“Hey daddy, I’m heading home now, k?” I told my father when I popped my head into his office. It suprised me that he was actually there.
He looked up from his computer. “Sure honey, be careful...oh, and could you make dinner tonight for the boys? I’m going to be home kinda late.” That perked my interest. My dad is never late.
“Anything wrong?” I asked him, raising my eyebrows in concern.
“Nope, just a big convention to plan for, no big deal. Oh, and make sure Josh works on his Science Fair, k?” he asked me.
“Sure, no problem. Bye dad,” I told him, and exited out of his office.
It was just after the 4th Period bell, and I was through with all of my classes for the day. I had spent the rest of 3th working on my big Marketing exam...and after an hour of studying, I really wanted to get out of there. I was actually looking forward to the drive home. Since I live about an hour away, I usually hate driving, but something inside of me just wanted to be free.
I lifted the flap on my purse and shifted around for my keys as I pushed open the door leading to the parking lot. Halfway down the sidewalk, with my hand was still in my purse, I heard my name.
“Alexandria?”
I whipped my head around, my heart beating wildly. I didn’t expect for anyone to be out there in the middle of school hours, and the voice scared me. But even after I noticed who the person actually was, my heart didn’t seem to stop...but It was expected, because the voice belonged to Taylor.
“Uh, yeah?” I said to him, looking down to finish searching for my keys. I didn’t think I could look at him right then for some reason. But, as luck has it, my keys were found instantiously, so I had to look up.
“I, uh...well, I just wanted to say that I was sorry for this morning...if I had any idea that he was - “
“No, Taylor, really, it’s okay. I overreacted, it’s not your fault,” I told him, hoping that I could leave. I hate confrontation. Maybe that’s why I don’t have a boyfriend...I could never look them in the eye.
He raised his eyebrows at me. “Wait a minute, this morning you were ready to go postal...maybe you forgot, but I called your father stupid...”
I rolled my eyes. “Good going, Einstein, I almost forgot until now. That was pretty low of you...”
“Okay, okay, I’m a moron, I’m sorry for bringing it up again...forgive me?” he asked, giving me a puppy dog look.
I had to smile. “Okay, your forgiven...and like I said, I overreacted. So I’m sorry too...” I said gently, taking a step backwards preparing to leave.
“Overreaction is expected...I would get mad. I had no right to say that, even if I did know that he was your father. I didn’t actually mean it...his advice was actually good, I was just nervous and had to take it out on someone,” he ended, looking at me steadily.
I cocked my head. “Did you just have an insight?”
He grinned. “Yeah, maybe...why?”
I shrugged. “Just unusual I guess.”
“For me?” he asked, amusingly.
“No, course not. I don’t know you...I’m talking about the entire male population.” I said nodding. I had no idea where this was going...
“Woah, what? Are you a specialist for this kind of thing or something?”
“Yes, thank you for noticing. How bout next week you call my father ‘ignorant’ and I’ll see if I can give ya another one of incredible points?” I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. Yeah, I overreacted...but he still said it.
He simply stared at me with a smile across his face. “And why would I miss a chance to be impressed with your overwhelming knowledge? I sure can’t think of a reason,” he finally stated, crossing his own arms.
He wasn’t supposed to say that. Why did he say that?
I nodded again. I suppose I do that a lot when I’m flustered. “Well...”I started, still nodding, “there ya go!”
“Yup,” he answered, nodding along with me.
“I’m going to leave now...and stop mocking me,” I said, pointing my finger at him. He spread his arms in an innocent matter.
“Who, me?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and turned around to leave. But something made me stop...maybe it was my ‘overwhelming’ curiosity. “Why are you out here anyways? Don’t you have class now?”
He was still smiling. “I thought I did until I realized that this school has block schedule. I only had 2nd and 3rd periods today.”
“You’ve been out here since 12:30? Why don’t you just leave?” I asked him. I knew I was asking too many questions, but like I said...my curiosity got the best of me.
“One, I don’t have a ride, and two, it’s too far to walk.”
“So you don’t have a ride home,” I stated, pushing down the sinking feeling in my stomach. Why do I feel sorry for him?
“Not until 4 when my mom gets off of work,” he said, shrugging, “no big deal, it’s only about 3 more hours.”
‘Don’t Alex...’ I told myself firmly. ‘He has a ride home, he doesn’t need you. Besides, you don’t need him in your car with you...say goodbye.’
“Oh, well, have fun!” I told him, literally pushing my feet to move. ‘Walk, Alex, walk...’
Dang my need to be nice. Dang my need to not feel guilty.
I sighed, defeated, and turned around. I had only walked about 7 steps, but he had placed himself to lean against the white brick wall.
“Where do you live?” I called out to him.
He looked confused for a minute, but eventually caught on to my meaning. He shook his head. “Too far,” he replied.
“No, it’s okay. I live about an hour away, a little more driving won’t kill me.”
He pretended to be shocked. “You mean, you aren’t asking out of the kindness of your heart?”
I sighed again, this time so he could hear me. “Yes, actually I am doing this out of the kindness of my own heart, and that’s why I’m so appalled at myself.”
He laughed. “Well, thanks, but it’s okay. Really.”
“No, it’s not. I couldn’t forgive myself if I left you out here for 3 hours. So where do you live?”
He eyed me. “You’re going to change your mind when I say it...but I live at Haskell Lake...heard of it? It’s about an hour away too. Probably the opposite in direction from you...”
I blinked. “No, actually it’s not. Come on, let’s go,” I told him, jingling my keys and slowly heading towards the car. Halfway there, I finally heard his hurried steps as he tried to keep up with me.
“Has anyone told you that you are incredibly nice?” he asked me, as he fell in step. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked so cute when he was sucking up...but why would I care about that?
“Yeah, but usually I don’t pride myself on it,” I told him, pressing the alarm key on my keypad. A vague beeping sounded a short distance away where my car was.
“So what do you pride yourself on?” he asked, rounding the car to the passenger side door.
“Definetly not on my driving skills,” I exclaimed hopping into the car, “let this be your warning....if we end up in a ditch, your mother is not to sue my father, capeesh?”
He laughed from the seat beside me. Instantly I felt flutters run up my sides from my stomach. “Must be cold from the air conditioner,” I thought to myself as I pulled out of the parking lot, and headed down ‘131,’ the long highway that I used everyday to get home. I knew the road well, seeing that I drove everyday for about 2 hours total on it.
“Um...so you know how to get there I assume?” Taylor asked, looking straight ahead.
“Yeah, I should, I mean I lived there for 17 years,” I said, smiling. I’ve lived on the south side of Haskell Lake ever since I was born. My parents had always dreamed of living on a lake before they were married, so when I was born, they decided they needed a bigger place. A lakehouse was the prime option, and we’ve been living there ever since.
“Okay, wait a minute...” Taylor told me, turning around in his seat, “you live at Haskell Lake? I thought we were the only people crazy enough to live there and go into the city every day.”
I shrugged. “Well, isn’t it worth it though? You can’t tell me that there’s a single better place to live, cause I wouldn’t believe you.”
Taylor grew quiet. “Obviously, you’ve never been to Tulsa.”
I glanced over at him. He was staring silently out the window. Suddenly I grew angry. Why would his parents uproot him from a city that he loved in his Senior year of high school? If my father did that, I would never forgive him. Obviously, he was homesick, and I didn’t blame him one bit.
“I’m...um, I’m sorry that you had to leave Tulsa. I don’t know what I would do if I left Oregon...” I told him quietly.
He looked over at me. “Don’t be sorry, I actually move around a lot. It’s just that out of all the places, Tulsa was the one place that I actually want to remember.”
“Why did you have to leave?”
Taylor shrugged and pulled at his pant leg. “My dad’s job...he works in oil, and they move him around a lot. There’s really nothing I can do about it...”
I swallowed. I didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry...” YEAH! Point one for me!
He chuckled. “Well, hey, living by a lake is actually pretty cool...my parents have always wanted to. Let’s just hope that they like it to the point of staying here for longer than a year.”
I smiled. “Well, if their experience is anything like mine, they’ll stay here for awhile.”
“Oh really...so what does my lake staying experience have to offer?” he asked me amusingly. The sunlight glinted off of his eyes as he looked straight at me.
Breathe girlfriend... “Well...lakes usually mean water, which usually means swimming, so...let’s just say that your tan is going to look a lot better once the lake is done with you. Swimsuits, 24/7.”
Oh geez, not a mental pic, not a mental pic....oohhh yeah, a mental pic.
Taylor looked affended. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with my tan!”
I laughed. “I simply said that it’s going to look a lot better, that’s all.”
Taylor grinned. “I knew it,” he said secretly.
I looked at him confused. “What?”
“Oh nothing...I knew you wanted me that’s all.”
I was shocked. Completely shocked. Shocked to the point of almost reering the car off the road. I’m sure the people behind me thought I was driving drunk there for a minute.
“What?!” I hissed at him, trying to calm myself down. I suspected that my mouth was going to get out of hand in a quick minute.
“Man, are you trying to kill me?” Taylor said, looking behind him at the ditch I almost ran into, “what’s wrong with you?”
That did it. “What’s wrong with me? Oh nothing really, just the fact that for the second time today I’m about to spit fire at the same arrogant little boy who doesn’t have a clue! Do you know what you sound like? Guess not, because I’m sure all of your “jock” friends sound exactly the same. Tell me. Is Jennifer really all that flirty behind the bleachers too?”
Taylors mouth was gaping open. I didn’t actually care, because by now I was telling myself to stop gripping the steering wheel so hard unless I wanted a serious injury to happen. I had no idea where that stuff came from...I’ve never talked to anybody like that before in my life. But it was strange, because it actually felt good.
“First of all...” Taylor started, glaring at me from the seat next to me, “I’ve never actually seen your bleachers. Second...it was a joke. I never once thought you liked me, okay? I mean, why would you like an arrogant little boy like me? And third, when you refer to my “jock friends” how would you know how they’re like? You haven’t even tried to get to know them, let alone wanted to be in their presence for more than a second. Oh, I wonder why!” he ended sarcastically and took to looking out the window.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you spend too much time trying to find ways of how they’re different from you, and then revise your thinking so they’re people you would never want to associate with. You don’t even know them!”
“Yeah, well I can see why you see it like that. If I was a guy who had friends that had access to all the flirty, short-skirted, beautiful girls of the school, I sure wouldn’t complain either.”
“And how would you know that I’m that kind of guy, huh?”
I shrugged. “Simple. Cause you’re one of them now.”
Taylor rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right, I get initiated Wednesday....do you know how stupid that sounds?”
I looked at him. “Taylor, I distinctly remember you telling me that you haven’t ever been to a regular high school before...why do you think that you know all about his kinda stuff? Don’t you realize that the “popular” kids really have initiated you?” I turned back to my driving as I realized that I was going about 10 over the speed limit.
“And don’t yourealize that as a guy who hasn’t been to regular school and been subjected to all of the crap, that I know who I am and I don’t need a group of people to tell me? Don’t judge like that, you know nothing about me,” he replied harshly.
I grew silent. He was right, I knew nothing about him. But who would blame me? Year after year I was tortured with the feeling of unworthiness...last year I finally realized that what they thought didn’t matter. But I still hated them for the 3 years that I lost.
“And you know what? If it bothers you that much to associate with me, then why don’t we just not speak to each other after you drop me off? Or wait, how bout you just drop me off on the side of the road up here, I’m sure it isn’t that much farther...” he ended, drilling me with his eyes.
“Well, if I honestly thought that all I’ve said to you was right, I would just drop you off. But it wasn’t, so I guess I have to go all the way, right?” I said softly. Having him hate me was too much...it was enough that I already hated myself.
“What?”
I shrugged. “Sorry. You’re right, I have no right to judge you like that. But if you would sit at the same lunch table day after day watching as the rest of your peers look up to these people as gods, then you would judge people like that too. I’ve lived with it for too long, and to see a guy that is somewhat decent, and in my opinion not like them at all, go into the snake pit, I tend to react harshly. Sorry.” I thought about looking at him, but decided against it. I really felt like a moron. I wished that I could just start the whole conversation over again.
He didn’t say anything for awhile, and we just drove in silence. It was probably 20 minutes after that when he finally spoke.
“You think I’m somewhat decent?” he asked me quietly.
I sneaked a peek at him. He looked genuinly interested. I shrugged. “Well, first impression I guess...you arent as bad as some.”
He actually smiled. “Well, I have no idea if that’s a compliment or not...but okay.”
“Believe me,” I muttered, “it is.”
He simply stared at me. I grew embarrased by his gaze.
“What? What are you looking at?”
“You. I’m just wondering why any of the guys haven’t grabbed you up yet...” he said, still staring at me.
My cheeks flushed, a trait that I utterly hated.
“Uh...why?” I responded, looking straight ahead.
Taylor shrugged. “If I told you, you might start to think of me as a barbaric jerk, so I’ll pass on that question...but seriously, who’s the guy?”
My cheeks grew hotter.
“Uh, um, what guy?” I asked.
“Your boyfriend maybe...”
“What makes you think I have one of those?”
“I don’t know. But if you don’t, I may believe that my new friends are as unintelligent as they seem.”
I burst out laughing even though I was totally embarrased. It was just funny to see him openly admit that they were really quite dumb...in a harmless “un-mean” way of course.
But as I looked over at him, he wasn’t laughing. Was he ever going to stop staring at me?
I swallowed and turned my head back around. My stomach was doing this annoying flip-flop thing, and I had no idea what to do with myself.
“Turn here,” Taylor suddenly said, pointing to the road that led to the right. The sign on the road said “North Side of Haskell Lake.”
“Hm, you live on the North side,” I said, trying to make easy conversation.
“Uh, yeah,” he replied, obviously moving on from staring at me. Right then, he was busy tying his Doc Martins...were they actually untied before? As I looked at him busily tying his shoes, I noticed his face was flushed a deep pink. Did I do that? My heart started beating faster. And before I could look forwards, he caught me looking and held my stare.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to look up. I was almost about to drive into a house or something.
“So, um, what street do I turn at?” I asked him quietly.
“Lakeview,” he replied, leaning back in his seat.
I blew out a breath that I had been holding. Why was I acting so strange? I knew this guy for a day, and I was already seeing hearts popping up in front of my eyes. I am not a lovey-dovey person.
He was looking at me again...I could feel it.
He had to get out of that car.
