She glanced at the clock; it was 10:30 pm. She was almost out the room, on her way to brush her teeth, when she heard her phone ring. Her face lit up when she saw it was Angel. She answered it with a smile.
“Hi, Angel.”
“Hey.” His voice was a little somber. “Sorry I’m calling so late. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I still feel like an ass about today.”
“No, you shouldn’t.” She clutched the phone. “Actually, I feel a lot better now that I told you.”
“Good,” he said. “’Cause I want you to know you can to tell my anything.”
Sarah's heart sank. She knew she should’ve told him about Sydney already, but truth was she was beginning to wonder if he really needed to know. Valerie was right, she decided, about guy’s being territorial and Angel was making that pretty clear. She was certain now, especially after hearing his take on guys and girls being friends, that he wouldn’t understand her relationship with Sydney.
She reasoned with herself that he probably would never get the chance to meet Syd anyway. She’d already decided to keep the subject of Syd to a minimum. Still, she couldn’t help feeling deceitful.
She pushed Sydney to the back of her mind. There were other things she needed to get clear with him. “Listen, Angel.” She sat down on her bed. “I’m glad you called. With all the talk about my mom today, I completely forgot to talk to you about tomorrow.”
“What about tomorrow?”
“Well, I know we have an understanding now, but I don’t want that to change things at school.”
He was silent for a moment, but she heard the unmistakable change in his tone when he spoke again. “You don’t want anyone at school to know you’re seeing someone?”
“No.” She was surprised that he would even think that. “I just don’t want you to change anything you normally do, for me. I know how close you are with your friends. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to spend together after school and on weekends, there’s no need for me to cut in on your time with your friends at school.”
She really hoped he’d understand. The last thing she wanted to do was suffocate him. After all, this was his school, his friends, she was the outsider.
The truth was, she wasn’t entirely sure she was going be able to handle this. It was well known the way the girls, especially Dana, acted around Angel. Just the thought of watching another girl throw herself all over him now made her cringe.
“Hey,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with everything staying the same as far as you hanging out with your friends, and me with mine. But in case there’s any doubt, I wasn’t planning on keeping this understanding a secret.”
Sarah felt her heartbeat speed up. For the first time the reality of it all was sinking in. This was really happening, and with none other than Angel Moreno.
“Oh, I know that,” she said. “That’s not what I meant at all. I just don’t want to smother you Angel. I want you to still have your space.”
“You have it all wrong, Sarah,” he said “If anyone is gonna have to watch the smothering, it’s gonna be me. In case you haven’t noticed, I just can’t get enough of you.”
His words sent shivers up and down her spine. She felt the exact same way, yet Angel didn’t seem scared. She, on the other hand, was terrified. This kind of happiness was uncommon in her world. She wasn’t used to it and in some ways almost felt guilty about feeling so happy.
“You have to stop saying things like that.”
“Why?” He sounded very serious. “I say what I feel, and I want you to do the same. Don’t ever hold anything back.”
“Okay.” She loved the way he made her feel so uninhibited. “Can I tell you what I’m feeling right now?”
“Of course.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I’d like to crawl right through the phone right now, and kiss you all over.”
She heard him groan. “That’s not fair. Okay, let’s get one thing straight, things like that you can only say when I have you right in front of me. Damn, how am I supposed to fall asleep now?”
Sarah giggled. “Sweet dreams, Angel.”
“Yeah, you know what I’ll be dreaming of.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, still giggling. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
He groaned again. “Sarah, baby, I know you mean well, but that’s not helping my situation over here.”
She forced herself to stop giggling; reminding herself to not make promises she couldn’t keep. She’d already seen firsthand how hard, almost painful it was for him to restrain himself. Not that she had any doubts he would, but it was cruel to tease him like that.
She stared at the phone for a while after they’d hung up, and wondered how she, herself would get any sleep tonight.
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