“Huh?” George replied, his eccentric way of speaking lost for the moment.
“There, dumb-ass,” Jimmy said, pointing more vehemently. “By the side of the road, near the bridge.”
It was just a shadow. The sun had set below the trees and the hills. Although the sky above them was still a shade of blue, it was a deepening shade. When you lived among these hills, night came fast. However, there was definitely a shadow moving on the side of the road.
Jimmy’s heart began to pound in his chest. It felt like someone had reached into his chest and was physically manipulating his heart. In the deepest recesses of his stomach, he felt butterflies. The tips of his toes tingled in the uncomfortable shoes his mother had bought for him. His palms began to sweat.
“Is that a person?” George said, and actually, finally, took his foot off the gas. “Who the hell would be dumb enough to walk along the side of this road?”
Jimmy shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but his mouth was suddenly as dry as sand.
The figure came into sharper focus. It was, indeed, a person. Whoever it was, the person was walking toward them. As they drew closer, it became obvious that the person was female. She walked slowly, as if she were just going for a pleasant stroll.
“It’s a girl,” George said.
Jimmy nodded. “Pull over.”
George gaped at him. “Why?”
“What if she’s been in accident and needs help?” Jimmy asked.
George didn’t have a response to that one. He talked a lot, but George was basically a good guy. He shrugged and veered the car to the shoulder. The girl came fully into view as the headlights hit her and they could now make out the details of her appearance.
She was a little shorter than Jimmy. Her skin was pale and flawless, from what Jimmy could tell. Her hair was brown and cascaded down around her shoulders. She had a small and straight nose that was positioned perfectly above her little bow of a mouth. She wore a fancy blue dress that came down to just above her knee. On her feet were blue shoes. When the car pulled over to her, her head came up from studying the ground at her feet and her eyes met Jimmy’s. His breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were the most intense green he had ever seen. A hint of a smile creased her expression.
Jimmy was hardly a guy who could pick up girls easily. For the most part, the female creature might as well have been from another planet, as far as Jimmy was concerned. Women had animated discussions that made no sense to him. There were enclaves around town where the girls and women gathered, and Jimmy tried to look at them as he walked past without really looking. For example, the little shop in downtown Knorr where the women got their fingernails and toenails done. He would walk past the shop and try to peek in for an instant. All of those colorful little bottles lined up in rows on the wall, chairs attached to basins, the whirling noise of a rotary tool, and smells were weird, and it was like he was peering at some alien life form on an examination table. With that big of a gulf between where Jimmy was and girls were, he found himself incapable of anything more than the most basic communication.
Something in his chest was hammering like a caffeinated carpenter. He realized it was his heart. He had never felt like this before. He wondered, for just a moment, if he was having a heart attack. Before he even realized he was doing it, as if pulled by invisible strings that emanated from the top of his head through the roof of the car and into the endless void above, he was rolling down his window and leaning out. A moment later he was climbing out of the car. George made a surprised noise he could hear easily over the rattling din of the engine.
“Hey, there,” Jimmy said, immediately wishing he had come up with some sort of better line than that. “Where are you headed?”
She smiled wider and then looked down again. Jimmy had a moment of fear when he thought sure for sure that she was going to laugh at him. He realized he had not taken his ill-fitting tuxedo jacket off and his shirtsleeves were evident.
“I was headed to a dance,” she said quietly. “I think I got turned around.”
“You’re not from around here, are you?” Jimmy said, and then muttered a curse to himself under his breath. Had he learned to talk to women from some book called 1,001 Clichéd Things to Say to a Woman?
She shook her head and her hair danced across her shoulders. “No, not from this part of town, anyway.”
Jimmy nodded. Then, he realized that the moment he always feared would happen when he spoke to a woman had arrived. He had no idea what to say next.
“We’re headed to Knorr High School for the prom,” George said. Jimmy actually jumped. He hadn’t realized that George was leaning out of the car, as well.
Jimmy nodded, feeling a sudden pang of jealousy and competitiveness with George he had never felt before. “Yeah,” he said, “want to come with us?”
He looked over at George. George’s eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping.
“Sure,” said the girl. “A dance is a dance, right?”
Jimmy laughed a lot harder than he intended and the joke warranted. Then he opened the door and got out of the car. The car was a true boat of a vehicle, and the front seat could easily seat three people. He didn’t know why he wanted her to sit up there with them, but he suddenly had a very powerful urge to make sure she did not slip out of sight.
“Your chariot,” Jimmy said, and did an awkward little bow. Again, he figured this would be the point where she would burst out laughing. She did laugh, but not in a way that indicated he was being made fun of. It was a genuine laugh, and it reminded him of wind chimes on a summer day. Good Lord, he thought, I’m even starting to think in clichés now.
She walked to the car door and the gravel crunched beneath her feet. The blue dress brushed against her legs. She made a curtsy at Jimmy and then climbed into the car. She slid into the middle of the seat and adjusted her dress so not too much of her legs were showing. Jimmy found himself staring at her for a moment, and then shook his head and got in. He slammed the door.
“So, um,” George said, still hanging out the driver’s side door, “I guess we’re going to the dance as a threesome.”
“Get in the car and drive,” Jimmy said. He leaned forward to talk to George and as his head got nearer to the girl, he could smell perfume on her, but had no idea what kind it was. Perfume was more of the foreign language that women spoke and he did not understand.
She laughed and suddenly put a hand on Jimmy’s knee. He felt his heart skip, and he looked into her eyes again.
“My name’s Jimmy,” he said. “Jimmy Parker.”
“My name’s Sapphire,” she said.
“Like the color of your dress,” Jimmy said quietly. Again, his internal monologue had suddenly come right out of his mouth.
She nodded. “Exactly. Blue’s my favorite color.”
George climbed back into the car and shifted into drive. Jimmy thought, George looked a bit irritated until he looked at Sapphire. Something about her must melt hearts, Jimmy thought, because George’s features suddenly softened and he smiled.
“I’m George.”
She smiled. “I’m glad you guys came along. You never know who you might meet around here, especially at night.”
“Why are you walking?” George, ever the detective, asked.
“It seemed like such a nice night,” she said.
“But where were you headed?” George persisted. “I mean, you weren’t out on the road hoping to get picked up by two losers from Knorr High to go to the prom, were you?”
“Two losers?” she said, dodging the question with one of her own. “I don’t think you two are losers.”
George laughed. “You are definitely not from this part of town, then.”
“No,” she said quietly. “I’m not from this side. However, there are parts around here that are sort of thin. Things can get through, and it was such a nice night.”
George gave Jimmy a puzzled expression. Jimmy was transfixed by Sapphire. When he looke
d up at George and saw his expression, he just shrugged. Jimmy turned back and stared at Sapphire. He did not want to take his eyes off of her. There was something so odd about her. Her skin was so pale that she almost glowed in the dimming light. Her dress was a dazzling blue.
“Why do you say you’re losers?” she asked. Jimmy did not realize for at first, that she had directed the question at him.
“We just are,” he said. “We are not among the popular kids in school. Why do you think we’re headed to the prom stag?”
She looked from Jimmy to George and smiled. “I guess it was luck I ran into you.”
Jimmy laughed. Again, it was too loud given the nature of her statement. “Yes, I guess it was.”
“Do you like to dance?” she asked, staring directly at Jimmy.
Jimmy was at a loss for words. No, he did not like to dance. He never danced. When he was younger he had attempted to dance in the seventh grade. The mockery and laughter that had followed confined him to holding up the walls at all future dances. However, as he stared into the deep pools of green that were Sapphire’s eyes, the idea of dancing suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.
“I love to dance,” he said. Once again, he was surprised to hear the words come out of his mouth.
“You do not!” George exclaimed as he rounded another curve way too fast. For the first time, Jimmy realized that he had not been as terrified of George’s driving after they had found Sapphire.
“I like to dance,” Sapphire said, still staring intently at Jimmy with her intense green eyes.
“We’ll dance,” Jimmy said quietly.
“Man, what the hell is wrong with you?” George said, laughing.
“George?” Jimmy said questioningly, his eyes never wavering from Sapphire’s face as he studied her eyes and stared at the hint of a smile on her lips.
“Yeah?”
“Shut up,” Jimmy said.
Sapphire laughed. She held up one hand as if to stifle the laugh. George turned his attention back to the road and fumed. He reached out with one hand and turned on the radio, and then stepped hard on the gas. Loud rock and roll filled the car, interspersed with loud blasts of static. The boat of a car had a terrible radio and a terrible antenna.
“Oh, I like that,” Sapphire said. “This is good stuff to dance to.”
George tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the music. Jimmy did his best to snuggle closer to Sapphire without trying to look like he was doing so. She smiled at him and tapped her hand on his knee in time with the music. His face flushed and the blood rushed to his ears.
“Are you cold?” Jimmy asked, and he noticed a strange quaver in his voice that he didn’t recognize.
She nodded. “A little bit. It’s a little cold tonight.”
George let out another of his laughs. “It’s about seventy degrees.”
“George,” Jimmy said harshly.
George turned towards him and shrugged, as if he had no idea what Jimmy was talking about.
“We’re almost there,” Jimmy said.
Sapphire nodded. “Great. Do you think your friends will like me?”
Jimmy laughed a short, snorty laugh. “My only real friend is George here. Despite his rudeness, I think he likes you. And the few other people I know will be so amazed that you’re with me, I don’t think they’ll care.”
Her smile faded. “You don’t have a girlfriend?”
Jimmy shook his head after shooting another warning look at George. “No.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“As I said,” Jimmy replied, “we are not exactly the most popular kids in school.”
She laughed, and a chill went up Jimmy’s spine. “You’re a very nice young man, Jimmy. I think you sell yourself short. I think both of you do. Most people probably would have just driven past me. You stopped to make sure I was OK.”
Jimmy blushed in return. George just shook his head. The car barreled through the remaining roads, up the steep hills and back down, taking the sweeping curves at speeds that would normally have left Jimmy in a puddle on the floor. Jimmy barely noticed. He felt invincible. Something about Sapphire had him dazzled. His heart hammered loudly in his chest. He felt something he had rarely, if ever, felt before. It was much later that he realized that that feeling was self-confidence.
They pulled into the school parking lot. The lot was jammed with cars, every one of them, even the lowliest, looking better than the one George drove. They found a spot at the far end, amidst the gravel and almost in the football field behind the school. As soon as the loud engine and thumping rock and roll had ceased, they heard the music from inside the gym. When Jimmy looked back at the building, he could see pulsing lights emanating from the windows set high in the gymnasium wall.
“Sounds like the party has already started,” George said.
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “You go in first, George. I’m going to follow behind you with Sapphire.”
George paused and opened his mouth to say something, but then he saw the look on Jimmy’s face and shrugged. He reached into the backseat and found his jacket, put it on and closed the driver’s side door.
Jimmy listened to George’s feet crunching on the gravel as he walked away. He finally pulled his gaze away from Sapphire’s face and looked around to confirm that George had, indeed, entered the gym. He turned back to Sapphire. Her eyes bore into him.
“Are we going to dance?” she asked.
Jimmy nodded. “Sure. First, though, I have to ask you something.”
She nodded, her eyes never leaving his.
“Who are you?” he asked. “Is this all a joke?”
A look of pain crossed her face. “What would make you say that, Jimmy?”
Jimmy laughed. “Because this is supremely weird. I mean, really. Think about things from my side. I am one of the biggest losers in the school. I am attending my senior prom with my equally dismissed best friend and we are driving in the oldest, ugliest, and loudest car in the town. Then, from out of nowhere, you appear on the side of the road. You give us only your first name, make some strange comments, and then decide to go with us to a dance at a school that, evidently, you do not go to.”
He stared at her for a moment, catching his breath. She continued to stare at him intently, as if she had only one gear for looking at people and that was intently. He thought he saw tears forming in her eyes.
“Then there’s the fact that you are, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on,” he said. Again, he was unaware of where these words were coming from. “And you seem to like me. You even seem romantically inclined towards me. That never happens. None of this ever happens. So can you see why I am dubious about this? It all seems like an elaborate hoax, set up to make me look foolish. I’ve seen that movie with the pig’s blood, and I don’t have the power to strike back like that girl did, so please spare me getting played for a fool tonight.”
Her eyes had brightened when he told her how beautiful he thought she was, but they darkened again when he finished. Sapphire looked down at her hands for a moment. Jimmy thought she was either about to cry or reveal that this was all a joke. He braced himself for the humiliation. Then, suddenly, she looked up at him again.
“Jimmy,” she said, “you are too hard on yourself. Maybe, just maybe, sometimes good things happen to nice people. Learn to accept a miracle when one falls into your lap.”
She leaned forward suddenly. Before he even realized what she was doing, her lips were pressed against his. Jimmy’s eyes opened wide and, at first, he tried to pull back. When he did, she pushed forward, keeping her lips on his. He finally relaxed and let himself kiss her back. Her lips, at first, were very cold, like ice and then they warmed at his touch. He felt a tingling start at the very tips of his toes and wash over his body and felt sweat spring out on his forehead. He lifted his right arm and put it on her shoulder and, with his other hand felt her skin beneath her dress. He heard music, from somewhere, and it sound
ed like old-time music from some forgotten era, like a memory or a fading radio station. It was faint, in the background, but enough to drown out the sound of the music from the gym. Then, even more faintly, he heard something that sounded like a scream. He pulled back.
“Let’s go dance,” she said, and smiled.
Jimmy nodded and opened the passenger door. His legs felt weak and his muscles felt as if they had been ripped out and replaced with over-cooked pasta. He managed to get out of the car and stood next to the open door and held out his hand to help Sapphire. When she was out, she turned and put her hand in his while he closed the door. When he walked, he felt as if he was floating about six inches above the asphalt.
“Let’s dance,” he said.
3
When Jimmy and Sapphire entered the gymnasium, the music nearly bowled them over. The bass was thumping and the walls were vibrating. Jimmy was almost ready to head back into the parking lot and then he looked to his left and saw that Sapphire was smiling and she turned to look at him. The colored lights washed over her face and he was lost. That feeling came over him again, and he suddenly had the most powerful urge to dance.
It was then that he looked around and noticed that most of the people in the gym were looking at them. George was standing in the middle of the room; gathered around him were what appeared to be several members of the football team. George looked as if he was in mid-speech. All of the football players were staring at the door Jimmy and Sapphire had just walked through. While there were several students still dancing as if their lives depended on it on the dance floor, most of the dancers had stopped, as well.
“I think our entrance was noticed,” Jimmy said.
Sapphire’s smile managed to get wider. “Let them watch. Come on.”
She grabbed his hand. For an instant, her hand was ice cold, and then, suddenly, it was warm, and then hot. She pulled on his hand and led him onto the dance floor. The crowd on the floor parted to let them in, and Sapphire led them right to the center of the floor.
Jimmy was not normally a dancer. In fact, he had the coordination of a tree with Dutch Elm disease. As such, he normally avoided going anywhere near the dance floor. If he could be coaxed to the dance floor, he stayed near the edge of the swaying throng and tried to move as little as possible. Normally, Jimmy just moved back and forth to something resembling the beat and did his best to not look like an idiot.
Sapphire: A Paranormal Romance Page 2
