Back To You (9 page)

The next day, he waited for me outside of class, ate lunch with me and walked me to fifth period.  The butterflies were still there, but some of the nervousness was gone.  He was amazing.  Down to earth, creative, a thinker.  Like me.  He wasn’t arrogant or jealous or aggravating or a jerk.  He just was.  And he made me feel good about who I was.  He listened when I talked about books or music or whatever.  He talked when I asked him questions.  I was amazed to find a guy who actually listened and got involved with a conversation that wasn’t sports, especially in Hammond.

He called again that night.  And every night that week.  Each time I heard his voice, I felt a little more tingly and bubbly.  By Friday, I knew I was falling for this guy pretty hard.  And the best part?  I think he was falling for me just as hard.  Could it get any better?  I had no idea...

*****

Jack’s dad didn’t get the chance to talk to Jack after school on Monday.  But he did notice a change in Jack’s attitude.  He was walking around on cloud nine.  Happier than his dad had seen him in a long time.

Wednesday night, Jack asked if it was okay to borrow the Blazer on Friday night.

“You already asked us.”  His dad was laughing at him.

“I just wanted to be sure.” 

When Jack’s mom got up to do the dinner dishes, his dad asked, “So what’s her name?”

“What?  Huh?”

“Her name, son.  It has to be a girl, because nothing else would make you act like this.”

“Oh.  Uh.  Her name is Suzy.”

“And is she going to be in the Blazer on Friday night?”

“Yes.  And so are Randy and another friend.”

“Planning on seeing a movie?  Dinner?”

“Dad, you normally aren’t this interested.”

“Well, you normally aren’t this happy.  She must be something special.”

“She is, Dad.  She really is.”

“Is that the one you talk to every night?”

“Yes.”

“Good.  I can’t wait to meet her.”

Jack’s eyes about popped out of his head.  “Not on Fr
iday?”

“Nah, it can wait.  But I can tell this one is going to be around a while.”

“Why do you say that, Dad?”

“I can see it in your eyes.  Just be careful, son.”  He paused.  “You are careful, right?”

“Dad!  I am still a virgin.  Do we have to talk about this NOW?”  Jack glanced over at his mother, his face beet red.

“I just wanted to make sure we have an understanding.”

“Understood.  I will be careful, when and or if that ever becomes an option.  But I haven’t planned on doing anything.  Can we please stop talking about it?”

“Go do your homework.  I am sure Suzy is waiting for your call.”

Jack got up as fast as he could, but stopped at his bedroom door.  “Hey Dad?”

“Umm
hmm?”

“Thanks.”

“I’m here if you need me.”  The discussion was over.  Jack’s dad was glad to get that out of the way, and Jack’s mom was thrilled she didn’t have to do it.  She was secretly pleased to hear her son was being responsible and waiting for the right girl.  She also was wondering how she would feel if Suzy became a more serious girlfriend than the others.

When Jack got done with his homework, he called Suzy.  Anxious to hear her voice until they both had to go to sleep.  Talking to her was so easy.  She was funny and serious and goofy and ever
ything else he could think of.  He wished he could see her in person, fall asleep with her right next to him as they talked into the night.  But talking on the phone made it easy in some ways.  They could talk about anything, and he wouldn’t get distracted by looking into her eyes.

Friday couldn’t come soon enough.

C
hapter 7

Friday morning dawned beautifully.  It was sunny and warm, but not hot.  I woke up listening to birds chirping.  Spring was certainly here.  I felt like spring had sprung in my whole body.  It.  Was.  FRIDAY!

Of course I was nervous, but I was also just plain happy.  All smiles while attempting to eat some cereal made Mom quirk an ey
ebrow my direction.

“Everything OK?”

“Yep.”

“Excited about tonight?”

“Yep.”

She smiled back at me.  “Have a great time!”

“I hope we will!”

Mom and I had an understanding.  We did
n’t get too involved in each other’s love lives if possible.  She kept her distance, didn’t crowd, let me make my own mistakes, but she was always there for me.  Most people didn’t have that kind of relationship with their parents.  God knows I don’t have that kind of relationship with Dad and Sharon.  Mom had her issues, but I felt lucky most of the time to have her as my mom.  I had lots of freedom to do what I wanted, but I was responsible and didn’t abuse my freedom.

Her new “flavor of the month” was Richard.  He was married but miserable.  And he had sent roses to her at least three times in the last couple of weeks.  Roses are nice.  I like
d to think someday someone will love me enough to send roses to me.

“You going out tonight?” I asked.

“Yes.  I will be home by two or three.  I expect you to be home by then.”

“Certainly.”  I rolled my eyes a little as she took her bowl to the sink. 

“Do you know what all you are doing tonight?”  She asked as she put the bowl in the dishwasher.

“Movie.  Something to eat.  Casual.”  I fel
t a little shiver of delight at the thought.

“Well, be careful.”

“No problem Mom.  You too, okay?”

She laughed.  “I am always careful.”

I thought to myself that careful wasn’t exactly the way I would describe her actions.  Sure she got up and went to work.  Some days she had a little vodka in her grapefruit juice just to get the day started, but that was usually on weekends.  This wasn’t the first time she had an affair with a married man.  I just couldn’t imagine wanting to be with someone who was married, even if he said he was miserable in his marriage.  If you are miserable, then why not get divorced. 

But
nothing was going to ruin my mood that day.  She could have her fun with a married man.  I wouldn’t be staying home waiting for her to drag in at all hours of the night.  I had a DATE!

*****

Someone needed to bottle up whatever this feeling was and sell it
, he thought as he headed to school in his new car.  Well, it wasn’t NEW new, it was used.  But was it cool!  Convertible hunter green Fiat.  This morning he had Van Halen’s “Diver Down” tape playing loud as he headed to school with the top down.  It was still a bit nippy with the top down, but it was amazing!  It wasn’t far.  School was maybe a mile from home.  Still, he thought it was worth putting the top down, even for that short trip. 

Jack was having some mixed thoughts about having a group date, but it was too late to change that. 
They had talked for hours over the last few nights, so a lot of the strange, awkwardness had passed.  He had always thought she was beautiful and smart, but talking to her made him realize that she had a lot more going on than he imagined.  She was really funny, loved music as much as she loved to read (which was A LOT), and she was probably one of the nicest people he had ever met.  He knew that he was falling hard for a girl that came close to being perfect for him, which scared him a little.  He wanted to be close to her, wanted to know if that electric sensation will happen again.  They had touched at school.  Held hands even.  That feeling was always there, just under the surface.  But he wondered how it would be outside of school, on a date. Although he wanted to spend time with just her, he was also glad that they wouldn’t be alone and could keep things on a light note. 

The day went by fairly quickly, but he was a
nxious for fourth period.  When he saw her, he wasn’t disappointed.  Her face lit up as she came down the hall and saw him waiting for her.  He wasn’t sure he would ever get used to that.  And he knew that the smile, the sparkle, the GLOW that came from her was because she was happy to see HIM.

At lunch, they sat with Randy and discussed their plans for that night.

“So what movie are we going to see?”  Suzy asked while picking at her roll.  Jack noticed she didn’t eat very much today.  Actually, he wasn’t exactly hungry either, he was just stuffing his face to have something to do other than, well, than...what?  What did he want to do?  Touch her?  Kiss her?  Look all goofy and stupid in front of the entire school?  Better to eat than make a fool of himself.

“
I was thinking maybe ‘Lost Boys’.  You mentioned you wanted to see it, and I haven’t seen it yet.”  Jack said between bites.

“And you know
I wanna see a bunch of bloodsucking vampires,” Randy quipped.

“Cool.  It looks like it will be a good movie.”  Suzy smiled.

Jack thought that if the movie was scary enough, she just might scoot a little closer to him even though movie theatre seats weren’t always the most comfortable.

“What time?”  She asked.

“I figure we will go to the nine o’clock show.  That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Sure.”  She looked a little disappointed.

“And I was hoping you would be up for grabbing a bite to eat before.”

She nodded. 
Her eyes lit up when he mentioned making the date earlier.  Jack noticed she looked a little happier than she had a minute ago.

“Pick you up around 6:30?”

“Sounds perfect.”  She smiled again.

*****

Even though we discussed it on the phone, it was a little awkward sitting at the table chatting about the date later that night.  “Lost Boys”.  Jason Patric was absolutely dreamy.  And Keifer Sutherland reminded me of Jack.  I wondered if he would put his arm around me?  Kiss me?  A delicious shiver ran though me at the thought.  And no one had ever come to pick me up at my house.  Granted, there would be four of us, but still I was a bit nervous.

We decided that going to the Sicily’s Pizza buffet for dinner was a safe bet that all of us could enjoy.  I wasn’t a huge fan of pizza, but there weren’t lots of options in Hammond, u
nless you went fast food or Mexican.  In my mind, pizza was a fairly safe option.  Plus they had salads too.  I admit, I was worried about the garlic and thought about sneaking my toothbrush in my purse.

After class, Jack squeezed my hand and said, “See you around 6:30?”

“I can’t wait.”  Ugh.  How on earth was I supposed to keep my knees from turning to jello when he smiled at me like that?

I usually go
t home around 3:15.  Shit.  I had over three hours to get ready.  What in the hell was I supposed to do for three hours, other than lose my mind waiting?

3:20 I let out my dog, Poops.

3:30 I made myself a snack.

3:32 I made myself a different snack because the first one didn’t taste right.

3:35 One more try on getting food in my stomach.  This time I just made popcorn.

3:45 Settled on the couch for a minute munching on popcorn.  Got up to put on some
music.  Maybe singing would help calm me down.  It always did.

4:17 Album was over.  Popcorn was almost gone.  I needed to start worrying about how to fix my hair.

4:30 Started my bath water.  Bubbles?  Sure, why not. 

4:50 Finally got my hair washed.  Feeling better.  I sure hope
d he doesn’t call and cancel.

5:00
Searched my entire closet and could not seem to find anything suitable to wear.  Jeans?  Pants?  Skirt?  Pull over shirt or button down?  And why was everything pink?  Sure was glad no one could see me wandering around with a towel wrapped around me mumbling to myself.

5:07 Okay.  Outfit picked out.  Shoes picked out.  Time to tackle the hair.

5:23 Hair was being totally uncooperative. Finally got it blown dry (took forever). Now on to curling it.  Of course the cowlick in the front is being difficult.  Curling iron or hot rollers?  Rollers first.  Curling iron to finish.  Please God, let my hair look okay.

5:41 Oh my God!  He wa
s supposed to be there in less than an hour.  Panic mode!  Hair wasn’t done yet.  Wear it down?  Only if the curling iron and rollers could make it look good.

5
:56 Hair would have to do.  Decided to wear it down.  Puffy bangs, lots of curls, swept back with a little bit of feathering on the sides.  And don’t forget the hairspray.  What if he wanted to play with my hair?  I couldn’t have crunchy hair!  But no spray meant disaster by the end of the night.  Okay, middle of the road.  After all, we would be with other people.  How much hair-playing could he really do?

6:04 Makeup time.  Why d
id I have to have a zit right on my chin?  And why couldn’t they make cover up that made it completely disappear?  Too much concealer looked stupid.  Too little left it kind of red looking.  He would never want to kiss me if I had a huge pimple on my chin.  Well, it wasn’t huge, it was tiny.  But it felt huge to me!

6:15 Inspect
ed the makeup under different lights on my makeup mirror.  Too much?  Too little?  Adjusted the blush down a notch.  One more application of mascara.  What color lipstick?  Gloss?  Ugh.  Why did people do this to themselves?

6:20 Paced
.  Checked the mirror.  Sat on the couch.  Paced some more.  Checked makeup again in the mirror.  Had my hair fallen already?  Every minute felt like an hour.  Tried to calm down.  HA!

6:30 He
wasn’t there yet.  I hated waiting.

6:34 Car just pulled in.  Last minute panic!  Check
ed mirror.  Smoothed skirt.  Gonna have to do.  Knock at the door.  Stomach did an acrobatic move.  Poops barked like crazy.  Told Poops to shut up, opened the door with a smile...

*****

Jack was looking down at his feet when she opened the door. He was laughing quietly because he could hear Suzy yelling at her dog to shut up.  He looked up to see her and took a sharp breath in.  She was so beautiful.  And she didn’t even know it.  He knew she didn’t need makeup to look great.  But when she was dressed up and had her hair down like that, he felt the impact immediately.  He was frozen for a second, unable to breathe.  He had not felt like that before.

“Hi!”  She chirped.

“Hi.  Are you ready?”

“Yep.  Just let me grab my purse.”  Ahh the purse.  The my
stery bag of every female carrying who knows what.  Jack was glad he didn’t need anything but pockets.  She turned and went into the living room.  “You can come in if you want.”

“Okay, sure.”  He stepped inside the doorway and watched her walk down the hall.  She was wearing a long blue jean skirt that showed off a narrow waist and accentuated her curvy hips.  Not too tight
.  Nice.  She had on a pale turquoise shirt that buttoned down and was tucked into the skirt with a wide black belt.  Her shoes were black flat shoes.  He noticed as she came back down the hall that the color of her shirt matched her eyes so they really stood out.  He wondered if he could get lost in those eyes forever.

He allowed her to shut and lock her front door and led her to the passenger side of the Blazer.  Randy and Sunny were already in the back. 
Jack opened the door and she got in, everyone saying hi while he went around to his door.  She smelled so, what was the word?  Sweet?  No.  Musky?  Nope.  Flowery?  Not it either.  Whatever it was, was very distinctly “Suzy”.  As he walked to his side of the car, he took a deep breath and decided he was one hell of a lucky guy.

It was a little weird being with Randy and Sunny, not just because it was a double date, but because he knew how each of them felt.  Randy hadn’t totally gotten over his crush on Suzy.  Sure, he denied it, but Jack wasn’t stupid.  All he had to do was take one look at Randy’s face when she got in the car.  As for Sunny, well, Jack knew that even though they had been friends forever, she was secretly in love with him.  Maybe secretly wasn’t the right word.  Basically she adored the ground he walked on.  She tried to be nice, but he could see the envy in her eyes as she looked at Suzy.  Sunny was a beautiful person, on the inside.  But she was not blessed with good looks.  She was around 4’9” tall, wore coke bottle glasses that made her eyes look really big and was shaped more like a little girl than a woman.  She wasn’t thin, but she wasn’t fat.  Jack loved hanging out with Sunny, but he only
saw her as more of a sister than anything romantic.

Aside from the initial greetings and then a little aw
kwardness, they broke through the weirdness and began to relax.  Throughout dinner, the girls chatted about movies and shared a little gossip.  Guys could always catch up on the good local gossip just by pretending they weren’t listening.  The guys were talking about an upcoming concert.  And they all jumped into the conversation as it turned to music.  They sat at a table with four chairs because a booth wasn’t available, much to Jack’s disappointment.  But he could look at Suzy as she talked animatedly with her hands.  At one point, she was telling a story about her dog, and he knew. 
Impossible
, he thought.  But he knew.  She was one of a kind and he was falling in love with her.