Getting up in the morning and reaching for my alarm clock to shut the world up
Story: the Tale of Tate Mills
Title: Sing it Out Loud part 26
Rating: PG
Challenge: Vanilla #13 a day at the beach chocolate chip #28 Fury, mango #14 Out of my way
Toppings/Extras:
Word count: 1246
Summary: Tate has just started Sing It Out Loud the famous singing competition. He’s in the quarter finals. Tate is reconnected with Emery and meets a few new faces along the way. But as always, things don’t always go according to Tate’s plans.
Notes: This is part twenty-six of the Tale of Tate Mills. Thank you for reading. There is a still a long way to go, so please bear with me and keep reading. Tate’s life is only going to get more interesting.
“Let’s get it on,” she suggests, semi-seriously.
I feel my jeans start to tighten. My body wants to acquiesce to her request, but my spirit and my head are telling me not to. I make an excuse to leave, the old ‘something suddenly came up’ excuse, only this time it actually applies.
In the elevator I try to sort out the problem mentally. Baseball, Scooby-Doo, Foley, dead puppies, snakes, football, zombies…
It helps. I text Emery telling her I’ll see her at the orientation dinner. I want to mingle among the guys for a little while. In reality, I need a break from her before I do something I’ll regret.
Micah and I discuss the rules of the show, and how stupid we think they are. Especially the rule that says contestants aren’t allowed to date each other. That’s a rule I know I’m going to break.
I text Malachi about my day so far, and purposely leave out what almost happened with Emery in her hotel room.
He sends me a picture of Lola curled up in a ball on my bed. She looks so peaceful. I miss her.
Micah and I start talking about our favorite movies. He likes Star Wars too. We discuss our favorite characters and quiz each other on trivia to see who’s a bigger nerd. I win.
How do I describe Micah? He has big round eyes, like teen girls in anime, and they’re bottle green. His fair skin and long golden curls give him the appearance of a cherub. He has a smooth heart-shaped face free of zits and stumble. I am not even sure he can grow facial hair.
I know Stevie would think he’s good-looking. Micah is the type of guy any mother would be proud to have her daughter (or gay son) date.
Suddenly I’m hit in the face by a nerf dart. I look up to see someone wearing a Boba Fett mask holding a nerf gun. Micah gets hit on the nose with a dart. Boba Fett removes her helmet to reveal Emery. Could she be any more awesome?
“Where did you get that?” Hatcher and I ask simultaneously.
“I got the nerf gun at a toy store and I got the helmet off eBay,” Emery says.
“You’re cool,” Micah says getting up to meet her.
They greet each other and rave about how cool each other’s names are.
The three of us sit down to continue our discussion on Star Wars for about three hours. I’m not kidding. Our discussion turned into the “Who shot first Han or Greedo?” debate. Micah and I teamed up against Emery. She’s totally on Team Greedo. I’m not sure why. Does it make her any less cool? No it does not.
“What the hell is this?” asks my grumpy roommate.
He does a double take at Emery and his demeanor does a 180. He takes her by the hand and kisses it. I glare at him.
“Who are you, beautiful?” He asks.
Who does this guy think he is?
“I’m Emery,” She says firmly.
“Rodéo,” He says.
He kisses her hand again. What a jackass.
“What do you say we kick these children out of here and get to know each other better?” He puts his hands on her shoulders.
“Hey, that’s enough,” I say before I can control myself.
“Mind your business, Kid,” he says.
He sits down beside Emery and puts his arm around her.
“What are you doing? I just met you,” Emery says.
“Get off her,” I say pushing him.
“You want to fight me little boy?” He asks.
“Yeah, I do,” I say.
It isn’t until then I realize how big he is. He has to look down to meet my eyes. I am not scared of him. He’s not much bigger than Malachi and I’ve pinned him numerous times.
My head barely comes up to his neck but I don’t care. He crossed the line and he must pay for it. I push him again. Emery steps between us. Fighting is against the rules. She doesn’t want me to get in trouble. I back off for her sake.
Micah solves the problem by suggesting that Rodéo trade rooms with him. I like this kid already. They switch key cards. My roommate never unpacked so he grabs his belongings, spits at me and leaves. Micah follows him to get his stuff. Emery sits beside me on my bed.
“You didn’t have to do that. I can take care of myself, but you’re sweet for doing it,” she says. She kisses me on the cheek.
My skin tingles where her lips touched, I try not to smile but I can’t help it. She rests her head against my shoulder and tells me how I’m her new hero. My head swells up. Hatcher comes back in, but Emery doesn’t move her head until he starts to sing something upbeat and peppy. She jumps up to dance.
I watch her body sway, every curve of her body moves like a wave to the rhythm. Her hips gyrate very seductively. My mouth is cottony. She grinds against a chair. My palms are clammy. She does pelvic thrusts. There is an undeniable firmness in my pants. I put a pillow on my lap. Forgive me, Jesus, I’m only human.
Her phone rings loudly. Ringtone: Star Wars theme song. She’s a keeper.
She leaves to take the call, closing the door behind her. I lie back on my bed and breathe a sigh of relief.
“She’s pretty cool,” Micah says.
“I know,” I say sighing.
“You like her?”
I don’t answer, but my red face and smile give me away. I have no poker face. I grin stupidly and bury my face in a pillow. He laughs at me.
When Emery walks into the orientation dinner, it’s the as if time stands still, and all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room with an invisible vacuum cleaner. Her brown curls are pulled up on top of her head, held tight with bobby pins; some curls are dangling in the back, dancing playfully against her neck. She is clad in a red dress, the hem stopping mid thigh, thin spaghetti straps, the neck forming a V down into the crevasse between her breasts. Glittery freckles all over her cheeks making her sparkle in the light. She looks absolutely radiant.
I speak to her only for a moment, until it’s time to take our seats. We’re arranged alphabetically by last name, which means I am right next to Rodéo. I decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps we just got off to a rocky start.
“Listen, kid, Emery is a woman not a little girl. She needs to be treated as a woman something you cannot do,” He whispers during the meal.
“Stay away from her,” I whisper.
I clinch my fist under the table. I look over my shoulder at Emery who’s chatting with Micah’s former roommate Brom. She looks happy. She waves at me. I give her a peace sign and focus my attention back on my chicken.
Rodéo is persistently trying to get me disqualified by making me mad enough to hit him. I want to tell him off so badly, but I know I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from hitting him. It’s not the Christian thing to do and I want to try to avoid it at all costs.