“Hey Drew. Missed you at practice bro,” a guy covered in grass stains and a red & white football jersey passes us on his way to the locker rooms.
“Later,” Andy says.
“Practice?” I ask. Drew. I like that name.
“Yeah,” Andy says, rubbing the back of his neck. A small wind blows the faintest smell of his aftershave my way. I take a deep breath. He looks up at the overcast sky.
A tingly feeling starts at my toes. The feeling I got in the shadow world when I got everything I always wanted. I was one of the peacocks. But, all of that seems so lame standing here in the real world with Andy driving me home, a whole year later. Peacocks and Dodos and Planet Popular. I’m getting a ride home from The 10, who is the rarest of animals––a football playing actor. OMG, Ally will never believe this. I reach down for my phone and text her, 10s exist. I BLV U.
“So what’s your favorite part?” he says, unlocking my side of his baby blue convertible. He opens my door. I almost faint. No guy has ever opened a car door for me. Not in this world. Not in the for-real world. I think about Hayden opening the limo door for me when we were seventeen, on Planet Popular. When I was older than Andy. I shiver.
I’m not sure how close I can get to anyone right now because of how Hayden makes me so angry the way he talked to me today. Especially after we had held hands. What a big deal it was that Hayden cared enough about me to reach out for me while we sat on our sofa in our family room while we watched one of the movies he brought over while my mom and dad walked in on their way to the workroom where Mom would check on the laundry and Dad remembered he had a project to do.
I leaf through the script trying to put Hayden out of my mind.
“If you’re Arial, and I get Prospero, then we’ll spend lots of time together, rehearsing our lines,” he smiles and puts a hand on my thigh.
“That would be fun,” I say. Even though his hand is on my leg, I feel his touch in the small of my back. I’m going to pass out. I’m so never going to wash these jeans again. I have a new lucky outfit.
Andy smiles and winks at me then starts the car and his music blasts out of the speakers. I can’t believe he likes Trance music too. We start talking about bands and favorite songs and before I know it we’re at my house. I don’t really remember telling him where I live as I jabber away in my driveway. I don’t even know I’m home and he’s just listening. Hayden kind of grimaces when I talk about stuff like he’s sick of my voice. And it’s just amazing to have someone who so obviously loves to talk to me. Who doesn’t want to get away the first chance he gets. And then I get quiet because I don’t want to blow it like I somehow did with Hayden. I don’t want to do the thing I must have done to Hayden to make him flip the switch from liking me to wanting to run away.
“Need a ride home tomorrow after tryouts tomorrow?” he says looking out from under his auburn bangs.
“Sure.” No girl could say no to that. I reach down to pick up my backpack and open the door. I fling my backpack over my shoulder with a smile and shut the door with my butt.
Andy rolls down the window and says, “See ya tomorrow.”
And it’s like I’m standing in Miami on an August day, not in the suburbs of Chicago in the coldest September on record. My face hot from the way Andy makes me smile in a way that I know that he’ll fill my dreams.
Mom’s at the front door before Andy pulls out of our driveway.
“Who’s that boy?” she says.
“He’s not a boy, Mom.” I say scooting past her into the house.
She hugs herself when a blast of cold air comes on hard and fast.
There’s a big difference between not-quite-fourteen and sixteen.
“Why’d you miss the bus?” she asks, almost accusingly. She closes the front door that ends up slamming in the force of the wind.
I pray that Andy didn’t see my helicopter mom.
GET THE SHADOW SERIES PLAYLIST, DREAM CAST, TRAILERS AND LINKS TO BUY THE BOOKS HERE!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura loves writing about enchanted road trips, birthday gifts that are out of this world, and alien romance while eating lots of popcorn. She lives with her hubby, and dog Oso, in their tree house on the coast of central California not far from her two grown daughters who love climbing trees as much as she does. Laura is the author of Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale inspired by her life-long love of a little-known town, Avenal, CA, and her equal love of enchanted teenage road trips. 13 on Halloween, a hilarious look at a girl who gets a birthday gift that’s literally out of this world, is book 1 in the Shadow Series. Laura’s latest release, Transfer Student, is an intergalactic beauty and the geek sci-fi romance and the first book in the Starjump Series. Book 2 of the Shadow series, will release in September 2012. Drop her a line at elliwrite [at] yahoo [dot] com.
To read more about Laura’s books visit: www.Laurasmagicday.worpress.com
Twitter: @Laurawriting
And on FACEBOOK
Acknowledgements
A big thanks to Joe! Much love to my wonderful daughters who gave me so many special Halloweens! Big hugs to Katie and Emily for the awesome doodles of Roxy Speak! And to Rachel for being such a great big sister. I love you so much.
Thanks for giving 13 ON HALLOWEEN a read! You are the reason I write.
As I type, I’m getting ready to go back to Chicago for my 30th high school reunion. Oakdale is a fictional place that combines the two towns where I grew up in Illinois. I want to give shout outs to life-long friends, most I met in kindergarten, Pasie Anos Gregory, Laurie Ewing Flynn, Diane Farretta, Laura Herman Winter, Leslie Herman Resis, Susan Silver Hagstrom, Cindy Grubart, Allyson Regas, Tony Pasin, Ken Wagner, Renee Stach, Peggy Shannon, and Diane Witz Schwitz. Another shout out to The Red Devils at HTHSC, especially Karen Jones Fiascone, Elizabeth Bell Elisha, Laurel Guerkink Carignan and Kim Yeutter Bottimore, and Lynn Compton Stoller the Fun Life Guys especially Keith Chval, and my AFS buddies: Leslie Arnold Sulla, Katy Sears, Jeff Andreason, Gina Pepich Andreason, Bob Gear, Tim Bates, Anne Throckmorton Hyland, Fred Brooke, John Rosenberg, Heather Crombie, Molly Devine, Bob Gear, Marco Balich, Allison Duff and Wendy Spreenberg. I’d also like to thank Ms. Higas’s second-third grade split class at Walter Colton School in Monterey, CA for their inspiration.
13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) Page 21
