“Where did this come from?” she exclaimed.
“I don’t know. It just came today. The guy said it was for us, but wouldn’t tell me who it was from,” Vince responded.
Lex entered the room and slowly ran her hand along the wooden table. “It’s the one I wanted,” she whispered, walking from one end to the other. My parents had snuck in the room and stood to the side. I hung back.
“There’s a card. Open it,” Mom suggested. The envelope propped up against the huge satin bow had Alexa and Vince scrolled across the front of it.
Vince picked it up and handed it to Lex, who stood in a state of shock. Carefully sliding her finger underneath the sealed flap, she opened it. There weren’t that many words, but she took her time reading every single one of them. Once she finished, my sister turned to me, tears in her eyes. “How did you know?”
“Let’s just say a little birdie told me.” I smiled.
“Brie, this is too much. You shouldn’t have done this.”
“It’s not every day my baby sister buys a house and marries the man of her dreams.”
Still holding the card and envelope in her hand, she crossed the room and hugged me tighter than when I pulled in the driveway the night before. “Thank you so much. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Lex,” I said softly, hoping my own tears wouldn’t fall.
“How did you pull this off?” Lex questioned.
“I’m just that good.”
“Yeah, you are,” Vince added, coming over to hug the both of us. “Thank you.” I felt him kiss my head.
“Okay. Don’t you get all girlie on me, Lyons. You’re smothering me. Back the hell up.” I absolutely hated the fact that there were other people around and attention was falling on me. He smirked, giving me a little bit of space. I winked so only he could see and left the room.
When I reached the kitchen, Joey came up behind me. “Thanks a lot.”
“What?”
“Now my gift is going to look like shit compared to that. You should’ve given me a heads-up.”
He seemed almost too relaxed. Apparently, I was the only one who felt tormented. The fact he was over me shouldn’t have hurt so much, but it did. That was the way I wanted it. The way I made it. In my absence, Joey Sullivan had moved on. Did I expect him not to? It would have been so much easier if he screamed, was rude, or ignored me completely. I deserved to be treated like shit. Maybe the two of us going separate ways was how it should’ve been. Maybe what we had all those years ago wasn’t as special as I had thought. For most people, first love was merely a learning experience. No one usually stayed with the very first person they fell in love with…or thought they fell in love with. We knew that back then, but assumed we were the exception. At least I did.
“Are you okay?” he asked when I didn’t respond.
“Yeah. Of course.” I shook it off and promised myself I wouldn’t fall apart in front of him. “You could always return whatever it is you bought and get the matching china cabinet. There’s still time.” I went back to stand next to my mom. Whether she had watched what happened, I had no idea, but she linked her arm through mine, comforting me.
When I was a kid, the first day of school tended to be the worst of the entire year. It brought the fun of the summer to a screeching halt, not to mention it was the farthest away from the next long stretch of freedom. Gone were the days of sleeping in, lounging on the beach, and staying out late. My parents warped back into their irritating state of watching over my shoulder, making sure my homework got done and I studied. Since Jack was such a slacker in high school, our parents figured they better keep on top of me to prevent history from repeating itself. The fuss was completely unnecessary because, whether I studied or not, I knew my shit. I took after Mom that way.
However, the first day of eighth grade, things changed when I strolled into homeroom. Hell, my whole life flipped upside down and rotated at all sorts of awkward angles in those twenty minutes. That was the day I met Brielle Watson.
Socializing in the hallway before the bell rang didn’t seem as interesting as usual. Maybe I’d get back into it the next day. Maybe not. Vince would be wondering where I went. Too bad. He was smart enough to figure it out. My miserable ass hiked into the last classroom at the end of the eighth grade wing. You’d think I would’ve been thrilled to be starting high school the following year. That was what I had been preparing for my entire academic career, right?
“Good morning!” an overly enthusiastic teacher greeted me as I entered the room. It completely slipped my mind that I got the new teacher for homeroom and math. New teachers sucked. They had a ridiculous amount of energy and they liked to show their students new shit. “What’s your name? I made a seating chart.” What the fuck?! A seating chart? The lady, who couldn’t have been too much older than I was, scanned over the paper on the clipboard she held, waiting for my reply. She wasn’t even hot, which would’ve made the experience tolerable.
“Sullivan,” I groaned. There was really no reason to be irritated. Normally, even though he was five years older, teachers knew me as Jack’s brother. Apparently, he left an impression.
Ms. Whatever-her-last-name-was smiled and cocked an eyebrow. “You only go by one name?”
I wondered if someone was playing a cruel joke. Was she for real? “Joseph Sullivan,” I clarified, unamused.
“Ah, Mr. Sullivan. Here you are,” she exclaimed. “Last row, second seat from the back. Right in front of the young lady there.” She pointed in the direction I should go, like I was too stupid to figure it out.
“Thanks,” I sarcastically said, quickly turning away. It was entirely too early for her happy-go-lucky bullshit attitude.
As I rounded the first desk of the last row, I saw her. How was there someone in my grade I hadn’t met? Vince’s mom worked in the main office and always told us if there were going to be any new students. Suddenly unable to move, I took in the view. The softest shade of creamy chocolate-colored hair fell over her shoulders. Her chin rested on the palm of her hand as she stared down at the desk, bracelets dangling on a dainty wrist. The fact she wore a jacket despite the hot temperature outside tipped me off about her not being new. Everyone who went to our middle school knew it was freezing in almost all the rooms in the building, except the gymnasium. The denim jacket was layered over a pale pink shirt, which looked really nice against her tan skin. My guess was she spent as much time as I did down at the shore. Could we already have something in common? A silver chain sparkled, drawing my attention to her neck. If I didn’t move my ass, she was going to notice me gawking at her.
Trying to remember how to put one foot in front of the other, I felt like a creepy stalker. When I finally made it to my seat, I dropped my book bag on the desk, hoping she’d look up at the noise. Since there were no books in it, the damn thing landed without much of a sound. A quick glance around the room confirmed we were practically alone, except for the obnoxious teacher and two other students sitting three rows from us. Not knowing what else to do, I plopped into the chair. Nothing but silence came from behind me. She didn’t even shift.
I contemplated what to do next, then figured something better come out of my mouth before more people came in. As I turned to put my arm on the back of the seat, her eyes met mine. Of course, my elbow missed the chair and I fell slightly forward. At that very second, my life as I knew it had changed forever. The color of her hair had nothing on the shade of her eyes. Light brown automatically became my new favorite color, whereas I would’ve sworn it was blue only moments before.
She didn’t look away as I gathered myself. Actually, she still hadn’t budged from the position I found her in. What the hell do you say to a girl like her? Clearing my throat was no help, so I went with the first thing that came to mind. “What’s up?” Yep. Stupidest fucking thing I could have said.
Long black eyelashes lowered and raised as she blinked once. “Nothing,” she mumbled, returning her stare downward, obviously uninteres
ted.
That didn’t work as well as I had hoped. The paper on the desk had B.C. Watson written across the top of it. I refused to give up without taking another shot. “What does BC stand for?” She looked at me again, but didn’t answer. A small victory. “Don’t tell me. I’ll try to guess.” She rolled her eyes and leaned back, crossing her arms. “Hmm…,” I toyed with her. “Bridget?” She sighed. “Brittney?” She blinked, saying nothing. “What about Brandi?” The blank stare was getting old. “Bernice?” Her nose scrunched unapprovingly and I chuckled. At least it was a reaction. “Blair?” She might have shook her head, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. “Belle?”
“No.” Another word? That was progress.
“Is the ‘C’ a hint?” I asked, but she gave no response. “What can be abbreviated by BC?” She relaxed her arms on the desk and tilted forward. Why couldn’t I concentrate? “I got it. Buttercup.” Where that came from, I had no clue, but it was totally worth it. She smiled and stole my breath all in a fraction of a second.
“Buttercup is one word,” she gloated.
“Maybe your parents wanted it to be two,” I suggested, shrugging. “I’m Joe.”
“I heard.”
“You eavesdropped to find out my name?” I teased.
“No.”
“You totally did.”
“Not even close.” She picked up her pen, diverting her attention back to the paper.
I placed my hand on top of it. “Do you have homework already or something?”
“You’re annoying.”
“Tell me your name and I’ll stop.” A bell chimed in the background and I realized the classroom was no longer empty. A few last minute kids shuffled in, but most of the desks were occupied.
“I highly doubt you will.”
“All right,” the teacher interrupted. “Everyone, please take your seats so we can get started. There’s a lot of paperwork to hand out, and I’d like to double check to make sure you’re in the right place. As long as we don’t have any problems, this will be where you sit every morning. It’ll make it easier to do the attendance.” Sitting near this girl for a hundred and eighty days? I had no problem with that.
“Control freak,” I mumbled. An irritated sigh came from behind me. Needing to see her again, I peeked over my shoulder. Her eyes were already on mine, which made my heart stupidly happy. The smile that formed was involuntary. Not wanting her to know what she did to me, I winked.
“Annoying and arrogant,” she whispered. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that we’d end up getting along just fine.
Not until the teacher called out the fourth student on the other side of the room did I realize the identity of the beautiful girl who selfishly refused to tell me her name would soon be revealed. Having patience was a skill I mastered early in life. When I wanted something, I went after it. Simple as that. The length of the journey never deterred me because knowing whatever it was I wanted would eventually be mine made it worth it. Like the time I decided playing baseball at a more competitive level was the way to go. Dad said unless I got the timing of my swing down on breaking balls, I’d never be considered for the travel team. Almost every day for weeks, I either went to the batting cages or had Jack go to the field and throw breaking ball after breaking ball at me. By the time tryouts came around, he couldn’t sneak one by me that wasn’t near the strike zone. I made the team that spring, having the best batting average on the team for years. Another time, I broke my throwing arm and had to miss most of a season. The doctors swore my days of throwing out batters from across the diamond were over, but my determination proved them wrong. Healing and rehab took months, but I wouldn’t give in to feeling discouraged or impatient. However, waiting for the teacher to call out the names of twenty-nine students to get to one in particular damn near killed me. My leg bounced up and down under the desk so vigorously, my knee banged into it. I messed with the zipper on my book bag while fidgeting in the chair. How was it that some girl I only met a few minutes prior had my head all screwed up? With only a mere handful of words spoken from her perfect little mouth, getting to know everything possible about her became my new goal. My only goal. Whether it took days, weeks, months, or years didn’t matter. Something told me she’d be worth every single second of that particular journey.
The constriction in my chest loosened slightly when the teacher finally got to our row. Five more names… Four more… Three more… We were so close! Prepared to yell out when she said the first letter of my name, I hung my head in disappointment when the morning announcements began over the loudspeaker, the male voice telling us it was time to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Everyone stood and turned toward the flag next to the teacher’s desk. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the rest of girl behind me. Her tan legs stuck out of a short skirt, which landed about mid-thigh. It was a little over a month shy of my fourteenth birthday, so she wasn’t the first girl to get me excited. She was, however, the first to make my heart flutter.
As the announcements continued, the teacher quietly passed out the paperwork. She placed the number of papers on the first desk of the row for each student. The kid in the front seat wasn’t coordinated enough to send them all back at once, so he did one after the other. What a damn shame that I had to turn around four times! Finally, the announcements ended and the teacher got back to her task.
“Joseph,” she continued roll call.
“Yup,” I replied before she wasted another second.
“Brielle Watson?” Brielle? Damn if her name wasn’t just as beautiful as her face.
“Yes,” she answered sweetly. I completely zoned out and thought of nothing except Brielle. I wondered how often we’d get to see each other in a day. For specials and lunch, we went with our homeroom, so there was that.
Before I knew it, another bell chimed, signaling first period would be starting shortly. The entire class stood at the same time. While everybody else headed for the door, I stood still, blocking my new friend from exiting.
“So… Brielle?”
“You’re a genius,” she said, trying to step past me. I moved with her, then smiled at her irritation.
“It’s pretty, but I think I like Buttercup better.”
“You are not going to call me that.”
My smile widened. “Fine. I’ll wait until you’re actually my girlfriend to use it.”
“Not happening.” She took another step the opposite way and I went with her.
“We’ll see. For now, I’m going with BC.” Her nose scrunched again. “What’s wrong with that? I like it.”
“If I say okay, will you let me go to class?”
“Maybe.”
“Okay.” I let her pass, but stuck by her side. She sighed. “So annoying.”
“Will you go to the graduation dance with me?”
“That isn’t until June. It’s only September. A little early to be thinking about a date for that, don’t you think?”
“No. I’m the first one to ask you, right?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, you’ll go with me?”
“No. Yes, you’re the first one to ask.” We made it to the door and I held my arm out for her to go first. Yep, I totally did that to check out her ass. Her black, sparkly book bag covered it, though.
“That means you should go with me.”
“No.”
“Sullivan, what the hell happened? I was looking all over for you,” Vince yelled, coming out of the room across the hall.
“This is BC,” I told him. He’d think she was why I went to class without talking to him first.
“Brielle,” she corrected me as Vince smiled at her.
“That’s Vince.”
“Hi.” She shifted her book bag on her shoulder.
“We’re going to the dance together at the end of the year,” I declared.
“No, we aren’t.”
“Sure we are.”
“You’re so damn annoying,” she snapped and
turned away. I laughed when she walked into the classroom Vince and I were heading to.
“What’s with the crazy look, Sully?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you jealous I already have a date? You can come with us. Or, better yet, maybe BC has a friend she can set you up with.”
“I’m pretty sure she just said no.”
“Minor details. It’ll get worked out. Come on. It’s time for class.” I slapped his arm.
“Did you really ditch me to go talk to some chick?” he asked as we walked into the room two doors down from my homeroom.
“Nope. That was just a bonus.” My eyes roamed the few students getting situated. Vince was still chatting away, but I didn’t hear a word he said. Once I spotted her, I stole the seat on one side of her. A girl I knew was on the other. I leaned over to interrupt her conversation with BC. “Hey, Mindy. How was your summer?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” BC groaned, dropping her hands on the desk in front of her. Vince, sitting in front of me, found it hilarious she wasn’t thrilled.
“Too short, but good. How was yours, Sully?” Mindy responded, looking from me to BC.
“It wasn’t bad. Happy to get back to school, though.”
“Man, you’re such a dumbass,” Vince remarked, shaking his head and turning forward.
“Looks like we have a double period together, BC. That’s pretty cool, right?”
“BC?” Mindy asked, scrunching her eyebrows.
“Don’t ask,” BC told her, rolling those beautiful brown eyes. I watched as she crossed her legs and reached into her bag for a pencil and notebook. She had on heeled shoes exposing painted toenails. Why the hell I noticed that was beyond me.
“Should I save you a seat at lunch?” I joked. All right, I was totally serious, but I pretended to be joking.
“I’m getting my homeroom changed before I leave today,” she mumbled. Mindy and Vince both got a kick out of that.
Subtle Reminders Page 7
