Twenty-two

Corey pulls into his driveway. Maybe he's right. This is so stupid.

"Sadie." Corey looks at me. Even when I am upset with him, he looks so handsome.

"I am just going to have my mom pick me up."

"Stop, I am sorry I said that, you are so sensitive," he says rolling his eyes.

"Really." I feel a little angry now.

"I just want what's best for you." He grabs my hand, "I am sorry."

I smile. "Me too, I am sorry for the things they said."

He looks down. "That's not why I said what I did. I don't want you to lose your family over me."

"I know."

"I want you, and nobody or anything will stop me from having what I want," he smirks at me.

He brings his lips to mine. I kiss him enthusiastically.

Once our lips pull away, he rubs my face with his hand.

Soon, I find myself unloading the toys in Jen's room. I smile at all the childhood memories.

"What's all this?" Corey looks around at all the stuff.

"Some of my childhood stuff."

"Is your mom going to be okay with you taking this stuff?" He asks.

"She did say I can have my stuff."

He smiles. "Jen's going to love it."

He comes in and sits next to me on the floor. He picks up a little pink bunny.

"Sadie, don't give me away," he says, shaking the bunny in front of my face.

"Really mature, his name is Floppy."

"How original." He laughs.

"I was like five when I named him,'' I say, snatching it from his hand.

Opening a box, I smile. This box was full of my old dance recital costumes. Look at the tags, I see most of them are size 6.

"Jen can play in these."

Corey smiles. "They should fit."

I hear my stomach growl. " Let's go get pizza for lunch, on me."

"Mm Pizza, you are speaking my mind."

We leave Jen's room. I smile, seeing it filled with more things than usual.

A half-hour later, I sit at the table waiting for the waitress to bring the pizza. We ordered a pineapple ham pizza with a side of stuffed mushrooms. I sip my sweet tea. It is simply delicious. I usually just drink a lot of water. Mom always said that beverages are just added calories.

"Corey," I hear a voice approaching our table. It was a peculiar-looking girl. She wore a backward hat, baggy sweatpants, and a belly shirt. I notice her belly button was pierced.

"Hey, Carly." Corey grins.

She smiles. "Still working at that stuck-up dance academy."

I am sure Corey noticed my reaction. Who does this girl think she is?

"I got let go for falling in love with the owner's daughter, Carly, this is Sadie, my girlfriend." Corey reaches across the table and grabs my hand.

I smile. "Hey."

"Oh hi," Carly awkwardly smiles.

Carly shifts her attention to Corey. "I just talked to you last month and there was no girlfriend," she laughs.

"Well, now there is," Corey says.

She looks down. "You're moving pretty fast, don't you think?"

"Nope, I feel the way I do," Corey says.

Carly must be Corey's Adam. It was completely obvious that she likes him. I mean, what girl wouldn't?

Moments later, the waitress finally brings our food over and sits at our table. I feel annoyed watching Carly eye Corey. She sits at the table across from us with a group of friends.

I take a bite of the pizza, and the sweet taste of the pineapple is perfect with a sweet tea.

"Are you nervous about starting at the Barkey tomorrow?"

"I'm somewhat excited," Corey responds.

"You think you'll like it better than the dance academy?"

"Probably, but one good thing about working at the dance academy is, it went by fast because there was so much to clean and do," he tells me.

"Yeah, I am sure mom kept you busy." I hear the sarcasm in my voice.

Corey laughs, "just a little."

We stand up to leave, and I couldn't be any more thrilled to leave the pizza restaurant. I feel eyes on me the whole time. It was so annoying.

"I'll just be a minute," Corey says.

I stand in front of our table like an imbecile. Corey walks over to Carly's table. She nearly jumps out of her seat with joy. I roll my eyes.

"It was nice seeing you," I overheard Corey said.

"If things don't work out with Princess, you know where to find me,'' she says, kissing him on the cheek.

Corey shakes his head. " Whatever." He walks away towards me.

I seriously can't help feeling mad. I defended the guy, to my mother, to my friend, and you seriously just said whatever. Whatever!

A few hours have passed, and Jen is finally home from school. I tried to appear like I'm not bent out of shape. I can't help how I feel, maybe I am just being childish.

Jen dances around in her room with excitement. I am ecstatic that she likes all the stuff I gave her. She plays with the dolls in the box. Corey comes and sits beside me on the floor. He puts his arm around me.

"You're mad at me,'' he whispers in my ear.

"I guess I'm a little disappointed."

"Why?" He asks. I feel his lips on my cheek.

"All you can come up with was whatever?"

"Oh, Sadie Carly is Carly. And I don't think you're a Princess, you shouldn't care what she thinks either," he tells me.

"I certainly don't care what the likes of her think of me. I mean me compared to her, please. She looks like a skateboarding fool."

Corey Crosses his arms over his chest. "Well, well, well, look who's being stuck up now." He laughs.

"Telling the truth isn't being stuck up."

"Carly has a loud mouth, but she's a very sweet girl and she likes to skateboard, but she's not a fool. Just like you like to dance, but you're not a princess. I think you both have different stereotypes about each other and don't even know each other, it's the way society judges each other," Corey says.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Carly thinks that you are stuck up princess, and you think she's a skateboarding fool, but you don't even know her, and she doesn't even know you," he tells me.

"I guess you're right." I did judge Carly right in the beginning.

"I'm always right," Corey says, kissing me on the cheek.

"Let's get supper started," Corey says, getting up. I follow him into the kitchen.

"What sounds good, my love?" He asks.

"Hmmm, anything."

He laughs. "Cheeseburgers," he said, looking into the freezer.

Hours passed, and soon, I lay in bed with Corey. Tomorrow is the big day Corey starts a new assignment. Though, I am so excited for him. I wonder what I am going to do here all day. I miss my time at the Dance Academy, at least it kept me busy. Soon sleep takes over me.