Fear of Falling...In Love

Shane reached into his bag, grabbing some jeans out of it. “I just need a shower, and I’ll be out of your way until it’s time for bed.” 

“Well, we were going to go out for supper, Chinese food, if you want to join us?” Jessica smirked, knowing Shane loved Chinese food.

“I’ll be out in five minutes.” Shane ran out of the room, and withing twenty seconds, she heard the shower running. 

“That boy will never change.” Jessica went back to checking E-Mail.

Five minutes later, Shane stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of jeans, carrying his dirty clothes in his hands. He bumped into Andrea, the third roommate.

“Hi, I’m Shane, Jessica’s little brother.” He reached his hand out to shake hers.

Andrea reached her hand gingerly towards him, shaking it quickly, then wiping her hand off on the wad of clothes in his arm. “Yeah, she told us you were coming for a little bit.”

Shane smiled at her, but thought to himself, “Ooooooooook, so I guess she’s the uptight bitch of the bunch. No wonder Jess never talks about her that much.”

Andrea walked off towards her room, slamming the door. It was easy to see why she got the room on the other end of the house, no one wanted to be around her. 

Jessica walked out of her room. “I heard a door slam, I guess you met Andrea.” 

“Yeah, what’s up with her? I just said hey and shook her hand.”

Jessica crooked her finger at him, telling him to lean in. “Well you see, Andrea is kind of, ummmm....well, she’s sort of a......”

“Uptight bitch?” a third voice jumped into the conversation. Kelly was standing over by her door, listening to the sibling discuss the black sheep of the house. 

“Yes, that about sums her up,” Jessica said with a smirk.

The trio got ready to go eat, Andrea having decided to stay home. The girls took Shane to a nice restaurant, with a huge China garden in the front of it. The entire night, he was a gentleman, opening doors, pulling out chairs. He even stood up when one of them came back to the table. Kelly could see the proper upbringing that Jessica had introduced her too shining through in Shane as well. 

Shane excused himself to the restroom, leaving the girls to talk. “Jessica, your brother is so sweet! How did you get him to act so nice?”

Jessica laughed to herself. “Well, I had nothing to do with it. That was all my mom and dad’s doing. They raised us both strictly, as far as manners and actions go.”

Kelly, nodded, not used to this kind of treatment. She was used to college guys, having burping contests and beer bashes. “You don’t supposed he’d be interested in an older woman do you?” she 
asked, more than slightly serious.

“Kelly! He’s my little brother! Besides, you’re seeing a guy, what’s his name, Jeff?”

“Gene, and yeah, I am. But, he just seems to want to make out, and he’s tried stuff on me before. I have a date with him tomorrow night, I don’t know if I really want to go.”

“Oh come on, all guys are horny at our age. He’s probably sweet deep down.”

“Not nearly as sweet as Shane,” Kelly thought to herself.
Shane soon returned to the table. “Sorry to keep you guys waiting, there was a line. So, now what’s on the agenda?” 

“Well, we were just going to rent a couple of movies and go home, if that’s ok with you?” Kelly said, reaching for her fortune cookie. 

“That sounds good to me, don’t let me get in the way of anything ya’ll have planned.” Shane reached out, for the bill tray, holding it up so Jessica and Kelly could both get their fortune cookies.

“Oh great!” said Jessica. “Look for enlightenment in the halls of learning. Can’t you tell we’re living in a college town? This fortune sucks!” 

Shane and Kelly both laughed at her reaction, each breaking theirs open. 

Kelly read hers out loud, “Be aware of love in the most unlikely of partners.”

Jessica nodded at her, “See? What did I tell you about Gene?”

Shane opened his, and read it to himself. “You will find love, straight ahead, down life’s road.” He looked up, and sitting straight ahead of him was Kelly. “Does that mean.....Nah. Besides, she just said she was going out with some guy during dinner.”

“What does yours say, Shane?” they both asked him. 

“Huh? Oh, uh, nothing. It’s stupid really.” He put it in his pocket, grabbing a few dollars to leave as a tip.

“Alright, let’s get going. Shotgun!” Jessica said, hopping up from the table, leaving the money for dinner on the table.

Shane looked at his sister, shaking his head. “After you, Mademoiselle,” he said, motioning Kelly to lead the way.

“Merci, Monsieur.” she said, walking in front of him. She wondered though, why was he staring at her in such a weird way when he read that fortune?

****************************************************************************

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, with a couple of movies, some popcorn, and two stern warnings from Andrea about them being, “Too raucously loud!” 

The next morning, Shane woke up to see Kelly sitting on the 
couch, eating a bowl of Coco Puffs, watching cartoons. She had on an old T-shirt, and some baggy sweat pants.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” she said, smiling brightly, with her red hair framing her face, shining in the light from the window. 

“Oh, god, don’t tell me you’re a morning person!” Shane laid back down, pulling a pillow on top of his head. 

Kelly sat the bowl down, hopping onto the sofa bed, pulling the pillow off his face. “Now, now, you have to get up. I think your sister has a list of stuff for you to do today.” 

“Nooooo, I’m supposed to be on vacation!” Shane pulled the pillow back down, shutting the light out of his eyes.

“Shane, come on, get up. I’ll wake you up like my mom used to do to us.” Kelly pulled the pillow away, and tossed it on the love seat. She then leaned down, and planted a small kiss on the tip of Shane’s nose. “There! Now, it’s time to get up and eat some breakfast.” She walked into the kitchen, and Shane heard bowls clattering. 

“Yeah, sure, be right there Kelly!” Shane pulled the blankets over his head, and rolled back over to go to sleep.

“Oh, no! Don’t roll over, mister!” Kelly hopped on top of Shane’s back, and reached under the blanket, tickling him. She tickled with all she had, trying to wake him up. 

“Hey, come on, stop that, don’t do it!” Shane struggled under the covers, trying to grab her arms, but she had him pinned under the blankets.

Right then, Andrea stepped out of her room, dressed for class. “Kelly, will you please dismount the minor?” she said with a sneer. “Just because you can’t find a guy your own age willing to fool around, don’t corrupt young minds.” Then, Andrea grabbed her keys, and walked out, slamming the door on her way out.

Kelly got off the sofa bed, walking slowly into the kitchen. Shane hopped up, following her. “Kelly, don’t listen to her, she’s just grumpy....all the time.” 

“No, Shane, she’s right. No guys are interested in me around here.” Kelly was getting the milk out of the fridge.

“Wait, what about that guy you’re going out with tonight, Gene? He’s interested”

Kelly laughed to herself. “Gene’s interested in anything that has a vagina. And, if he’s horny enough, he might just look for an ass.” 

Shane walked over, putting his hand on her arm, lifting her chin with his other hand. “Look, if he doesn’t see that you’re a great girl, that’s his own fault. He’s probably too stupid to find his own ‘johnson’ without a team of hound dogs anyway.”

Kelly laughed at that. She was happy to have a guy around the house that could make her laugh, even if it was for only a short while. She looked up into Shane’s eyes, and saw them, so deep, so icy and clear. She felt herself lean forward.

Shane found himself doing the same. He didn’t know what came over him, but he wanted to kiss this girl so badly. 

Suddenly, his sister’s door opened. She came out yawning, wearing Pjs and bunny slippers. “Morning you guys. What’s for breakfast?”

“Uh, cereal,” Kelly said, dropping the box and walking into her room quickly. She leaned against the door, trying to get a hold of herself. Why had she done that? Shane was nice, but he was so young. She had to admit though, his solid body felt good when she was tickling him. It had been a long time since a guy had made her feel light headed like this. < /p>