Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (70 page)

Jackson’s brows shot straight up as his eyes widened, glowing gold
under the overhead lighting. “Never?”

“Nope,” I sighed. “I asked my mom to teach me, but she said it would
have to wait. Then I asked my dad. He just stared, blankly, at me for a minute
or so before muttering something about needing to be somewhere.”

Jackson chuckled. Then he sighed. “Eh, you don’t want your parents to
teach you anyway.” He shook his head as if to emphasis the statement.

“Why?” I wondered.

“They’ll just make you nervous.”

I considered that for a moment, and I could see his point. Dad would
probably grumble and point out every time I messed up, and Mom would just fret
nervously. “So who taught you?”

“Jordan and Eric.”

I nodded. “That explains a lot.”

“What?” Jackson looked astonished. “Are you calling me a bad driver?”

“Of course not,” I grinned. Then an idea struck me. “Would you teach
me how to drive?”

“Um.” Jackson raised an eyebrow and worried his full bottom lip
between his teeth before he sighed, licked his lips and answered, “I’d have to
think about that.”

“What?” I asked, incredulous. “You don’t think I’m teachable? Or you
just don’t trust me?”

“Hey!” Jackson’s brows knit together in an angry frown. “I didn’t say
that.”

“Right.” I rolled my eyes and cracked a smile. “Don’t worry. I was
only teasing anyway.”

Jackson didn’t look convinced. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “it’s cool.”

I quickly dug back into my food, and we finished our lunch without any
further argument. Jackson, of course, insisted on paying, so I left the tip. I
knew he felt it was his responsibility to pay, but he worked so hard for his
money. No matter how many times he told me he didn’t mind, I still felt guilty
letting him spend so much on me.

I figured we’d go back to my house to hang out until he had to go to
work that evening. Instead of turning left at the stoplight, though, he made a
right turn and drove a few blocks until he pulled into a church parking lot. 

He pulled the car to a stop and put it in park, but he didn’t turn off
the engine. “What are we doing here?”

“Empty parking lot. Me. You. A car.” His mouth split in a grin. “What
do you think?”

I just stared at him for a second, and then I voiced the first thought
that entered my mind. “You brought me to a church parking lot to make out?”

Jackson snorted in laughter. “No!” he exclaimed. “That would be a
weird sort of sacrilege.”

“You
think?” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice. “So, what
are
we
doing here?”

“I
thought you wanted to learn to drive.”

My
mouth formed into a surprised “o” as I breathed, “Really?” Just as quickly as
the surprise came, it was replaced with trepidation.

“Don’t
look so scared,” he laughed. “If anyone should be worried, it would be me.
After all, I’m trusting my baby in your hands.” He patted the steering wheel
lovingly.

A
smiled spread across my face. “So, what? This’ll be like babysitting?”

Jackson
shook his head sternly. “No,” he said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “This is
very serious business.”

I
nodded and unbuckled my own seatbelt. Naturally, I was nervous as we climbed
out of the car and traded seats. I’d never been behind the wheel—with the keys
in the ignition and the car running—before. My parents didn’t even trust me
enough to use the riding mower. On the plus side, I was never asked to mow the
yard. On the negative side, it left me feeling naïve and ill equipped now.

Jackson,
on the other hand, was surprisingly calm as he instructed me. Adjust the seat.
Seatbelt on. Check the mirrors. Hands at ten and two. Jackson informed me that
no one really listened to the last after they’d taken the test. Personally, I
liked the idea of having both hands on the wheel. It made me feel more secure.

My
knuckles were white from holding on tightly long before Jackson told me to
press my foot to the brake and shift the car into drive. As calm as Jackson
was, I was certain I was equally scared to death. I couldn’t help but worry I’d
do something terribly wrong and end up wrecking the car. Jackson loved his
car—possibly more than himself. Boys and their toys, I thought sarcastically.

Despite
my worries, things went surprisingly well. Aside from a few instances of
squealing tires and slamming brakes, there were no casualties. Jackson only
looked slightly paler than usual when I put the car back in park at the end of
our lesson.

When
we got out of the car to switch seats, we met at the front of the car. I
wrapped my arms around his middle and pressed my face to his chest. He wrapped
his arms around me, holding me close for a moment. Then I pulled back and
lifted up on my toes to press my lips to his.

“Thank
you for teaching me how to drive,” I whispered against his mouth.

He
smiled. “You are most welcome.”

After
the driving lesson, I felt a little better about driving in the future. Of
course, I had a long way to go, but it was a good start. It was almost three by
the time we headed back to my house. Since Jackson had to be at work at five
and still needed to go home and change, he kissed me and said goodbye at the
car.

I
thanked him again for trusting me to drive his car.  

“It
was my pleasure,” he grinned. “I was glad to be your first.” He paused before
adding, “Passenger, I mean.”

“Ha
ha.” I glared at him. “Very clever with the innuendo.” Blushing slightly, I
tried to resist the urge to laugh. “You’re going to get yourself into trouble
talking like that.”

“Yeah,
yeah,” he shrugged. “I’ll call you after work if it’s not too late, okay?”

“Sounds
good. I’m sure I’ll be up,” I smiled. “Have fun at work.”

“Oh,
I always do.” He grinned cheekily as I pushed open the passenger’s side door.

I
shook my head as I climbed out of the car. I waved and said goodbye before
closing the door and heading into the house. I heard Jackson drive off as I
pushed the front door open. I smiled to myself as I stepped inside and slipped
off my shoes. Aside from our discussion on cottage cheese, it had been a great
afternoon.

I
headed into the kitchen to grab something to drink. The house was surprisingly
quiet, so I guessed practice ended early on account of other obligations. As I
stepped into the kitchen, I nearly collided with Skylar.

“Oh,”
she gasped in surprised. “Hey, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“That’s
a shock since it seems we can actually hear around here today,” I mused.

“Too
true,” Skylar nodded, brushing her hair out of her face. “So, where’ve you been
all day?”

“I
went to lunch with Jackson.”

She
raised an eyebrow. “All day?”

“No,”
I blushed. “He also taught me how to drive.”

Skylar
made a face, biting her lip. “Should I ask how that went and how he’s doing or
am I better off not knowing?”

I
glared at her. “It went fine, ye of little faith.” I stepped around her and
went to the refrigerator. I pulled the door open and grabbed a can of Sierra
Mist. “Band practice broke up early?”

“Yeah,”
Skylar nodded. “Stevie and Toby both had to work. As you might’ve guessed, Luke
wasn’t pleased. He threw a hissy fit. I think he’s pouting in his room now.”

Rolling
my eyes, I shook my head as I popped the top of my drink.

“Oh!”
Skylar said, as if suddenly remembering something. “Mom said we can’t have
anyone over for dinner tonight. Just family.”

I
raised an eyebrow as I took a sip from my drink. “Why?”

“Not
sure,” she shrugged. “I figure Dad’s had enough of Oxide and is planning to
tell Luke they can’t practice here anymore.”

“You
know that would kill him, right?” I laughed.

“One
could only hope,” she said, mildly. I shook my head as she strolled out of the
kitchen. I knew she was only joking, but if Skylar wished death upon Luke, it
made me wonder what she wished would become of me. I decided not to ponder that
point and pushed it from my mind as I made my way up to my room.

I
spent the rest of the afternoon in front of the computer. I browsed MySpace and
Facebook and played a few games while I listened to Luke play guitar in the next
room. When Dad arrived home from work a little earlier than usual, I didn’t
think much of it until I remembered what Skylar said about the “family only”
dinner.

I
wasn’t sold on the idea of Dad booting the band out of the garage. We wouldn’t
need a dinner to address the issue. Besides, as angry as Dad had been with Luke
as of late, and vice versa, I didn’t like to believe he was heartless enough to
kill Luke’s dreams for the band.

When
I grew bored of the computer, I logged off and picked up
About A Boy
by
Nick Hornby. I’d borrowed it from the school library the Friday before spring
break, but so far I hadn’t got far. I realized I’d been a bit lazy in the
reading department as of late, but with everything else going on, it had fallen
to the wayside.

As
I was reading, I smelled something baking in the oven. It smelled pretty good,
but I was too lazy to go investigate. Nearly an hour later, Skylar yelled
through the door that dinner was ready. I marked my place in the book before
dropping it on my desk and heading downstairs.

The
heavenly scent I’d smelled turned out to be chicken broccoli alfredo. It was
really good, and I made sure to throw that out there.

Mom,
who I noted looked pale and drained throughout dinner, smiled at the
compliment, but I also noticed she didn’t eat much either.

Dinner
was otherwise unnaturally quiet. I considered telling them about Jackson’s
driving lessons just to liven things up, but upon more consideration, I
realized they’d probably ban me from seeing Jackson again if I told them. It
wasn’t as though I needed to give Dad a reason to dislike him. Being my
boyfriend was already like the kiss of death. Besides, I didn’t want to rub
salt in his jealous wounds since I knew how envious Dad was of Jackson’s car.

Finally,
as we were finishing eating, Dad cleared his throat and spoke up. “Kids, we
have something to tell you.”

We
all looked up then. Skylar frowned. Obviously, she’d still been expecting Dad
to dash Luke’s dreams and kick him out of his place of practice. It seemed my
feeling that it was something more than that was more accurate. For his part,
Luke just looked curious as Dad turned to Mom and nodded, as if to tell her to
go on.

She
took a deep breath and smiled grimly. “I don’t really know how to say this any
other way. I’m just going to tell it to you straight,” she said. “It looks like
you’re going to have another brother or sister come late September.”

Skylar,
who had been taking a drink of Pepsi, choked slightly as her eyes grew wide.
“What?” she coughed.

“Your
mother’s pregnant,” Dad clarified.

Obviously,
this was unnecessary. We all understood what she was saying. The believing
seemed to be the part we were having trouble with.  Even I, who normally tried
to say something assuring and optimistic, had nothing. This was just as weird
to me as it had to be to Luke and Skylar.

“Well,”
Mom said, impatiently, after a prolonged moment. “Say something!”

Luke
and Skylar glanced at each other as if trying to decide what to say. Then they
both looked at me, as if expecting me to break the silence. I held up my hands
in defeat. “Don’t look at me,” I shrugged. “I’ve got nothing.”

Mom
and Dad looked at each other. I realized then that Dad looked just as tired as
Mom. Their nervousness was also plain to see now that I knew to look for it. It
was obvious they were expecting something more from us.

I
was still trying to wrap my head around this bombshell. Of course, this did
explain the mysterious pregnancy test, but if Mom was due in late September, I
wondered why she’d only just now discovered she was pregnant. Then I remembered
what Skylar had said about menopause. Maybe Mom had mistaken the pregnancy for
menopause at first as well.

On
that note, I voiced the first coherent thought I could form. “Looks like you
were wrong, Luke,” I said. “Apparently, Mom’s
not
too old to have a
baby.”

When I
was little, I used to always ask my parents for a baby for Christmas. Of
course, they always gave me baby dolls, but what I really wanted was a baby
brother or sister. As I grew older, the desire for a younger sibling became
less and less about the actual baby and more about not wanting to be the
youngest. I always felt so envious of Luke and Skylar when someone told me I
wasn’t old enough or big enough to do the things they were allowed to do. In my
little girl’s mind, I figured I would seem older and be allowed to do more if
there was a baby in the house.

I
hadn’t thought about that in years, though, so, naturally, the news of Mom’s
pregnancy came as a shock. When Skylar, Luke and I discussed the mysterious
pregnancy test, none of us believed it could actually belong to Mom. For me, it
had nothing to do with age. Mom wasn’t that old, and women older than her had
babies every day. No, I’d only suggested it for lack of a better idea.

To
have the theory that had seemed so improbable proved possible was stunning. I’d
just figured Mom and Dad were done having children. Skylar, Luke and I were
basically already grown. Starting all over seemed so strange when they would
have been kid free in a few years time.

When
we disbanded from the table, it was in a mostly stunned silence. I was still
trying to process the new information, so I wasn’t really sure what I thought
or felt about either. There was only one person I could think to call. After
stealing my handset from Luke’s messy—and might I add stinky—room, I closed
myself off in my room and dialed Tegan’s cell phone number.