by Castile, Mia
Chapter 14
Chase found me first thing, Tuesday at school. It was kind of sweet that he was worried about me. Because of my afternoon nap, I hadn’t responded to any of his texts from the night before about why I wasn’t in school.
“So you are alive?” He leaned sideways against the locker beside mine as I unloaded my messenger bag.
“Yes, I needed a personal day.” I smiled at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was watching a group of cheerleaders walk by us in the hallway. I rolled my eyes, but he didn’t notice.
“Can you meet up today? I want to make sure we have everything ready.” I groaned and looked at the ceiling. I would be glad when this job was over. “Today is your deadline,” he added sternly, like he needed to remind me. I looked down at my perfectly painted, pale pink toes which Lana had painted for me yesterday, in my sandal wedge shoes.
“Your place or mine?” I asked, finally looking back up at him.
“Yours,” he winked and pushed off from the locker. That was new; he’d never winked at me before. He merged into traffic, and I went the opposite way.
It had been surprisingly dull for a Tuesday. There was, of course, the constant hum of excitement as the end of the year was nearing, but I had picked a good day to skip. Tasha, Jade, and I were on speaking terms, but barely. I wondered how much longer they would treat me like this, and I wasn’t sure I liked any of the answers. We were avoiding the topic and dancing around others. I approached our table at lunch, and they were already engrossed in conversation. I sat my tray down beside Tasha.
“And she graces us with her presence,” Jade snickered.
“Yeah, took a personal day yesterday. I texted you,” I said, opening my milk.
“I know; I was just teasing,” Jade said, though there was a bit of edge to her voice. I thought about telling them about Lana, but decided against it since we weren’t on the best of terms. I decided to be a coward and avoid all things confrontational.
“Chase wants to take pictures on Saturday.” I scanned the room for him; he had been surprisingly evasive since the morning. I was torn between feeling relieved and missing him.
“I know; he texted me. We can crash at your house and go from there,” Jade said. I nodded in agreement.
Something changed that day in my free period. Henry. He kept making eye contact with me. It wasn’t the usual “stop looking at me” eye contact either. I’d look at the clock over his head, and as I’d glance at him, he’d be looking at me. He would smile and look away. The next time I checked the time, it was the same thing. Because of that, I checked the time A LOT. I tried not to, but my eyes gravitated toward him. He wore a T-shirt that read “So far, this is the oldest I’ve ever been.” Every time I read it, I couldn’t help but grin. I put any excitement that his glances gave me out of my mind. I wasn’t about to make a fool of myself on purpose. As the bell rang and I stacked my books, he came over to my table.
“Hey, Lacey.” I looked up and smiled generously.
“Hi.”
“I was wondering,” he paused and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “if you could give me a ride home. Byron and Bea have dentist appointments right after school.” So that was why he had been watching me. Dang it!
“Sure, I’ve gotta take Jade and Tasha home, but if you want to meet me by my car. . . do you know which one it is?” We began moving toward the library doors.
“I don’t care; I just don’t want to ride the bus, and oh yeah, I know which car is yours,” he smirked. “I’ll catch you late.” He waved and was gone.
Later that day, I sat in the bleachers at P.E., watching a set of kids race around the track, Chase in the middle. Bea stood with a group of popular kids, flirting with the boys and laughing with the girls. From a distance, she looked sweet and innocent. I wondered how she could be so cordial with them, but then I thought about it. They had been a clique since junior high. Coach called six more names. I crossed my arms over my knees, waiting for my turn. Chase ran to the sideline and surveyed the bleachers. He looked so different in purple shorts and the grey shirt. He spotted me and climbed the stairs two at a time. I sat up, self-consciously smoothing my matching grey shirt at my waist. He sat down just below me and turned sideways to look up at me, still breathing heavily.
“I got third,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Congrats.” My gaze drifted back toward Bea lining up; her pale blond ponytail still swaying behind her.
“I don’t know what the big deal is about her,” he thought out loud.
“Me either.” I crossed my arms over my knees again.
“I mean she’s not really cute, and she’s mean.”
“Well, that’s part of her charm,” I smirked.
“If I had to choose between her and you, I’d pick you all day long.” He turned and leaned back, resting his elbow at my hip.
“Why would you say that?” I asked looking at him sternly. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate a compliment; it was just that I didn’t want any pity friendships.
“You’re way cooler than she is, and you shouldn’t let her get to you is all. You’re so much better than that.” He knocked me with his shoulder, watching me out of the corner of his eye as I gave him a weak smile.
“Thanks,” I began, about to apologize, but the coach called my name. I stood and straightened my shirt and purple shorts as I delicately began to descend the stairs. I could feel his gaze still on me, and I did not want to tumble down the bleachers. I lined up and stretched each leg behind me before I took my position. The whistle blew, and I began at a moderate pace, letting the leaders get out ahead of me. Then I just concentrated on my breathing and speed. I enjoyed running; I just usually tripped and skinned my knees up—like right now. My feet got tangled underneath me, and down I went. I felt the gravel dig into my knee.
“Watch out!” someone shouted at me. I was trying to, but I was down. I let everyone pass before I attempted to get up. Coach was at my side when I finally rose, blood dripping down my shin.
“Good effort, Baxter. You made it farther than last time.” He patted me on the back a little roughly. I winced.
“Head on over to the nurse.” I nodded, and made my way limping across the field, not putting too much pressure on my throbbing knee. I glanced toward the bleachers. Chase was watching me, leaning forward on his knees. Awesome, he saw the whole thing.
By the time I made it to the nurse, the blood was drying. She had to scrape it a little to get the gravel out of it and the peroxide in. Then she put a big bandage on it. Finally, I made it back to gym in time to hit the lockers and change. When I emerged, Chase was leaning against the lockers waiting for me.
“How’s your knee?” he asked.
“It’s OK. Hurts a little.” I regretted my decision to wear those cute shorts today. It actually hurt a lot, but I put on a brave face and tried to walk on my toes to distribute the weight less on my knee. He walked with me to my locker and told me he’d text me later.
When I made it to my car, Henry was leaning against the trunk. He looked really cool there. I smiled, hoping I didn’t look creepy.
“Hey, thanks again,” he said. I unlocked my door, and climbed in to unlock the other side. By the time I got it, Jade and Tasha were there looking quizzically at Henry with cheesy smiles across their faces. Henry climbed in back with Tasha, and Jade took shotgun; she was my first stop. We listened to music on my phone through the stereo as we left the parking lot. My phone dinged almost immediately. My text-to-drive app read in a very generic computer voice, “I’m going to hit up Starbucks. Do you want anything? From Asshole.” Jade and Tasha giggled.
“Who’s Asshole?” Henry laughed.
“Chase,” I said softly. He mouthed “oh,” as I said louder, “Send a reply. Yes, mocha extra whiped cream please.”
“Sending message to Asshole,” my phone said.
After we dropped off Jade and Tasha, it was pretty quiet for a bit. It reminded me of the last time I’d driv
en Henry home.
“Have you seen Farrah lately?” he asked as he looked out the window.
“No, she’s been pretty busy, I guess,” I said, looking straight ahead.
“I’m really glad I got to meet her. She’s amazing.” He smiled at me.
“I think as long as you’re happy that’s what’s important,” I replied sadly.
“You don’t sound like you mean that,” he remarked, observing me closely.
“I guess, I feel like I’m in the middle of it because I know her, and I know you.” I paused to find the right word. “And now you guys are doing whatever,” I said, instantly wishing I hadn’t. He frowned, and if I were really being honest, the right words were that I was in the middle of it because I was a liar and a fraud.
“I’m sorry if we’ve made you feel like that.” He looked away. When I approached my house, I saw Chase’s car at the curb. I avoided his hard gaze as I pulled into my driveway. He got out of his car and met us at the walkway to my front door.
“Thanks again for the ride, Lacey.” Henry waved to me before he walked away. “Hey, Chase,” he said passing him. Chase nodded and handed me my coffee.
“What was that?” he asked without expression.
“He needed a ride home, and he lives next door,” I said with a shrug as I opened the door.
“Right, I know the rumors. You’re playing a dangerous gam—” Chase began, but before he could finish, Lana bounced into his arms.
“Chase!” I laughed while she squealed his name.
“Hey, Short Stuff.” He hugged her back while trying not to spill his coffee.
“I don’t get greetings like that,” I said with mock jealousy. I was glad that she was getting back to her normal self, and if that meant crushing on Chase, that was OK. She let go of him, blushing slightly.
“That makes it even better,” he chuckled. He followed me up to my room. We finished the website, then sat just listening to the Cate’s Ashes music. I hated to admit it, and I wouldn’t admit it to Chase, but I was a fan of his band. It didn’t feel like we were working; it felt like we were hanging out. He walked over to my closet and went through my clothes piece by piece. He stood there for a few minutes before I realized what he was doing.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I walked over to him.
“Why don’t you ever wear any of these things?” he asked, looking through my summer dresses.
“I do, sometimes,” I said defensively.
“Wear this on Saturday.” He held up a blue floral spaghetti-strap dress.
“Maybe,” I said, taking it from him and put it back in my closet. “But I’m not sure I want to take advice from a guy who only wears blue jeans and plain white T-shirts. What’s that about anyway?” I asked, flopping on my bed. He sat down in my desk chair and propped his feet up on my desk.
“It’s just the mood I’m in.” He looked out my window. I hoped he didn’t realize that my window looked into Henry’s. He looked at me thoughtfully for a minute and then stood.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“O-OK,” I stuttered and followed him down to the front door.
Chapter 15
I was in the bathroom getting ready for school when I heard a loud thump noise. I paused and listened to see if I was imagining things. Thump. No, there it was again. Thump. I went into my bedroom and listened again. Thump. It was coming from my window. Thump. I peeked through my blinds. Henry was throwing a pencil with twine tied around it at my window. That was weird. I raised my blinds as he threw it again, right at my face. It made me jump. He signaled “oops” and I raised my window. He said, “Hi.”
I put my hands on the windowsill and leaned out the window. I said, “Good morning.” He didn’t say anything else at first; he just stared at me, at my chest. I could feel a blush chasing my neck and cheeks. I looked down and saw that my boobs looked big. It must have been a combination of my v-neck camisole top, my arms pushing them up like I was wearing a push up bra, oh, and the push up bra I was wearing. His eyes were glued, until I looked back up at him, and his red face suddenly matched mine.
“I would have called, but I don’t have your cell number,” he began. Today his shirt said, “My other shirt is at your mom’s house.”
“OK, what’s up?”
“Byron has to get a filling this morning. Could I hitch another ride with you?” I was shocked.
“Yeah, sure. Be out front in, like, twenty minutes?” He gave me a huge, beautiful smile and nodded. I leaned back in my window and closed it and the blinds. I was wearing a pair of dark brown, cuffed dress shorts, and a Kelly green camisole. I added a thin, white, scoop-neck, cuffed-sleeve, hip-length T-shirt. I covered that with a baby blue cardigan, knowing I would wear it only during the morning. It would be a really warm afternoon. I slipped on a pair of flat sandals and was ready to go. I grabbed the toaster strudel my dad had warmed up for me and was out the door—bags on my arm, sunglasses on my head. As I came out the door, Henry was standing there staring at the gnome at the top of our stairs.
He held my eye contact as I pulled the door shut behind me and turned to lock it.
“That thing is creepy,” he said behind me. I smiled in agreement, my nerves suddenly wreaking havoc on my ability to get the key from the lock.
I almost stumbled down the stairs, but held onto the railing. I didn’t think he noticed. In the car on the way to school, I balanced my strudel on my left thigh—very dangerous considering, but I remained stain-free. I kept glancing at him, and catching his gazes at my legs. I guess that was a compliment. It was definitely a confidence boost, especially after his boob ogling this morning.
“So, are you into anyone these days?” he asked as he looked out the window.
“Huh?” I asked dumbly.
“You into anyone? Seeing anyone? Habla ingles?” He chuckled. I loved that laugh.
“I’m sort of talking to someone.”
He nodded. “Good for you. He’s a lucky guy,” he said to my legs.
“Let’s hope he feels that way,” I said. He grabbed my phone and dialed a number. His phone rang.
“There, that’s fixed for next time.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, played with my phone some more, and made me seriously anxious. Luckily, he only added himself to my contacts. My heart pounded the whole time. He finally sat my phone down.
“Are you ready for Mr. Daniel’s final in history?” he asked, looking out the window again. I pulled into the student parking lot.
“I’ve made my flash cards, but I seriously need to cram,” I sighed, searching for a spot.
“Me, too. I always do better in group studies.” He looked at me, and I paused and looked at him. What was he saying?
“Would you want to maybe get together and quiz each other?” he asked while I pulled into a space in B.F.E.
“Yeah, I work for my parents today, but we can tomorrow if you want,” I said, unable to believe what was happening.
“Cool.” We got out of my car and walked all the way up to the doors together. He waved bye, and I went to my locker. It took me three times to make my combination work. My heart pounded, and my hands were shaking. I tried to calm myself down.
