Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Kylie’s POV

 

I woke up the next morning with a killer headache, and for a moment I forgot why. Then the events of last night flashed back, even though most of them were blurry. I remember drinking, probably drinking one too many because I was stressed out about Brent. Max Talbot was there flirting with me the whole time and even though he’s almost nine years older than me, he’s still pretty hot. By the time “I’m in Miami Bitch” I was totally trashed and was acting like a bitch too. I let things go way to far with Max. I groaned when an image of Sidney popping Max in the jaw came into my head. And then one of Jordan punching him. But wait, why would Jordan punch him. I shook my head, I must be confused because of how much I drank. That’s all I remember before waking up now in my bed, hung over. At least I was in my own bed with my clothes on, that was certainly an improvement. I padded downstairs to go get some Advil. I thanked god that it was raining, meaning soccer try outs were cancelled for today. On the chalkboard all Sid had wrote was “working out.” I cringed, he was pretty pissed off at me. I dumped the coffee Sidney had left in the coffee pot, he drank it plain black and that absolutely disguited me. I had to be French Vanilla with cream, two and a half sugars, and a Splenda. It’s barely even coffee by the time I’m finished with it. While brewing, I began to think about Brent. Should I call the cops? But that was stupid, it wasn’t like  I had a restraining order put on thing and so far he hadn’t done anything…yet. And I never had put in a report about what he did. If he comes near me again, I’ll tell Sidney. I jumped out of my trance when my phone began buzzing in my pocket. I opened it without even looking at the caller I.D.

“Kylie?” A voice asked. Max.

“Um, yes Max?” I asked hesitantly. I knew Max was a womanizer, but I was nervous about what he thought of me after last night.

“I’m so sorry about what happened last night. It should have never happened. We were both drunk, but there’s no excuse for what I did.” He rambled.

I sighed in relief. “Oh Max, I was so worry you thought I was a slut. I just drank too much and you know how people get when they are drunk. I’m so sorry also.” I said in a rush.

He laughed nervously, “Not great first night out, eh? How about we just forget about it.”

I pumped fist excitedly. “Yes, that sounds great!” I agreed.

“But um, you seem like a great girl, I was wondering if you would want to go out to dinner tonight? So we could really get to know each other.” I could hear the nerves in his voice.

“Yes!” I agreed without hesitating.

“That’s great Kylie. I’ll pick you up at 7:30?” He said warmly.

I replied, “Yea, but just wait at the end of the driveway please.”

“Sidney?” He asked darkly.

“Yes. Bye Max.” I said before hanging up.

 

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Sidney was still mad at me when he got home, so he went right into the den and ignored me for the rest of the day. At around 6:30, I began getting ready for my date. I decided to dress in a black halter dress ( http://www.splendicity.com/prettybynature/files/2008/01/bamboo-halter-dress.jpg ) and a pair of silver, strappy heels (http://www.splendicity.com/files/101/2008/03/meena-prom-shoe.jpg ). I put my hair up in a loose bun and walked downstairs carefully, trying not to fall. I went to the den and stood hesitantly outside the doorway.

“Why are you so dressed up?” Sidney asked me.

“Um, because I’m going on a date.” I tried to say casually.

He grunted and sat up. “With who?” He asked.

“No one you would know. I’ll be back by 10:30.” I said, feeling bad for lying.

“No, ten.” He told me.

“Ten is way to early.10:30!” I fought back.

“Ten.”

“Fine, 10:15?” I said angrily.

He stared at me. “10:15 sharp..or I’m grounding you!” He exclaimed. I rolled my eyes before walking back upstairs. I looked outside the front window and sure enough Max was parked at the end of the driveway.’

 

By the time I was done walking down the driveway, I was beginning to regret my decision of telling him to pick me up at the end. My feet were killing me in the heels. I got into the car and he smiled broadly at me.

“You look beautiful!” He told me.

I looked down at my feet and blushed. “Thank you Max, you look quite handsome too.”

 

We chit chatted casually the whole car ride there. He finally parked and quickly got out of his side and came over and opened my door.

“Wow Talbot, such a gentleman.” I said smirking, but accepting his hand and getting out carefully. Hey, I wasn’t taking any chances in these heels. I saw the name of the restaurant, “Bella Vista Continental Restaurant.” We walked inside and he went up to the hostess.

“Talbot.” He said quietly. The hostess’s head immediately snapped up, and she smiled at him. “Let me show you your table.” She said smiling the whole time and leading us back to a semi private table in the back, right next to the glass. For the first time, I looked out the glass table. I gasped and could feel my jaw drop. Outside was a stunning view of the city of the Pittsburgh. I could see everything lit up and all of the different bridges. My favorite was the large yellow one that went over the rivers. Wow, I really needed to study my geography of Pittsburgh.

Max smiled at me, “It’s probably my favorite view of the whole city.” He told me.

Then our waitress came over, she was a very bubbly girl. “Hi, my name is Carla. What can I get you to drink?” Carla asked, but I noticed that she was staring at him the whole time.

He grinned at Carla, “Me and my friend here want a bottle of Pinot Noir, please.” He told her.

“Oh.” She looked over and sneered at me, “Are you of age?”

“Of course she is.” Max said smoothly. The smile returned on her face and she disappeared.

Max winked at me, “I’m letting you drink, try not to get drunk this time.” He said laughing.

I shook my head but giggled also. “I’ll try to restrain myself.” Carla returned to us quickly with the bottle of wine in an ice bucket.

“Now what can I get you to eat?” She asked giggling.

Max snapped the menu shut and handed it to her. “Two steaks please.” Carla nodded disappointedly, she obviously wanted to talk to him more. As soon as she left, I stuck my tongue out at him. “What makes you think I wanted a steak?” I asked. Not telling him that that was what I was actually going to order.

“You just seemed like a steak kind of girl.” He said grinning at me. I shook my head and toasted a glass of wine with him. We spent the whole date talking about what it was like growing up in Canada and playing hockey. We always skirted around the subject of Sidney. At the end of the date, Max pulled out his credit card.

“No, I have some money from chores.” I said pulling some bills out of my purse. He glared at me. “No, the man always pays for the first date. It doesn’t matter if I was a poor high school kid or a rich hockey player, I’m paying.” He said in such a stern voice that I was almost afraid to argue with. Once we got outside of the restaurant, I realized how cold it had gotten. I shivered involuntarily and Max looked at me concerned. “Are you okay Ky?” He asked.

I let out a short laugh before wrapping my arms around myself. “Yes, I’m fine. Just regretting the decision that I didn’t bring a jacket. It was stupid, I mean it’s October.”

He quickly slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. It was huge on me, but I smiled at the kind gesture and wrapped it around my tighter. The car ride home flew by, we were having a great conversation the whole time.

He parked halfway through the driveway this time and Max faced me. “Thank you so much for coming Kylie, I had a great time.” He told me.

I smiled, “It was great also, thank you so much for dinner. Next time we go out, it’ll be on me.” I said.

He smirked at me, “Already talking about next time?” He asked.

I blushed, “Sorry.”

He reached towards my face and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “Don’t be, I was thinking the same thing. I’ll call you. But I want to give you this.” Max announced before reaching into the back and pulling out a single red rose and giving it to me.

I gasped and carefully took it from him. “Thank you so much, it’s beautiful.”

 

We kept the promise of moving slowly by he just gave me a quick peck on the cheek before driving away. I twirled down the driveway laughing, I had a great time. I walked into the house. I must have looked like an idiot, with a huge smile on my face, a jacket twice my size, and clutching onto a rose. To my surprise, Sidney was sitting on the couch in the family room.

“Are you sure it wasn’t any one I know?” He asked sourly.

“Um…no.” I said nervously

“Then why are you wearing Max’s jacket?” Sid asked angrily.