“You know,” Shannon muttered, “I think I’m finally getting the hang of this whole dog-washing thing.”
Looking over my ice-cream sundae, I grinned slightly at her thoughtful look.
“Yeah, well, that usually happens after about 3 weeks of doing it,” I told her, my smile turning into a frown as I realized my ice cream was gone.
Shannon, Zac, and I were in the old-fashioned ice cream shop across from the veterinary clinic. We had just finished our shifts, and we looked about as tired as we felt. I never knew washing dogs was so much hard work. But it was paying off because my community service hours for my transcript were adding up, and I knew my dad was pleased. Not to mention Zac was really fun to be around.
I glanced over at him then, watching him wolf down his second peach ice-cream cone.
“You need a ride home today, Zac? After you finish stuffing your face of course,” I added, pushing my empty dish away and picking up my ice water.
“This from a girl who ate an entire sundae in 5 minutes flat…with extra hot fudge.”
I shrugged. “Hey, you’re only young once,” I said, glaring at him, “I’m not the once who needs to lose a few pounds.”
Zac grinned widely and leaned back in his chair to rub his stomach.
“All muscle baby…all muscle.”
Rolling my eyes at him, and pondering over his ridiculous statement, I saw Shannon’s look of terror as I met her eyes. I gave her a curious glance as I saw Zac jump up from the table, wiping his mouth.
“Be right back, nature calls.”
As soon as Zac headed towards the men’s room in the back of the store, I noticed Shannon watching him leave, and I felt a sharp pain in my shin.
“Ouch!” I retorted, “what was that for?”
“Zac is not fat, Alex, that was rude.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Shannon kept on talking. I noticed the faint blush begin in her cheeks, and it was apparent that something was going on.
“He’s probably right, you know. About the muscle stuff. I mean, come on, he’s 15. You can tell that he’s very athletic and junk, I mean, just look at him. And he’s very tall for his age too, and you know what they say about tall guys, because tall guys have big hands, and-“
“Woah!” I exclaimed, shaking my head, “do not go on. I have my boundaries when it comes to listening to what comes out of that nasty brain of yours. Besides, I was kidding Shannon. And you would have known that unless…”
I stopped, realization dawning, and grinned.
“Unless you have a major crush on our friend Zac.”
Shannon slouched down in her seat with a defeated look on her face. I had never seen her face get so red before. It was hardly ever that Shannon had a general crush. Usually she just commented on good-looking guys, driving everyone around her nuts.
“He’s 15,” she muttered hopelessly.
I sighed. “So? You’re 16.”
She sat up a little straighter. “But I’m a senior! He’s a sophomore…I mean, think about it Alex.”
“You’re only a senior because you skipped two grades. And if you ask me, it’s a little stuck up to think that way. I mean, it shouldn’t matter,” I told her, sipping some more of my water.
Shannon threw her head in her arms on the table, and started to mumble words I couldn’t understand. I laughed of course, quite amused by the whole thing. She hadn’t acted like this since the day Taylor Hanson came to our school…
Taylor.
I quickly banished his name from my mind. Though the stabbing in my stomach kept going quite nicely.
Looking up, I noticed Zac heading back to our table.
“Hey, Alex, you think you could take me home? I really don’t want to wait until my uncle’s shift is done. And I know you live on Haskell Lake, so…”
“You live there too?”
He nodded, picking up the check on the table. “So it’s cool?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, standing up so I could retrieve the wad of bills from my jeans pocket.
He shook his head at me when I tried to give him my money. “I got it this time, don’t worry about it.”
Before I could protest, he asked me why Shannon had her head down on the table.
“Headache, I guess…it’s been a long day,” I responded, shrugging slightly, trying a slight grin. But being nonchalant just wasn’t me, and I think he could tell. He walked away from me slowly, his eyes poised in a curious glare. I smiled even brighter.
As soon as he walked up to the front to pay the bill, my gaze went to Shannon, who was now looking right at me.
“He’s paying our bill,” she stated with dreamy eyes, “how adorable is that?”
I laughed, pushed in my chair and threw a tip on the table.
“Come on, Shannon, if you’re lucky I might make you sit in the back seat with him.”
****************************************************
“If you say one more bad word about the lake, Zac, I’m going to pull over and leave you to die in this hot sun.”
I saw him roll his eyes in the rearview mirror, which irritated me even more. It was true…Zac truly was a nice guy. He was courteous, funny, and I imagined he would even help old ladies across the street. But, like everyone, he had a truly annoying quality about him. He argues. A lot. About everything. If you said the sky was blue…he would say it was red. This was why weeks earlier, I had him on my “only friends” list and nothing else. And it was easier to forget now about my discovery that I liked him in the first place because he reminded me of…well, someone. “His” name wasn’t going to be mentioned in my thought process for a long time.
“The lake is disgusting…I mean, just look at it,” Zac exclaimed, pointing out the window. We were very near the water, using a back road to get to his home. Looking out, I saw nothing but beautiful, blue water. I sighed loudly.
“You must be blind, Zac. It’s gorgeous. I don’t know what your problem is…many people would kill to live next to water.”
“Well, true, but not a lake. A slimy, bacteria filled lake at that. The ocean is better…I mean, there’s not contest,” he stated, folding his arms over his chest.
“Oh, yeah,” I muttered sarcastically, “I just love to go to the beach where I could get stung by jellyfish, eaten by sharks, and have sand go up various places in my swimsuit. It’s a blast, let me tell ya.”
Zac grunted. “You are such a girl.”
“Well, duh.”
“Would you two shut up already? You have different tastes, get over it…” said Shannon from the front seat, who didn’t have the nerve to sit in the back with Zac, regardless of my prodding.
“Come on Shannon, settle this once and for all. Ocean or lake?” Zac asked, leaning over the arms of the front seat.
“This is a pointless conversation Zac.”
“So? It’s still conversation. So what’s it going to be?”
I watched as Shannon’s eyes went back and forth between Zac’s and mine. Finally, she sighed heavily.
“I like both evenly, are you happy now?” she said, looking at Zac pointedly.
“Traitor…” I hissed under my breath. She glared back at me.
Zac laughed, leaning back in his seat.
“You guys are fun to hang out with…”
“You mean annoy,” I told him teasingly, eyeing him in the rearview mirror.
“No, I’m serious. I never used to have friends who were girls in Tulsa…”
Why did Tulsa sound so familiar?
“Hey, Alex, turn here.” I followed his directions, and came to find an even more familiar road. I couldn’t remember when I had driven down this road before, but my heart still began beating fast. My palms suddenly itched. In my head I started to envision a two-story red brick house…with a white balcony on the top…with a big bush outside near the sidewalk…
Taylor’s house. He lives on this side of the lake…I drove him home. But Zac couldn’t be…
I checked the mirror again and glanced at him. Blonde hair…straight nose…his hands…
“Hey, Zac?” I said, clearing my throat, “what’s your last name?”
“Hanson, why?” he replied, and then,” oh, wait, turn here. It’s the red brick house about three quarters up.”
I couldn’t breathe. My car ceiling seemed to be closing in. All this time and I never knew…I was hanging out with Taylor’s little brother. And enjoying it. I felt like such an idiot.
Pulling up, I prayed to God Taylor wouldn’t see me as I dropped Zac off. As soon as I hit the brake, and put it in park, my head was on the steering wheel. Mainly to hide, but also to get a grip on myself. I couldn’t understand why I thought it was such a big deal. It was in the past…over with, and I thought I was getting over it quite effectively. But this seemed to put a damper in the plan. I could never look at Zac again without thinking about his brother.
The brother who was at the moment outside playing catch with whom seemed to be another blonde sibling. I noticed this when I heard Shannon’s sharp intake of breath. And who wouldn’t respond that way? He didn’t have a shirt on…
“Oh my gosh…” I said, returning my head to the steering wheel. I couldn’t care less that both Shannon and Zac were getting out of the car. I didn’t even care when Shannon called out to him. And I definitely didn’t care when Zac called out to me to come with them…all I knew was that I was leaving…with or without Shannon. She could take the bus home, right? And leaving her with Zac would be quite the little favor. All I had to do was put it in drive, and press the gas. And I could even do it with my head down…
But I couldn’t do anything with my car door being pulled open, which is exactly what Zac was doing. Didn’t he know anything at all? First chance I got was to wring his scrawny little neck…
“What’s the matter, Alex? You don’t look so good…” Zac said, crouching down so he could get a better view of my face.
“Headache…”I muttered, refusing to look at him, “it’s been a long day.”
Zac cocked his head. “Didn’t you use that excuse on me before? And why do chicks always lay their heads down like that...your face is red, what's wrong? Come on, get out of the car, you have to meet my brothers.”
“No, Zac, really, I couldn’t—“ but my words of protest wavered as his strong arms pulled me from the car.
I stepped out into the hot sun, and couldn’t help looking at Shannon who was walking up the sidewalk to say hi to the shirtless god. It made no sense that the girl had so much courage to talk to Taylor when she had none when she talked to Zac.
I turned my eyes away. I was seething inside, but it was only for myself. I hated the fact that I had to act this way. It was just a guy! A liar no doubt. And as Zac pulled me towards his house, I repeated that to myself over and over again.
It didn’t help that much.
