by Alessa James
“Did he say how much it was going to be?” I asked, bracing myself.
Jayden’s smile faded fast, like he had heard my thoughts about avoiding him — and every other guy — for the rest of high school.
“Molly, Jim’s an old friend, and he owes my dad a favor. He’s not going to charge me. And you don’t owe me a thing.”
Then he told me it was going to take at least an hour to fix Mom’s car, which meant I was going to have to text Stace and tell her that I was going to get to her house really late. Plus, I hadn’t eaten anything since the one bite of apple before Mike had ambushed me, which reminded me that my stuff was missing, including my backpack. My stomach growled, and Jayden looked over at me, raising an eyebrow.
“I didn’t get to eat lunch,” I shrugged. “And I couldn’t find my backpack in Mr. Kaplan’s room.”
Jayden started the car wordlessly and drove out of the parking lot. A minute later, he pulled up at a local burger chain. There was one not far from our house.
“I love their shakes,” I smiled.
“I know.”
I looked over at him, but he was already getting out of the car. He came around to my side just as I was getting out. He smiled and offered his hand.
“I used to see you with your mom at the one over on Evergreen. You always got a chocolate shake.”
“You saw me?” I asked in shock.
He smiled again and nodded. I never thought Jayden had even noticed I was alive before that stupid bet. When we got to the counter, he motioned for me to order. Remembering that I didn’t have my wallet, I ordered a burger and asked for a cup of water.
Jayden ordered a double cheeseburger, two orders of fries and two chocolate shakes, and I looked over at him like he was out of his mind. I followed him to a table and sat down. As soon as our order was up, he got up and brought back the tray and gave me one of the fries and one of the chocolate shakes. When my stomach growled again, Jayden laughed.
“Thanks, but you didn’t have to,” I smiled.
“I wanted to.”
Jayden Stone was really sweet. Beneath all that baseball swagger and tough talk with the guys on the team, he was really, really sweet. And hot. But I was really trying not to notice how perfectly blue his eyes were or how amazing his shoulders, biceps … and the rest of him looked under his shirt. I got up and went over to get ketchup, bringing him some, too. Then I tasted the shake and grinned. It had been a long time since Mom and I had been here.
“These are the best!”
Jayden laughed.
“I like it when you’re not all serious,” he said, reaching over to brush a piece of hair out of my face.
Of course, this made me get all serious again. Being here with Jayden felt too much like a date, but it wasn’t a date. Jayden was just helping me because Mike was a crass, crazy jerk. I still wanted to ask Jayden how he could be friends with such a jerk, but I stopped and thought about how I’d feel if someone said that Stace or Kelly was a jerk. Sure, I had been plenty pissed at Kelly for the house party stunt, but that didn’t mean I wanted anyone saying bad stuff about her.
Mike Jensen, though. He was a jerk. No doubt. But Jayden wasn’t. Still, it wasn’t like we had anything in common. We were from different planets: Planet Popular and, well, my planet. And our orbits did not cross, except when Mike Jensen really messed things up.
“What happened? You’re all serious again,” Jayden said.
“I was just — I mean, I was just wishing that this was …”
I stopped just short of saying real, and Jayden shook his head.
“Molly, there’s all this stuff going on inside your head, and you won’t tell me what it is.”
I bit my lip. I couldn’t say any of what I was thinking or feeling. I wish I was your girlfriend? I want to kiss you like crazy and never stop? I think I’m totally in love with you?
Right! His shiny black Mustang would fly out of this parking lot so fast that my head would spin! I sighed and tried to smile. Then I looked down.
“Jayden, thanks for … well, everything. I know you didn’t have to do all this stuff, and I really appreciate you helping me.”
When I looked up at him, Jayden’s eyes were dark and stormy. I couldn’t figure out what I had said to make him look like that. It wasn’t like I wasn’t asking for anything from him that he hadn’t already offered. And I was trying not to melt in his presence, except for when he was kissing me. And I totally had a right to melt when he kissed me! Jayden Stone was a kissing god! Not that I had a ton of experience to judge by, but kissing Tyler hadn’t come anywhere even close. Not by a long shot.
We finished our burgers in silence, and I swore to myself that I’d pay him back for dinner at least, since he kept insisting that I didn’t owe him anything for Mom’s car. When we got back to the auto shop, the older man who had caught us kissing was standing outside. Jayden told me to wait in the car, and I was just about to argue when he jumped out and slammed the door. He went over and talked to the guy, who I was starting to think owned the shop, and then Jayden came back a minute later. When he sat down in the driver’s seat, I nearly had a heart attack, realizing that I hadn’t called or texted Stace.
“Stace is going to think I got kidnapped or something!” I squeaked. “Can I borrow your phone?”
I winced, knowing how strange it would look if I texted her from Jayden Stone’s cell — I would have so much explaining to do. But I didn’t have another choice. Then I watched as Jayden reached into the backseat and grabbed — my backpack! I snatched my cell out of the pocket and texted Stace that I had just found my phone and would be over as soon as possible.
A second later, the same tow truck from earlier came around from the back with Mom’s car, and my palms started sweating. What if something had happened and they couldn’t fix the damage? What then? I winced and looked over at Jayden.
“The driver’s gonna follow us back to your house,” he said.
“My mom’s car is fixed?”
I was right on the edge between elated and skeptical, but when Jayden nodded, I lunged over the center console and wrapped my arms around him, thrilled out of my mind.
“Thank you so much,” I whispered against his neck, feeling overly emotional.
Then I kissed his cheek, remembering my pact from earlier. Avoid all guys after this — especially Jayden. I tried to pull away, but Jayden’s hands came up to the sides of my face and held me still. He stared into my eyes, and I just wanted to start crying, because I knew this was the last time I was going to be with him like this.
“Sweet little Molly,” he whispered.
Chapter 10: My Hero, Not My Boyfriend
Jayden was quiet on the drive back across the river, but so was I. I couldn’t believe how out of control things had gotten. I wanted my life back to normal and boring. No more stalkers. No more near misses. No more excitement. No more Jayden. I could live without excitement for the rest of high school, and it would be a relief.
But that was such a lie. A lie that I was going to have to tell myself over and over until it got through to my heart, which was aching at the thought of never having any more moments with Jayden. Period. He would go back to his popular world. I would go back to mine.
And that was exactly what happened.
Everything went back to normal. Sort of. I hung out on the quad with Stace, Kelly, Kyle — Stace’s former ex — and Brandon, Kelly’s newest boyfriend. I studied like crazy for my AP test. I also spent night after night staring at the picture of Jayden that Stace had taken.
Whatever had happened between Jayden and Mike just kind of went away. Eventually I noticed Mike hanging out with Vicki Westfield, who used to hook up with Jayden. Sometimes Mike would disappear at lunch with her, but if Jayden cared, he didn’t let on.
I was really careful when Stace and Kelly asked me to do stuff. If it sounded like I might run into Jayden or Mike, I avoided it. And since I had changed seats in Government, there wasn’t really any pr
oblem there, either. Then, after school one day, Jayden came up to me while I was walking toward the bus.
“Molly, stay away from Mike. If you see him, just run — and call me.”
His brow was furrowed, and he looked really edgy. He didn’t say anything else; he just walked away. My blood turned cold, and I felt my stomach clench. It was starting to stay lighter later during the day, and I had been planning to take a walk when I got home. Instead, as soon as the bus dropped me off, I practically ran home and locked the door behind me.
After that, at random times of day, I would get texts from Jayden asking if I was all right. Then, one night Mom called me over while she was watching the news. I stopped and stared at the screen.
“Isn’t that just a few streets over from us?” she asked.
I watched as the police led a man in handcuffs toward a police car. But that wasn’t what caught my attention. Parked in front of the house was a pickup. And under the glare of the news camera lights, I could easily see “Monster Mike” emblazoned on the side, which meant that the man on the news had to be Mike’s dad. A news camera panned to the front door where Mike was standing, glaring at the camera. I swallowed and looked down at the news caption.
Local developer Michael Jensen arrested on fraud charges
The camera zoomed in on Mike, and I heard frantic questions from the reporters before he slammed the door in their faces. The reporter said something about Mike’s dad being arraigned on charges for embezzlement, tax evasion, fraud, and bribing public officials. She also said that the case was brought to light when his business partner James Stone went to the authorities.
Jayden’s dad.
“Molly, hon? Are you all right?” Mom asked.
I nodded. My mind was completely blank. I ran upstairs, grabbed my phone, scrolled to Jayden’s number, and sent him a text: Are you all right???
Right now I didn’t care that I was supposed to be avoiding him. I just needed to know that he was okay. Like right now. I stood there going out of my mind for about ninety seconds before my phone buzzed. I stared at the screen and smiled at the message: better now that I’ve heard from my sweet molly.
My heart squeezed, but I tried not to get too excited. I told myself that I was just happy he was okay. But he had called me my sweet molly, and I couldn’t help doing a little happy dance.
At the beginning of Government the next day, I waited anxiously for Jayden to show up in class. When he walked in, I felt this wave of relief. Then he smiled at me, and I melted, despite my pact. I thought I was dreaming as I watched him walk right up to my desk. Biting my lip, I breathed in the smell of his aftershave.
“Can we talk after school?” he asked.
I nodded.
“I’ve got practice, but I’ll text you, ’kay?” he confirmed.
“Okay,” I nodded again.
At lunch, I saw Jayden across the quad, but I made sure not to stare. Stace and Kelly were talking about prom, and Stace gave me this apologetic look like, “Poor Molly’s never going to another dance after that stupid bet.” And she was right. I didn’t have any interest in going to another dance. I turned and started talking to Tyler. Since the whole classroom incident with Mike and Jayden, Tyler seemed to just kind of get that I wasn’t good girlfriend material. But we got along as friends, so it worked out. I told myself I didn’t need a boyfriend. Which was totally true — I didn’t.
Because I was like a bad luck charm.
What I needed — like air or water — was another kiss from Jayden. And that was the problem. If I had never kissed Jayden, I wouldn’t have known what I was missing. Now, though, knowing I wasn’t going to kiss him again was killing me. It was funny, because I was relieved at the thought of not kissing Tyler, but I was devastated by the thought of not kissing Jayden. And he had never been — and never would be — my boyfriend. I had no claim to him.
During last period, I got a text from Jayden telling me to meet him after school out behind the Annex Building way over at the edge of campus. I felt a little tingle up my spine. That’s where people went to make out or smoke. It was not a place where girls like me went — ever. Just like girls like me didn’t date guys like Jayden. Well, girls like me didn’t date anyone.
In my mind, going out with Tyler had been a total fluke, since he had only asked me out because of Jayden. And kissing Jayden had been a total accident — caused by Mike Jensen. When the bell rang, I kind of smirked at the thought of giving Mike Jensen some credit. After all, without him I never would have kissed Jayden.
I went to my locker and found no creepy notes of any kind. Then I hurried toward the back of school, feeling butterflies in the pit of my stomach for two reasons. The first was that I was going to see Jayden, alone. The second was that this was part of the reason we couldn’t go out. This wasn’t normal for me to sneak to the back of the school!
When I got to the Annex Building, there was nobody there. I frowned. It had taken me at least ten minutes to walk here, but I figured maybe Jayden hadn’t been able to get away from practice.
I sat down on some stairs a few feet away from the chain-link fence that separated campus from a never-used practice field. Then I took out my latest book and started reading. A few minutes later, I was so engrossed in the story that I didn’t even notice that someone approaching until a shadow loomed over me. I looked up, smiling at the thought of seeing Jayden. Instead I saw Mike Jensen standing over me.
“How’d I guess that this was what you’d be doing, bookworm?”
I didn’t say anything as he snatched the book out of my hands. I watched as he pulled out the picture of Jayden. I so should have put it back in my dresser! But it wasn’t like I had been showing it off to people. Who else would grab my book out of my hands — other than this enormous jerk?
I tried standing up, but with the help of the extra weight of my backpack, Mike easily pushed me back onto the stairs.
“Molly Adams, too good for everyone except the Golden Boy,” he sneered.
I wanted to scream at him and tell him what a psycho he was. Too good for everyone? They were the baseball gods, with girls worshipping at their feet. And he had been a jerk to me ever since middle school! Summoning all my rage, I jumped to my feet and ducked under him. I made it a few steps before he grabbed me by the backpack and threw me down like a rag doll. I hit the ground, cushioned only by my backpack. It was enough force to knock the air out of my lungs, and I gaped up at Mike as he towered over me.
In the distance, I heard someone yelling my name. It was Jayden’s voice! I screamed, but it wasn’t very loud, because I was still gasping for air. Mike hauled me up by my backpack and then tossed my bag aside before clamping his hand over my mouth and dragging me back against the side of the building. I struggled, but he had me pressed against him so close that I could barely move. I gasped; he was crushing my chest. Finally, I did the only thing I could. I lifted my leg and slammed my foot down on his as hard as I could.
It didn’t do as much as I had been hoping, but the hand on my mouth loosened enough for me to wrench free and scream as loud as I could. Ten seconds later, Jayden came racing around the corner. I pushed back with all my force against Mike.
“Jayden!” I shrieked.
I lunged away from Mike, and Jayden grabbed me around the waist, pulling me out of Mike’s reach. Then I was suddenly behind Jayden, who was holding a bat — like Mike had in Mr. Kaplan’s classroom.
“What are you gonna do with that, Golden Boy?” Mike scoffed.
“Absolutely nothing, man — unless you get anywhere near Molly again. If you do, I’ll take your head clean off.”
Holding my hand, Jayden walked me over to where my backpack was. I picked it up and put it on. Then we started walking away. Every few seconds, I turned back to look for Mike, who just stood there, smirking at us. When we got to Jayden’s car, I didn’t argue about him taking me home.
I looked over at him as he got behind the wheel, and just then I realized that he was wear
ing his clothes from practice. We sped out of the parking lot, and then he pulled over a couple of streets over.
“Molly, are you okay?”
I swallowed and nodded, trying not to cry again.
“How’d you find me?” I whispered.
Jayden cracked his knuckles.
“Mike went into my locker at the start of practice and used my phone to text you. When he didn’t show up, I got a bad feeling, so I went back to the locker room and found his text.”
I nodded again, feeling sick.
“Molly?”
I looked at him.
“From now on, when I text you, I’m always going to end it with five-pound-six.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t get it.”
“J-plus-M. Okay?”
“Okay,” I smiled shakily.
He started the car again, and when we pulled up in front of my house, Jayden asked if my mom was home. I shook my head.
“Can I come inside? Can we talk?”
I nodded. Really, though, I wanted him to come inside, and I wanted to kiss him until I forgot all about Mike and about the fact that I couldn’t be with Jayden. Then Jayden’s phone started buzzing like crazy. He looked down, and his face fell.
“Molly, I want you to go inside and lock the door until your mom gets home, okay?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ll call you later.”
I grabbed my backpack, and Jayden watched as I walked to my front door. As soon as I was inside, I heard the engine of his car rev. Running up to my room, I called Mom and told her I was home. Then I called Stace. I was kind of undecided about whether to tell her about latest psycho spree involving Mike — or the fact that Jayden had saved me again.
When I started crying, she said she’d be over in five minutes. Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. I looked out the window and checked twice to make sure it was Stace’s mom’s car before I unlocked the door. I swung open the door, and her eyes widened.
“Molly? Are you all right?”
