Love and Skate (5 page)

             
He glanced at me briefly and smiled.

             
“It’s fine.  Dylan can be a jerk sometimes.  And I like the pink.  Blue was cool too though.”

             
“Thanks. So, I’m Nellie and you’re Owen. Right?”

             
“Yeah.
And it was me that dropped Amber off after the party.  That’s how I know the way.
”

             
He turned into my complex and pulled into a parking space and shut off the engine. We both sat still and silent fo
r a long time.  I was sure
the heat waves that flowed between us could be seen by anyone and everyone.  It was stifling.

             
“So, I’d better go.” I whispered.

             
“So soon?” he whispered back.

             
“What?” I heard him clearly but I wanted to be sure.

             
“I’ll um—I’ll get your bag.” He unlocked the door.

             
He carried my bag to my apartment and as I opened the door I was compelled not to let him go yet. 

             
“Are you hungry? I’m starving and I,”
was babbling.

             
“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

             
“Yeah, come on.  We’ll order pizza.”

             
“Ok.”

             
He came in after me and closed and locked the door like he belonged here.  And I wish he did belong here.

             
“What toppings?” I shouted to him from the kitchen as I was on the phone with the pizza joint.

             
“Whatever.  I’ll eat anything.”

             
I remembered him eating gobs of food at the diner and smiled.

             
“Ok.”

             
I ordered two pizzas with everything
and two orders of cheesy bread
.

             
I entered the living room and he was still standing in the same spot and his face was completely white.  I looked around to see what the problem was but didn’t see anything alarming.

             
“What’s wrong?” I laughed a little because this big guy was obviously scared of something.

             
I heard her asking what was wrong with me but how could I tell her? 

             
“I, um, I’m just nervous.” 
And apparently I’m a big pansy.

             
“Why?”

             
She sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her. I sat, stiff as could be and let out a huge breath.

             
“Well, I’ve tried to get your attention in class and ended up asking you for gum.”

             
She giggled at that and it made me relax to hear her laugh, even at my expense.

             
“And then this morning I may have chased you out of the diner forgetting to pay my bill.
  I probably would’ve gotten picked up for petty theft.
I don’t know.  It’s
kinda
surreal being here.
”

             
Now she was really laughing.  Then she threw her head back and as she did she winced and groaned, but never stopped laughing. 

             
“
Ow
, that hurts.” She stopped and stretched this way and that.

             
“I’m glad my stalking is entertaining you.”

             
“I’m just glad you found me.  You are
way
to pretty for prison.”

             
The doorbell rang and she got up slowly and went to her purse to get money I assumed.

             
“Hey, I’ve got this.” I took out my wallet and opened the door and paid the delivery guy. 

             
I turned to her with questions written all over my face about the amount of food she had ordered.

             
“So, yeah, I saw you at the diner way before you saw me.  You ordered enough food for three people so…”

             
“You were stalking me? Damn it.  I thought I was the stalker.”

             
“Um, I think we both are.”
We laughed together and it was so easy to be around her
.

             
I let her walk in front of me on purpose, mostly to be a gentleman, but a lot had to do with the view.
I reminded her to take some pain medicine before we ate.

             
We sat at her small table and ate while we talked.  All of my nerves
had calmed.  We sat joked and laughed
until she looked like she might fall over at the table. 
We stared at each other as we both realized that the night had come to a natural end.  I cleared my throat to tell her to get some rest and to somehow weasel her phone number from her.  But she beat me to the punch.

             
“
Wanna
know something weird?” She half laughed half whispered.

             
“Yeah.”
Was she kidding me? I wanted to know everything.

             
“I just met you, officially, but I’m not ready for you to leave yet.  Amber won’t be back for a while. 
Can you stay
?”

             
“
You have no idea how much I wanted you to say that.” And I meant every word.

             
I felt so incredibly relaxed
with him around.  Like he had been here all along.  And I had been waiting for him to arrive.

             
We sat in the living room on my beat up thrift store couch and decided on a reality TV show. 
             
I giggled as he groaned at the really awful parts and somehow through the hour my head ended up leaning against his arm.  And then as if we had known each other forever he raised his arm and I curled in
to his side
knowing my place by heart. 
The soft rhythm of his chest rising and falling under my cheek rocked me to sleep before I could attempt to stop it.

             
I felt myself being jostled around and then covered with a blanket but I was exhausted and I couldn’t open my eyes.  I heard the door close and whimpered the tiniest weary whine in protest of his absence but never opened my eyes.

             
The next morning I stretched and realized that I was in my bed when I fell asleep on the couch—with Owen.  I covered my face and almost squealed like a girl at the extremely heroic gesture of him carrying me to my bed.  The act alone was the sweetest I could imagine.  And then it hit me.

             
“Son of a bi…”  I didn’t get his phone number or give him mine.  I found out his last name was Black last night so I could look him up in the student directory
, but how lame was that?

             
I flung back the covers in aggravation and went to use the bathroom and brush my teeth.  I grabbed my toothbrush
and as I met my own reflection in the mirror I saw a note sticking out of the side of the medicine cabinet.  I smiled and grabbed it.

Nellie,

Couldn’t bear to wake you.  You looked so gorgeous and peaceful.  Hope I put you in the right
bed.
  My
cell
number i
s at the bottom of this note. 

Thank you for dinner and letting me spend time with you.  Feel better.

O

P.S. I snuck a kiss on your forehead.  Couldn’t help myself.

             
I sat on the side of the tub and read the note again and held it to my chest like a goon.  I finished brushing my teeth and went directly to my phone to text him.

             
N: Thx for putting me in my bed.

             
I waited a few minutes and just when I
put the phone down to resume getting dressed I heard the message tone. 

             
O: Ur welcome. How r u feeling?

             
N: Sore.

             
O: :( Got plans today?

             
N: Study @ library then work.

             
O: I sit in the back by the law books if u
wanna
join me around noon.

             
N: K

             
I didn’t say yes or no, I wanted to let him stew a little.  I put on a raggedy jean skirt; it was raggedy on purpose, and a light blue tank top.  I straightened my hair and left it down.  I went out into the kitchen to get some breakfast and noticed that Amber’s room was open.  She hadn’t spent the nig
ht here.  But I knew that Dylan lived in the same dorm room as Owen. 
I texted him again.

             
N: Amber’s not home.

             
O: I know.

             
N: Dylan?

             
O: Yeah. Slept in the Bronco.

             
I didn’t answer that one.  I felt awful that he had to sleep in his car because my best friend was so inconsiderate and so was his roommate. 

             
N: Breakfast?

             
O: With you?

             
N: Y

             
O: Name the place

             
I told him to meet me in the diner where we had stalked each other the day before.  And a half an hour later I sat across from him staring into eyes that were the color of a dark green forest. 
He barely fit into the booth and he ordered one of everything.  I felt like a pixie in comparison to his stature.  I only ate half of my waffle and when I saw him eyeing it I pushed the
plate over to him. 
He lined it up with the rest of the plates and ate all of it.  I was working on my second cup of coffee when he finally finished. 

             
“Sorry.”

             
“For what?” I couldn’t imagine what he was sorry for.

             
“A girl once told me that the amount of food I ate was sickening.”

             
“She was nuts.  I want some pom-poms so I can cheer you on.  It’s mesmerizing.”

             
“Mesmerizing huh? You know what else is mesmerizing?”

             
“What?”
Who knew what this boy was going to come up with.

             
“You—snoring.”

             
I scoffed at him and put my hand to my chest feigning insult.

             
“I do
not
snore.”

             
“Oh yeah, you do.  But it’s a really quiet feminine snore, so it’s ok.”

             
“Um, you know that makes you a creeper, right?”

             
“Creeper?”

             
“Yeah, one of those weird guys who watches
girls sleep. Creeper.”

             
“I didn’t watch you sleep.  I heard you snore and I looked down and you were asleep so I picked you up and carried you to bed and covered you up. So, not a creeper.”

             
“And?”

             
“And what?” He shrugged his shoulders like he forgot the most important part.

             
“You kissed me.”

             
The waitress came and he smiled broad as he knew he’d been saved from admitting anything even though we both knew.  He paid again and gave me a stern frown when I protested.

             
We left the diner and made plans to meet at the library
.

             
I saw him park but I was already inside.  I snuck in the side entrance and went to where the law books were. 
Eeewww
, gross, please don’t want to sit at this icky table.

             
He came up and stood beside m
e.  The smell of cedar
enveloped me.  The same smell I fell asleep to last night.