“I’m glad she’s having fun. She’s really nice and really pretty and, uh, Matt, mind if I give you some advice?”
“You’re going to anyway.”
“I know you’re like-well-the main heartthrob of your school.”
His expression changed. He seemed surprised, then amused. “Really,” he said.
“I know you can have any girl you want.”
“I can? I wish someone had told me that before. Any girl?”
He took a step toward me. We were standing close, too close, but I couldn’t step back-there was no dock left behind me. “Anyone at this party?”
“Well, just about,” I told him.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “A moment ago there weren’t limits.”
“Don’t be greedy. My point is, there’s Sophie.” I gestured toward the shore, but he kept his eyes on me. “She likes you. She’s gorgeous-1 mean you must have noticed yesterday at the shop.”
“I can see.”
“Obviously, Kristy is, too. Gorgeous, I mean.”
He tilted his head to one side, frowning.
“The point is Sophie is not only pretty, like some girls, she is also nice, friendly, sweet, and-”
“Not my type,” he said.
“And,” I continued, undeterred, “she doesn’t have a mouth.”
His gaze dropped down to my mouth. I glanced to the side. When I looked back, he was still gazing at me, his eyes dark and mysterious as the creek. His lips parted slightly. He looked so long and so steadily at my mouth, my cheeks burned and heart pounded. I felt his eyes making my lips soft. I felt as if his eyes were kissing me.
“Not like yours,” he agreed, then turned and walked back to shore.
For the rest of the party I was careful not to look at Matt and Sophie, but Alex picked up where I had left off. I wondered if he was becoming interested in his best old friend. The ride home was awkward, our conversation mostly dumb cracks about Kristy’s house. After dropping off Alex and Sophie, Matt and I rode in silence.
I was aware of his every movement, the way he shifted in his seat, how his hand rested on the steering wheel. Why did I respond to him so strongly? Even when Matt was his most obnoxious, the day I met him, his eyes had cast a spell on me. Had we once been in love? Was I falling for him a second time?
At home I thanked him for the ride and headed for the refuge of my room.
Having slept little the night before, I drifted off as soon as I lay down. When my eyes opened again, the sky was beginning to lighten. I heard the chime of the clock on the stairway landing and counted the hours-five, six, seven-l turned over-eight, nine, ten-couldn’t be-eleven, twelve, thirteen. Silence.
My digital alarm read 5:00 A.M. I listened for a moment, then climbed out of bed and tiptoed to the door of my room.
Opening it, I saw the stairwell was lit from below. I crept down the steps to the landing and gazed at the clock’s pale face. Its hands pointed to a few minutes after midnight. In the window above the numbers, the picture of the moon was halfway up.
Using the key, I opened the glass door that protected its face. Though I could hear the clock ticking, its hands didn’t move. With the tip of one finger, I tried to push the large hand forward. It would not move, so I eased it counterclockwise till the clock read a few minutes after five. I thought I had set things right, then I noticed the small second-hand dial in the clock’s face. Its wand flicked backward over each lash of a second. Ever so slowly the clock’s minute hand moved in reverse. Time was turning in the wrong direction.
I stepped back, afraid, and teetered on the edge of the landing. Strong hands gripped my arms and pulled me back to safety.
“It’s only a clock,” he said.
“Thomas!”
We were standing close, close enough to kiss, but I couldn’t step away from him. If his hands hadn’t held me, his dark eyes would have.
“I hate that clock,” I said. “It is always telling us what to do when.”
Thomas laughed. “And you certainly don’t want to do what is expected of you.”
“Do you?” I asked.
“I used to.” His gaze dropped to my mouth. He looked so long, so steadily, my cheeks burned and my heart pounded.
I felt his eyes making my lips soft. I felt as if they were kissing me.
“April,” he whispered, “I can’t stop thinking of you.”
I didn’t say a word-l knew the pain we could cause. But every time he looked at me, every time he spoke his special name for me, I wanted him more.
He laid his hand against my cheek, then touched my mouth with one finger, running it over my lip. just once, I thought, gazing up at him. One kiss wouldn’t be so terribly wrong.
He bent his head and our mouths moved closer. His lips brushed my cheek, the lightest touch of him making me shiver. Then his arms tightened around me, and I felt the warmth and tenderness of his lips against mine.
“Thomas!”
We both pulled back. My sister stood at the top of the stairs glaring down at us.
Thomas let go of me. “Helen, 1-”
“Don’t try to explain,” she told him angrily. “Don’t make it any worse for me. Leave, Thomas.”
“But I need to explain,” he said. “I’ve let things go too long.”
“Leave!” she shouted. “Now!”
He looked at me and I nodded.
“I–I’m very sorry,” he told her.
My sister waited till Thomas was gone, then started toward me, her eyes burning with anger. “Is there nothing of mine you don’t want, Avril?” she asked. “Is there nothing of mine you won’t take for yourself?”
I bit my lip.
“Mama and Papa already give you whatever you ask for.”