Shucked (18 page)

“That’s actually why I’m here. I do
need a new tutor. Alex and I,” I felt a blush start to spread up my neck, “we
kind of…” I didn’t want to give him details, but I wasn’t sure I could call
Alex my boyfriend yet. It’s not like the word came up yet.

“It’s okay. I already had someone
else in mind. She said she’d come this afternoon to meet with you. I called her
parents last night. Between the two times I was at your house.” He pushed away
from the desk. With an erasable Sharpie in hand, he wrote equations out on the
wipe board.

“There’s something else.” I took a
deep breath. “I’ve been cheating. Googling the answers to the math problems.”

“I know.” He set down the Sharpie and
faced me. “There was no way you could have learned all of that so quickly. Thanks
for finally coming clean.”

“Am I in trouble?”

He shook his head. “Not with me. Not
as your teacher. Not as your dad. Look, we all have lessons to learn and
sometimes it’s best to learn them on our own. Promise me you’ll work at it
harder and I promise you won’t get in trouble.”

“Deal.” I almost reached out to hug
him, but held myself back. It was too soon.

I stood up. First period started in
fifteen minutes. Kids would be filing in the room at any time. I didn’t want to
be in there, afraid somehow they’d know he was my dad. I wasn’t prepared for
that yet. It had been the biggest secret in Springdale in sixteen years.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Math hadn’t made much sense, but I’d
been able to focus a little more with my new tutor, Angel. Maybe it was
something I could pick up eventually. At least I didn’t catch myself making
googly eyes at her or imagining how it would feel to run my fingers through her
hair. Grudgingly I admitted to myself that maybe Illinois Jon was right about
Alex not being my tutor.

I shrugged my backpack over my
shoulder and walked out of the classroom, staring at my eggplant colored Chucks.
I was exhausted, trying to put one foot in front of the other without falling.
The first thing I was going to do when I got home was take a nap.

Another pair of shoes stepped
directly in front of mine, forcing me to a halt. “Can I walk you to your
locker?”

I glanced up, losing myself in Alex’s
chocolate eyes. “Yeah.” I wasn’t even sure if it came out as a word or an
exhale. Either way, he understood. Alex slung an arm over my shoulder, his hand
resting just above my chest. I tried to regulate my breathing, not wanting him
to know easily he affected me.

“What are you doing here?” I found
myself walking a bit slower, not wanting the moment to end when I got to my
locker.

“I knew you still had tutoring, so I
thought I’d wait around for you. See if you needed a ride home.”

“I’d like that.”

We were at my locker too quickly. Alex
dropped his arm and I dumped a bunch of random books into my backpack, not
really caring if I had the right ones. No one could expect me to think clearly
at a time like this. Alex stood with his back against the locker next to me. This
time everyone could see he was with me on purpose, unlike the last time when
he’d had his back to me.

I turned around with a dumb smile on
my face, until I saw Kailey standing on the other side of the hall. “You
promised my mom you’d take me home, remember Alex?” She balanced on her good
foot, leaning precariously on her crutches.

Alex, eyes wide, looked at her, then
back at me. “I totally forgot.” He whispered to me, his back to Kailey. “I
found someone to take care of her crap while she’s at school, but I totally
forgot about getting her home after school.” He looked back at her, obviously
irritated. “Okay, fine. Let’s go.”

Kailey shot me an angry look, then
pouted at Alex. “Can you carry my books?” Her head darted to one side,
indicating her locker. To me, she looked like an angry chicken pecking at the
corn.

“Yeah, sure.” He slung her backpack
over his shoulder and stalked toward the parking lot, leaving both of us
standing in the hall, stunned.

Kailey recovered first. “He’s
dropping you off too? That’s nice. But you have to sit in the backseat because
I can’t crawl back there with my crutches. It’s too tight. Sorry, chica.” She
took off on her crutches after Alex. “Hey, walk with me so I don’t accidentally
get hit by any cars!”

My hands curled into a fist. In my
mind, I ran into the parking lot, tripped her, and a car ran her down. Too bad
I promised Mimi I’d be nice. Instead I ran after her. Alex hung back, walking
miserably between the two of us.

Kailey was the only one talking, met
with grunts for replies from Alex. She went on and on about the Harvest Dance
and how she’d already bought the most incredible dress, she was just waiting
for the right boy to ask her. The thoughts running through my mind probably
broke fifteen laws. Instead, I settled for some heavy eye rolling.

Alex held open his car door. I
flipped the seat up and climbed into the back. Because he was so tall, there
wasn’t even room for my legs in the foot well, so I put them up on the seat. Kailey
continued to babble. She tossed the crutches into the backseat. I ducked, but
couldn’t avoid the rubber end of the one of them hitting me in the boob.

“God, Kailey!” I screamed, tired of
playing the ignoring game with her.

“Oh!” Her little hand fluttered over
her mouth. “I completely forgot you were there, Tabitha. Sorry. Whenever I’m
with Alex, I always toss my stuff in the backseat. Except when we were planning
to, well, you know.” She winked at me, then nudged Alex with her shoulder. A wild
giggle fell out of her mouth, reminding me of the noise one of Mimi’s feral
cats makes when it coughs up mouse bones. Bitch.

Alex started up the car and pealed
out of the parking lot. The force slammed my head against the back of the seat.
Great. Now my head throbbed on the front and the back. I’d need a Tylenol by
the time I got home. Or maybe four of Mimi’s cookies.

We sped down the road, while Kailey
rubbed her hand up and down Alex’s arm. I glared at her, hoping she’d suddenly
pass out from an aneurism caused by my death rays. Or maybe she’d break out in
a contagious rash. Or turn into a zombie and then I’d have an excuse to bash
her head in.

“Alex, sweetie,” she cooed. “You went
the wrong way. Tabitha’s grandparents’ farm is that way.” She pointed with one
long, perfectly manicured fingernail.

“I know. I’m taking you home first.” Alex’s
words hung heavy in the car. Kailey shut down, suddenly very interested in
finding her lip gloss in her purse. I wanted to leap out of the backseat and
wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him until he couldn’t breathe.

We rode in silence for the next five
minutes. Alex pulled into Kailey’s driveway. I shouldn’t have been so stunned
at her house, but I couldn’t help it. A two-story full brick house on a hill. I
didn’t even know they had hills out in the country. It always seemed so flat. To
the side, an in-ground pool sparkled like a diamond depository. Alex followed
Kailey up the inlaid brick sidewalk to a front porch that wrapped around both sides
of the house.

It was the complete opposite of my
grandparents’ one hundred year old house. I liked mine better.

Kailey opened the front door and
stepped in. I could see her mouth moving, her eyes angry. She flailed her hands
in the air. Alex’s back was to me, but he wasn’t moving. He dropped her
backpack inside the door and turned around, walking back to me. Kailey started
screaming, shaking one of the crutches in the air. The windows were rolled up,
so I couldn’t make out what she was saying. I knew it wasn’t pretty, though. Alex
just kept walking. He slammed the car door, sitting low in the seat.

“I’m so sorry for that.” He dropped
his head on the steering wheel after Kailey slammed the front door of her
house. “She’s impossible.”

“It’s okay.” It wasn’t, but none of
it was his fault. He was just trying to be nice by bringing her home. It’s not
like he left her at school with no way home. She dug her own grave in his eyes.
It was a relief too, because I didn’t want to come off as a jealous jerk, even
though I was deep down. It was ugly. No one needed to see that.

We rode in silence the rest of the
way to the farm. I wanted to say something, but I wasn’t sure what. Kailey’s
succubus routine had zapped all of the happiness out of the afternoon.

“So Kailey mentioned the Harvest
Dance.” Alex pulled onto the gravel driveway. Rocks crunched under the car as
he inched along, barely even hitting two miles per hour. I knew he loved his
car, but the slow speed was ridiculous.

“Yeah. Mimi told me a little bit
about the whole weekend. How it’s the biggest event in Springdale every year. There’s
a carnival and stuff, too, right?” I searched through my backpack for my keys.
I could see them glinting on the bottom, but I wasn’t quite ready to look Alex
in the eye yet. Leaving them there, I continued to rummage through the bag.

“I was thinking that maybe you might
want to go to the dance with me.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

My hands shook inside my backpack. A
date. A real date! I’d never been on one of those before.

“Tabitha?” Alex asked, pulling to a
stop in front of the house. “I mean, if you don’t want to, you can say so. It’s
okay if there’s someone else you’d rather go with.”

“No!” I sat up straight in the seat,
my eyes wild.

Alex looked down at his lap. “Oh,
okay. That’s cool.”

I rested my hand on his arm, giving
his elbow a little squeeze. “I meant, no, there’s not anyone else I’d rather go
with. I’d love to go to the dance with you, Alex.”

He looked up at me, a smile on his
face. I stared back, wondering if he was going to kiss me, like he wanted last night
at my window. Or maybe he wanted me to make the first move this time. I scooted
across the bench seat, getting closer with each breath. I tilted my chin up
toward his. Tossing all caution out the window, I pressed forward, laying my
lips on his with a force that even surprised me.

Alex’s arms wrapped around my back,
pulling me closer. My heart pounded in my chest so hard I wondered briefly if I
was having a heart attack. Alex’s tongue swiped across my lips, making me
forget everything I’d just been thinking.

A knock on the window drove a wedge
between us. I leapt back to my seat, my hands in my lap.

“Mr. Smith,” Alex said as he rolled
down the window. “Tabitha and I were just –”

Gramps cleared his throat. “Sex is
for after marriage!” He turned on his heel and walked back into the shed.

“Oh. My. God.” I wanted to die right
there in Alex’s car. “I’d better go.” I fiddled with the door handle, popping
it up. The door swung open. “Um, thanks for the ride.”

Alex smiled. “Hey, we’re still going
to the dance right?”

“Yeah,” I said, biting my lip. “And
thank you.”

“For?”

“For not pushing me out of the car
and driving away after Gramps said that to us. It was a little weird.”

Alex shrugged. “Nah, not so much. You’re
in the Bible belt now. Get used to it.” He winked as I closed the door.

I stood on the sidewalk, holding my
backpack to my chest, watching him drive away slowly for fear a chunk of gravel
would chip the paint on his precious vintage Mustang.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

I sat at the kitchen table, shoveling
chocolate chips cookies in my mouth, ignoring the burning sensation on my
tongue. I’d ignored Mimi’s advice about letting the cookies cool first.
Everyone knew cookies tasted best right out of the oven. When they melted in
the mouth and woke up every single taste bud. At least it took the sting out of
what was about to happen.

The car door slammed outside, causing
my insides to cringe. She was here.

I waited. Ate another cookie. She
still hadn’t come inside. Mimi and Gramps had been out on the porch drinking
sun tea. Maybe she wanted to talk to them alone. I’d seen her just a few months
ago. She hadn’t seen them since she was pregnant with me.

“Tabitha!” It was Mimi. Not my mom.

I sighed and pushed away from the
table, scraping the antique chair across the wooden floor, leaving a gouge that
was sure to get me in trouble with Mimi. I’d deal with it later. Gramps had
refinished the floors so many times, they were thin anyway.

The screen door nipped at my palms,
asking me if I was sure I wanted to step out on the porch. Not that I had a
choice in the matter. If I didn’t go to them, they’d come to me. Mimi didn’t
order me around without a reason. If she wanted me, she’d get me one way or the
other.

“Tabitha!” My mom jumped out of a
metal chair and threw her arms around me. I hugged her back, a little
embarrassed by the affection. She’d never been a big hugger. I had a stuffed
animal she’d dubbed my Hug-a-Bug so if I needed comfort I could get it from
that instead of her while she was gone on day trips. “I’m so sorry I got you
involved in this whole mess. I’d accidentally switched packages before I sent
them out. This one was meant for you.”