by Jordan Deen
third period or not, I was taking a different route from her. I barely managed to make it through second and third period. Fourth period couldn’t come quick enough, it was the only class I had with Jillian and I couldn’t wait to tell her about the boy from the office.
I walked into Mr. Thompson’s class and claimed one of the lab tables in the back. I put my backpack on the table next to me claiming a spot for her and pulled out my Econ book and my notebook.
Jillian rushed in just barely before the bell rang. “So how was your morning?”
“Weird … actually …” I looked over at Garrett, Courtney’s ex-boyfriend and mega jerk. He was busy talking to Ashley; trying to convince her to go out on Friday. Unfortunately, Courtney was in this class too; she glared at Garrett from two tables in front of us.
“What happened?” Jillian snapped her fingers in front of my face to bring me back to the conversation.
I shook my head, “Sorry. I was paired with Courtney in the office. This boy came in this morning …” No sooner did I start talking about him, he appeared. He walked through the door confidently and handed his yellow sheet to Mr. Thompson to be signed off for his first day.
“Lacey? What about the guy?” Jillian asked about him at the most inopportune time. Instead of choosing any of the other vacant seats in the room, he walked up and claimed the chair directly in front of our table. “Lacey- hello? The guy? The office?” I elbowed her trying to get her to shut up. He glanced over his shoulder; the side of his mouth pulled up in that lazy grin.
When he turned back around I widened my eyes and pointed at him under the table. That’s HIM. I mouthed. Jillian, not subtle in the slightest of ways, spent the next five minutes studying every part of his body. I caught myself staring at his chiseled back through his perfectly taut t-shirt; he looked like a professional athlete.
“Ok everyone. I see in true senior fashion, you have all stuck to sitting with the people you know. But we do have a few new faces this year, so we will go around and take a few minutes to introduce each other.” Oh no. I glanced over at Jillian; at least I already knew everything about her. “Ok everyone in this row, turn to the person behind you, everyone in this row turn to these people.” Jillian and I both gave each other a panicked look. Before I could even object the handsome boy turned his chair and scooted it to the front of my table.
“Hey again.” His lazy grin incinerated the rest of my heart. I smiled like an idiot and stared, my mouth half open but no words coming out.
Jillian elbowed me. “Sorry, my friend must have temporarily misplaced her tongue. I’m Jillian.”
“Hi, I’m Alex.” His eyes fixed on hers for a moment and then came back to meet mine. I felt lightheaded. His knees hovered on either side of mine under the table and his whole body leaned forward. For the briefest moment I concentrated on his perfectly molded lips and considered leaning in to brush mine to his, wanting to know what they would feel like. Being this close felt more intimate than I had ever felt with anyone before. It made me wonder if he knew he was invading my personal space.
“Are you alright?” Should I say he just caught me fantasizing about kissing him?
Probably not.
Jillian saved me. “I’m sorry she has trouble thinking this close to lunch. Low blood sugar.”
“Is she diabetic?” Concern flashed on his face. I couldn’t stop staring at him, my face permanently frozen.
“Actually …” Jillian hesitated and put her hand on my knee. She squeezed hard pulling my eyes away from him to her.
“She’s not.” Jillian’s eyes searched my face as I came out of a beautiful daydream. She looped her fingers in mine and squeezed my hand tightly.
“I’m sorry, umm … Alex?” I barely choked out. He nodded. “It’s been a hectic day.”
“I bet …” Alex glanced towards Courtney as she laughed and shamelessly flirted with Thomas, one of Garrett’s friends. She winked at Alex. My stomach churned. I don’t think I could really stomach them being together; he was out of my league but he was definitely too good for her. “So are you going to tell me your name? Or shall I guess?” Alex’s deep brown eyes could cut me in half if he kept looking at me that way. His fingers pressed firmly around his pen, tapping it slightly on his notebook. His shoulders inched closer to me across the table.
“Lacey. Lacey Quinn.” He extended his hand; I inspected it before finally offering mine.
“Wow…” Alex grinned larger. “She has a name . . . and it’s beautiful.” My skin lit on fire when he held onto my hand a little too long. The fire quickly turned to ice rushing up my arm as his thumb snaked over the top of mine and brushed across my knuckle.
“Your hands …” Alex paused. Jillian’s fingers dug into my thigh with such force that I’d be bruised.
“Ok class.” Mr. Thompson announced pulling me from Alex’s hypnosis. Alex brushed his thumb across mine again and then gently lowered both of our hands to the desk. He tapped his index finger to the back of my hand, like a magician snapping his fingers. Time restarted and I let out the breath I had been holding. I quickly jerked my hand off the desk, very uncomfortable with all the people that had just witnessed the exchange.
“Time to introduce your new friends.” I knew nothing about him, other than how his touch stopped my heart and clouded my thoughts: now I had to introduce him. My eyes darted around the room to see Courtney smiling at my panic.
Alex pulled out a piece of paper from my notebook and whispered, “Here. Write something about yourself.” He quickly scribbled several things onto another sheet of paper. Our hands brushed each other and it felt as if he would grab my hand again or maybe I wanted him to. Instead he said, “I hope you can read my writing.” He chuckled and winked. Wait, he winked.
“Oh it’s fine.” I barely looked at the paper. He could have written he was a serial killer looking for his next victim and I probably would’ve thought that was perfectly wonderful.
“This is Lacey Quinn. She is seventeen. She is an only child. She volunteers after school at her aunt’s Veterinary clinic. She loves listening to her iPod and reading.” Alex hesitated as he brushed his fingertips over my writing and grinned. This was what I wrote:
Lacey enjoys school, going to the beach and hanging out with her best friend Jillian. With such short notice, I couldn’t come up with anything better.
That, however, was not what he said. “Lacey enjoyed her ten day backpacking trip to Paris over summer. Ironically enough, there she met me and broke my heart. So when she left, in true stalker fashion, I followed her to the states.” I felt my face turn beet red as all eyes in the room fixed on Alex and I, and the positioning of his body was still incredibly intimate. I wanted to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich.
“Well, that’s interesting.” Mr. Thompson added. Jillian and I both stared at Alex. The entire classroom scrutinized the silent conversation Alex and I were having. I felt more like a spectator to the conversation than a participant in it.
“Ms. Quinn, please introduce Mr. Morris to the class.”
My voice felt weak. “This is Alex Morris.” I stuttered as I felt his knee brush mine. “He is 18 years old. He just moved here from abroad. He loves to listen to music, read, and he is really active in outdoor activities.” His writing continued to say that he loves repairing old cars and hanging out with his friends. He changed mine, but I couldn’t think of anything clever to say. I hesitated, desperately searching for something witty and then I continued, “Alex loves to repair old cars and hang out with his friends.” Alex’s eyes twinkled as his cheek dimpled slightly from his growing smile. I’m sure he knew I tried to come up with a way to change his as he had mine.
“What? Nothing about Paris?” Mr. Thompson asked. I wanted to sink into my chair. “Jillian, would you like to introduce Mr. Hammond?” Mr. Thompson went on with the class introductions, none as entertaining as the one Alex gave for me.
Alex did not move his chair back to his own table. He stayed positioned so close to
me that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else other than his breathing; I kept forgetting my own.
“Ok class…” I barely listened to anything that Mr. Thompson said for the next forty minutes. I didn’t want to think about class ending. Alex had completely hijacked my mind and it only got worse every time I stole glances at him.
“So what’s up with him?” Jillian tried to keep her voice low as we tossed our book bags into our lockers.
“I have no idea.” I wasn’t looking forward to the walk to the clinic. I didn’t really have time to think about Alex and the liberty he just took telling my entire Econ class that we were an item, in Paris; no less.
“You sure you don’t want me to use my lunch and drive you?” Jillian walked with me to the parking lot as I wished I had a car of my own.
“No, don’t worry about it.” I gave her a hug and hurried out the gate. She was disappointed that I didn’t have full days, but I didn’t have the heart to tell my aunt I couldn’t work for her this year.
I pulled my headphones from my pack and slipped them in heading down the sidewalk that lined the parking lot of the school. Courtney sat in the backseat of a car, possibly Thomas’, but I couldn’t be sure. Not too many spots down Garrett sat in his truck, but the windows were too tinted to tell who was in there with him.
Several stoner students were camped out
