Handcuffs, Kisses and Awkward Situations: Mystery Romance

  “Are you hungry?” I asked.

  She turned and looked at me with her knees drawn to her chest, teeth chattering. “Yeah.”

  I reached over and turned up the heating. Nora shivered as the car slowly heated up and that only made me want to reach over and wrap her up in my arms. Distracted by thoughts of holding her, I was completely unprepared for the sudden jerk of my car. When I drew my attention back to the vehicle, I noticed I had run out of petrol just as my car spluttered pathetically and stopped in the middle of the street.

  “Crap,” I muttered, trying to start the engine again so I could swerve towards the curb, but it was a goner.

  It wasn’t a part of my half-planned out plan. I groaned and checked my rear view mirrors for incoming traffic, but we seemed to be away from most of the after-school rush. A street sign was up ahead and I leaned in to get a closer look, squinting to make out the letters: Harvey Avenue. The closest servo was at least two streets away.

  “We’re stuck, aren’t we?” Nora asked, looking up at me.

  “No,” I scoffed, frowning.

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah,” I confessed in defeat.

  She let out a soft sigh and dug around in her bag. “I’ll call someone to pick us up.”

  Honestly, I didn’t want to give up, but maybe it was fate’s way of trying to tell me that it just couldn’t work out. As I was about to agree, I caught sight of an everlasting span of green grass. It was a park and something about it made my confidence rise back up. Before Nora could punch in any numbers, I stopped her.

  “Wait,” I said, reaching out to hold her hand.

  I didn’t have to say anything more because she understood: I just wanted to hang out. I needed it, especially after my day and she just seemed to understand. She sunk into her chair, curled her fingers between mine and together, we shared a silence as brilliant as music.

  ~♥♥♥~

  After pushing my car towards the curb, we sat there with the radio on and listened to music while we talked her hand rested in mine and whenever she shifted, the sweet smell of Nora just drifted over and tempted me to kiss her. But instead, I let my eyes linger on her a little longer than necessary in return for restraining from kissing her until I asked her out.

  Eventually, we were getting stiff sitting in the same position so we decided to go for a walk in the park. Since it was winter, it was already dark. The full moon was out and the stars were shining in a never-ending blanket of blue. It seemed to drop a good seven degrees too, causing Nora to shiver as soon as she was out of the car. But luckily, I had stored my school hoodie in the boot of my car so I helped her into it, took her hand and together, we walked through the park.

  We stuck to the path so we wouldn’t get lost because all we were relying on was the weak illumination of street poles and moonlight to guide us through. As we walked along the winding road, the gravel beneath our shoes crunched and the wind howled around us. Nora shivered and I took the opportunity to draw her closer, wrapping my arms around her protectively and enjoying the warmth of her against me.

  This is it, I thought. I’m finally going to ask her out.

  But as I opened my mouth to speak, Nora had run away and was heading towards the swings situated in a large pit of sand. She turned half way and waved me over. I couldn’t help but grin at her easily amused personality. The smallest things could make her happy.

  She sat in one of the swings and I took the other. At first, we didn’t swing. We just sat there, gently swaying back and forth, looking at the shadows drifting through the dark park. At some point, Nora spoke.

  “Ryder,” she said, fingers trailing along the metal links of the swing, “what do you want to do after graduation?”

  The question surprised me. For my mum and her work mates, it was the same rehearsed line of “university, achievement, family”. When it came to my friends, it was the nonchalantly arrogant answer of “wealth and success”. And when I asked myself the question, all I was left with was a question mark.

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly.

  “Hm,” she hummed and wrapped her fingers around the chains.

  “What about you?”

  “Same,” she agreed. “Would have thought we’d have it all figured out by now, huh? Being so close to graduation and all.”

  I had a feeling the conversation was going to get really intensely deep, where we’d reflect ourselves and start getting all comprehensive about the meaning of life. But instead, Nora tipped her head back and looked up at the sky, admiring the silvery clouds that seemed to glow in the sky. When she lowered her gaze back to me, they bubbled with excitement as she kicked off the ground and started swinging.

  “I bet I can land further than you,” she challenged, already moving her legs to get as much height as possible.

  I pushed off the ground, a grin on my face. “I am the champion of this. You’re going down, Montgomery!”

  That caused her to throw her head back and laugh. I gave her a wink and proceeded to kiss the stars with how high I was getting. As Nora swung, her blonde hair flew back, causing it to look like flickering golden flames. She looked beautiful in the moonlight.

  “On three!” she announced, her voice rising in excitement.

  “One.”

  “Two.”

  “Three!”

  As we reached the peaks of our height, we let go, hearts hammering, pulses racing, palms sweating as we lunged into the air. There was that perfect three seconds of feeling like flying before we landed in the sand. Rolling around from the force, I knocked heads with Nora, but rather than causing her pain, she got lost in a fit of giggles.

  “I think I won,” I said, joining in with her laughter.

  She placed a hand on her stomach as she tried to contain herself. “In your dreams, Collins! I clearly smashed you.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh harder. “The evidence is pretty clear. I won by a mile.”

  She shook her head in denial and flipped onto her side to look at me. The glow from the moon caused her features to illuminate under the light, emphasising every light and shade of her face. Her hair seemed to have more colour, a more untamed wildness that I hadn’t noticed before. And before I could think, I had my arms around her and giving her the most gentle of kisses. She tasted sweet and salty, like strawberries and sand. Her hands made their way to my neck as I pulled her closer, letting my fingers trail up and down her sides. When we broke apart, we were breathless, hearts pounding as we looked at each other.

  “Nora,” I whispered, even though I didn’t have to. The moment just felt too delicate for me to raise my voice. “I lied.”

  “What?” She looked at me, frowning.

  “I lied. I do know what I want after graduation.”

  She tilted her head curiously. “What do you want?”

  “You.”

  There we were, tangled in each other’s arms, covered in sand, lying completely content under the stars. The wait for her response seemed to take forever and before I could brush off my stupid question with a joke, she smiled and leaned in, kissing me again, this time, with more passion. It was wild and unexplored, adventurous and exciting. But before I could enjoy it further, she leaned back, pressing her forehead against mine.

  “I guess we share the same interests, because I want you in mine,” she mumbled, lips still brushing against mine. “But you know, today you’ve given me a ride to school, your footy jersey and asked me out. This should be classified as a high school marriage. We’re basically engaged now.”

  I laughed. “How about being my girlfriend for now and we’ll discuss that later?”

  “Agreed.” In that moment, there was nothing more beautiful than the smile on her face.

  I smiled to myself. My mind lingered upon having her in my future and I suddenly realised graduation didn’t seem so unclear. I had one part of my puzzle: Nora Montgomery.

  Thirty Five

  Math was one of the very few classes I sh
ared with Caine. I hadn’t seen him prior to that period but as soon as I walked into the classroom, he jumped me from behind the door. He caught my head in his arm and dug his knuckles into my hair.

  “Ryder, my main man.”

  I laughed. “Caine.”

  He let go of me and we made our way to our seats. “So, update on Rora?”

  “Seriously, stop with that,” I answered, but I couldn’t help the smile on my face.

  “Well, did she say yes or not?”

  Tyler was sitting in front of us and he tipped his chair back to listen. “Are we talking about Rora?”

  “Seriously?”

  Tyler shrugged and bumped knuckles with Caine.

  “See? Rora is a thing now,” Caine insisted. “So, is she your girl or not?”

  “Yeah, she’s my girl.” The way it rolled off my tongue felt great.

  “Nice.” Tyler nodded in approval.

  Caine placed his hand on the back of Tyler’s head and gently pushed him away so that his chair went tipped back onto four legs. “Okay, junior, do your work now. I’ve got to talk to Collins about something.”

  Tyler frowned. Between the three of us, he was the only one who was still seventeen. The guys liked to make fun of him for it.

  “Why can’t I listen in?”

  “Grown up stuff, champ. Turn eighteen first.”

  Tyler flipped him the finger but smiled and turned around.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, quietly, just in case Tyler decided he wanted to eavesdrop.

  “I had community service yesterday. Officer Brandy may have tipped that they’re going to visit today.”

  “God,” I groaned. “When?”

  “Sometime this afternoon.”

  The police department had been hot on our trails, trying to dig up information we didn’t have. All our questionings had been identical. The same things are asked, a snarky comment or two escape, patience is tested, and everyone leaves the room in a bad mood. After my night with Nora, I wasn’t ready for my mood to be ruined. Not now. Not today.

  When class finally started, we were given an exercise to complete. My mind was somewhere else though and my eyes kept moving toward the window.

  “No need to take it out on your pencil,” Caine whispered from beside me, nodding at my curled fist.

  I instantly eased my grip, but I was still distracted. “Don’t tell me you’re not pissed about this too.”

  “Didn’t say I wasn’t. But they’ll come. We’ve done this before. It’s not like this is the first time.”

  “That’s why I’m so pissed.”

  We didn’t say anything after that. I took one last look out the window before I turned back to my textbook. I decided I should finish as many of the questions as I could so that I wouldn’t have as much homework when I got home. But as soon as I granted myself permission to focus on my work, there was a knock on the door.

  My stomach tightened as our teacher crossed the room and opened the door. She didn’t have to reveal who was there for me to know it was for us. She returned a moment later with two slips of pink paper and handed one each to Caine and I.

  Officer Brandy is here to see you. Please come to the front office to sign out before leaving the school grounds.

  Caine and I exchanged a look.

  ~♥♥♥~

  I was staring directly where my reflection was supposed to be, but my attention was drawn beyond the mirror, to what sat behind it. They were watching me, I could feel it. They were trying to grill me into answers I didn’t have. Typical.

  As soon as we got the notes, we packed up our things and headed to the office. We were greeted by two police officers to escort us downtown for more questioning. We had been having regular visits since the handcuffs were removed and every time they found new evidence, they called us down.

  The door opened and Officer Brandy walked in with Officer Pam, causing my eyes to tear away from the mirror. Pam was a middle-aged woman with red hair and a bitchy attitude. I watched as they both took the seats in front of me, stacks of papers smacking onto the desk.

  Pam adjusted her glasses. “Ryder.”

  “Pam.”

  “Officer Pam,” she corrected. When I didn’t answer, she continued. “How have you been since our last visit?”

  “Delightful.” It was much more sarcastic than I had intended. “And yourself?”

  The whole questioning thing was getting really old. An anonymous tip-off had gotten me there. Had the police not considered that the real arsonist wrote the letter to redirect attention from him/herself? Chris Baker and his asshole friends had caused us to get a record in the first place. But a stupid testosterone-filled fight on the beach seemed like nothing compared to the crap I had landed in.

  She leaned forward, obviously exasperated with my attitude. “You’re skating on thin ice, kid. If you know any information about the fire, you need to tell us.”

  “I don’t know anything.”

  It was mildly the truth. I knew Chris was involved, but really, what evidence did I have? Caine had the advantage of telling them what he knew about the phone call at the crisis hotline, but unless he had a recording of the conversation, his word was worthless. Making accusations without anything to back them up would only pull me deeper into the mess.

  Pam sighed and threw her hands up in annoyance. Officer Brandy straightened his tie, wiped the back of his hand across his forehead and looked at me with a red face.

  “Your previous record isn’t easing up your position as a suspect. We can easily change your status to a witness. You’re a good kid, Ryder,” he said.

  “I was handcuffed to Nora Montgomery. I was eating lunch with two other friends. They’re witnesses of my whereabouts,” I answered, the same line as usual.

  “Maybe we should bring Nora in for some questioning,” Pam suggested to Brandy.

  “No!”

  But it was the wrong thing to say. Pam raised an eyebrow. It must have looked really damn suspicious when I replied with a shocking tone outrageously quickly. Instantly, I wanted to swallow my tongue, but instead, I squared my shoulders, leaned back and tried to save myself.

  “Please don’t bring her into this. She knows nothing about it,” I said.

  Pam had both eyebrows up by then. “Was that a hint of a confession?”

  I scowled. “No. Stop twisting my words.”

  “I’d change the tone of voice, Ryder. Wasn’t very respectful,” Pam answered, pursing her thin lips.

  I refrained from letting out an annoyed growl and clenched my fists under the table. When I had regained my composure, I looked up and met Pam’s eyes. She held my stare with confidence as she spoke.

  “We’ll let you go for now. But this isn’t the last you’ve seen of us,” she said in her icy tone before standing and striding towards the door.

  Officer Brandy gave me a sympathetic smile and followed her out the door while I picked up my things from the table and shoved them back into my bag. Every single time I walked into the questioning room, they insisted on checking my bag for any weapons or illegal substances, which was unnecessary since they always seemed to pull me out during school and the only bad thing they would find was week-old lunch.

  Outside, Caine was already there, zipping up his bag. Checking the clock on the far wall of the room, I noticed it was just past three. School had just ended. Tearing my gaze away from the clock, I focused back on my friend. As I approached Caine, he looked just as stressed as I felt.

  “This is bull,” I muttered.

  “Tell me about it,” he grumbled back as we left the police department.

  We seemed to share the silent tension, directed at the same people as we headed towards our cars. We didn’t get in our vehicles right away. We just kind of death stared pieces of gravel on the road before Caine spoke up.

  “You want to get a burger? This police crap is making me hungry,” he said, spinning his keys between his fingers.

  A double-decker Angus sound
ed brilliant but just as I was about to agree, I remembered something. “Can’t,” I said, scowling. “I’ve got something on.”

  “A date with Nora?” Caine smirked, leaning against the side of his car.

  I let out a humourless laugh. “More like with her dad.”

  “Since when were you dating your girlfriend’s dad? Shouldn’t Nora know you’re cheating on her?” Caine laughed.

  I hung my head. “Kill me, yeah?”

  But he just slapped my shoulder, giving me a sympathetic pat and getting into his car. “I’ll remember you, Ryder Collins. See you tomorrow if you’re alive.”

  With one last smirk, he tore out of the car park.

  ~♥♥♥~

  As soon as I got home, I jumped into the shower, then quickly changed. Jack hadn’t arrived yet, but I knew he’d eventually come back to stalk my family. My mother was making herself some cereal when I came downstairs. She looked extremely tired.

  “Where are you going?” she asked, looking at my attire.

  “Dinner,” I answered.

  “With who?”

  “Mr. Montgomery.” I didn’t realise how weird it sounded until I heard myself say it.

  “And why are you having dinner with Nora’s father?” she asked.

  “Because his daughter is now my girlfriend.”

  I loved announcing it to people, but my stomach clenched as I waited for my mother’s response. At first, she just stood there, putting things away. I didn’t think she had heard me, so I decided to repeat myself. But before I could open my mouth, she spoke.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t ask her sooner,” was all she said before picking up her cereal and exiting the room.

  I followed. “Is that a sign of approval?” I called after her.

  She smirked at me from the stairs. “Be sure to impress her father. Have fun.”

  I smiled and shook my head, grabbing my keys on the way out of the house and waiting outside for him to call. Mr. Montgomery hadn’t really mentioned any details about our dinner plans except for the time and a date.

  I had never been on a date with another dude before and I wasn’t sure how I felt about having my first with my girlfriend’s dad. I felt awkward and freaked all at once, especially when I was about to get into my car and drive over but found him sitting in his Dad-mobile - one of those large family cars used for holidays at the lake and for lots of passengers.