Lovely (5 page)

She wedges some books on a cart that’s already full. “I doubt that.”

I laugh. “Yeah, well, you’ll find out soon enough. Professor Travinski will make sure of it. Alright,” I grumble, resigned to an afternoon of the long-term impacts of recession, “I need to try and work on this Econ paper. I’ll see you later, Cara.”

I feel her eyes following my path to the table. “Bye.”

The sweat’s building on my brow. Gasping for air, I pause to take a drink of ice water. “Jason, man, that’s it. I’m freaking exhausted.”

He eyeballs me, his t-shirt soaked with sweat. “That’s all you got, dude? Come on! One more game—double or nothing. You could potentially walk away with fifty bucks.”

I fall back against the fence. “I’m done for today. Do you want to come over for dinner?”

He takes a big gulp of water. “Is Delilah home?”

Jason’s been crushing on Delilah for years. I told him a long time ago that if he ever touches her, he’s a dead man. I love Jason. He’s a great guy, but I can’t have him hurting my sister.

“Yes, but she’s not feeling well.”

He grabs a towel, wipes the perspiration from his neck and slings it over the fence. “Nah, I can’t tonight. We’re taking my aunt out to dinner for her birthday.” He pauses. “What was up with you today, by the way?”

I rub the sweat from my chest and pull a towel over my shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“In the library? You were acting strange about that girl. So do you know her or not?”

Oh
.

I hesitate because I honestly don’t know what to say. “I don’t know her, but …” I slide the t-shirt on over my head. “There’s something about that girl, Jason. I can’t explain it really. I mean, she’s totally hot. And she’s sweet, yet she seems really shy and nervous.”

“Hmph,” he mumbles. “She sounds like an enigma,” he says smirking. “Perfect for you, since you love taking things apart.”

I swat him with my towel and groan, covering my face. “She’s
so
not my type though.”

He dribbles the basketball and cackles. “What type is that? Legs spread, no assembly required?”

I flip him the bird. “You’re an ass.”

Jason snickers. “Speaking of asses, I think I screwed up some settings on my laptop. Maybe sometime this week you can take a look at it?”

“Sure, man, no problem.”

He shakes his head at me. “It’s funny,
you
talking to
me
about your girl problems. This is most definitely a role reversal,” he says with a high-pitched laugh. “Hey, remember when we were juniors in high school and I was really into Cindy Kellman?” A devilish grin crosses his face. “You gave me all those pointers to get her to notice me. Then, she finally started hanging out with us and I thought I had it in the bag until she laid her lips all over you at Sarah Noble’s party.”

I shudder at his mention of Cindy Kellman, who nearly attacked me at the party. She was hot as hell and I had to summon all my willpower to stay away from her.

“I gotta give you kudos, dude, you pushed her away and told her you weren’t interested when you really were, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was.” I take another long swig of water. “But I never would’ve done that to you.”

Jason exhales a breath. “I know.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Oh man, that was the same night I covered for your ass when we stumbled into your house after the party half-cocked, right after you vomited all over the sidewalk.” He winces, pointing a finger at me. “I told your mom you had a stomach bug after shoving a whole pack of Tic Tacs in your mouth so she wouldn’t smell the alcohol.”

We double over with laughter as I remember trying not to choke on the 18 Tic Tacs I was supposed to be chewing. “I can’t believe she bought that lame story.”

“Well, I
am
brilliant,” he brags.

“Yeah, you’re something … I’ll give you that.”

He drains the last of his water and scoops up the basketball. “Alright, I need to get home and shower. I’ll catch ya later.” With his back to me, he waves his hand in the air and continues walking. “Say hi to Delilah for me and tell her I hope she feels better.”

Sprinting out of bed on Monday morning would be a complete understatement; it’s more like I bolt. I take the quickest shower known to mankind, pull on jeans and a blue t-shirt, lace up my sneakers, and bound down the stairs. Mom’s in the kitchen and she’s already got the griddle fired up and ready to go.

“Morning, Mom.” I trot over and kiss her cheek.

She turns around, her eyes bright and eager to start the day. “Morning, sweetie. You’re up kind of early, aren’t you?”

I grab an apple from the fruit bowl, rub it on my shirt and take a bite, the sweet flavor rolling around on my tongue. “Yeah, a bit. I need to get to campus early today. There are some things I have to take care of.”

She pulls a whisk from the drawer next to the sink and mixes the batter. “The pancakes will be ready in a few minutes.”

There’s a container of banana muffins on the center island and I pop it open and take one. “Actually, Mom, I’m good. I’m just gonna have a muffin today. I’ll see you later.”

I head out of the kitchen and she comes out to stand in the doorway leading into the living room. “Ash … is everything okay?”

I pause with my hand on the door and look back. “Yeah, Mom, everything’s cool. Nothing to worry about.”

I screech into the lot at school in record time. Go figure. I’m just about to hop out of the car when I’m cornered by Eliza Tilman, one of my other flavors. Her mahogany hair is slicked back in a ponytail, her white teeth polished to perfection, the dimple on her left cheek ever-present.

“Hey, handsome,” she croons, eyeing me with her baby blues.

I swerve to my left in an attempt to dodge her. It doesn’t work. “Hey, Eliza. What’s up? I’m kind of in a hurry.”

She reaches out to pet my arm. “I was just wondering if we could get together sometime. I’ve been missing you.”

I haven’t been missing you
. Eliza’s a nice girl, but she’s … how do I put it? You know when you meet someone and shake their hand and their handshake feels limp and barely there? Well, that’s exactly how she touched me. I can do a better job of that myself. “Yeah, maybe. I’ll give you a call sometime.”

She plants a slobbery kiss on my cheek, giving me a lustful wink that makes me nauseous. “Well, don’t wait too long.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief and, as soon as Eliza’s out of sight, begin my trek to the library once again until someone else stops me. This time it’s Jason.

“Ash, hey,” he says, completely out of breath.

“Hey, man.” I keep walking because I’m a man on a mission.

“Listen, my laptop crashed again last night. Can you come by this afternoon and take a look? I’ve got another paper to write and I can’t afford any down time.”

“Sure. No worries.”

He jogs toward the Science building. “Great. Thanks, dude. I’ll see you later.”

“Later.”

I finally make it to the library with no more obstructions. The moment I walk in, I notice Cara. If I’m not mistaken, I also catch the tiniest smile creep across her rosy cheeks when she sees me. I play it cool, though.

“Morning,” I say, rubbing my hand across the stubble on my chin.

She actually looks at me.
Jesus. Those eyes
.

“Good morning,” she replies.

I find a table and rummage through my backpack, pulling out my Econ book and a white- lined pad, and pretend to actually do some work. I should have gone into acting. I’m
that
good.

She’s not your type. She’s not your type
. My head is yelling at me and my subconscious must be about ready to hit me over the head with something because, after a mere twenty minutes of studying, I find myself walking up to the desk and standing there until Cara makes eye contact. It’s honestly hard to remember my own name once she lifts her eyes to mine, but I take a deep breath and hope I don’t say anything stupid.

“Do you need help with something?” she questions, scanning a couple of books into the computer.

I find my voice after a minute of staring. “Hey, I wanted to see what you’re doing after class today? If you wanted to hang out or something?”

Her eyebrows squish together and she crinkles her nose, which makes her look awfully cute, glancing to her left and her right, then finally back my way. “You want to hang out with
me
?” she asks with a mixture of surprise and sheer mortification.

I smile at the thought of spending time with her. “Yeah.”

“To discuss poetry?”

Hell, no
. I perch my elbows on the counter. “No, not necessarily. Just to get to know each other.”

She shrugs with apprehension. “Well, I usually … just hang out by myself.” She squares her shoulders and stands up straight with purpose. “I really can’t. I have something I need to do.” She shifts her body away and picks up a pile of books, effectively dismissing me.

She doesn’t know me yet. I don’t give up that easily. “Okay, well, just know I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”

Cara stops, turns, and appraises me briefly. A glimmer of a smile crosses her lips. “Well, just know that I’ll say
no
again tomorrow.”

Tingles of excitement catapult straight through me.
Game on
. She’s beautiful
and
she has a sense of humor. Maybe she’s more my type than I thought.

“Well, until tomorrow then, Cara.”

“Bye,” she mumbles, but she doesn’t turn around.

I pull into the parking lot of Jason’s apartment complex. It’s not a large one, about fifty or so shingled units surrounded by short well-trimmed bushes and manicured trees. There’s a large in-ground pool around the back and some of the apartments have balconies that overlook it. Jason’s apartment happens to have a great view of the pool.
Must be nice
. For an instant, I feel a pang of jealousy. I could be living here, too. I roughly kick a stone on the cement and huff out a breath, a wave of frustration surging through me. As much as I love my family, and I do, sometimes I feel trapped. I could’ve been living a different life right now.

I knock on the door a couple of times and Jason opens it with a smile, looking like he just rolled out of bed in the middle of the afternoon. He’s so damn happy all the time. I want that, too. I’m just not sure how to get there.

“Hey, dude. Come on in.”

I peer around the door thinking I might be an unwelcome interruption. “Is this a bad time? Are you alone?”

He lands a fake punch to my stomach and I take the opportunity to wrestle him to the ground, pinning his arms to his sides. It’s juvenile, but we’ve been it doing since we were kids and old habits die hard. He laughs and struggles to escape from my grip. “I give, I give.”

I smirk, once again feeling victorious, get myself up, and walk into the small living room. There’s a flat screen television on the far wall and a couch and loveseat in an L-shape facing it. From where I’m standing, I can see that the kitchen counters are spotless and the sink is void of dirty dishes. If I checked the bathroom, I’m pretty sure I’d find the same theme. I’m shocked. The place is immaculate. There’s not an empty beer bottle lying around, no clothes on the floor, and the place doesn’t reek of BO. “Okay. You either got a maid or someone’s providing a female touch. I’ve never seen this place so clean. Which is it, Jason?”