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“Good.”
So we stood there kissing without a single breath for air, until the bell rang and we finally had to wake up.
ally
My palms sweated as I clutched my number two pencil. Time was ru
Baseball player’s chocolate bar. Baseball player’s chocolate bar. It wasn’t a Baby Ruth. That didn’t fit. Who the heck else had a chocolate bar?
“Done!” A
I moaned and slapped my book closed. “I suck!” I said, head in hands.
“This is true,” A
I groaned again and stood up straight, stepping aside so A
“First of all, I don’t have a man. And secondly, since I don’t have a man it would be kind of odd for me to attend the lacrosse game and cheer for him,” I said, leaning back in front of the second register, which was closed.
“I see. Verboten boyfriends can be difficult that way,” A
She handed the woman her change and gave me a hesitant look as the lady moved toward the door. “So, listen, there’s something I feel like I should tell you, but I’m not sure if I should tell you.”
My heart thumped with foreboding, and I stood up straight. “Well, now you obviously have to tell me.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay, but I’m not entirely sure what it means.”
“A
“I was at the Acorn today and Sha
My throat prickled. “What did they say?”
A
“What were they talking about?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” A
I felt like the floor had just dropped out from under me. Sha
A
“No. It’s good. It’s fine,” I said, my mind reeling.
I saw a pair of headlights flash in the parking lot. Jake was there. Perfect timing, as always.
“He’s here,” I said.
A
Right. Somehow I had a hard time believing that.
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe I will.” But I found I couldn’t move. Jake honked the horn and waved me out, gri
“Or just forget about it,” A
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing my jacket off the end of the counter. “Yeah. Okay. Thanks, A
Outside, a misty rain fell from the dark April sky. I popped open the door of the Jeep, and Jake gri
“Wow. Rough game?” I asked, trying for a light tone.
“You should see the other guys.”
He pulled out, and within fifteen minutes we were parked in the country club lot again. He leaned over to kiss me, but I couldn’t kiss him back.
“Hey. Is everything okay?” he asked.
I looked into his light blue eyes. I didn’t want to do this. Didn’t want to sit here and pretend that everything was fine. Try to kiss him with all these questions whirling around in my mind.
“No, actually,” I said, shifting in my seat.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s just . . . A
Jake swallowed. “Yeah?”
“Something about Paddy’s and about how Sha
Jake turned completely away from me, staring out the windshield. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. What were they talking about?” I asked.
“That’s all they said?” he asked, still not looking at me.
“That’s all she heard,” I replied, feeling even more suspicious.
Jake sighed and gripped the steering wheel. His hands kneaded it like it was bread dough, his knuckles turning white.
“Jake, you’re scaring me,” I said. “What the hell is going on?”
“I just . . .” He looked me in the eye, and for a long moment he said nothing.
“Just what?”
“I didn’t want you to know about Paddy’s,” he said, turning away again. “I mean, I’ve seen you at a couple of parties, and you never drink. I thought . . . I guess I thought you’d think I was a loser for going to a bar or something.”
Relief flooded through me, and I laughed. “Is that it? I don’t think you’re a loser.”
“You sure?” He looked at me sheepishly.
“Please. I’d think you were a loser if you drank and drove or got so messy drunk you barfed on my shoes or something, but I’m not go
Jake smiled almost sadly and looked down at his hands.
“You’re really cool, you know that?”
I smiled, my face warming pleasantly. “Thanks.”
He looked up at me again, and we finally kissed.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you the whole game,” he said.
“Me neither,” I replied, even though it didn’t make sense. I pressed my mouth against his and wrapped one arm around his neck, trying to pull him closer to me.
“Ow!” He cursed and leaned away.
“What?” I asked, breathless.
“Stick shift. Knee. Not good,” he said, wincing.
I laughed. “Toughen up, Graydon. Is this how you act on the field?”
He smirked and leaned in to kiss me. “No. I just wasn’t expecting to get injured after the game.”
I sighed and dropped back in my bucket seat, looking through the windshield at the surface of the lake, which was pockmarked by the now rapidly falling rain. This “date” was not going well at all.
“Sneaking around does have its drawbacks,” I said.
“Yeah. But it’s kind of fun, too,” he said, reaching for my hand.
I sighed, lacing my fingers together with his. “It kind of sucks, though. That we can’t tell anyone.”
“You told A
“Well, yeah, but—”
He lifted his shoulders. “So, there you go.”
“But wouldn’t it be cool if we could, I don’t know, go to a movie or something?” I asked.
“Movies are overrated,” he replied, reaching for me. His eyes went to my lips.
“Jake—”
He sighed and sat back again. “Ally, I thought we were good with this.”
“I know,” I said, looking at my lap.
“If my friends found out about us, they’d just try to break us up,” he said, ru
He leaned in and kissed me, and any longing for anything else melted away. He was right. If the Cresties found out about us, they’d start torturing me all over again. And I’d kind of been enjoying the not getting tortured these past few months. Ever since Sha