#4 – The Gift of Fear

Ayn was still recovering from his encounter with Sari, as she had managed to wound both his ego and his genitals. The whole experience had rather soured him on the idea of dating, and he had decided to swear off women for a while. Alas, there was someone waiting to destroy his plans.

"Hi, Ayn!" he heard someone call behind him as he was walking into history class one day.

He turned around and was greeted by a petite, bubbly girl with long emerald-green hair. "Oh! Hi, Thea!"

Thea giggled as she entered the room with him. "Do you mind if I sit next to you today? I can't really see the board from my old seat."

"Sure, go ahead."

They took their seats near the center of the room and got out their notebooks in preparation for the upcoming lecture. Once class started, Ayn found himself being distracted by the gorgeous girl next to him, despite his best intentions. He watched her absentmindedly twirl her hair around one finger while she took notes with a flowery purple pen for a few moments before forcing himself to pay attention to his own notebook.

He was distracted again by the sound of tearing paper. Ayn turned his head and watched as Thea folded up a sheet from her notebook into a small square. She carefully dropped it onto the floor and gently kicked it across the aisle so it landed at Ayn's feet. He picked it up and carefully unfolded it.

"Are you going to the dance on Friday?" was written in dark purple elaborate cursive. He looked at her, but she was staring straight ahead at the chalkboard.

"I don't know. Maybe," he wrote underneath. Before he passed the note back, he glanced up at the teacher, Ms. Miun. The elderly redhead was half blind and was content to obliviously blather the same things over and over to her uncaring students, so Ayn was fairly certain he would avoid detection. He leaned over and managed to successfully toss the note onto Thea's desk.

He watched her frown slightly when reading his response, but her pen flowed across the paper in enticing spirals and curlicues. The folded note flew back across the aisle, landing squarely in the middle of Ayn's desk and he opened it to read the latest line in their written conversation.

"You should go, it'll be fun!" Ayn looked up again and saw that Thea was looking right at him this time. There was a small smile on her pouty lips and an alluring sparkle in her green eyes. He let his gaze drift down and the way her low-cut white dress clung to her figure, followed by the delicate curve of her crossed legs was enough to make him nearly forget about his promise to himself.

Unlike Sari, though, Thea actually seemed to be interested in Ayn. He pushed aside the painful memories and approached the green-haired girl after class. "So what's this about a dance?" he asked her, trying to sound casual.

"Everybody's going to be there! It's going to be great!" She tilted her head to the side and looked up at him expectantly.

Even though he couldn't imagine the perky Thea hurting anyone, he moved his notebook in front of his most vulnerable area just in case. "If you'd like, I could give you a ride," he suggested, still trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

Thea giggled. "I'd love to go with you! Pick me up at 6:30, I'll text you my address!" She gave him a flirty little wave before heading towards her next class.

That was too easy, Ayn thought. He kept waiting for something to go wrong, but Thea was friendly towards him for the rest of the week and even expressed her anticipation about the dance several times. Friday rolled around and everything was going well.

Ayn couldn't decide what to wear to the dance, but he eventually settled on a button-down shirt and khaki pants, the standard uniform for teenage boys attending a semi-formal occasion. Before he left his house, he shoved a tie into his pocket just in case. Rushing down the stairs, he went outside and got in his rusty old Ford Escapipe. He was gradually saving up for a flashy new Telepipe, but the Escapipe generally got him where he needed to go. Most of the time.

He pulled up in front of Thea's house and walked up to her front door. Before he could even ring the bell, the door opened and he was greeted by the beaming girl. Ayn barely noticed her, though, as he was distracted by the intimidating man standing behind her.

He had long, straggly hair the same color as Thea's, but that was where the similarities ended. His right eye was covered by an ominous patch that lay against his weathered skin, nearly meeting his long mustache. The eye that was still visible glared intently at the young man standing on his doorstep.

"Yay! You're here! Let's go!" The excitable Thea started to leave, but the older man cleared his throat audibly. "Oh, right. Ayn, this is my father, Lyle," she introduced. "Daddy, this is Ayn."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Ayn said nervously, extending his hand. Lyle merely looked at it and grunted. Ayn was starting to sweat underneath his freshly-ironed shirt, but luckily, Thea couldn't wait to leave.

"I won't be home too late, I promise." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before racing out the door. "Bye, Daddy!" she called.

Ayn turned to follow her, but was thwarted by a hand clamping down on his shoulder. "I can make you disappear," Lyle said in a low voice. "Just keep that in mind."

"Y...yes, sir." Ayn tugged at the collar of his shirt. "May I leave now?"

Lyle released his hold on him, but watched him walk down to the old car. Ayn didn't turn around, but he knew that if he did, he would see the glowing green eye following him. Thea, however, seemed blissfully unaffected by events that had already transpired and had already let herself into the passenger seat.

The dance was indeed as fun as Thea had predicted, though it was fairly uneventful. Ayn had especially enjoyed dancing to the slower songs, as his date was not shy about pulling him close and resting her head on his chest. The event had to come to a close, however, and before they knew it, they were back in the car, heading home.

Ayn parked at the bottom of the driveway and debated whether or not to turn the car off. His mouth felt dry and his hands felt clammy as he suddenly found it very difficult to make eye contact with the beautiful girl sitting less than a foot away from him. "I had a really good time tonight," she truthfully told him.

"Me too." He tried to swallow. "We should go out again sometime," he managed to croak out.

Even in dark, he could see Thea's radiant smile. "I like that you're thinking ahead, but tonight's not over yet," she said in a provocative tone he hadn't known she was capable of. She slid across the front seat of the car until she was directly next to him, the line of her body perfectly aligning with his.

Normally, Ayn's pulse would have been racing with excitement, but he had some concerns. "It's getting late, isn't your father -"

"Shh," she interrupted him, putting a long, delicate finger to his lips. "Don't worry about him, he's probably sleeping by now." She moved her hand to the side and gently rested it at the base of his neck. "This is the part where you're supposed to kiss me goodnight," she whispered.

Ayn tried to push his worries out of his head and obliged her request. Her mouth was soft and moist against his own and he detected a taste of cherry lip gloss. As her lips parted, he felt her tongue slip forward to engage him in a playful game of exploration. Ayn had a bit of an awkward moment when he realized that his hands were just laying lifeless in his lap, but after some quick deliberations, he decided to place his left hand on her right shoulder.

Thea had other ideas, however. Without breaking the kiss, she raised her own hand to Ayn's and guided it down a few inches. Ayn froze for a split second as he realized what, exactly, he was touching, but the feeling of Thea both on top of his hand and below was too much to ignore for long.

His head was spinning, his hands were moving to uncharted territories, and his pants seemed as if they were shrinking, but his full enjoyment of the moment was disrupted by the thought of Lyle appearing outside the car at any moment. As much as it nearly killed him to do so, he pulled away from Thea and quickly looked around. His gaze wandered to the mostly dark house – had that light been on when they arrived?

"What's the matter?" the emerald-haired girl asked, looking confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No! Oh god, no. Of course not. I just thought I heard something outside." Ayn started to kiss her again, but the idea of the angry green eye watching their every move continued to haunt him.

Thea laced her fingers around the back of his neck, but then one of her hands started to trace a line down his chest. As she moved dangerously lower, he had visions of the foreboding mustachioed man appearing at the windows of the car and he pulled away yet again. "I...I'm sorry," he stammered. "I just don't want us to get caught."

She looked around, still slightly confused. "There's no one here," she pointed out.

"I know, but your father's expecting you to come home any minute, what if he sees us?"

Thea frowned. "I guess if you want me to leave..."

Ayn groaned and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I don't want you to leave. Believe me, I would like nothing more than to stay out here with you all night. I just feel weird doing so the end of your father's driveway."

"I understand." She sighed and looked disappointed for a moment. "I guess I should go inside now." When Ayn didn't answer, she kissed him on the cheek. "I still had a good time tonight."

"Me too," he said. "I'll call you tomorrow." He waited until she was out of the car and inside her house before he started banging his head against the steering wheel.

True to his word, Ayn called Thea the following day, a rare occurrence for a teenage boy. "I'm sorry about last night," he apologized again. "Your father just freaked me out a little."

Thea considered this information. "I guess I can see that." She giggled into the phone. "He's really not that bad, I'm sure he'll like you once he gets to know you."

"I hope so."

"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't you come over here for dinner tonight? You can see for yourself."

The image of the fiery green eye that was permanently etched into Ayn's mind reappeared, but Thea sounded so excited, he hated to turn her down. "Uh...sure," he accepted with a slight hesitation.

She didn't seem to notice. "Great! Why don't you come over around 5:30? I'll make sure to have dinner ready for then!"

Ayn didn't really feel any less nervous when he hung up the phone, but he was willing to try to make a good impression on Lyle for Thea's sake. When the time came, he drove the battered Escapipe over to their house and waited to be let inside. The perky young woman led him inside and sat him down at the table across from her father.

"Dinner's just about ready, I just need to take care of a few things!" she chirped. While he waited for Thea to finish cooking, Ayn felt himself start to sweat beneath Lyle's singular glare. He had greeted the older man upon entering the house, but had received little more than a grunt in return.

Thea set the food down on the table and dished it onto their plates. Once she sat down, she was more than happy to babble away obliviously about school, the dance, her cheerleading squad, and anything else that came to mind. Ayn tried to ask a few questions in between bites, but throughout the meal, he felt the hateful green eye burning a hole in him.

"Thank you for having me over for dinner," Ayn finally managed to choke out in Lyle's direction once they were finished. He received an obligatory nod for his troubles. Thea, as always, remained unaware of the tension in the room and when she was done clearing the dishes, she stood next to her father's chair.

"Can we go downstairs and watch a movie?" she asked. The eyebrow that was not hidden by the tattered patch raised slightly. "Please, Daddy? It's not that late and it's not a school night and all my homework's done and..."

"Fine," Lyle conceded, never taking his eye off of the shivering young man in front of him.

Thea didn't wait for him to elaborate; she grabbed Ayn's hand and practically dragged him out of his chair. "Thank you, Daddy!" she called out over her shoulder as she led her date to the stairs. Ayn said nothing, though he still felt the menacing eye upon him even when his back was turned.

The basement was comfortably furnished and was decorated with family portraits. As Thea set up the DVD player, Ayn glanced around at the various images of her at different ages, all with the same big eyes and lovely smile. In most of the pictures, though, her father stood behind her, his stern expression a stark contrast to that of his daughter's.

Thea gestured for Ayn to take a seat on the couch as she selected a movie. Once she made her decision, she curled up right next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. Ayn slid an arm around her and tried to concentrate on the movie, but he was distracted by the idea of Lyle coming downstairs to check up on them and seeing the two of them sitting so close.

Despite his best efforts, he never could quite relax completely during the ninety-minute movie. At its conclusion, Thea turned the television off and looked up at him. "What would you like to do now?" she asked coyly.

Ayn swallowed and debated how honest to be. He must have taken too long to respond, though, for Thea answered her own question by twisting her body around and pressing her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to him, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed up against his chest.

When Thea slipped her hands underneath his shirt and ran them against his bare skin, he trembled as he all but forgot where he was. The dizzy feeling set in again as he felt her mouth covering his own, her fingers along his back, his own hands buried deep in her jewel-toned tresses. She guided his body up slightly from its semi-reclined position and in one swift motion, slid her leg to the other side of his lap so she was straddling him.

Ayn finally opened his eyes to take in the sight of the beautiful girl sitting directly on top of him. Beyond Thea's enamored gaze, though, he could see dozens of clones of the fierce green eye watching his every move from the picture frames. He quickly shut his eyes again, but it was difficult to shake off the frightening image.

He tried to concentrate on Thea's actions, but a noise from the other side of the room startled him. He sprung up from the sofa, sending her tumbling to the carpet with a surprised yelp, and looked around. "What was that?" he whispered frantically.

"I don't know, it was probably the cat or something," she answered from the floor. "Why are you so jumpy all of a sudden?"

Hers weren't the only eyes he felt upon him, waiting for an answer. Ayn tried to focus on the pair closest to him and sat back down. "Sorry," he said and tried to think of a suitable explanation. Thea climbed back up next to him and waited. He chose not to elaborate and kissed her again.

Another strange sound, this time from almost above them, caused Ayn to push her away for a second time. Before she could respond, Lyle appeared on the staircase, holding a large bowl. "I thought you might want some popcorn to go with your movie," he said dryly.

Ayn looked at the silent TV, Thea's messy hair, and the terrifying glares surrounding him from all sides of the room and his instincts kicked in. Run away! was the only thought going through his mind. He stood up quickly and tried to speak coherently, but the words tried to come out all at once. "Oh, wow, look at the time, I really should be getting home, my parents will be expecting me, and I have some homework to finish and some chores to complete and it's so late and I really really need to get home and..." He had to stop to breathe. "Thanks again for dinner. Thea, I'll call you soon."

Ayn sprinted up the stairs past Lyle, burst out the front door, raced down to the Escapipe, and flew home in the space of approximately ten seconds. Upon returning to his bedroom, he was finally able to catch his breath. Knowing that he most likely needed to smooth things over with Thea, he picked up his cell phone and dialed her number.

"Hi Thea, I'm sorry I left in such a rush." He didn't give her a chance to say anything. "Look, I really like you, and I have a great time whenever I'm with you. I really want to keep dating you...but I just can't do it at your father's house. We can go anywhere else in the world you'd like...just not there."

Thea sighed and contemplated the situation. "I think you're overreacting, but I guess we can go somewhere else next time. Besides, I really think he likes you! He's never brought anyone else popcorn before!"