Investigating the Hottie

by Alexander, Juli

  I’d seen some of the campus, but I hadn’t been inside the awe-inspiring ancient buildings. I could totally picture myself going here for college. And not just because Will might be here. That had nothing to do with it. I felt smarter just taking the tour.

  After Christie ran me home, I went inside to freedom.

  I sank onto the couch planning to stay there for a long while. The cable box read 1:30. I had four and a half hours until Will picked me up.

  What was I thinking? I couldn’t just relax!

  Oh my God! I was going to spend my first ever Friday night with a total hottie. Even if we were studying, and even if I was investigating him for the flatulence agency... He was still a boy!

  I had to look really good, and I only had four and a half hours!

  Christie had fourteen pairs of jeans. I know because I tried on every single one of them. I think she had the family shopping gene, because she’d been wearing suits and dressy stuff all week. Why did she need all those jeans?

  I liked two of them, but I really wished I had someone to check me out and tell me which fit best. My friend withdrawal was killing me. I finally decided on the pair that weren’t cut so low in the hips. I didn’t want my first date to involve showing my underwear when I sat down.

  I’d witnessed the horror of that firsthand, and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty. I don’t think guys think it’s as gross as I do, but come on, you totally aren’t giving the right impression when you show thong and the top of your butt cheeks. Not that I was wearing a thong, but still.

  Christie’s black dress flattered my figure too, but I didn’t have the chest to fill it all the way out, even with my secret padded bra. Plus, we were just studying. I’d look like an idiot in a dress.

  After thoroughly searching her closet, I found the cutest red denim jacket. I had to admit red was one of my colors. I grabbed one of her white tops and headed for the bathroom.

  My conscience got the better of me, so I took a moment to call my mother.

  “It’s so good to hear from you,” she said.

  “Sorry. I’ve been busy.” I headed for the mirror to check out my appearance.

  “Oh, I know you have. I’m glad you’re spending time with Christie. It’ll do both of you good.”

  “I hope so,” I mumbled. “What are you doing today?”

  She sounded pleased that I’d asked. “I caught up on my journal reading, so I’m watching Divine Design.”

  Her favorite show. “I should have known.” I leaned further over the counter. That zit looked a little better.

  “Call me again on Sunday before you leave,” she said. “And let me know if you need anything.”

  “Okay.” I needed a facial.

  “Oh, and I should warn you. Your brother has a new favorite expression. V.R.”

  I rolled my eyes. This couldn’t be good. “What’s that mean?”

  “Very retarded, apparently.” She laughed. “I’m so proud.” Mom was the queen of sarcasm. It made it difficult to be a teenager in her house. I mean, that was my job.

  “Great. Love you.” Maybe Christie had something good for skin.

  “Love you, Sweetie. Bye.” She hung up and I started searching the bathroom.

  Christie had a complete line of skin care products. My mom’s were covered with dust, but hers were shiny and new. I just hoped they were real.

  My luck held. No alarms! The rest of the afternoon involved a mud mask, a soothing eye gel, a hot oil treatment, and a bubble bath in the Jacuzzi. Sometimes being a girl rocked.

  Christie and Nic never got home to see how awesome I looked. At six-thirty, Will called from the gate. I buzzed him in and lugged my backpack outside. Flash drive, check. Program manual, check. Notes, check.

  He put the Echo in park and got out to open my door for me. I stopped, frozen by the sight of Will Middleton in a pair of well-worn jeans. I mean I’d seen him in his uniform pants and in soccer shorts, but—Oh. My. God! His hottiness level soared off the charts in those jeans.

  Breathe, Amanda. “Wow. Thanks.” I climbed in, grateful that for once, I was wearing jeans and I didn’t have to concentrate so hard on getting into the car in a lady-like manner. He smiled at me as he shut the door. The jean jacket made him look broader in the shoulders. I almost felt small, a sensation which was totally new to me.

  “I was thinking we could go see that movie after all,” he said, getting in and starting the car.

  “Are you kidding me?” I motioned to the world’s heaviest backpack on my lap. I had everything ready.

  “We can start at eight in the morning if you want.” He gazed right into my eyes for a moment. “I just really don’t want to work tonight.”

  My body felt like it was melting. Honestly, a movie sounded good to me too. I’d never been to a movie with guy before. “Okay. But we really start at eight. I am determined not to fail at this.”

  “Fail?” He glanced at me. “You said you’re pretty good with computers.”

  I shifted the backpack. “Apparently not as good as you.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he muttered.

  “Are we meeting up with your friends?” I was totally hoping he’d say no.

  “Yeah. They’re waiting for us.”

  Darn. “Great.”

  He gave me a funny look, so I must not have sounded convincing. “The guys like you a lot.”

  “Oh, they’re great.” The guys were. “I don’t think Jenny likes me much though.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about her. She’ll get over it.”

  “Right.” Luckily it didn’t matter because I’d be out of here on a plane in two days. No more Jenny. No more Will. Suddenly, I was really glad we were going to a movie.

  The silence dragged on, so I asked, “How long have Meg and Colin been dating, anyway?”

  “Forever. They’ve known each other since first grade.”

  “I didn’t know they were dating at first.” How Colin put up with her, I’d never know. “They seem more like friends.”

  “They’re not real into PDA.” He braked a little when the car in front of us slowed.

  “Guess not,” I said, grateful that his driving speed hovered somewhere between Christie’s and Nic’s.

  “They’ll seem like more of a couple at the movies than they do at school,” he assured me.

  Great. I hoped that didn’t mean I had to watch them make out while I fantasized about me and Will. This daydreaming had to stop.

  “Did you eat dinner?” he asked in a way that made me wonder if this was a friend thing or a date thing.

  “Yeah.” I’d mastered the microwave. “You?”

  “We had Grandma’s favorite.” He laughed. “Breakfast for dinner.”

  “Your grandmother seems really fun.”

  He shook his head. “She’s a mess, actually. We never know what to expect from her since she retired.”

  “What did she do before she retired?” I couldn’t really see her doing any job. She didn’t seem like the type to sit still.

  “She was an executive secretary at Timothy’s, a big corporation. Apparently, she’s not used to having any down time.”

  I couldn’t picture that. “What does your mom do?”

  “She’s a nurse,” he answered. “She works at the hospital.”

  “My friend’s mom is a nurse. She works long hours.”

  “Mom too. But she likes it pretty well. And she makes decent money.”

  I imagined his mom comforting patients. “I’m just not nice enough to work with sick people all the time.”

  “Yeah, she has some kind of disgusting duties.”

  “I’ll bet. What do you want to do?” Remembering my mission, I asked, “Like for a living.”

  “I’d like to draw.” He actually said it without cracking up. “Think I’d have any luck?”

  The image of him begging for pennies for his horrible sketches made me laugh. “No.” I shook my head. I hated to push him when we were getting along so
well, but I had a job to do. “Seriously. What do you want to do?”

  “I don’t know.” He started to sound irritated. “You’re starting to sound like my mother.”

  That couldn’t be good. I gritted my teeth and plunged on. “What about computers? Something technical?”

  He shot me a funny look. “No. I don’t think so. What about you? What do you want to do?”

  “I haven’t got a clue,” I answered honestly. “I’m pretty good with languages, but I’m not sure how I want to use it.”

  “Really? What do you speak?”

  “Well.” I couldn’t resist being a smart aleck. “English mostly.”

  He groaned. “Ha ha.”

  “I’m fluent in Spanish, Italian, French, and German. My Russian and Arabic are pretty weak.” I toyed with my seatbelt because sharing something so personal made me nervous.

  “You’re kidding me.” He shook his head.

  “No really,” I argued. “Arabic is pretty tough to master.”

  He glanced over at me as if seeing me for the first time. “That’s not what I meant. I’m impressed.”

  Shrugging, I said, “They started me early. No big deal.”

  “Russian and German are my strongest,” he said. “And I’m picking up French.”

  “Right. Ha ha.” Like I wouldn’t know if he could speak other languages.

  “No, really.” He gave me an earnest look that made me think he meant it.

  “For real?”

  “Yeah. My dad’s mom was German, and her second husband spoke Russian.”

  I think I followed that. “So you know all the bad words and how to ask for the bathroom? Or you know a lot more?”

  “Oh, a lot more,” he assured me.

  I’d have liked to hear something, but we pulled into the parking lot at the movie theater. And there were all his buds waiting for us at their cars.

  I fumbled with my backpack to pull out a twenty so I wouldn’t have to lug the whole thing around. One good thing about Christie was that I never left the house without some cash.

  I stuffed the money and the cell phone Christie had given me to use into my jeans pocket and opened the door to climb out. Meg and Colin were standing together with Jenny but she immediately made a move towards Will.

  “How nice of you to bring Amanda,” she gushed. “We could have picked her up, you know.”

  As if! She’d have left me standing on the curb.

  “That’s okay, Jenny,” I said, smiling sweetly. “We had a project to work on anyway.”

  “Right. You guys got roped into some big long ordeal.” She tossed her blonde hair.

  “Yeah,” I said trying to look unenthusiastic. “We’ll probably have to spend the whole weekend together.”

  Jenny narrowed her eyes and I tensed in case she finally lost her temper.

  “C’mon guys.” Meg interrupted and pulled on Jenny’s arm. “We want to get good seats.”

  I’d forgotten about the seating situation.

  I fell into step with Will. I really didn’t want to get stuck sitting next to Jenny. Especially if Will was on her other side. She’d probably find a way to get scared or something. Oh Will, hold me. I’m so terrified. Barf.

  Will looked at me funny and I realized I’d wrinkled up my nose and made a face at the imaginary scene in my head. That should pretty much lock in his opinion of me as a weirdo.

  His lips turned up at the corners, and his blue eyes sparkled.

  I couldn’t help smiling back. I shrugged my shoulders.

  He held the door for me and we followed the others in. “Maybe you were right about Jenny,” he said in an undertone.

  “You think?” I tossed my hair for emphasis.

  Will bought my ticket, so I got the refreshments. We stood in line forever for popcorn and drinks. Then, when we’d all gotten what we wanted and were finally ready to go get seats in the crowded auditorium, Jenny and Meg decided to stop at the restroom.

  “Wait here,” Meg ordered. She handed Colin her colossal Diet Coke.

  “Aww. Come on,” Colin protested, but he took the drink.

  They disappeared into the bathroom, and the guys looked at each other. “Leave ‘em?” Colin asked.

  “Leave ‘em,” the others agreed.

  “Guys, are you sure?” I asked, feeling guilty.

  “They’ll find us,” Will said.

  “C’mon. We’ll never get seats if we wait any longer,” Mark added.

  “Should I wait for them?” I asked Will, hoping he’d say no.

  He just rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand to pull me along with the others. Unfortunately, he dropped it once I started following.

  Mark climbed to the back of the crowded theater. He walked down a row that obviously didn’t have enough seats for all of us. Kyle followed him.

  “We’ll sit back here,” Will said, pointing to the row behind.

  That left two seats beside Colin for Meg and Jenny.

  Will and I got to sit next to a couple about Christie’s age. Away from the gang.

  Chapter Eleven

  I tried to keep from jumping up and down because I was sitting with Will. This was so not good for helping me fight off this crush! On the other hand, it was turning into my first pseudo movie date, and how could that be bad?

  He motioned for me to sit down and seated himself next to me. I set my drink in the armrest. Then, I risked a glance at Will and smiled.

  “So you aren’t mad about blowing off the computer project?” he asked over the blare of the previews. He really had beautiful eyes.

  Not really. Not anymore. “No.” They were like the ocean in the Bahamas. Not that I’d been there.

  Meg and Jenny filed into the row in front of us. Jenny hmmmphed and Meg smacked Colin.

  “Ouch,” Colin yelped.

  “You were supposed to wait for us,” Meg scolded.

  Jenny glared at me before she sat down. I guess she couldn’t figure out a way to flirt with Will during the movie while sitting in stadium seating with her back to him.

  Meanwhile, I was stressing. I’d never sat with a guy at a movie before. It wasn’t like sitting with my friends where I could just relax and kick back. I realized that Will would notice every single move I made with the seats so close. Every sound, every movement. I hoped he couldn’t smell my breath. I hadn’t checked it lately.

  It wasn’t easy to try to look casual while not moving or breathing. I settled down in my seat a little, completely conscious of Will beside me. The woman on the other side was just as close, but she could have been on the moon for all I noticed her. She didn’t matter. Will did.

  I swear I could feel him next to me even though we weren’t touching. It was like a magnet or something between us. I wondered if he felt it too.

  My arm bumped his. “Sorry,” I whispered. How embarrassing.

  “S’okay.” He moved a little in his seat.

  Then, the movie started. Thank goodness. I was too uncomfortable to make small talk. Did Diet Coke make your breath better, or worse? Maybe I should have ordered Dr. Pepper instead. Would that have worked better?

  I tried to focus on the movie. The big action scene at the beginning should have caught my attention. It didn’t.

  I shifted a little in my seat trying to get comfortable. When I moved my arm, I bumped into Will again. Crap.

  Slowly, I started to move it away, but he took my hand, moved it back towards him, and threaded his fingers through mine. Oh my God! I was holding hands with a boy. Not just a boy. Will Middleton, total hottie.

  I was holding hands with Will!

  I tried to act nonchalant. Cool. Casual. Meanwhile, electricity raced from his hand through my arm. I couldn’t believe the people around us didn’t notice, or feel a shock, from the energy we were giving off.

  Gathering courage, I sneaked a look at Will. He was focusing on the screen, but when I turned back to the movie, he squeezed my hand a little.

  I squeezed back.

&n
bsp; His hand was big and warm, and his skin felt really nice against mine.

  Then, I remembered my contact lens. This would all be on video. I had to remember not to look at him and not to look at our hands. This was my business. No one else’s just mine.

  I saw Colin lean over and give Meg a quick kiss. What if Will kissed me? I really wanted him to. Especially considering how great it felt to hold his hand. Holding his hand was better than that feeling when M&M’s slowly melted in my mouth. Kissing him must be way better than chocolate.

  If he kissed me, I’d have to close my right eye. Then, no one would see. I probably should just close both eyes. After all, he might think just closing one eye was weird. Which it was. Or it would be if I didn’t have a camera in my right eye. Which was also weird. But hey, I was a spy.

  Oh no! It suddenly hit me! I was a spy. A spy spying on Will. I was supposed to investigate him and possibly send him to prison. Instead, I was holding his hand and totally falling for him. I swear it was almost enough to make me pull my hand away. Almost. But his touch felt so amazing.

  At first, my mind reeled from the complexity of it all; then, I started feeling sluggish and fuzzy. And I think it was from the reaction my body was having to his. Now I totally understood the word “attraction.” Like magnets attracting metal or vice versa. It was like a strong force beyond my control. Something chemical or supernatural or something.

  Of course, I had no idea what was happening in the movie even though my eyes hadn’t left the screen in a long time. Luckily, I didn’t care.

  Will scooted down further in his chair next to me, so I did the same. Now, this was comfortable. If only I could put my feet up on the seat in front of me. Too bad my shoes might pull Jenny’s hair.

  I grinned because Meg and Jenny would die if they knew.

  Amanda Peterson holding hands with a hottie. And there was no one I could tell. I didn’t drink another sip so I wouldn’t have to pee and miss a single second of being with Will.

  When the movie ended, Will let go of my hand. His friends stood up in front of us. I looked at him, and he gave me a kind of shy smile. It couldn’t have been his first time holding a girl’s hand, could it? At least I knew it had affected him too.

  Mark and Colin started talking immediately as we walked out of the auditorium. Jenny kept staring at me, which freaked me out because I felt like she knew. Did I look like someone who’d just spent two hours holding hands with someone I totally had a crush on? Maybe.