Almost Never

by Melissa Toppen

  “And did they like them?”

  “The writing... They seemed to. Then again, I was in elementary school so who really knows. But my illustrating left a little to be desired. I guess stick figures are not an acceptable form of people.” He smiles, giving me a full view of his stunning dimples. “Anyway, eventually my writing evolved and I got into writing non-fiction articles. There’s something so gratifying about researching a topic and bringing it to life.”

  “Nonfiction.” I nod. “I guess it makes sense that you’d want to join the paper.”

  “It’s good practice. Helps me hone my craft. But one day I really want to move into fiction. I’ve always had a thing for short stories but who knows.” He shrugs. “I might change my mind.”

  “So do you plan to go to school for writing?”

  “I do. I was planning on attending USC but since I’m here now I’ll probably look locally.”

  “Why?”

  “It makes more sense. Why spend a fortune on a dorm room if I can get the same education close to home and not have that added expense. College is expensive enough as it is.”

  “I get that. Too bad for me, there aren’t any good Culinary schools around here. Though I’ll probably end up attending one of them anyway.”

  “That’s right. Culinary school. You mentioned that before.”

  “That’s the plan.” I shuffle my feet.

  “Well, I haven’t tasted your cooking yet, but from what Lucy tells me, you’re pretty fantastic.” The mention of Lulu irritates me but I quickly push it down.

  “Well, if you’re wanting to catch Ned, you should probably go. He’s usually not here past four.”

  I glance up at the clock to see that it’s ten till, which means in ten minutes I’ve completed my time. Though, I doubt I got done as much as they were hoping I would. What can I say, I’m easily distracted. Especially when someone like Alec stops by.

  “Thanks for the heads up. I guess I’ll see you later?” He hesitates in the doorway.

  “Yeah.” I nod, watching him turn before grabbing another couple of tapes and stuffing them into the box.

  “By the way,” I glance back up at him, “I’m still waiting on those macarons you promised me.”

  “I didn’t forget.” I giggle. “I’m actually working at the bakery tonight. Maybe I’ll have time to throw you together a batch. I meant to bring you some last week but time got away from me.”

  “Now don’t tease me. You’ve really talked these up. Plus, I’m pretty curious to see if you’re as good as Lucy says.”

  “I’m better.”

  “Is that so?” He chuckles.

  “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Guess so.” He knocks the doorframe with his knuckles. “See you later, Hope.”

  “Yeah, see you later.” I tip my chin, watching him disappear from the doorway moments later.

  Chapter Seven

  “So I was thinking...” Alec takes his normal spot next to me in Chemistry class. It’s been two weeks since he started here and we’ve already formed this weird type of routine between the two of us.

  “Uh oh,” I tease.

  “Would you maybe want to get together after school sometime this week and work on our project?” he asks.

  We found out two days ago that we have to present a science project to the class with our lab partners in two weeks’ time. As much as I love the idea of working with Alec more closely, even though I shouldn’t given that him and Lulu have been hanging out non-stop, I also hate public speaking. I get the worst case of anxiety every time I think about it.

  “We still haven’t even figured out what we’re doing,” he adds.

  “Um, sure. Yeah, I guess we could do that,” I agree, knowing there’s no other way we’re going to get anything done.

  We only have a limited amount of class time to work on it and it’s not some quick project we can nail down in a couple hours. We actually have to come up with an idea, implement it, which will take a lot of time all on its own, and then present our findings with a PowerPoint presentation and physical evidence that proves our theory.

  When the teacher said two weeks, I thought he was joking.

  “How’s today work for you?”

  “Today?” I push past the nervous knot lodged in my throat.

  “I mean, if you’re free. We can do it at my place. It’s pretty small but it’s only me and my mom so we can spread out.”

  “Yeah, um, okay. Today sounds good.”

  “I know it’s a bit overdone, but I thought we could do the whole acid in soda thing.”

  “Acid in soda?” I question.

  “Yeah, you know. You put rusty nails in different types of soda and whichever removes the most rust is the one with the most acid.”

  “Let me guess, you googled chemistry projects and that’s the best you could find.” I laugh.

  “Not exactly.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I kind of did the same project in seventh grade. I don’t have any of the stuff, but it’s pretty simple to recreate.”

  “At this point, I don’t really care,” I tell him honestly. “I just want to do something that’s quick and easy.”

  “Well this one certainly is. The longest part is letting the nails sit. Even then you don’t have to do anything but take a picture of the nail each day to track the progress. I figure if you came over today, we could get everything set up, do the initial pictures, and then split up who is going to work on what so we have a shot in hell of getting it done on time.”

  “That all sounds good to me.”

  “Perfect.” He pulls out a piece of paper and scribbles something down on it before sliding it in my direction. “Here’s my address. Say three-thirty?”

  “That works for me.” I nod, not sure if I’m more nervous or excited about an afternoon alone with Alec at his house.

  I’m a ball of nervous energy the remainder of the day. I don’t know why going to a friend’s house to work on a project has me coiled so tight. Then again, Alec isn’t just any friend. He’s the boy I like. And as much as I hate to admit it, the boy Lulu likes.

  I have a few minutes to kill after school, so I run to the bakery and get us some sweets to snack on and grab myself a caramel latte. I arrive at Alec’s apartment building five minutes early and end up waiting in the car until three-thirty before heading up.

  When I knock on the door, he answers almost immediately. He’s changed into a pair of athletic shorts and a white t-shirt that shows off his lean frame and broad shoulders.

  God, this was such a bad idea.

  But even knowing this, I still go inside when he steps out of the doorway to let me enter.

  Alec’s apartment is new. The complex was built roughly six months ago and most of the units have never been lived in. It’s your standard, two-bedroom apartment with a small dining room, decent size living room, and galley style kitchen. It’s sparsely decorated and very tidy. Though I’d say that’s more his mom’s doing than his.

  He already has supplies set up on the table, a large white fold out board propped up for us to display our pictures on, and an ancient looking Polaroid camera to take them with.

  “We can work in here.” He leads me into the dining room that opens to the living room.

  We spend the first few minutes deep in project discussion, divvying out the responsibilities between the two of us. We decide that Alec will do the pictures and track the progress and I will be responsible for the PowerPoint presentation. Which works well for me because that’s more my area of expertise anyway.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” I say as Alec reappears from the kitchen with eight different cans of soda in his hands. Leaning over, I dig into my bag, procuring the small box of treats I picked up from the bakery. “I brought you some goodies.” I set the box on the table.

  “Are you trying to make me fall in love with you, Hope?” he asks jokingly, setting the cans down one at a time. “Because it just might be working,” h
e adds when I flip open the container revealing an assortment of cookies, cake pops, and blondies. All of which had just come out of the oven when I got there.

  I know he’s only kidding about love, but his words still make my heart go ballistic against my ribcage.

  “I had a few minutes to kill after school so I swung by the bakery on my way here.”

  “Well, I’m certainly not complaining.” He pulls out a cake pop and slides it off of the stick, devouring the whole thing in one bite. “So good.” He moans as he chews, the action doing something wonky to my stomach.

  Needing something to distract me from the direction my thoughts are going, I grab a blondie and take a bite. It’s good. Pat always makes the best blondies, but it still does little to draw my attention away from how sexy Alec looks standing next to me.

  I jump slightly when the front door swings open and a middle aged, dark haired woman steps into the room, her arms full of grocery bags.

  “Hi honey.” She smiles over at Alec who instantly moves to help her. “Thank you,” she says when he relieves her of the bags. Her eyes swing to me and they widen slightly, as if she’s just realized I’m sitting here. “Oh hi.” She smiles and I see where Alec gets his dimples from.

  “Hi,” I squeak out, quickly standing to my feet.

  “I’m Holly, Alec’s mom.” She closes the small space between us and extends her hand to me.

  “Hope.” I smile, hoping I don’t have any blondie in my teeth as I take her hand and give it a soft shake.

  “Hope.” She says my name like she recognizes it. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

  Holly Murray is beautiful. Even with her messy ponytail and lack of makeup, it’s clear to see that Alec doesn’t get only his dimples from his mom. I briefly wonder what his dad looks like and what similarities the two of them share.

  “It’s nice to meet you as well.” My throat is so dry I’m tempted to drink from one of the cans sitting on the table.

  “What are you two working on?” she asks Alec as he reappears from the kitchen.

  “Chem project,” he tells her.

  “Chemistry, huh.” She looks over the mess of things spread across the table. “Wait, why does this look familiar?” She gives her son a look that I can only describe as the way my mother looks at me when she knows I’m trying to pull a fast one on her. The look is usually accompanied by the statement I wasn’t born yesterday.

  “What? He didn’t say we couldn’t do a project we’ve done before. Besides, he doesn’t know.”

  “Why am I not surprised.” She laughs, turning to head into the kitchen where she begins rifling through the grocery bags.

  “Sorry about that.” Alec slides back down in the seat next to me. “Where were we?”

  “I think we need to take pictures of the nails and tie the strings around the ends. Other than that, we’ve done all we can do for now,” I tell him, disappointment settling in my gut.

  As much as I know I shouldn’t want to be here, I still do.

  “Okay.” He reaches across the table and grabs the camera. “You want to take a picture of each nail and soda can while I tie the strings?”

  “Sure.” I take the bulky camera from him and proceed to take pictures of each item. Once I’m finished and Alec has all the strings tied around the nail heads, we lower the nails into the cans one at a time.

  “Hope,” Alec’s mom calls from the kitchen not long after we’ve finished cleaning up. “Would you like to stay for dinner? I’m making tacos.”

  “Thank you for the invite, but I really should be heading home.”

  “Oh come on. Stay,” Alec interjects. “My mom makes the best tacos.”

  I hesitate, knowing I shouldn’t stay but also not able to say no to him. “Well, I do love a good taco.”

  “She’ll stay,” he calls back to his mom before his gaze swings back to me. “Come on, we can hang out in my room until dinner’s ready.”

  I swear my damn knees nearly give out. Me, alone with Alec...in his bedroom. The thought has my mind splitting off in a million different directions.

  “Door open,” his mom calls after us and I can’t help but laugh. It’s totally something my mom would say as well.

  “Ignore her,” he grumbles, leading me to the back of the apartment.

  He steps into the first bedroom on the left and I follow him inside. Unlike the rest of the apartment, Alec’s room is full of clutter.

  There are several unopened moving boxes in one corner, an unmade bed along the far wall, and a desk on the opposite side littered with odds and ends.

  “Sorry about the mess. I had the bright idea to go through everything as I was unpacking. Let’s just say I’m easily distracted.” He chuckles, looking around the room.

  “I can see that.” I smile, sliding down into his desk chair before swiveling it to face him as he drops down onto the edge of his bed.

  “Lucy said she wouldn’t come back again until I cleaned it up. That was last week.” He laughs again.

  “Lucy’s been here?” I question, my stomach knotting tightly. I knew they were hanging out, but I hadn’t realized she had been to his house. Then again, it shouldn’t surprise me.

  “Yeah, just once.” He shrugs like it’s nothing.

  “You guys have been spending a lot of time together.”

  “I guess.”

  “You guess?” I quirk a brow.

  “I mean, yeah, we have. She’s a lot of fun. A little bossy, but fun.”

  “Don’t I know it.” I roll my eyes, knowing firsthand how bossy Lulu can be. “So you like her then?”

  I want to punch myself in the face. Why am I talking about Lulu when she’s the last person I want to be talking about with him?

  “Yeah.” He nods, but doesn’t elaborate beyond that simple, one-word answer.

  “As in you like her like her?”

  God, why can’t I stop already?

  “Yeah.”

  “Why do you say that like you’re unsure?”

  “I don’t know. I really do like her. I guess I didn’t expect to meet someone so soon after moving here.”

  “I get that.”

  “I was thinking about asking her to be my girlfriend,” he admits, chipping away at the edge of my heart.

  “Oh?” I try my best to seem as unaffected as possible.

  “I don’t know. Do you think I should?”

  Why the hell is he asking me?

  “I guess that’s up to you.”

  “Do you think she’d say yes?”

  “In a word, yes.”

  Gahhh, why didn’t I say no?

  “I figured.” He smiles arrogantly.

  “If you figured then why are you asking me?”

  “Confirmation, I guess.”

  As excited as I was to be here with Alec before, given the current change the conversation has taken, I’m starting to second guess my decision to stay for dinner.

  “Hey,” I start, not sure what excuse I can use to get out of here, but I have to. “I actually forgot I have a huge math test tomorrow.” Lame. “Would it be okay if I take a rain check on dinner?”

  “You sure? My mom loves having people over for dinner. She hasn’t gotten to do it much since we moved here.”

  Way to lay on the guilt trip, Alec...

  “I really wish I could, but I seriously have so much I need to get done.” I push to a stand.

  “Okay.” He stands with me.

  “I promise another time,” I tell him, collecting my bag off the floor where I dropped it next to the chair.

  “Yeah. Another time.” I get the impression he wants to say more, but for whatever reason doesn’t. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.”

  “Okay.” I turn, exiting the room.

  Alec follows me to the front door, tugging it open.

  “I’ll see you at school tomorrow?” I ask.

  “Yep. See you at school.”

  “Okay, bye.” I throw up a
quick wave and turn, stepping out into the hallway.

  Chapter Eight

  “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” Lulu bounces up next to me at my locker, looking like she’s about to jump out of her own skin.

  “What?” I draw back to get a better look at her.

  Her cheeks are bright pink. Her blue eyes look even more blue than normal. And...wait, is she sweating?

  “Alec just asked me to be his girlfriend!” she squeals, throwing her arms around my neck.

  I ignore my knee jerk reaction to cringe and embrace my best friend. It’s rare to see Lulu in such form. What kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t a little happy for her?

  Of course I already knew it was coming. It had been a few days since Alec asked if I thought she’d say yes. And even though I wanted to say no, I answered him honestly because that’s the kind of person I am.

  Truthfully, I’m surprised it’s taken them this long to make it official. They’ve been hanging out for three weeks and I’ve never seen Lu so excited about a guy before. She’s usually indifferent when it comes to boys, but not with Alec. I think she actually really cares about him.

  Knowing that the person making her so happy happens to be the one I’ve spent three weeks obsessing over is a bitter pill to swallow.

  “That’s so amazing, Lu!” I hug her back, ignoring the ache in my chest.

  It’s hard to celebrate someone getting what they want when that something is the very thing you want as well.

  “It was so cute. You should have seen him.” She releases me and takes a step back. “I actually think he was nervous.”

  “Of course he was. Look at you.” I close my locker, sliding the lock into place before turning back toward her. “Alec just became the most envied guy in this school.”

  “Oh stop.” She playfully swats at me. “I know we’ve been hanging out a lot lately, but when he didn’t ask me within the first few days I wasn’t sure he was going to.”

  “Maybe he wanted to get to know you a little better first.”