by Anna Katmore
Surprised, I lift my head. It sounded like someone was shouting my name from far away, but with the speaker still asking the Leeway dude to please get his ass moving, I can’t be sure. Spinning both ways, I scan the place left and right. There’s no familiar face nearby, no one looking at me. Had to be a mistake.
As the queue moves forward, it’s Lesley’s turn to walk through the detector. She passes without any hassle. While Kirsten gets ready and shoves her box onto the conveyer belt, I quickly glance at my phone before I have to toss it into the box. A line pops up on the display of my cell. Two missed calls. What the heck—from Justin!
A rush of shock renders me motionless, and someone bumps into me from behind. I ignore the mumbled apologies, because my attention is elsewhere. Justin also sent a text. My heart knocking nervously against my rib cage, I open it and read: WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!
“Miss?”
Ripped out of my current stupor, I lift my head and find a TSA worker motioning me forward with her hand. “Please don’t hold the line up.”
The space in front of me is free. Lesley and Kirsten are waiting on the other side. Absently, I take a step forward, my phone slipping out of my hand into the box next to my hip. And then, a tank engine floors me from my right.
A terrified shriek escapes me, but I’m tightly enclosed in strong arms and then gently put back on my feet two seconds later—a couple feet away from the security line. When I look up, I find myself captured by a set of beautiful butterscotch eyes.
“Justin, what— How did you get here?”
“Hi,” he pants, utterly ignoring my question as he bends over, bracing his hands on his knees and fighting to catch his breath.
Standing rigid, wearing an expression like a banana run over by a bus, I squeak, “Hey.”
When he’s calmed down enough to speak, he straightens and steps right in front of me, blocking out the rest of the world. “Listen,” he says, brushing my hair off my forehead and cupping my cheeks. “I was a complete dipshit to let you go without talking to you.”
My eyes widen with surprise, but then I decide to let him see my hurt in a small pout. “Yes, you were.” Nevertheless, I reach up and hold his wrists, keeping his hands on my face. “But you had some good reasons. I’m just so glad you came to say goodbye.” It feels like a heavy rock finally breaks away from my chest.
“Are you coming, Chloe?” At Kirsten’s anxious voice, I cut a quick glance to the side, where the passengers behind me have started filing through the detector. She and Lesley have come to the barrier, leaning over it. From the looks of it, they’re scared that now, with Justin here, I might cancel my plans.
“Give me a minute,” I call out to them.
The next instant, my attention returns to Justin as he cups my chin and tilts my head back to face him. “I didn’t come to say goodbye.”
Not to say goodbye? My forehead creases to a frown. “Then why?”
As he touches his brow to mine, my eyes open up wider to stare into his. “To tell you that I love you, tiger.”
Holy flip! My heart does a double somersault inside my chest. I crack a smile as hundreds and hundreds of butterflies tickle my stomach. “You do?”
He nods, blinking slowly.
From the corner of my eye, I spot Kirsten and Lesley leaning farther out of the restricted area. They look worried out of their minds.
Although I want nothing more than to assure Justin that I love him, too, it feels like a mistake, considering I have to leave him—again—in only a few minutes. My hands wander up, my fingers holding on to his black sweatshirt. “This is really bad timing.”
“No, it’s not. I didn’t come to stop you,” he says, gripping my shoulders. “You’ve got your plans. Get on that plane, do your year abroad, live your life, and enjoy every minute of it.” He pauses. “I only ask for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Let’s keep in touch. Email, WhatsApp, texts, whatever you want. And when you come back next summer”—his hands moves up to my cheeks once more, and his thumb skims over my bottom lip—“go for coffee with me.”
My heart suddenly flutters wildly around in my chest like a caged pigeon. “Did you just ask me for a date in a year?”
With his head cocked, a lopsided smile appears on his lips. “Guess I did.”
My mind woozy from so much sweetness, I can’t seem to find my voice for a reply.
Those candy-sweet eyes narrow with concern. “What’s your answer?”
A deep breath, and another. My hands flatten against his pecs. After some time, that seems like an eternity, I give a small but happy nod. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he repeats warily, as if I’m a nutcase who can’t be trusted. So, once again and with more determination, I bob my head.
This time, an ecstatic gasp of relief escapes him. He crushes me to his chest, thrusting one hand into my hair, and presses a kiss to my temple. For minutes, I revel in his embrace.
When he finally loosens his hold, I look up into his eyes with new hope for my future. “Everyone’s waiting,” he says softly. “You should go now.”
I really don’t want to. Not now. But he’s right. There’s a foreign country waiting for me on the other side of the world, with a whole lot of new experiences to have. Bracing myself for taking on that adventure, I swallow and gaze up into his face.
Justin strokes his knuckles down my cheek in a gentle caress and cracks an encouraging smile. “Have a safe trip, tiger.”
“See you in a year,” I whisper back.
As I reluctantly slip away from him, his hand slides down the length of my arm. Until he grabs my wrist and hauls me back against him all of a sudden, squeezing a startled gasp out of my lungs. “One for the way,” he says with no room for objection, and then he crashes his lips against mine.
Epilogue
August
Justin: Guess who’s going to fill in for you at camp?
Chloe: Sam.
Justin: How do you know??
Chloe: She’s my cousin. We talk. Duh.
*
Justin: The kids were great at the performance today. You would have been so proud.
Chloe: Can you send me pictures?
Justin: Sure. I’ll include one of myself for you to remember me by. ^^
Chloe: I’ll drool over it every night. :P
September
Justin: How was the test?
Chloe: Nailed it!
Justin: Awesome. Are you girls going to celebrate?
Chloe: Yes. I’ll have a J. Andrews Sour. ;-)
*
Chloe: What a strange party…
Justin: You didn’t like celebrating?
Chloe: Les and Kir know a lot of weird people.
Justin: Give them a chance. You might find you like them.
Chloe: One tried to sell me weed. Another offered money for a blow job.
Justin: Book a flight. Go to the airport. Leave the country!
November
Justin: How are you?
Chloe: Knackered. That is proper British for exhausted. :P
Justin: Another word like ‘blimey’ that you’re using all the time now? Don’t turn too British. I might not recognize you when you come back.
Chloe: I’ll wear a name tag upon my return. ;-)
*
Chloe: Way too many people live in this place. Kir keeps eating my white chocolate with strawberry bits. I might have to kill her or go find another apartment soon.
Justin: Could be interesting. Don’t move in with the drug dealer.
December
Justin: Met anyone you want to spend the rest of your life with yet?
Chloe: With texting you all day, there’s hardly enough time to meet anyone.
Justin: Mission accomplished.
January
Justin: How was the time with your parents?
Chloe: Great! Drove around England a lot. Mom puked when we made her ride a roller coaster at a fair in Brighton.
Justin: Nice.
Chloe: Yep. And she brought so much stuff for me from home. I half expected YOU to jump out of her giant suitcase. :P
Justin: I half expected you to ask me to come.
Chloe: Would you have come if I’d asked you?
Justin: Would you have liked me to come?
Chloe: Maybe.
Justin: Then maybe I would’ve come.
March
Chloe: Good morning.
Justin: Good night. ;-)
April
Chloe: What are you doing?
Justin: Help me dead.
Chloe: LOL, what??
Justin: Helping my dad! Jeez, can somebody f**k autocorrect?
May
Chloe: I’ve been thinking of you all morning.
Justin: Really?
Chloe: Yes. Aren’t you thinking of me, too?
Justin: I’m at this fraternity party with way too many girls trying to seduce me. Not much time to think about anything right now. ;-)
Chloe: Ha. Ha. Very funny.
Chloe: You’re not really, are you?
Justin: LOL! I’m studying for finals. In my room. All by my lonesome.
Justin: Miss you, tiger.
June
Justin: When does your plane land?
Chloe: 6:20 p.m.
Justin: Need a ride home from the airport?
Chloe: Nah. Brinna wants to pick me up. She insists. I think we’re gonna have some best friend reunion time at her new apartment. Should be nice. Meet Sunday at home?
Justin: Sure. Have a safe flight.
Chloe:See you soon.
Chloe
I get off the plane, tired and stiff and smelling of the Coke I doused my front with when we hit some turbulences two hours ago. Kirsten and Lesley went on a tour around Europe while I headed back here to the States, so the journey was boring and seemed to last three times as long as the one last fall.
With a wide yawn, I stretch, unknotting the muscles in my back, and then follow the crowd to the baggage reclaim. Most of my things were shipped back home a week ago, so there’s only one suitcase with my name on it waiting to be picked up from the carousel.
Right outside the sliding doors leading out of the secure area of the airport, a tall young man in a leather jacket and jeans is waiting for me with a white sign held in front of his chest. “Chloe” is spelled out in all caps on it in black Sharpie. He cracks a smile when he sees me.
“Hi, Jace!” Hugging Brinna’s boyfriend hard, I laugh. “Thought I wouldn’t recognize you after a year away?”
He runs a hand through his black strands then strokes the stubble dusting his cheeks and chin with three fingers. “Well, my hair is shorter now, so I couldn’t be sure.”
“Shorter? Like what? An inch?”
“And a half.” He playfully wraps his arm around my neck, grabs my suitcase, and hauls us both toward the exit. Outside is Brin’s Camaro, but she isn’t in it nor anywhere in sight. “The princess says sorry, but she couldn’t come along to pick you up,” Jace explains, answering my puzzled expression.
“Why? She was so stubborn when I told her my parents could pick me up.” A confused frown on my face, I slip into the car when Jace opens the door for me.
He slams it shut and gets in on the other side. “She’s at home. She wanted to prepare a few things before you got there. You know”—pulling up his nose in a manner of fake haughtiness, he rolls his eyes—“the guest room.”
“You two have a guest room in your apartment? No shit?”
“Oh, you’ll like the place.” He cuts me a quick glance as he rounds the corner to the exit of the airport parking lot, then he leans far out his window to insert a card into the machine that raises the barrier for us to leave. As the car window rolls up with a low hum, he buckles in and threads into the San Francisco evening traffic. “Brin is sure you’ll want to move in next door as soon as you see it.”
I haven’t yet made new living arrangements for the coming year of school, but since Brinna gave up our old apartment after Easter to move in with Jace, I think maybe a single room on campus would work best for me. I’ve been living with loud people for eleven months; some peace and quiet will be nice for a change. And real American peanut butter.
We drive up north, past the area where our school and also our old apartment is located. My eyes nearly pop out of my head when Jace drives into an underground parking garage in the Golden Gate area. Taking care of my baggage, he leads the way to an elevator and pushes the number five of eight possible stories.
The elevator doors slide open with a ding, and we walk out into a wide corridor with doors on both sides. As he slides the key into the lock of apartment number 37, I read the small rectangular sign under the doorbell. Brinna McNeal & Jason Rhode. There are two small hearts next to their names, without a doubt Brin’s doing. Chuckling, I follow Jace into the apartment.
“Princess, she’s home!” he calls out, putting my suitcase aside and closing the door after me. The sound of people talking in another room stops abruptly. Next thing I know, a bouncing ball with pink hair zooms around the corner and flies into my arms, screeching my name. Behind me, Jace catches us before we topple to the ground.
When the reunion screams cease, I keep my voice low and ask, “Who were you talking to? Do you have guests?”
“Uh, not exactly.” Her mouth stretches wide. “But you do. I thought you’d like to meet a few people from school. They were all dying to see you again.”
Excitement floods me. “Frankie and Jennifer?”
“Plus Sebastian, Tonya, Mirabelle, and then some,” she adds as she helps me out of my jacket and hangs it up on the coatrack.
“Jeez, you’re throwing a party?”
“A welcome-home party, yes,” Jace confirms, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “So, welcome home, girl!”
It’s so sweet of them, I want to melt on the spot. But a moment later, embarrassment fills me as his gaze drops to my purple blouse, reminding me of the mishap with the Coke. “Accident on the flight,” I whine. Then I turn to Brin and whisper, “Is there some place I can change before joining the party?”
“Of course. Come on.” She grabs the handle of my suitcase and pulls it along. “I’ll show you to your room. You can change there.”
Jace goes ahead of us, disappearing into the living room where this whole thing seems to be taking place.
Immediately, a woman squeaks, “Where is she?”
“Oh my God,” I hiss to Brinna as excitement spikes my heartbeat. “Is that Julie? You invited her, too?”
“Yes. And also her boyfriend, Greyson.” She winks at me. “What’s a welcome party without some old friends?”
“The star of tonight will be with you shortly,” Jace announces like a presenter at a movie premiere, making me giggle. “A mishap on the plane forced her to retreat backstage and change her attire.”
As Brinna ushers me down the hallway past the living room, I dare a brief glance inside. So many people have come, folks I’ve missed quite a bit this last year. My cousin Sam sits on the armrest of a low, comfy chair near the window, her fingers intertwined with Tony’s, who stands next to her. I can’t believe they came all the way to San Francisco to welcome me back tonight. There would have been plenty of chances to meet up at home in Grover Beach in the next few days. Overwhelmed with emotion, my heart swells a little.
And then I see them. Butterscotch.
Momentarily halting in my tracks, my stomach does a flip. Sam is talking to Justin, but I know he doesn’t hear her, because the edges of his mouth lift in the tiniest smile that is for me alone. I’ve been imagining this moment every night since we kissed goodbye at the airport. Only, in my dreams, my knees didn’t wobble, and my heart didn’t give out.
I want to walk in there; I want it so badly. But it would probably take half an hour or more to get through the crowd to him. And I really don’t want to face them all with a large brown spot on my chest.
Q
uickly, I return the smile, then I rush after Brinna, who’s waiting for me on the threshold to a room at the far end of the hall. “For tonight, this will be yo—” She doesn’t get a chance to finish, because I hug her again so hard that the air from her lungs whizzes past my ear.
“Thanks for bringing him here!” I croak.
“Ah, you saw Justin?” She laughs as I release her. “Now come in and change so you can see your guests. In the meantime, I’m going to order Thai food. Shout if you need something.”
When she leaves, I push the door closed and tip over my suitcase on the rosé-colored carpet, kneeling to lift the lid. My favorite cream, knitted top is a perfect match to my dark jeans, so I take that out, drop it on the queen-size bed, and then walk to the bay windows, unbuttoning my stained blouse. The view from here is marvelous, straight at Buena Vista Park across the street. Brin was right with her assumption—I love this place. Maybe it’s worth checking to see if one of the neighboring apartments is free.
The sunset behind the trees of the park tints the room in a deep orange glow. A happy sigh escapes me. Shrugging out of the blouse, I turn around and toss it over the bed into the open suitcase on the floor, then I grab the cream top. Just as I smooth it down over my stomach, the door swings gently open. Justin leans against the doorjamb, one ankle crossed over the other.
“Hi,” he says, his tone so low that no one in this apartment but me would hear.
I offer him a shy smile. “Hey.”
Hands tucked into his pockets, his biceps stretch the sleeves of his white T-shirt, and the fabric molds over his pecs and abs in a mouthwatering way. Taking a step forward, he quietly closes the door behind him, his gaze never leaving me.
As he leans with his back against the door now, his tongue slowly slides across his bottom lip. A lovely set of dimples appears in his cheeks. “How was your flight?”
