Why am I such a moron?
My thoughts turned to panic as I mentally jumped from one scenario to the next. I made it down the hall to third period. I was feeling claustrophobic with all the possibilities and nonpossibilities jumbling themselves in my head, and still he was nowhere in sight.
The bell rang. Fourth period.
I felt jittery. English class passed by in a blur thanks to my elaborate doodling of wings in the margins of my notebook. It was sheer luck I was never called on.
Bell.
I forced myself not to look for him. Claire and Ryan appeared to be lost in some tender adolescent huddle at her locker. I rolled my eyes and walked away.
At lunch, I sat brooding, picking at my sandwich and a measly bag of chips, which Claire happily ate for me when she noticed my nonexistent appetite.
I felt bruised. Dejected.
The end of the day had finally come and I gathered my books from my desk. As I walked slowly to my locker, I reached the inevitable and unwanted conclusion that my mind had played some serious tricks on me yesterday and today I was obviously and understandably being avoided.
My hopes were crashing when…
“Hi, Teagan.”
Instantly, my heart tripped at the sound of his voice. So much for being rational. I slowly turned to find myself face to face with a set of blue eyes, and all my worries melted down through my sneakers into the tile floor beneath me.
“Hey.”
“I’m sorry about lunch. I never realized a meeting with a guidance counselor could last an eternity.”
“Let me guess. Transcripts with Mr. Dean?”
Garreth nodded, sincerity gleaming in his eyes as he rolled them. Mr. Dean was notorious for dragging on and on in his especially annoying, especially nasal monotone voice.
“That’s okay. I knew you were here. I saw your car.”
It had taken only seconds for me to open my mouth and sound like a total idiot. Bravo. I quickly tried to blink away the love-sick gleam I felt clouding my eyes. Yet here he was, speaking to me as if I were the only girl in the school, and my world felt surprisingly complete.
He leaned casually against the row of lockers, appearing as if he had just come from a modeling shoot. The sleeves of his tan button-down shirt were rolled up just past his elbows and I tried not to stare at the fabric straining against his well-defined arms.
Beneath the shirt was a black T-shirt, untucked, over slightly worn jeans, frayed at the hems, that wisped over smooth brown Timberlands. He had the look all girls dreamed their boyfriends could achieve, one that brought on immediate breathlessness. He swept his sandy hair out of his eyes as he leaned in closer to speak to me and I swore he could hear my pulse bouncing into the metal interior of my open locker, echoing out into the crowded hallway for all to hear.
“Let me make it up to you,” he offered. “Spend the afternoon with me?”
He smiled so sweetly, but I didn’t know what to say.
Today was early dismissal and I knew I would either end up being bored or doing homework. Still, in all truth, Garreth was a stranger to me. I could almost hear Claire whispering in my ear, “If you get to know him better, he won’t be a stranger, now will he?”
I chewed my bottom lip and looked around. Through the window opposite my locker I could see the buses at the curb, the lines of poor defenseless kids lining up to be driven home. Across the parking lot were the other kids, the smiling ones, the laughing ones, the thank-God-it’s-Friday ones. Brynn was rolling down her windows as her friends piled in, all laughing and free for the weekend.
I looked at Garreth and something close to trustworthiness gleamed back at me. Something felt right.
“Sure,” I answered. “But I can’t stay out too long.”
I glanced at the battery level on my cell phone and then grabbed my books for the weekend and shoved them into my bag before closing my locker. I tried to ignore the surprised looks aimed in our direction as he took my hand. His long, warm fingers entwined with my own and I felt my knees buckle slightly as we walked out into the brilliant sunlight that warmed the parking lot.
As he led me to his car, it dawned on me that I had forgotten about Claire, who I assumed was growing very impatient by now. My thoughts briefly switched to my mother and her rules but they faded quickly into oblivion as Garreth Adams opened the passenger door for me and I slid inside.
Butterflies in the pit of my stomach were swarming at an impossible rate, so I took a deep breath. My sense of better judgment told me I should be feeling slightly wary of the situation I had allowed myself to fall into, but I wasn’t nervous to be seated where I was, in the unfamiliar car of a boy I had met only yesterday. Quite the contrary, I was overtaken by an astonishing feeling of relief to finally have him to myself.
Because of this, I found myself suddenly scrutinized for my actions by the student body, like a bug under a microscope. I could feel their stares penetrating the glass window that separated us, and I knew if I turned my head to peer out I would surely meet dozens of curious eyes. I knew what they were all thinking because in my own paranoid, self-conscious state I was asking myself the same question.
The only question.
Why me?
They were all wondering how quiet, mind-her-own-business Teagan McNeel could suddenly snag the attention of the beyond-humanly-handsome new boy in record time. Claire would have flamboyantly shouted something snotty and sarcastic to them all, but it was more my style to take the quiet route. My butterflies, however, were jumping for joy in a thousand directions and I dare not let it show.
I allowed myself one quick peek at the audience we were attracting, while Garreth removed the Jeep’s top, stashing it in the back. Yep. Eyes. Even some of the teachers had noticed. I turned back to face the mind-blowing fact that I was now sitting in the very car that had caught my eye and everyone else’s interest for the last two days. Shaky jubilation filled me.
Garreth opened the driver’s side door and flung his backpack onto the backseat. The breeze rustled his clothing through the open framework of the Jeep, bringing the warmth of an incense I recognized.
Champa Blue Pearl. How strange. I had burned a stick of that very same fragrance in my room last night.
His car was startlingly clean inside, which really didn’t surprise me. It was that mature, clean-cut thing I had noticed earlier. I was pulling my hair into a rubber band when my eye caught the glint of something delicate hanging from the rearview mirror. It was a rosary. It appeared quite old and remarkably fragile with its delicate blue topaz Hail Mary stones wrapped with simple silver wire, dropping to three more stones, slightly larger in size, that fashioned into a cross in what appeared to be genuine marcasite.
“May I?” I instinctively reached up to touch its delicate beauty.
It struck me as unusual that such a thing would be on display in the car of a teenage boy. Garreth smiled and nodded permission.
“Is it antique?”
“It’s been…in my family for a long time.” He seemed hesitant but obviously pleased by my interest.
“It’s beautiful.” I found it reassuring that it was in his car on display, like he came from a good background or something, good stock.
“So where to?” I was suddenly aware I had no idea where we were headed, but I didn’t quite care. I was thrilled beyond sanity just to be with him. My butterflies had settled down and pure excitement now pulsed through my veins cleansing me of the uncertainties I had felt earlier in the morning. His attention turned to the dashboard and he turned the key in the ignition.
The Wrangler rumbled to life.
“I know just the place,” he said warmly.
I felt completely at ease sitting beside him, as if I belonged there, though I tried not to get too ahead of myself. So far, this could hardly count as a first date and there was so much I was eager to know yet. I decided to enjoy the moment and revel in the unknown laid out before me.
We were nearing the street now. The long line ahead had trickled down to us and a few remaining cars. The buses had filtered out in the opposite direction, leaving large plumes of exhaust to linger after them, and the parking lot was emptying quickly.
“Oh, no! Claire!” My hand shot up to cover my mouth as I saw her still waiting for me beside her car.
Then I realized the impatient anger on her face was not directed at me for my absence but was aimed instead at the person furiously arguing a few feet in front of her.