I can’t believe Ryan was gone.

Ok I’ll tone down the dramatics; he just went with his parents on a business trip to New York and it’s only for the weekend.

But that’s what makes it even stranger. He would only be gone for Friday (today), Saturday and Sunday but I felt as miserable as if he was leaving forever.

Who was I going to tease? Who was going to calm me down before I punched Tanner in the face? How was I going to cope without seeing his adorable blush?

I was actually really looking forward to seeing him tonight at Stacey Hannigan’s Halloween costume Party. I had wondered what he would come dressed as since I’d already hinted to him that I was going as female gladiator. But I guess I’d never know now.

We’ve been here for an hour already and the party is in full swing, but I just wasn’t in a partying mood. I was tipsy, bored and conflicted. I was still missing Ryan and I was damn confused about why it felt so awful. And while I was having a shit time here, he was probably living it up in New York at a party more classy than this, with champagne and caviar and girls more beautiful (and rich!) than me…

RYAN’S POV

I can’t believe I convinced my parents to let me stay home while they went on their business trip! All day I’d been tortured by images of Ava, alluring and confident in her masked gladiator costume and now I’d finally get to see it. I couldn’t wait to surprise her at Stacey Hannigan’s party as Spiderman.

Since I told Stacey I wasn’t going to make it to the party, she took me off the list. And even if I showed up and told her I could make it, a control freak like Stacey couldn’t handle last minute changes and she’d shut the door in my face.  So I snuck in…I guess Ava’s influence must be rubbing off on me!

I saw Ava by herself out on the balcony, leaning on the ledge and looking pretty bored. Normally I would never have the confidence to do this, and maybe it was the fact that I could hide behind this mask or maybe it was the full moon turning me mad, but I wanted to be her ‘hero’ tonight.

Sneaking up carefully behind her, I placed my hands over her eyes. But she quickly removed them and spun around to see who it was.

“Do I know you?” she asked, dubiously.

I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came out.

So I just nodded

“Are we friends?”

I nodded again.

“Since when was Spiderman mute?” she asked with a hand on her hip and an eyebrow quizzically raised.

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the sarcasm in her tone, but the feeling quickly turned into dread as I saw a wave of confusion pass over her face. Crap had I been found out already?

Just then I see a fuming Stacey coming around the corner and I take this as my chance to escape.

Taking her hand and twirling her around, I disappeared off through the crowd and before long I heard the annoying high pitched sound of Stacey running across the floorboards in killer heels with her clipboard and a whistle.
“SPIDERMAN COME BACK HERE! YOU ARE NOT ON THE LIST. ONLY PEOPLE ON THE LIST CAN COME TO MY PARTY!”

 I had to ditch Stacey before I could be alone with Ava again. But glancing back briefly I saw her laughing at Stacey running after me. Well at least I made her smile…

“Luke! It’s me Ryan, Stacey’s after me, help me out man!” I called out to Luke who was standing by the windows. And without missing a beat, Luke drew the curtain away briefly so I could hide behind it.

“WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS SPIDERMAN!” Stacey screeched,

“Oh I think I just saw Spiderman run upstairs!” came another voice that sounded all too familiar. It was Ava.

“I’m gonna KILL that guy whoever he is!” yelled Stacey taking off towards the stairs like a raging bull…in high heels.

“Phew, that was a close one buddy!” Luke said to me through the curtains.
“You’re telling me.” I replied, “How are you going? Actually, where’s Alyssa? You guys are usually always together.”
“Yeah well she’s still mad at me about something I said earlier.” He said while adjusting his eye patch; Luke was dressed as a pirate.

“What exactly did you say?” I asked
“…I made a penis joke about my ‘sword’ and her ‘coconuts’ since she’s wearing a hula dancer costume.” He replied guiltily

“Wow…I don’t know what to say Luke.” I said trying not to laugh at how bad that joke must’ve gone down with Alyssa. “Hey, can I ask you a favour? Can you find Ava and tell her to meet ‘Spiderman’ out at the big tree in the backyard?”

“Ohoho you’re going after Ava? I didn’t know you had it in you Ryan! Oh my God this is too good!”

“…will you do it?”

“I’ll do it if you can help try to smooth things over with Alyssa for me.” He bargained.

“Alright fine, I’ll try but you got yourself into this mess hahaha” I laughed.

I explained to Alyssa that Luke had had a little too much to drink and he felt like an idiot for making that joke. I could see the hard expression on her face soften when I told her that what Luke meant to say was that he thought she looked so gorgeous tonight that it was turning him on, but the alcohol made him say something stupid.

‘When it comes to girls, the best thing to do is use words. Tell them exactly what you mean, tell them things that make them feel beautiful, tell them anything you sincerely feel because that’s what a gentleman does Ryan.’ That’s what my grandma always used to tell me back when she was still alive and books interested me more than any girl ever did.

 “You’re a legend Ryan,” said Luke pulling me in for a bro hug, “You might just be able to win Ava over.”

“I hope so…” I mumbled under my breath,

“What was that?” he asked
“Oh I just said you’re welcome.” I quickly amended.

“Anyway I already told Ava to go meet ‘Spiderman’ out by the tree in 10 minutes, but that was like 5 minutes ago so you’d better hustle.”

I don’t know if I was taking this whole Spiderman thing too far because I ended up climbing the tree to avoid Stacey (she still hadn’t given up the search) while I waited for Ava.

Through the thick foliage I could see Ava making her way towards the tree and my heartbeat immediately began to race at 100 miles per hour.

Just below the branch I was sitting on, she sat on the tyre swing kicking her legs out lazily.

“Where are you Spidey? Why have you been hiding from me all night?” she called out softly.

In true Spiderman style, I hooked my legs around the branch and hung upside down next to her.
“Did I make you wait too long?” I asked teasingly. I have no idea where this confidence is coming from…

“You scared the crap out of me!” she exclaimed, and I laughed at how ‘Ava’ that response was.

“Why did you want to meet me out here anyway?” She asked.
“…So we could be alone.” I replied quietly.

And she smiled the most beautiful smile and it set my heart ablaze.

“Well we’re not exactly alone down here are we? How about you help me up onto that branch.” She said to me.

After I got back up, I reached down to her as she stood on top of the swing. Her hands were so warm and trusting, tightly holding my own as I pulled her up into my eager arms.

“And what exactly does Spiderman want with a tough gladiator girl?” She asked playfully.
But I wasn’t feeling playful anymore.

“…He wants to kiss her.” I whispered, looking into her eyes as they reflected the full moon that cast the shadows of her lashes on her cheeks.

And then all of a sudden she took off my mask and I braced myself for the impact of rejection when she saw who I really was.

“Then kiss me Ryan.” she said calmly, like she knew that it was me the whole time. Then her eyelids fluttered shut as she held my face in her hands and brought it close to hers.

Kissing Ava was more than I ever dreamed of. It felt like I was being pulled in and I lost myself in elation.  I couldn’t focus on anything else but the softness of her lips, the intoxicating scent of her perfume and the smoothness of her skin as my hands slipped around her bare waist. I haven’t had much kissing experience before so I thought I was probably mediocre at best, but the way she was whispering my name spurred me on, more confident than I’ve ever been in my life. I didn’t even have to think; for once my brain was turned off and I just responded to what felt right.
And at this moment, having Ava in my arms felt like everything was definitely right in the world. This is where she belonged and where I wanted her to stay.  My body was just screaming for her and I needed her closer to me. But for some reason it felt like she wasn’t quite here, that at any moment she might just disappear.

I opened my eyes expecting to see beautiful tawny-green ones staring back at me, but they were gone. Ava had vanished into thin air and suddenly the party seemed a million miles away. My heart wrenched in despair, but then without warning, the branch underneath me began to splinter and snap and then I was falling, falling, falling….

I woke up abruptly, panting and alert in an unfamiliar room. Oh right, I’m not at home, I’m in New York. Looking at the digital clock on the bedside table it was 12:00, witching hour. Huh, how appropriate for Halloween. Well that dream would certainly haunt me…

I threw off the blankets and went to the bathroom to splash my face with cold water. This was the 10th time that I dreamt of Ava, and the 10th time that she disappeared right after we kissed.

Damn it, she was driving me crazy even in my sleep. I don’t know how much longer I can take this.

Never did I think that I, would be caught in the way she caught me. 

I think I’m in love with Ava.

Not just ‘like’.
Love.

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Cerise xx :)