Young Annabelle Series: Young Annabelle, The Truth About James, What My Heart Wants

by Sarah Tork

  But it wasn’t, surprisingly.

  Dean: Hi, what are you doing now?

  That was quick. I’d just left him half an hour ago.

  I texted him back.

  Annabelle: I’m walking home, u playing Baseball now?

  Dean: Taking a break….thinking about you.

  I felt my face heat up reading that. He was thinking about me.

  I texted him back.

  Annabelle: Really?

  Really? I pondered again as another text beeped through.

  Dean: Yeah, I can’t stop thinking about your cute face.

  A huge smile broke across my face.

  Annabelle: Thanks…..

  Dean: Anna, you want to go out tonight?

  Tonight?

  It was a school night.

  I texted him back.

  Annabelle: Okay, where, what time?

  Dean: I’ll pick you up at 6pm, is that good?

  Annabelle: I’ll text my address.

  Dean: Can’t wait.

  Annabelle: Me too!

  I rushed home. I had a date to get ready for, an official proper date.

  But what would mom say? Could I tell her? Would she even let me go?

  I had to lie and come up with a story. I would tell her I was going to Jenna’s, that she had all my homework and notes from today. And I’d emphasize that I’d make sure to eat within my calories.

  “Annabelle!” Mom called from the kitchen.

  “I’m home!”

  She walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel. “How do you feel?”

  “Yeah, I just needed to walk, the exercise really helped.”

  Mom’s eyes brightened happily as if it were the best news she’d heard in a while. “Really! I’m so happy. You see Anna, treat your body right and everything will be okay. No more stomachache right?”

  “Yep, it’s all gone!” I chirped.

  “Great!” Mom chirped back.

  “But um, can I go to Jenna’s at 6pm? She has all my homework and notes from today.” I explained.

  Mom thought about it for a minute before replying. “What about dinner?”

  “I’ll eat at her house and I’ll make sure it’s within my calories.” I promised.

  Mom thought about it again for a few seconds before replying. She nodded. “Alright, but be home before ten, it’s a school night.”

  “Yeah, for sure.” I responded excitedly. I rushed up the stairs to my room, skipping steps along the way.

  I checked the time on my phone and it was 4:30pm. I had to get ready!

  My phone beeped. I got a new message.

  I hoped it was Dean.

  It wasn’t, it was James.

  Tiger: Fine, have it your way. I’m tired of these games. Last time you’re going to be hearing from me!

  I laughed out bitterly. He thought I was the one playing the games. I’d been upfront with him this entire time. I deleted the message and gave his spirit the finger.

  Casting all thoughts of douchebag James out of my mind, I had other things to worry about, like what I was going to wear for my date tonight.

  *~*~*

  I have literally no clothes! I thought as I waited on the curb a block away from my house. I gave Dean my address, sort of.

  And none of my pants were fitting me. The waist line all of a sudden was too loose, which was a great thing. I think I just passed the size ten mark.

  Who would have thought this whole diet thing would work. Since summer began it didn’t seem like I was really losing weight where it counted, meaning my waistline. Now all of a sudden it’d finally hit me, my body was changing.

  Did I mention I went on the scale before leaving the house, yours truly was now 162 pounds.

  I couldn’t believe it. I had lost weight, even with the junk food binge last Friday. But now that I think about it, I barely ate anything this weekend and today I just had a bowl of soup.

  But still a 162 pounds. Amazing!

  A horn honked behind me, I turned and Dean drove to the curb in black Honda car.

  I got in the car and faced him. “Nice car.”

  “Thanks, I saved up to buy it.” He informed happily, and then quickly scanned me before meeting my eyes again. “You look nice.”

  Oh yeah my outfit. I scoured my closet, settling on a pair of flared black jeans and a dark purple tank top that I had hidden somewhere from two years ago. It hadn’t fit for the last two years, and somehow today after sliding it on I didn’t look like sausage.

  Success!

  “Thanks….umm…you look good too.” I told him slowly, eyeing his fitted blue shirt which showcased his broad chest.

  When I met his eyes again, Dean was staring at me seriously. Did I mention there was a little bit of cleavage poking out? Maybe that’s why he looked all serious. I was out for the kill, there was going to be no more self-pitying going on anymore. I was a woman and I was going use what I had to make my point.

  James, screw you! You totally missed out. I thought as I stared at Dean. “So, where are we going?”

  “Do you like frozen yogurt?” He smiled.

  Oh yeah, I knew I liked him for a reason!

  *~*~*

  Dean took us to a Yogurty’s in a plaza twenty minutes from my house. We joked about the selection we chose for our own individual bowls. He picked the craziest combo’s that I didn’t think would work, but he laughed it off saying I didn’t know what I was missing.

  Then he did something really nice after our bowls were weighed. He paid for mine.

  “Thanks.” I gushed as he took the receipt from the cashier.

  He turned back and smiled. “No problem.”

  We took our frozen yogurts to the top floor where there was a balcony. We chose a table close to the railing, overlooking the parking lot.

  This is so nice! I thought as I took my first spoonful. I just had to make sure I didn’t tell him that, just in case he wasn’t over the whole being called ‘Nice’ thing.

  “You’ve got really nice skin.” Dean said all of a sudden, taking the spoon from his mouth. I gave him a shy smile.

  “Thanks.” I replied softly.

  I should give him a compliment now. Anything but ‘nice’ though. I was going to remind myself of that a million times if I had to. I couldn’t screw this up like last time at Peter’s party. I needed to call him something sexy and manly.

  But I couldn’t call him a wild beast.

  “You’re cool.” I said slowly, as if I didn’t know if it made sense or not. My breathing stalled as I awaited a response from him.

  “Duh!” He responded, amusedly. I sighed in relief that my compliment was accepted and laughed at his funny facial expression. I jerked slightly when I felt his fingers intertwining with my fingers. I wished my reaction was less panicky, but it had caught me off guard. I didn’t say anything. I just stared at our fingers, or rather his fingers playing with mine.

  OH GOD!

  “Is that okay?” He asked quietly, unsure. “I can’t help but want to touch you.”

  “It’s okay.” I replied softly, slightly nervous. My heart was pounding at a mile a second.

  James who?

  “James!” a screeching voice screamed out, making me jump.

  What!

  I peeked over the railing and gasped quietly. My jaw dropped a little when I noticed a large black SUV pulling to a stop in a parking spot. The windows were all the way down and I could see that the entire car was full of people. As the car doors opened, people spilled out. More noticeably from the passenger side a certain auburn haired vixen rolling her hips and poking her chest out as she got out.

  “James!” She screamed out again, jogging up to him, pretending to try and slap him on the shoulder as he laughed and ducked.

  “You almost killed us!” She squealed, pouting her lips, putting her hands to her hips, pumping her boobs out some more.

  “Those guys go to your school right?” Dean asked out of nowhere. I faced him and
nodded.

  “Yeah.” I answered, not wanting to look back out to the parking lot.

  “Loud aren’t they?” Dean joked, making a funny face that screamed ‘They’re annoying’.

  “Yeah, they’re a loud bunch. You should see them before class starts in the mornings, they shout at the top of their lungs.” I explained, slumping into my seat and picking up my bowl.

  Dean laughed. “They’re attention seekers.”

  “You said it.” I mumbled, putting a spoonful of frozen yogurt in my mouth.

  “What about him?” Dean asked, eying me seriously, all joking gone.

  Did he notice me staring at James?

  “Who?” I pretended like I didn’t know who he was talking about, but I knew who he meant.

  “The driver, what’s his name?” Dean asked. “I recognize him from Peter’s party.”

  I reluctantly glanced back out to the parking lot and eyed the loud crowd painfully. Taking a nervous breath, I faced Dean again. “Why would you think I would know his name?”

  “Because I saw you talk to him after we slow danced.” Dean confessed, looking away for a few seconds.

  Damn…Cat’s out of the bag.

  “His name is James. We used to work together at the country club, Royal Heights.” I explained, nonchalantly.

  Dean looked relieved all of a sudden. “So you guys just worked together?”

  “Yeah, why? Did you think that there was something between us?” I asked, trying not to gulp.

  Just act normal. Deny, deny, deny.

  “Yeah, I saw him grab your arm for a second, but you pulled back.” Dean said, swirling his spoon inside his bowl.

  “Yeah, he was just saying hi, but I think he was a little drunk.” I explained, fake laughing, trying to make it sound like not a big deal.

  “I want frozen yogurt!” A girl’s voice pleaded loudly from the bottom. My heartbeat picked up in speed. They could not walk in here, not that I was ashamed of being with Dean, but I didn’t want a confrontation with James.

  Things would get awkward, fast.

  “Let’s get pizza first!” One of the boys said.

  All the girls quickly agreed, and my heart rate returned back to normal. But that meant I had a good ten minutes before they decided to come back to Yogurty’s. The balcony was a great place to hang out and they’d probably come up here to enjoy their frozen yogurt.

  “Dean, you want to get out of here?” I asked, praying he’d say yes.

  “What? We’re not done.” He said, looking confused and eying our half eaten bowls.

  “We can go to a park and eat it there.” I suggested, hopeful he would agree. “Please.”

  He smiled. “Alright, just because you said please.”

  We picked up our bowls and made our way out the building. Dean had his car parked across from James, and the pizza store was in direct line of sight. I ducked my head down.

  “Is everything okay?” Dean asked from behind me.

  “Yeah, my neck hurts a little.” I explained, stretching my neck out to prove it.

  When we arrived at his car and stood in front of our respective doors, he smiled looking over the hood of his car at me. “Maybe I can give it a massage?”

  My face felt like a thermometer about to burst, I knew it was turning red. I could feel its heat pouring into my eyes now. “Okay.” I answered quietly, shyly.

  For a moment, I forgot that James and his boys, plus the girls were in the pizza shop. If he turned to check his car, he probably could see me now. Dean stared at me for another second before breaking the connection and getting into the driver’s side.

  Before getting in the car, I took a chance and checked the pizza shop once more. I jerked slightly in surprise when I saw someone leaning behind the window, glaring at me with a huge scowl.

  James!

  I could feel the anger pouring from him. But I couldn’t care less. He was the one who screwed up. I flicked my hair to the side and got into the car quickly. Dean smiled as he started the car and I rolled the window down, hopefully showing James what he missed out on.

  *~*~*

  Dean took me to a local park. We sat on the bench and finished our frozen yogurt. He took our empty bowls and threw them in the trash bin. Then he sat right beside me again, this time putting his arm over my shoulder.

  “Thanks for coming out with me.” He murmured loud enough for me to hear. He was sitting so close I could feel his breath on my face.

  “You’re welcome.” I breathed sharply as my heart raced from his touch.

  “Anna?” Dean murmured, close to my ear.

  “Yeah.” I gulped.

  “You smell good.” He confessed.

  I laughed. “Thank you?”

  “No really, you smell like coconut and honey.” Dean blurted out nervously.

  “I put some lotion on before coming out.” I informed him, grinning. He was so cute.

  He didn’t say anything, but his grip around my shoulders got tighter. “Dean?”

  “Yeah.” He breathed.

  I faced him. “It’s getting dark.”

  He blinked. “You want to go home?”

  “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” I asked him, curling my hands into my sweater jacket. It held my phone, wallet and keys.

  “We could go for a drive?” He suggested, smiling. “Actually there’s this thing at a Baseball field near here. I told my buddies I wouldn’t be coming, but if you’re up for it, we could go and I can introduce you to some of my friends?”

  You see, how come he wasn’t ashamed to be seen with me. He even wanted to introduce me to his buddies.

  James do you hear this, learn!

  I nodded happily. “Okay, let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 22

  By the time we made it to the field, it was completely dark. I checked the time on my cell, it was just after 7pm. I sighed in relief once I realized I had plenty of time. I didn’t have to be home till 10ish. The lights of the Baseball field shined brightly, showcasing the entire park that settled around it.

  “Are you going to play Baseball again?” I asked Dean as he parked his car. He turned to me and smiled.

  “Is that okay?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll watch.”

  “Thanks. This game was kind of set up a few days ago, but I canceled.” He confessed, pulling the key out of the ignition.

  “To go out with me?” I asked, slowly.

  “Yeah, it was worth it though. But now I get the best of both worlds.” Dean grinned.

  I smiled back.

  We got out of the car and Dean quickly joined my side, grabbing my hand. The feeling of his skin on mine made a fire stir in my belly. All over again.

  Dean led me to a group of guys hanging out on the field. He introduced me to them without hesitation.

  “Guys, this is Annabelle.” Dean introduced. Their faces were overjoyed upon seeing him, thinking he wasn’t going to come.

  “Hey!” They all said doing a little half wave.

  “Hi.” I said back, shyly.

  “You go to Royal Heights high?” One of them asked, turning his Baseball cap backwards over his messy dark brown hair.

  “Yeah, you all go to Pleasant View high right?” I asked all of them.

  “Yep.” They all said unison.

  I wished them a good game and then Dean led me to the small sitting area. “Are you going to be okay here? I mean is this okay?”

  I nodded and smiled to him. “It’s okay, I don’t mind sitting and watching.”

  Dean smiled as he reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’re cool you know that Anna?”

  “Duh!” I joked for a second before turning serious when Dean slowly lifted my hand to his lips, kissing it as he stared deeply into my eyes.

  Umm, wow!

  “Dean.” I murmured, lost in his eyes. He lowered my hand and I sat as we stared in silence.

  Without saying anything else, he turned and ran back to the group of guys, joining
their huddle.

  *~*~*

  After their opponents showed up, I watched Dean play ball for about an hour. It seemed more like a practice, but I was having a good time. Every so often Dean would turn and wave at me, giving me a smile.

  Everything was going great, that is until I felt the desperate urge to pee. I tried to hold it for as long as I could.

  My bladder couldn’t take it anymore. Dean looked up as I got up. I pointed to the bathroom and he got it right away. I entered the public bathroom, it was filled with people and I had to wait in line to use the toilet. By the time I finished with the bathroom it had been fifteen minutes. I was about to walk out when I heard angry yells coming from outside. I peeked out the door, I could see the Baseball field and there were more people there than from before.

  “Get off!” I heard a guy scream. “We’re still playing here!”

  The group was huddled too close for me to see who it was. I saw a guy jerking wildly, it was Dean’s friend Joe, and Dean was holding him back. Who was it they were fighting against? I stayed just behind the door, starting to get freaked out by the sudden situation.

  “Get off! We’re still playing here!” A familiar voice screeched out, clearly making fun of Joe. The two guys were now nose to nose and were both the same height. The crowd parted and I saw a few girls hanging about. One of them looked really familiar as her auburn hair flew in the wind.

  Donna?

  Donna and her crew of girls were standing behind the group of guys. Both sides were trying to separate their friends from fighting. The crowd spread apart showcasing Joe’s opponent. Equally as tall, with a puffed out chest and a trouble making persona, I couldn’t believe it.

  James!

  James was antagonizing Joe. Dean pulled his friend back, whispering something in his ear. They began walking off the field when James and his boys decided it was time to take things up a notch.

  “What a bunch of pussy’s!” James yelled, laughing. His boys joined in. Joe turned around, angry.