Just One Year

by Ward, Penelope

“It’s called follow-through. More people should follow through with things in life instead of just talking about them. If life were nothing but empty promises, where would any of us be?”

  “Oh, that’s so deep,” I joked.

  “It is.” He gave me a look. “So anyway, if you’re serious about studying together, I’m gonna take you up on it. I think just having someone physically there who’s also studying might help my wandering mind.”

  “Yeah, sure. Why not? You know where to find me.”

  “Down in your dungeon.” He winked as he placed his hand briefly on my arm.

  That single touch sent an electric current through me. Holy crap, I needed to get laid.

  I sighed. “Will you stop making my need for privacy sound like some horror movie?”

  “You know I’m kidding, right? I just like to tease you, because every time I do, your face turns red. If you had no reaction, it wouldn’t be any fun, and I probably wouldn’t do it.”

  “What brought you down to my dungeon tonight again?”

  “I found out you’re a genius and had to let you know, remember?”

  “Oh, that’s right. My little sister loves to talk, doesn’t she?”

  “She’s a great kid. She means no harm.” He grinned. “She told me you took her out yesterday.”

  “Yeah. We had a nice lunch at the Japanese restaurant.”

  “It meant more to her than you realize.”

  The fact that Caleb had lost his sister was still heavily on my mind. I wasn’t sure if I should ask him about it… I suppose he would’ve mentioned it if he wanted to discuss it.

  I moved on to another subject. “How was the movie yesterday…with Veronica?”

  He shrugged. “It was alright. It was Italian with subtitles. But Maura was right about that place. There were some dodgy characters in there, and that was on a Saturday afternoon with plenty of normal-looking people around.”

  “Did you ever stop to consider that I might enjoy any potentially crazy people I find in the theater? Or that I might be one of them?”

  “You bring up a good point.” He winked.

  After a moment of awkward silence, I said, “So…you and Veronica… You’re dating…”

  Thanks, Captain Obvious.

  He hesitated. “Yeah. It’s new.”

  A rush of jealousy hit me again. “She’s really pretty.”

  “Yeah. Indeed, she is.” He smiled. “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

  “No, not at the moment. My last relationship ended a couple of months ago.”

  I’d dated a guy named Thad for a few months. While he was really sweet, I didn’t want to have sex with him, so I’d ended it.

  “What happened?”

  “I just didn’t see the point in continuing.”

  He laughed. “I guess that can be reason enough. You weren’t that into him?”

  “He was nice. We got along really well. But I wasn’t that attracted to him physically.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Physical attraction is important. People you get along with that you’re not physically attracted to are called friends.”

  I chuckled. “That’s true.”

  He clapped his hands together. “So when are we studying together?”

  I guess he hasn’t forgotten.

  “Whenever.”

  “Alright. Eight tomorrow night after dinner sounds good to me, too.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  * * *

  CALEB

  Shelley poked her head into my room Monday afternoon after I’d returned from class. I’d just started a set of arm reps when she interrupted me.

  “Wanna see something funny, Caleb?”

  I put down my weights. “What’s up?”

  She pulled up something on her phone.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s this karaoke app where people can sing and record songs. If they make it public, strangers can sing the same song and join their performance. Then the app puts it all together like a duet.”

  I wiped my forehead with a towel. “That sounds wicked. You’re into that, huh?”

  She shook her head. “No. But look who is.” Shelley giggled as she handed me the phone.

  I hit play on the video. It took me a few seconds to realize I was watching…Teagan. Teagan singing! Teagan singing “Someone Like You” by Adele.

  I was gobsmacked. Just when you think you have someone figured out… Her voice wasn’t perfect by any means, but putting herself out there like that was impressive. I made a mental note of her username: teagirl888.

  “Thanks for sharing. Better not to tell her I know, though. Okay?”

  My phone rang right then, interrupting the conversation.

  “I better take this. It’s my mother.” I winked.

  Shelley left the room to give me some privacy.

  I answered the call. “Hey, Mum.”

  “How’s my baby?”

  “Good. Everything okay back home?” I opened a bag of Hot Cheetos. I’d been addicted to them since arriving here.

  “Yes. I just wanted to check on you. I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. It’s been busy here. Managed to get a job, though.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be waiting tables at this pub down the street from school.”

  “Very good. When does that start?”

  “This weekend they train me. I’ll have shifts during the week as well.”

  “That’s excellent. And are you still liking the house you’re living in?”

  I popped one of the Cheetos into my mouth. “It’s bloody amazing. My bedroom is bigger than half our flat back home.”

  “Brilliant. And the people?”

  “The Carrolls are a really nice family. The father, Lorne, is a real man’s man, you know? Like Dad. He loves to watch American football. He’s a professor. The mum, Maura, is very sweet. And Shelley, their twelve-year-old, is hysterical.”

  “You said their oldest daughter goes to school with you, right?”

  “Yeah…” I sighed. “Teagan. At first she was a bit narky with me, but we’re getting along better now.”

  Mum laughed. “Why was she narky?”

  “I’m not really sure. I think she found me intrusive. I haven’t quite figured her out yet. She’s part genius, part closet extrovert, apparently. But we’re supposed to be studying together later. So, I suppose I’ll get to know her.”

  “That should be…fun? Seems like she’s a lot different from her sister.”

  “Teagan is not Maura’s daughter, actually. No one’s made mention of Teagan’s mother aside from Shelley saying she’s not around anymore.”

  “Meaning she’s dead?”

  “No, she’s alive, I think, just not in the picture.”

  “Oh, that’s interesting. Wonder what the story is on that. Poor thing. A girl, especially of that age, needs her mother.”

  “Yeah, that might explain why she’s a little guarded. I like her, though. Seems like a good person.”

  “Auntie told me she saw a photo of you with a girl on Instagram—said she was pretty.”

  Great. I’d forgotten my nosy aunt stalked me on there.

  “That’s Veronica.”

  “You fancy her?”

  “We’ve just been hanging out. It’s new.”

  “Well, be careful.” My mother’s voice grew stern. “You know what I mean.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Mum, I do.”

  “Well, alright then. I won’t keep you.”

  Before she could hang up, I caught her. “Hey—how’s Dad?”

  “He’s good. Busy as always. You know how it is.”

  I sighed, suddenly feeling depressed. “Yeah.”

  It was always my mother calling, never my father. Not once had he come to the phone to check in with me since I moved to the States.

  “Love you, my boy. Take care.”

  “Love you, too, Mum. I will.”

  *
**

  I knocked in a loud rhythm on Teagan’s door, which was halfway open.

  She jumped and put her hand over her chest. “You scared me.”

  “You didn’t forget our study date, did you?”

  Taking off her headphones, she said, “No, I didn’t.”

  I took a few steps inside. “You weren’t at dinner, so I thought maybe you were blowing me off entirely tonight.” I sat across from her on the chair by her desk.

  “Yeah, my internship at the aquarium ran late, so I grabbed a bite to eat on the way home.”

  “How’s that going?”

  “It’s okay—perfect for someone like me who likes fish more than people. I’m weird that way.”

  “I like that about you, that you’re a little weird. Not very easy to figure out, either. It makes you interesting—and better to hang with the fish than pretend to like people in a disingenuous way.”

  She blushed, and that made me chuckle. I wondered if she was flustered when I walked in because I’d interrupted one of her karaoke app performances.

  Teagan rushed to open her laptop. “Let’s get going on the studying. Otherwise, talking defeats the purpose of why we’re here.”

  Hmmm… As soon as you turned attention toward Teagan, she tried to move on to something else.

  “Yes, ma’am.” I said. “A disciplinarian. I like it.”

  We spent the next hour alternating between quietly studying and Teagan quizzing me on some history questions. She also helped me outline an essay I had to do for my English literature class. Some people were better at math and science while others excelled in writing. Teagan seemed smart at everything.

  We returned to studying for a while, but being the master of distraction that I was, my mind started to wander. Well, actually my eyes started to wander. As she looked down at her laptop, I took some time to examine Teagan’s face without her knowing. It was perfect, really. She had large eyes and full lips. A few freckles dotted her small nose, which had a tiny bump in the middle. Her hair was somewhere between the color of sand and caramel. She typically wore it up in a massive knot, but I imagined how it might look down. And I knew that underneath the layers of clothing she wore like armor, there must be a beautiful body as well. But she tried like hell to hide it all. I wondered why.

  She suddenly looked up. “What are you doing?”

  Shit. “Studying…”

  “No, you aren’t. You’re looking at me.”

  “Okay. I was studying you.”

  She turned her head away. “Don’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t like when people look at me.” Her eyes darted to the side, like she didn’t want to deal with my reaction.

  “I can tell. That’s why I was trying to do it when you weren’t paying attention.”

  “Creeper.”

  In an attempt to not seem like a creeper, to assure her I wasn’t ogling her, I added, “You’re like a little sister I love to annoy.”

  A look crossed her face that seemed a little like…disappointment. Had my sister comment irked her?

  “Well, stop being annoying and get back to studying,” she demanded. “Your next quiz is in approximately twenty minutes.”

  “Shit.”

  She gave me a look and went about her business. I tried to get back into what I was supposed to be doing.

  After about ten minutes of buckling down, I realized maybe hunger was the reason I was having so much trouble concentrating. I decided to text her, even though she was right across from me—just to mess with her.

  Caleb: Whatcha doin’?

  Teagan: Trying to study, which is what YOU should be doing.

  Caleb: I feel like we’ve done enough tonight. Don’t you? I’m gagging for a snack.

  Teagan: Gagging?

  Caleb: Yeah.

  Teagan: You’re choking? LOL

  Caleb: No. It means, like really wanting something.

  Teagan: Well, here it means something else. Like “Caleb makes me want to gag.”

  I laughed as I typed.

  Caleb: I’ve definitely made a few girls gag before.

  Her eyes widened as she looked up at me.

  I snorted at her reaction.

  Teagan: OMG. You’re gross.

  Caleb: LOL. You walked right into that one.

  Teagan: So, you’re “gagging” for what kind of snack?

  Caleb: Well, not a pussy pop or a tart penis.

  Teagan: Thank God. LOL.

  Caleb: ;)

  Teagan: If you want to be done studying, we can stop.

  Caleb: How about I go upstairs and make us something? Then we can continue.

  She closed her laptop and said, “I could eat. I had an early dinner.”

  “There’s something I’ve been dying to try. I’d never heard of it before I came here.”

  “What?”

  “It’s called s’mores?”

  She started to crack up.

  “Are you laughing at me, Teagan?”

  “Yes. The way you said it…like you didn’t know if you were saying it correctly.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “They don’t make s’mores in England?”

  “If they do, I’ve never heard of it.”

  “Well, I doubt we have the stuff to make s’mores right now.”

  I hopped up from my seat. “Let’s go to the store then.”

  “You can’t just make s’mores. You need to light a fire. It’s not a snack. It’s an experience.”

  “Then, let’s light one.”

  “You call that a quick study break?” She laughed. “That’s called camping. It’s too involved.”

  “Well, then, we have a problem. Because once I get a craving for something, I can’t get it out of my head. Literally. So, now we have to do it.”

  Teagan got up from her bed and placed her laptop on the desk next to mine before grabbing her jacket. It surprised me that she was going for this. I hadn’t pegged her as spontaneous.

  We hit up a twenty-four-hour store down the street that luckily had all of the ingredients stocked: marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. The sell-by date on the graham crackers had passed, but they would have to do.

  We brought everything back to the Carrolls’ yard and gathered some sticks to make a campfire.

  Once we got the flames going, I wondered if her sister might want to join us. “Shelley’s asleep?” I asked.

  “Yeah. She has school tomorrow. She’s usually in bed by ten on weekdays.”

  “I feel kind of guilty doing this without her.”

  “Yeah,” Teagan said. “I’m sure she’d love it.”

  “We can do it again with her sometime.”

  At that moment, Maura walked out to the yard.

  She pulled her sweater close and shivered. “Oh, I didn’t realize what the hell you guys were doing. I saw flames from the window and freaked out.”

  “Sorry, Maura,” I said. “We probably should have told you we were making s’mores so you didn’t think there was a forest fire in your yard.”

  “He’s never had s’mores before,” Teagan explained.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She smiled, looking between us. “Glad to see you two getting along.”

  I raised my stick. “You want to stay and have some s’mores with us?”

  “No, thanks. You guys have fun. My book and some hot tea are waiting inside for me by the pellet stove.”

  After she went back in, I threw more wood into the flames and turned to Teagan. “Maura seems surprised we’re getting along?” I arched my brow. “Any particular reason that would surprise her?”

  “I might have talked a little smack about you when you first moved in.”

  “Ah.”

  “I judged you, thinking you were being…judgy,” she said. “I don’t feel that way anymore, nor do I think your intentions were bad.”

  “I’m glad you can see that now.”

  After Teagan briefe
d me on the steps to making s’mores, I ripped open the bag of marshmallows and popped one into my mouth. I poked a stick into the next one and handed it to her. We spent the next several minutes quietly watching the transformation of our marshmallows from white to toasty brown.

  I lifted mine. “It looks ready, yeah?”

  “Any more than that, and it will burn. So, yup, that’s perfect.”

  I placed the marshmallow over a flat square of chocolate and smooshed it between two crackers.

  Taking a bite, I sighed before speaking with my mouth full. “Fuck, that’s good.” It was the perfect mix of flavors.

  Teagan moaned as she devoured her own. It was the most enthusiastic sound I’d ever heard come out of her. And it turned me on a little. It was the first time my body had reacted to her like that, and it caught me by surprise.

  I took the last bite. “So, how many of these are we allowed?”

  “However many you want.”

  “I’ll just keep making them unless you stop me, you know.”

  She smiled. “Go for it. It’s your first s’mores experience. I get it.”

  After I’d consumed five consecutive s’more sandwiches, Teagan looked at me from across the flames. “We’re not doing any more studying tonight, are we?”

  “Seeing as though I’m about to turn into a marshmallow and combust, probably not.”

  The fire crackled as we sat in silence. It was so peaceful and serene, I could’ve fallen asleep out here. The slight chill in the air was the perfect complement to the fire. Some leaves on the trees around us fell as the wind blew them around. The Carrolls’ neighborhood was quiet at night—definitely different from what I was used to back home.

  My curiosity about Teagan increased with every minute I spent with her. I decided to ask a question I hoped wouldn’t upset her. I just really wanted to understand her.

  “What happened to your mother?”

  Her eyes widened as they met mine across the fire, but she said nothing. Seconds passed as the flames continued to crackle. I had started to regret the question when she finally began to talk.