nice, and no one ever notices it."
There was a kindness to his tone that made my chest warm. Roman really liked Emily. He liked her so much he paid attention to her when no one else would. He believed in her. Just like his mom said, belief shows more love than you can ever imagine. And Emily was who Roman believed in.
I found myself staring at the calmness on his face as he listened to her. He never looked that calm around me, it was always a mixture of nervousness, stress, or aggravation. I liked him peaceful.
"I can't do tutoring Thursday." I cut myself away from my thoughts. Roman looked back at me and furrowed a brow.
"Why not?"
"It's my birthday and I'm spending time with my parents –"
"It's your birthday?" he cut me off, slightly surprised.
"Erm, yeah." I awkwardly answered. I hated telling people when my birthday was, it always felt so weird and uncomfortable to do.
"Thursday? This Thursday's your birthday?" he tried to clarify as if the fact that my birthday on Thursday was the equivalent to some rocket science equation.
"Yeah?"
"Sorry, it's just... you didn't tell me." Why was he bothered about me telling him or not?
"Well, I'm telling you now. Can we move the session to another time? How's about Friday?"
Roman leant back against the wall and placed his hands in his pockets. "I have boxing on Friday."
"I know." I declared. "But your dad said it was okay for me to come and watch."
The flute singing behind the doors got louder as I waited for Roman's reply. He looked back and sighed. "Yeah, sure."
There was something off with him. Something seriously off and I couldn't place my finger on it but I knew it had something to do with the weird way he was acting towards me. I wanted to ask him what was up, but I feared I would anger him or put him off me more than he, for some reason, already was.
And so, I nodded a goodbye and walked away. Regretting the fact I didn't ask why.
❦❤︎❦
When Rya asked me to help her design Spring Fling posters in the art studio, I initially thought I would be on my phone the whole time as she painted some random flowers on a banner.
But no, she actually wanted my help, not just my wonderful company, as she handed me fake flowers to hot glue onto banners.
I found out that Rya offered to help Miss Cho, the drama teacher who organises most of the school dances, out with the Spring Fling. I had a sneaky suspicion it was for her to get extra credit and boost her place in getting Valedictorian considering Christopher was woefully still in the lead.
"I was thinking about letting Abigail Coalson DJ the dance this year." She said as I stuck a bright pink flower to the tip of the 'I'.
"Huh?" I looked up.
"Abigail Coalson." Rya repeated. "I was thinking of asking her to DJ."
"But doesn't Jensen Mardove do it every year?"
She sighed and got up from her stool, walking over to where the tray of sequins lied. "I know." She picked up the box and simultaneously grabbed some scissors. "But his taste is so weird. Remember last year when all he played for slow dancing songs were slowed versions of Niki Minaj, he didn't even play regular Nicki Minaj."
That was true. I never thought I would one day slow dance to 'Super Bass' but I did, and it ranks as one of the weirdest experiences of my life.
"True." I agreed.
"Abigail is in band and I saw her DJ at a party a couple weeks ago. She's good." Rya had a point. If this were going to be the last Spring Fling we have, I'd rather dance to good music than the weird variety Jensen Mardove supplied. That was if I was even going this year.
"Wait, since when did you go to a party a couple weeks ago?" I suddenly remembered.
Rya sprinkled some glitter onto the banner and answered, "I told you about it, but you said you were studying with Roman." I suddenly remembered a phone call of Rya asking me to go with her, but I had to decline because it was a Thursday and Thursdays meant Roman.
"Oh." I haven't been to any parties since this whole tutoring thing and the weird thing was, I didn't even notice. Parties used to be my life, I used to go to about three a week and these past two months I haven't been to any.
"Did you hook-up with anyone?" I couldn't help but ask. For once, I'd like to hear gossip about someone other than myself.
"No." Rya mumbled under breath and I noticed her cheeks turn pink. I knew she was lying.
"I know you're lying."
"I'm not!" she protested her face turning pinker.
I laughed, "C'mon, Rya! I'm not gonna judge you."
She gave in with a huff and anxiously bit her lip, "Adfilmen." She uttered under her breath.
"Huh?"
She sighed again. "Adfilmen." She muttered a little louder.
"Who? –"
"Chad Willman!" she finally burst. I stopped dead and witnessed her bit her nails as she awaited my reaction.
"YOU HOOKED-UP WITH CHAD FREAKING WILLMAN?!" I exclaimed. Oh no she didn't. This was low, even for Rya.
"I KNOW! I'm sorry, okay?!" Chad Willman, captain of the Football Team and the ultimate cliché jock. He was also a huge dickhead and a player. And Rya was the idiot who had sex with his stupid ass.
"You could have had sex with anyone! Taylor Vermont or even Christopher freaking Knowles but no! You choose Chad Willman?!"
"I thought you weren't going to judge!"
"That was before you told me you slept with Chad Willman! Dude, what were you thinking?!"
Rya slumped back and folded her arms over her chest, staring down at the table. "I was lonely okay! And Chad was... there and...willing."
"He's always willing. He's willing to anything with a fucking heartbeat –"
"And so we did it." Rya interjected. "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing so stop judging me with your... judge-y-ness."
I chuckled lightly and ran a hand through my hair, I stared at her embarrassed expression and knew she wasn't too happy about her decision either. But she was lonely. It didn't hit me that Rya's driven focus on education and career meant that the attention she gave her social life was very little. So little she felt lonely, especially now I was tutoring with Roman almost all the time.
"Was it at least good?" I questioned.
Rya shook her head and a little laugh tinkered from her lips. "No. It felt like a drive-thru with no line."
We looked at one another for a second before bursting into laughter.
"Maybe you should drag Roman to a high school party?" she then suggested, her laughter dying down to a chuckle. Softening my own laugh, I glanced back up at her.
"Seriously?"
"What?" she shrugged. "It could be a good... learning experience."
"Yeah, for beer pong and navigating your way around couples doing the dirty on the kitchen counter tops when you're trying to get a drink." Honestly, those kitchen countertop couples took the exhibitionist kink to another level.
"Or for some super, slutty party sex."
"You mean the thing you did with Chad Willman?"
She narrowed her eyes and glared at me, "Touché."
I shrugged and smiled, "Besides," I then sighed, "He'd complain about the party the entire time. Trust me on that."
Rya glue-gunned a blue flower onto the banner and took a gemstone between her fingers, "Then how are you supposed to make him a 'sex god' for Emily Lewis to fall pussy over heels for. The guy needs to put himself out there."
She had a point. Fuck, she had a point. This whole time I've been so focused on getting Roman comfortable with the idea of sex, I kept forgetting what it's all for. It's for him to have Emily who, I witnessed today, he is so absentmindedly in love with. It's to make him one of the hottest guys in school so those jocks will feel sorry for making fun of him.
"I'll do it when he's ready."
"You'll do it when you stop being jealous."
I stopped dead in between sprinkling glitter onto some purple flower petals. Jealous? Like I was jealous. "I'm not jealous. Why the hell would I be jealous?"
Rya hummed and glued the gemstone in the middle of the flower, "For every girl to be in on the little secret that Roman is actually a great guy and can make the panties drop."
"I never said –"
"You didn't have to. I saw the way you smiled like crazy to yourself when you left that gym that Friday, and then how your sudden sexual frustration seemed to disappear several days later. Plus, you haven't said one bad thing about him for the past two weeks. Admit it, Sienna."
"Admit what?!" I exclaimed.
"You're jealous of other girls eventually getting Roman the way you do."
I scoffed but Rya gave me a look. I wasn't jealous. Why would I be jealous? I was the opposite of jealous. I was un-jealous. As cool and calm as a freaking cucumber.
Luckily, a knock at the door startled us both and dropped the horribly uncomfortable atmosphere.
Nikki stood at the door with a tray of art supplies in her arms. "Is Mr Bernard here?" she asked hopefully. We shook our head. "Urgh, whatever." She stormed in and placed the art supplies on the counter.
"So, what's the gossip?" She smiled hopefully at both of us.
"Nothing, Nikki." Rya answered.
"Urgh, you're both so boring!" she complained and crossed her arms. "Where is Mr Bernard?"
"I don't know." Rya sighed and rested her chin on her palm in frustration. "Nikki, you don't take art. Why d'you have all those art supplies?"
"Because Mr Bernard teaches art. Duh! Why else would I carry around a dirty tray of old art supplies." She grimaced and wiped her hands down her skirt. Mr Bernard was a man in his early thirties who looked like he could be in the next Magic Mike movie. Tonnes of girls had crushes on him, and so Nikki probably wasn't the only one with hopes to see him here.
What a disappointed for her to get us.
"Where d'you need to put that?" I asked her.
"I don't know. Apparently, the Art Department is getting new paints and so they're throwing out all the old ones. Shame, really. Anyways, if you see Mr Bernard, tell him I was here and..." she walked over to whisper her next sentence. "Tell him there's a little surprise in the blue paint can." She winked and giggled before scurrying off.
I glanced back at Rya who gave a little shiver.
"She knows Mr Bernard is married with kids, right?"
She shook her head. "Does he know that?"
I laughed and turned back at the tray. There were tonnes of old art supplies, cans, pallets and canisters of paint all looking able enough to use and they were just going to throw them away. It'd be nicer for them to give them away, you know, to people who can't afford them or some shit.
Wait a second.
"You don't think anyone would question it if I took the paints?" I suddenly asked Rya. She gave me a puzzled look but shook her head.
"No, but I'd leave the blue paint if I were you. Why?"
"No reason." I replied. "Just had an idea for a friend."