by Regan Ure
I couldn't tear my gaze away from the group even as the bell rang. Stacy stood up first, but only when Kennedy joined her did I finally drag my gaze from the group of must-be-models and got up from the table, hitching the strap of my school bag over my shoulder, and followed my new friends out of the cafeteria.
I wanted to give in to the temptation of looking back one last time as I walked to the exit, but I kept my eyes fixed in front of me.
CHAPTER TWO
The rest of day went by quickly. The few times I saw Jared, I felt a flutter of excitement, but our eyes never met. There was something about him that pulled at me, and I found my eyes searching for him in the hallways between classes. It was so unlike me; I'd never felt this type of pull to a guy before.
Stacy and Kennedy had swapped numbers with me at the end of the day. They programmed their numbers into my new touch-screen phone my mom had bought me six months ago. I waved the two girls off just outside the school as I made my way to the bus.
It was only a short bus ride to my grandmother's house. I dumped my school bag at the entrance and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. I reached for a green apple and took a bite before I headed upstairs to do homework. For the first day of school, we didn't get a lot of homework but there was enough to keep me busy for half an hour before I was done. It was still early and Anne wouldn't be home until later. She did most of her work from an office in town although she did travel often to the city to fulfill appointments with her bigger clients.
I couldn't help my thoughts from drifting back to the gorgeous boy I'd seen at school. He seemed to be the typical hot guy that knew it and walked around with an ego to match. I don't know why I couldn't stop thinking about him. I knew enough about guys to know that one who looked like him wouldn't be single. I remembered what Stacy had said about there being rumors that he was with Felicity, and if their intimate interaction at lunchtime was anything to go by, those rumors were true. How sad was my life that I was fascinated with a guy who didn't even know I existed?
My experience with guys was limited. I hadn't even been kissed before. I was shy around boys. I hadn't met a guy who'd actually affected me like Jared had. The effect on me had been instant. I'd felt my heart flutter to life at the sight of him. Was it the start of a crush?
I let out a frustrated sigh. I needed to stop thinking about him and the only way to do that would be to keep myself busy. The less free time I had, the less time I had to think about him. With my mind made up, I pushed all thoughts of Jared out of my mind. I glanced at the bedside clock. I still had some time before Anne would be home, so I went downstairs and switched on the TV.
Later the door opened and I stood up to greet Anne as she arrived home.
"Hi, sweetheart," she said, setting her briefcase down beside the table in the entrance and shrugging out of her coat.
"Hi," I greeted her, giving her a brief kiss to her cheek.
"How was your day?" she asked as I followed her into the kitchen.
As I began to relay the events of my day, she began to make supper. She was making spaghetti and meatballs, which was one of my childhood favorites.
"I saw Stacy today," I told her.
"How is she doing?" she asked as she put the spaghetti into the boiling water on the stove. "The last I heard, her parents were getting divorced."
"Yeah, they're divorced. She's good, though. She lives with her mom on the other side of town."
I talked as Anne finished up with the cooking. I got the plates out and dished up our food before we sat down by the kitchen table and began to eat our food.
"So good," I murmured between bites. Anne was an amazing cook.
She smiled at my enthusiasm for her food.
"So were there any cute boys?" she asked, taking me by surprise. It was so weird to hear my grandmother talk about boys like that.
There was only one who stood out for me, and cute wasn't the word I would use to describe him.
"Not really," I said, trying to get away from the subject of boys. I didn't want to talk about the guy who I hadn't been able to stop thinking about.
Her knowing smile widened. She could read me well. Like an open book.
"How was work?" I countered, trying to steer the conversation away to safer subjects.
"It was good," she answered, allowing me to change the subject.
I had no idea exactly what her job entailed and I was pretty sure even if she explained it I wouldn't understand anyway.
"You'd better call your parents and let them know how your first day at school went," she said as we started clearing up the dirty dishes on the table.
I picked up the phone and dialed my father's number.
"Hi, baby," my dad answered after a couple of rings. He sounded like he'd just woken up.
"Did I wake you?" I asked, not sure what the time difference was.
"It's okay. It's good to hear your voice."
I missed him too.
"How was your first day back at school?" he asked, and I gave him the same rundown of my first day at school that I had given Anne.
"So it sounds like you're settling in nicely, then."
When my mom took over the call I could hear the emotion in her voice although she tried to hide it.
By the time the call ended I was missing my parents.
I went into the kitchen and did the dishes. After drying them and putting them away, I went back to my room to get settled for bed. I ran a bubble bath and climbed in. Another one of my favorite things was bubble baths. Just lying in the bath and soaking my body in millions of tiny little bubbles was soothing. It was only when the water started to cool and my hands had turned wrinkly from being in the water for too long that I finally worked up the enthusiasm to get out. It was only when I put on my cotton panties and matching bra that I realized I'd left my pajamas in my room.
I walked into my room quickly and was heading over to retrieve them from my closet when a sound outside my window caught my attention. It was the memory of the mysterious lights that pulled me forward to my window as I searched for the source of the sound. The forest remained dark.
Footsteps in the street below pulled my gaze down to see someone walking down the street, and just as I was about to look away, the person lifted their face, and our eyes met. He stopped.
It couldn't be.
And yet, even in the dark night, there was no mistaking who it was. Standing in the street outside my house was the guy who had been constantly in my thoughts that day. I was fixed to the spot as I continued to stare at him. It was only when his eyes drifted down, away from my face, that I remembered I was only dressed in my underwear. A smile tugged at his lips as I gasped. Red flooded my cheeks and I stepped back, pulling the curtains closed.
He'd seen me standing in just my bra. My face turned crimson at the reality that the hot guy from school had seen me in my underwear. What was he doing on my street? Did he live nearby?
I quickly pulled my clothes on and climbed into bed, my cheeks still burning with embarrassment. I switched off my side lamp and in the darkness of my room the full implication of him seeing me half naked penetrated my mind. I tried to argue with myself that him seeing me in my bra wasn't any worse than seeing me in a bikini top. It wasn't that bad, was it? The problem was that I didn't wear bikinis, so this was the first time a guy had seen me dressed in so little. I was pretty self-conscious about my body, and what teenage girl wasn't? One thing was for sure, there was no way I would be able to face him tomorrow without feeling embarrassed.
On my second day of school, I woke up extra early. The incident from yesterday was still on my mind and I'd struggled to fall sleep in the first place. It was bad enough that I'd have to face him at school. I got dressed quickly, putting on a simple red T-shirt and jeans with my black sneakers. I pulled a brush through my hair and tied it up in a ponytail. I was so early that Anne was only getting out of bed when I was ready to leave already.
I took a slow walk to the bus
stop. Even though I tried to push thoughts of Jared from my mind, he was all I could think about. I waited for Stacy and Kennedy to arrive by the main entrance. They lived close to each other on the other side of town, so they traveled together to school in Stacy's car. Stacy was the only one of us three who had a driver's license and car--a really nice car.
As soon as Stacy and Kennedy arrived at school, I started my interrogation.
"Does Jared live near me?" I asked. Stacy frowned for a moment before she answered, "I think he lives on the same street."
I felt something twist in my stomach. Was it nervousness or excitement? If he lived on the same street we would be bound to bump into each other again. Hopefully the next time it happened I'd be fully clothed.
"Why do you ask?" Kennedy asked. Stacy's eyes narrowed as she watched me.
"Did you see him?" Stacy asked.
I nodded my head. I didn't want to admit that I'd been stupid enough to stand in a well-lit room, which must have been a beacon in the dark, in just my bra and panties.
"I thought I saw something and when I went to my window I saw him walking down the street past my house," I told them, hoping to omit that detail.
"Did he see you?" Stacy asked.
I closed my eyes as I nodded again. I remembered the exact moment our eyes had met and the shiver of awareness that had run through me.
"He saw me in my bra." I had finally admitted the whole truth. It could have been worse. He could have seen me in my panties as well. Kennedy touched my arm sympathetically.
"Oh, God," Stacy said, trying to smother a giggle.
I felt the red tinge of embarrassment heat my cheeks.
"Were you wearing a nice bra at least?" Stacy asked. I frowned at her. Was she for real?
"No. It was just plain cotton," I told her. I could tell they were a little disappointed.
"Lacy would definitely have been better," Stacy added with a twinkle in her eye.
"That's enough, Stacy," Kennedy said as she gave me a sympathetic look. "Don't worry about it too much." She wrapped an arm around me.
My friends continued to go on about the incident as we walked to our first class. Today, our first class was English, and luckily it was a class we were all in together. When Jared walked into the classroom, I was more than thankful to have Kennedy and Stacy to keep me company. I kept my gaze firmly on my book in front of me, trying to pretend I hadn't seen him.
I felt his eyes on me and from my peripheral vision I could see the way he openly stared at me as he made his way into the classroom and to a seat somewhere behind me. It took all of my willpower not to turn around and look at him. I was aware of every noise that emanated from behind me, from the scrape of his chair against the floor to the slight ruffle of his clothes as he adjusted himself in his seat.
I wished that the ground would open up and just swallow me whole. I was so embarrassed that I doubted I would ever get over this. Every time I saw him looking at me I'd remember that he'd seen me half naked and I would blush with embarrassment again. At this rate I was going to have a permanent blush staining my face.
By the end of the lesson, I was a complete and utter nervous wreck. As soon as the bell rang, I packed up my stuff and made a beeline for the exit. My friends were not far behind me.
"Did you see? He just stared at you all through class," Stacy marveled. So I hadn't been imagining his eyes on me...
"Yes, he did. Maybe he is ready to move on from Felicity," Kennedy teased with a wink.
Stacy giggled. They were really enjoying teasing me about him.
"Look, can we just forget about it?" I whispered to them as we continued to walk down the hall toward my locker. "It's super embarrassing and it's bad enough that I have to face him at school. I really don't want to talk about it anymore."
I hoped the sooner we stopped talking about it the sooner I could forget it happened. Stacy tried to suppress her smile and Kennedy elbowed her.
"Okay. We won't talk about it anymore," Kennedy assured me.
"Thanks," I replied, feeling relieved. "See you guys at lunch."
I left them and walked to my locker. I spun the combination of my locker and for some reason the lock wouldn't open. After a while I managed to get it open and I began re-organizing my books for my next lesson.
"I seem to be bumping into you an awful lot," a voice drawled from beside me, causing me to freeze. My eyes drifted to the source of the voice and I encountered a smirking Jared.
How was it possible that right next to my locker was Mr. Drop-Dead-Gorgeous, riffling through his locker, which happened to be right next to my own? It felt like the universe was having a good laugh at my expense.
"I..." I stuttered, feeling hot embarrassment creep into my face. The smirk that he gave me was enough for me to slam my locker closed before I practically ran down the hallway to my next class.
I was such an idiot. I closed my eyes for a moment as I thought about how I'd tried to talk to him but I'd only managed to stutter back. I managed to calm down a little as the day went on. At lunch, I sat at the table with my friends and thankfully they talked about everything but Jared. I hadn't told them about the locker incident. I'd lost my appetite, so instead of eating I kept pushing my food around my plate.
"Are you going to eat that?" Kennedy asked, eyeing my plate, which was still full of chips and an untouched burger.
"No, it's all yours." I pushed the plate to her. I thought I had a good metabolism, but I had nothing on Kennedy. She could eat twice what I could and didn't put on any weight.
Even though I was trying my best to ignore Jared, I glanced in the direction where he'd sat the previous day. He was sitting with his usual group. His eyes met mine and I felt that flutter inside my stomach again. His eyes were a startling green color, and they were hypnotizing as his gaze held mine. I pulled my eyes away from him quickly.
Thankfully Stacy and Kennedy were too wrapped up in their conversation to notice. I vaguely heard them talking about a guy named David, who Stacy seemed to have a thing for. I spent the entire lunch with my eyes fixed straight in front of me. The need to turn around and look at him was so intense that it took all my willpower not to give in to it.
At the end of lunch, I couldn't hold back anymore and glanced back toward Jared. His eyes clashed with mine as he stared at me intently. Before I looked away, I saw Felicity eyeing out the exchange with a frown on her face. Her brown eyes flashed to mine. She made it perfectly clear in that one look that she didn't like me. The rest of the group had been oblivious to the quiet confrontation. I quickly walked out of the cafeteria and caught up with my friends. I didn't see the 'super-hot' crowd again for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER THREE
I just had to get through one more day before the weekend started, and I was so looking forward to it. Meeting Jared had tilted my equilibrium, and I wanted to tilt my world back to normal. I'd bought a thousand-piece puzzle that I'd been itching to do. There was something about concentrating on fitting puzzle pieces together that left no room to think about anything else, and I needed that. But my friends had other ideas.
"I don't want to go," I said, shaking my head. "I wasn't planning on doing much this weekend."
"That's boring," Stacy exclaimed, looking to Kennedy for help in persuading me to go. "How are you supposed to meet new people if you spend the entire weekend at home in your room?"
"She's right. You need to go out and live a little. You never know, you might even meet a guy."
Seeing the two determined faces of my friends, I knew I was fighting a losing battle.
"Okay," I relented. Maybe they had a point. It would probably be nice to go out and spend time with my friends. I just hoped that I wouldn't see Jared, but it wasn't like we moved in the same circles as he did. So what was I worried about?
"I'll pick you guys up a couple of hours before the party and we can all get dressed together at my house," Stacy said with an excited smile. Kennedy was already nodding her head in agreem
ent.
"Okay." I sighed. "I've got to go. I'll see you guys at lunch."
I hurried toward my locker, hoping to get the books I needed before I saw Jared again. I collected all my books for the entire day and stuffed them into my bag, which only resulted in making it really heavy; but on the other hand, less time spent at my locker meant that there was less of a chance of running into Jared. I was worried another encounter with him would end up making me look like a bigger idiot than I already felt like.
I closed my locker and spun the combination, adjusting the strap of my bag to ease the weight of the books inside. Glancing around the hallway quickly, I noticed Jared and his some of his friends standing a little farther down the hall. My stomach did a somersault--just the sight of him did weird things inside me. The foreign feeling of jealousy stabbed through me as I saw Jared lean toward Felicity and whisper something to her. He was so close that if I hadn't been watching intently, it would have looked like he was about to kiss her on the cheek.
What made the whole exchange worse was that Felicity had caught me watching the exchange and quickly leaned closer to him with a satisfied smile spread across her face, her eyes flashing with triumph. The message she was sending was clear: he was hers. Despite my mind telling me I didn't care, I actually did and it hurt a little. I hated how strongly I felt for him after just a short space of time.
I spun around and walked toward my next class and walked straight into someone. Hands reached out and steadied me as I looked up at the guy I'd walked straight into.
He was good looking, with short brown hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a black T-shirt and blue faded jeans.
"Sorry," I mumbled, feeling annoyed at the fact that I'd been so distracted.
"It's okay," he assured me as he released his hold on my arms. He smiled and I felt the heat of embarrassment fill my cheeks.
"Do you often walk around not looking where you're going?" he asked in a teasing tone.
"No." I shrugged. Just when I was busy ogling a certain somebody.
