“Are you okay?” he asked, appraising me up and down. There was something weirdly comforting about the way he looked at me. It wasn’t the way the other guys looked; he really just wanted to be sure I was alright.
“Yeah,” I said in a voice that barely sounded like my own. “You saved my life.”
“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he replied, completely ignoring the fact that he’d done anything heroic.
“I’m not.” Suddenly, I remembered Jane and started looking around for her. A part of me was angry that she had done nothing to save me, but then again, neither had I, and I didn’t think that I should hold her to a higher standard than I did myself. “My friend Jane is around here somewhere.”
“Two girls?” Even the dark, I saw him raise an eyebrow and shake his head. “Real safe.”
“I think Jane has mace,” I mumbled lamely.
“Where is this alleged friend?” He took his turn scanning the parking lot, and then pointed to something by a van parked on the other side. “I think I see her over there.”
“Where?” I squinted at where he was pointing, but I couldn’t see anything.
“Over there,” he repeated, then took a step towards the black Jetta parked next to me. “Come on. We’ll go over and pick her up, and then I’ll give you guys a ride. You shouldn’t be out here like this.”
I walked around to the passenger side of the car, and it never occurred to me to say no. There was something about him that made me trust him implicitly. His car stereo softly played Weezer, and in the warm glow of the blue dashboard lights, I got my first real good look at him. His skin looked perfectly smooth, like porcelain, but his hair was a perfectly disheveled mess. His eyes, which looked almost gray in the light, were the happiest eyes I’d ever seen.
He sped off across the parking lot, and I finally pulled my eyes away from him to look out the window. Jane was cowering down behind a large white van, and I wondered if she’d even bothered to call the police or anything. The car stopped next to her, and he rolled down the window so he could lean out.
“Jane?” he said, and she turned to look at him.
I expected her to be afraid, maybe even bolt and run, after what had just happened. Instead, she gave him the strangest look. It was almost as if she was in awe. It didn’t make any sense to me. Sure, I did think he was attractive, maybe even very attractive, but I’d seen Jane go home with guys far more attractive then him. But she looked absolutely stunned by his beauty, and I was surprised she wasn’t drooling.
“Hi,” Jane stammered. It wasn’t her normal sultry, flirty voice, even though I’m sure that’s what she was trying for. She sounded too star struck to be sexy, and I wondered if I was missing something. I looked back over at him, trying to figure out if he was famous and I just couldn’t place him.
“Jane, he’s giving us a ride,” I explained when it appeared she was just going to stand there staring at him. “Get in the car.”
“Sure.” Jane finally seemed to regain herself a bit and smiled at him before sliding into the backseat. When she got in, I swear that she leaned forward so she could sniff him. Naturally, I tried to inconspicuously inhale to see if I could smell anything, and admittedly, he seemed to smell good, but it was nothing spectacular.
“Are you okay?” I asked, looking back at her. Maybe in her fear, she’d popped an ecstasy tablet or something.
“I’m great,” Jane cooed, still gaping at him. “Who’s your friend here?”
“I don’t actually know.” It had never occurred to me that I didn’t even know the name of the guy driving the car.
“I’m Jack,” he offered, filling in the blank. “And you’re Jane.” Then he looked over at me, his eyes dancing. “And you are?”
“Alice.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see jealousy flash across Jane’s face. She seemed threatened that he was even looking at me, which was very un-Jane like. Even as conceited as she was, or maybe because of it, she was never, ever threatened or jealous of me.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I could really go for a cup of coffee right about now.” Jack dropped the car into gear and sped off without waiting for either of us to respond. It wasn’t really a question anyway, and neither one of us would’ve protested. When I glanced up in the rearview mirror, I could see Jane staring at him with this intense expression and leaning forward, as if she couldn’t get close enough to him. Even with her rather storied history, I had never seen her look so desperate before.
I was afraid she’d catch me staring at her (which was silly because I doubted that Jane would notice anything but Jack), I turned my attention out the window. The city lights went past us in a blur, and I wondered how fast we were going. There was no sense of fear of getting hurt or even pulled over, though.
Ever since I had heard Jack’s voice, any real worry I had had completely dissolved. I felt completely at ease with him, and that fact should’ve been somewhat concerning, but I just couldn’t seem to muster any.
“This is a really nice car,” Jane said randomly, and her voice had fully regained that sickeningly sweet tone that made me want to vomit all over her pair of stilettos I had on my lap. Leaning even farther forward between the seats, she gingerly brushed her fingers along Jack’s bicep, and he responded by letting his arm fall lax, so it was further out of her reach. None of this made any sense to me. In all my many irritating years of being friends with Jane, I had never seen her fawning over anyone so badly, or being just as blatantly rebuffed.
“Is this Weezer?” I asked, mostly to fill up the awkward tension that was developing.
“Yeah,” Jack nodded.
“I like that song ‘Pork ‘n Beans,’” I commented. It seemed like a rather trivial thing to say, but at least it kept Jane from adding something in her overly flirtatious manner. As soon as I mentioned the song, Jack quickly flipped it to the track, and Jane opened her mouth to say something more, but he cut her off.
“I saw them when they were on tour with The Matches.”
“Really?” I ignored the annoyed glare Jane was giving me and continued on. “I really like them. How are they live?”
“Pretty good, I guess,” Jack shrugged, and then turned sharply into the parking lot outside an all night diner. The trip felt ridiculously short, and I realized that we had to have been going well over the speed limit to get there so quickly.
When we got out of the car, Jane scampered over to him, looping her arm through his. He didn’t look pleased by it, but he didn’t pull away either. Outside in the bright glow of the streetlights, I looked him over again, trying to understand what had possessed her so much. He had on pair of Dickies shorts, skater socks, and light blue Converse, along with the pink tee shirt. He more closely resembled cotton candy than he did a love interest for Jane.
“Oh crap,” I grumbled after I’d gotten out of the car, and looked down at my dirty, bare feet. There were small cuts and blisters and oil all over them, and I couldn’t imagine cramming my swollen feet back into Jane’s shoes.
“What?” Jack asked, and then followed my gaze down to my injured appendages. “Oh. Just don’t wear shoes.”
“I can’t not wear shoes.” I didn’t see much of another option, but I couldn’t go into a restaurant without shoes.
“You can wait in the car,” Jane offered up helpfully with a smug smile and leaned in closer to Jack. That must’ve been where he drew the line, because he pulled his arm free from her and took a step away. She looked a little defeated, but I knew she wouldn’t give up that easy.
“No, you’ll be fine,” Jack insisted confidently. “If they hassle you, I’ll take care of them.”
“What does that even mean?” I muttered, but he’d already convinced me.
After all, I’d seen the way he chased a gang of unruly guys, so I imagined that the graveyard shift at a Denny’s rip-off wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Just don’t worry about it.” Jack held the door open, but Jane seamlessly cut in front of me, smiling widely at him. He ignored her, but grinned boyishly at me when I walked in behind her.
As predicted, nobody noticed my lack of footwear. In fact, nobody even noticed me, or even Jane, which was incredibly odd. The waitresses practically tripped over themselves trying to seat us, all the while keeping their eyes completely focused on Jack. It felt like I had been dumped into some strange episode of the Twilight Zone. When the waitress put us in a booth, Jack sat down first, and naturally, Jane squished up next to him, so he kept moving over until he was plastered up against the window. I sat down across from them, and Jack rested his arms on the table, leaning towards me.
“What can I get you?” the waitress asked. The question was theoretically for all of us, but everything about her said it was meant for Jack only.
“Just coffee,” Jack answered, but then remembered that we were there too. “Or did you guys want something else?”
“Coffee’s fine,” I said. Truthfully, I was a little hungry, but I felt uncomfortable eating in front of him and Jane, and everyone else that was staring at us. All the patrons and staff couldn’t help but look in our direction, and I was starting to feel like I was missing out on some kind of joke.
“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” Jane pressed, once again running her fingers on his arm, but this time, he actually recoiled from her touch. She still didn’t get the hint, and I wanted to snap at her to leave him alone, but then I should probably snap at everyone else too.
“Nope,” Jack sighed, then muttered under his breath, “But I wish I was.”
“What?” the waitress asked, leaning in closer to hear his voice.
“Nothing.” Jack waved her off without looking at her. “Just the coffee.”
“Thanks,” I told the waitress when she lingered at our table. Finally, she pulled herself away, and I wanted a chance to look over Jack to see if I could figure out what all the fuss was about, but he was too busy looking at me. It wasn’t one of those longing gazes, not like the way Jane was looking at him, but he was looking, so I averted my gaze and pretended to be focused on the dark green place mat in front of me.